Together with a friend I stayed 6 nights at Sable Mountain Lodge, of which 2 were spent fly-camping in the bush. We came in from Dar with the train going to Kasaki, where we were met at the train and taken to the camp for a late evening meal.
Taking the train (6h) and experiencing life along the rail road was in itself a colorful experience, that I recommend - and then fly out.

Selous is a place you want to choose for your safari if you want away from the crowds of jeeps and do the 'hunting' for sightings yourself - aided of course by your very skilled safari guide. Don't expect to get as close to the animals - apart form the lions, who do not care about you at all - as in the northern parks, as the wild life is less accustomed to vehicles, but then again this is the amazing thing about this place.

You have the option of doing morning/evening or full day safaris, fly camping (sleeping in the bush under the southern skies - bed, mosquito net of course is part of the package) and walking safaries. We saw lots of elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, buffalos, a group of 15 wild dogs, plus a wide range of different antelopes.

We enjoyed our stay at Sable Mountain immensely, excellent service from the staff wether at the lodge or while fly-camping, very tasty, hearty food (meat and veggies cooked to perfection). All cottages are located in undisturbed surroundings, we had a 'basic' stoen cottages, and a fan would have been nice some nights, however, as everything is run as 'green' as possible, that is not part of the set-up. Besides that minor detail, the stone cottage we had was very charming in a rustique way and met all are needs and requirements. We were offered a peek into one of the tented honeymoon suites - just gorgeous, that's the only way to describe it - no. 10, I believe - excellent view onto a dried out riverbed.

Last but not least, Tara and David, the owners, are just fantastic people and their company strongly contributed to making the evenings over dinner joyful and memorable.

I traveled here with my wife for our honeymoon. First let me say that this outfit really has it together. We were supposed to go there by train, but there was a sudden accident with a cargo train, thereby shutting down the service. We arrived by plane in Dar, and they already had a new plan for us, and a plane ticket in hand ready to immediately transport us to Selous. So: A for effort and responsiveness.

I highly recommend the honeymoon bandas. Something I really like about this location is the geography, the mountains, the variation. You really get a sense of that with these bandas on stilts. Beautiful views.

One thing I would counsel against is the walking safari. We did not go on any, but we heard from others who did. You did not see much game, if any, and it was not worth the effort.

For dinner, we sat around the table with another couple who was on a honeymoon. The atmosphere was very congenial. The dishes were really well done. And you could tell the staff took pride in their work.

The game drives were spectacular. The guides had eagle eyes. Every time we went out we saw the lions, the elephants, the buffalo, giraff, hippo etc. etc. And just a really nice landscape.

I do recommend doing the boat trip, as well as the game drive. The ideal situation is to be in one of those land cruisers with just one other couple. There was a big group - and I was relieved that they did not stick us with them, piled into the bigger truck.

The lodge is remote, but is close to a railway station which has two trains per week from Dal Es Salaam or Zambia.

Rooms are comfortable, staff so helpful and will go out of their way to please you - nothing too much trouble. There is no electricity but solar power and oil lamps at night so bring a torch for the walk home to your cottage up the mountain paths.

Animals roam around the lodge campus but there are armed rangers that patrol at night should you find a wild animal on your unlit path when walking back to your stone cottage! Generally they keep away from humans so I am told - they smell us coming!

Food wonderful. Everything about they place such a memorable experience and would go again.

Make sure you visit the village and see the local people - the bar is good in the village.

Good bar onsite too. Lots of oportunities for game drives and plenty of friendly socialising on camp with bars staying open as late as you want to drink - but watch those early starts for the same drives the next morning after you have had a few!

What a fantastic way to start our Honeymoon. We booked directly with Tent with a View for both stays at Selous Mountain Lodge and Sadaani. Communication was good and the staff were very patient with all my questions so I can't thank them enough for that. We flew from Dar to Sable Mountain Lodge for an hour and arrived at lunch time. We were picked up by Rama the Guide and once at the Lodge shown to our room before lunch was served. What a pleasant surprise!!

I was not sure what to expect and I have to say I was not disappointed we stayed in a tented Banda (number12) over looking the Ngorogoro Mountains which was wonderful to wake up to every morning... Make sure you sleep with the tent sides up to appreciate how beautiful it is. Our room ran purely on sola power (no sockets) and the water once heated up was lovely and warm - room was clean and spacious and we arrived to a miniature bottle of bubbly and a cup cake which was very nice!

We stayed 4 days and did half day safaris and one full day safari and can not rave enough about how wonderful it was. Rama was so knowledgably about all the animals, birds, trees and plants. We were so lucky to see so many animals roaming around which includes getting with in meters of 3 lions (who had just eaten so didn't mind us). Highly recommend the early morning safari! Watch out for the nasty tsetse flies they have a mean bite!

Food was excellent - 3 meals a day. Breakfast consisted of fruit followed by egg, bacon, beans and toast with tea or coffee. Lunch depended on what you were doing - if you do the full day its a sandwich, fruit, cake, fizzy drink and water. If you are at the lodge it could be vege pizza or delicious samosas. Dinner was the most extravagant meal of the day - 3 course followed by tea or coffee. Drinks are not included and range from $2 for fizzy drinks, mixers, water. $3 for beer, vodka or spirits. Never had any wine as it is sold by the bottle at $20.

We had a fantastic time and met some lovely people and highly recommend Sable Mountain Lodge for your safari adventure in Tanzania - make sure you have a dip in the spring water pool too!!! very refreshing.