we travelled up from Dar on the train - an experience not to be forgotten - sadly no white wine (ho ho) but surprisingly lovely cold beer! Dave who's been working at Sable Lodge for a long time was in the next carriage to us and checked on us from time to time to give us an update as to how far we'd go to go (it's a long journey - 5 hours ish) Arrived in pitch dark and travelled by Jeep to the lodge. Were given a very warm welcome by Mia, the Manager, and had a much longed for cold gin & tonic and a very nice supper which was most welcome. There were only two other guests there so we all ate together and after spending the night in our lovely luxury tent (with very comfortable bed) arranged a whole day safari with "Stan the Man". This was fantastic - as we only really had one full day there - we did the safari - the game was great - it's not a densely populated part of the game reserve - as in not many lodges - so there's a great air of exclusivity about it. We saw all sorts of game (apart from that elusive leopard!) and it was good to be the only vehicle observing. Loads of fantastic birds too. We had a packed lunch which we ate with Stan in the middle of Lake Tagalala. Stan caught a flying fish by default is it literally jumped into our boat. We, on the other hand, had a yet another great supper and stayed up late as we were having such a great time. The next day, sadly, we had to leave to fly to our next destination. I would so recommend this place, and wish we'd had longer there.

I visited the Sable Mountain Lodge and the Selous game reserve in February 2009 as part of a small group booked through the Adventure Company.
We took the five hour train ride from Dar Es Salaam which was a complete adventure in itself. We travelled through part of the reserve and were able to spot animals en route. We got off the train in complete darkness, in the middle of the bush and were driven by jeep to our accomodation.
I have visited Africa before and been on several safaris so I had an idea of what to expect. What I did not expect to do was to stay in a place so comfortable and well presented as the Sable Mountain Lodge. It consisted of several stone Bandas which were very spacious and private. Most of them had stunning panoramic views. There was also a swimming pool which was much better than I had anticipated. The water from this was later used as drinking water for the animals at their watering hole. It was apparent from many things that the place had consevation and green issues in mind.
There were two covered outside restaurants and bars. Staff were always friendly and helpful and made you feel very welcome. All meals were always of a high quality. ( They made a good cup of tea - very important to the English traveller)
One of the highlights for me was the fact that Selous is not well visited. It is not common to see a lot of other people on game drives. Most of the animals are not used to seeing thousands of visitors in safari vehicles either as exhibited by their skittish behaviour. It is great to see animals behaving as they trully should in the wild. However, this does pose problems for the amateur photographer ; lots of shots of behinds! Selous is also incredibly lush and green.
I only stayed at the Sable Mountain Lodge for a few days but saw numerous species of animals and birds including Fish Eagles, Carmine Bee-eaters, Elephants, Lions, Wildebeest, Buffalo and a group of about ten rare Roosevelt Sable Antelope. It is also a good place for the giraffe enthusiast but I understand that Saadani is better (visit www.saadani.com).
Overall, a fantastic place to visit

This mountain retreat simply has to be experienced... an amazing location on the edge of the Selous Game Reserve. Wonderful staff, well appointed accommodation and great food - plus access to some of the most prolific wildlife viewing you are likely to experience anywhere.

Highly recommended!

We travelled to Sable Mountain on the Tazara train - highly recommended - and as it was running late and dark when we got there, saw a huge porcupine ambling cross the road and a couple of civet cats before we even got to the lodge.

We were in a stone banda high up the hill (no 5) There are two restaurants/bars - one at the top of the hill, one at the bottom - which is great because you never feel there are that many people around - plus they made an effort to keep groups at one end and independent travellers at the other. We thought the higher bandas were better - partly because of the great views, and partly because you're nearer the pool, which has a stunning view over the hills and is spring-water fed. I thought it looked a bit grim on the website - but it turned out to be our favourite pool of the holiday. Again the photos don't really do the rooms justice - there was bags of room for four of us - and the food was also really good.

The best thing though is being able to decide what you want to do when, and at a really reasonable price for a safari. With kids you dont always want to be up at 0500 every day and charging out again later - here if you're staying for a few days you can mix and match the trips. We spent most of one day by the pool without another soul as they were all out and about which was really peaceful.

The drives themselves were great and we saw plenty of lions and everything bar rhino which are thin on the ground as usual. On the full day drive you have a picnic on a boat in the most crocodile-infested lake in the world - which is interesting. Especially as there are also hundreds of hippos in it - one of the other most dangerous animals in the world. I did think the 7 year old would follow a sandwich overboard. The lodge's ex army landrovers are the best i've seen for game viewing - really high up - open sided so you all can see everything - and REALLY comfy padded seats. On the only couple of occasions we saw another soul in the reserve - the people from the posh lodges were all in really cramped vans so we were super smug - especially as we had the landrover to ourselves on all but one drive. Our guide, Stanley, was a great bloke, and the dawn walking safari, though not as good for seeing big game, was eerily exciting, bar our ten year old having a fit over biting ants up his trousers.

You can also visit a local masai village, where one of the guys used to work at the lodge. Because of the contact between them, we felt less like alien interlopers and their kids were as fascinated with ours as we were with their life.

Having only stayed in fairly busy lodges in Kenya before, Sable mountain was a refreshing change. It feels less ostentatious and more appropriate to where it is. Let's face it, there's something a bit wrong about mahoghany beds and silver tea pots in a county like Tanzania. I only wish i'd had enough money to stay in their other lodge in Sadaani.