Welcome to Mdonya Old River Camp. Ruaha National Park is a magnificent example of the best that African safaris have to offer. Remotely situated in the heart of Tanzania, the amazingly profuse wildlife sums up almost everything that is essential to Tanzanian savanna environments. Mdonya Old River Camp is centrally located deep within the park along the Old Mdonya riverbed, a stone throw from the seasonal Mdonya waterfalls it’s a majestic location offering a truly exciting bush safari adventure.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
First time to Tanzania and first safari ever, what a pleasant surprise! The entire crew of the Mdonya Old River camp made our stay the best experience yet. The tents are spacious, including an outdoor washing room. Going for a pee in the middle of the night gives you the most amazing star view! They are being cleaned every day and we didn't experience any bugs or insects whatsoever. The food is excellent, either served in the dining area in camp with a view on animals pushing by, or as a bush breakfast or lunch during safari. Our guide and driver Jonas and Shabani are an excellent team and great fun to be with the entire time. Thanks to them, more than once we were the first to see something special, before other jeeps arrived (although Ruaha NP is very quiet, you can go for hours without seeing other tourists). We saw amongst others a big pride of lions next to the karkas of a giraffe, a leopard with its kill up the tree chasing away an hyena and a couple of sandgrouse birds with three little chicks almost invisible next to the road. Asante sana to Joel, Abraham and James for all the personal care in camp, to Elia and the other Masai for providing safety and teaching us some Swahili words on our walks in the camp, to Flora for making reservations and once again to Jonas and Shabani. We miss you already, love to come back!
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Date of stay: September 2024
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Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but Mdonya Old River Camp exceeded all expectations. We were so grateful that we trusted Stacy at Duma Explorer to select our experience in Ruaha. We loved that we were "in the drivers seat" when it came to what we wanted to do and see and when we wanted to do it. We often hire private guides when we travel because we value the flexibility, we were surprised to learn that our knowledgeable guide and competent driver were essentially at our disposal. We were expecting this to be more of a canned program, so we were delighted to learn that we had customizable options. This isn't a luxury resort with pillow-top beds, AC, TV and room-service. The beds were comfy enough to sleep in , the solar-powered fans were effective in cooling the tent and the private bathroom inside the tent was greatly appreciated. The food was very good. We ate both at the table and in the bush, all food requirements and tastes were catered to, a big task, for sure. The camp directors, the guides, the drivers, the Masai guards, all were very knowledgeable about the plants and animals were were experiencing. I highly recommend this camp in the magical place!
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Date of stay: December 2022
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:My tip, be flexible! Trust the expertise of those who work in the camp.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We wanted an off the beaten path experience in the east African bush. Our family of four - an East African emigre, American wife, and two adult daughters raised in the US - wanted to see the wilderness far from the sounds and busyness of modern life. Old Mdonya River Camp , with its minimal environmental impact, is the perfect place to be in the bush yet still be comfortable. Yes, it’s “glamping” but it’s also in the middle of the animals’ daily routine. We had elephants outside our tent at night, hyenas calling in the evenings, impala, vervet monkeys… all in camp.
But the best part was the people. Our guide Jonas and driver Dennis were so wonderful - friendly, knowledgeable - we miss them already. The staff in camp, the chef and the food, our Masai watchmen… everyone was lovely. We would go back in a heartbeat!
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Date of stay: January 2025Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A second trip to Mdonyo. This time I took some friends, two of whom had never been to Africa before. It was just as amazing as I remembered. We were met by Dietrich our guide, and Godson our driver. Godson was a familiar face as he had been our driver the first time. I don't usually go back to the same place twice, but both Lake Manze and Mdonya are so special, here I was again. I had been worried that it wouldn't live up to expectations, but these fears were completely unfounded. We had the most amazing time. Thanks to a quick tip-off and Godson's speedy driving, I finally saw wild dogs, just three, but the experience was overwhelming as I'd been hoping to see them for many years. Two of my travel mates (one of whom had been with me the first time) went out for a bush breakfast together and saw a male and female lion being very 'amorous' for an hour or so, they both described how privileged they had felt seeing this moment so close-up. The rest of us in the camp could hear it happening! The camp has roaming elephants, impala, baboons, and cheeky vervet monkeys, who were quite brave when eyeing up our breakfasts, it felt wild but safe. There were lion footprints near our tents, which was daunting and thrilling in equal measure. The tents and amenities are very well maintained and comfortable. The food is great, filling and plentiful. The chef was able to accommodate my request for a gluten-free diet which meant I was able to enjoy all the activities on offer without worry. The early starts are chilly, so bring some warmer clothes for the mornings before it starts to heat up. The nights can be cool so the hot water bottle in the bed at the end of the day was incredibly welcome. The two "African virgins" in our group have been bitten by the African bug and I am sure would be keen for a return visit. If you are thinking of going on safari, then both this camp and its sister camp in Lake Manze are just incredible, just do it, book it and go! We used Africa Travel Resource, they were incredibly organised and attentive and the whole trip went very smoothly. Many thanks to Michele, Joel, Dietrich, Godson and the wonderful team for another truly fabulous holiday and a new host of core memories to take with me into my old age!
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Date of stay: June 2024
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Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent 4 nights in MDonya old river camp in October 2021. The lodge belongs to the excellent ‘Essential destinations’ company. The location of the tented camp is excellent, being located in the heart of Ruaha national park and very close to MDonya river. The camp is small, including 12 tents. We had a tent with a very fine viewpoint on the bushy savannah. Because the camp is unfenced, we slept in the middle of the wildlife. During the many animals were wandering in the camp (e.g.: giraffes, elephants, impalas, vervet monkeys). During the night, we saw elephants and we were lucky to see a genet ; we also heard many lions roaring, spotted hyenas,… The tents are very well equipped and clean; the beds are very comfortable. Excellent hospitality of the staff. All members of the staff are always smiling, attentive to guests and ready to help us. From the terrace of the restaurant, we had a beautiful view on the bushy savannah. In the evening, there is a fireplace under the stars! The food was also excellent and varied food. A pure pleasure for the taste buds of gourmets!!! In the camp, we were lucky to meet the famous cinematographer Owen Prümm, who was also staying there, allowing us to learn a lot about the local wildlife, especially lions!!! Altogether, I HIGHLY recommend to stay in MDonya old river camp, which is a small paradise "Out of Africa" in Ruaha national park.
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Date of stay: October 2021
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was our second trip with Essential Destinations, combining visits to Lake Manze and Mdonya Old River Camps. We were not disappointed. The contrast of the wetlands at Lake Manze and the arid, high bush country around Mdonya provides a unique opportunity to see a variety of wild life in strikingly different environments. What a pleasure it is to drive 50K from the pick-up at the airstrip to the camp through the African bush as the sun goes down. We love the remoteness of the camp at Mdonya. The wildlife roaming in and around the campsite, the hyenas and lions calling at night, the small footprint with just 12 well-spaced tents and the kerosene lamps and torches to save energy, all add to a wonderful bush experience. Food was excellent. We enjoyed the bush breakfasts and lunches served on our all-day game drives. The Italian influence on the menus at Mdonya and the variety of locally sourced and Swahili dishes was a treat. Dinner served under the stars lit by candles and bush fires and within earshot of the animals at the nearby water hole is an experience not to be missed. Camp staff are friendly, polite, efficient and helpful. Despite the remoteness we always felt safe under the watchful eyes of the camp staff and the Massai who escorted us to and fro in the dark. At Mdonya, Jonas and Dennis were our guide and driver. It was a pleasure to spend time in their company. Their knowledge of wildlife is encyclopedic and their ability to spot animals at great distance, or in thick bush and camouflage, is remarkable. Game drives are flexible to suit the guests but we loved to spend the whole day in the bush, going out just after dawn and back just after dark. The guys went out of their way to track and find game and they really made our safari experience. Staff are involved in valuable scientific projects, studying the predator populations of Selous/Nyerere and Ruaha National Parks. Malcolm, Chief Ecologist at Essential Destinations, is passionate about conservation and was in camp at Mdonya. This gave us an opportunity to learn about the politics and challenges of conservation in east Africa and discuss broader environmental issues over dinner with a beer or glass of wine. So to Malcolm, Jonas, Dennis and all your colleagues at Mdonya Old River Camp Camp – “Asante ” and we hope to see you again. Carole and Jim
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Date of stay: September 2023
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I booked this camp knowing that it was somewhat removed from most others and many of the main game drive circuits because I had heard that it often had animals wandering through . . . and I was not disappointed. We could sit and watch the monkeys and giraffe and impala wander past over breakfast, and one memorable late afternoon, an elephant walked up to the tree beside our tent and gave it a whack, knocking down seedpods that rained down on our tent, and several other elephants rushed over to help eat them. We were surrounded on all sides by munching elephants! We loved listening to the sounds of the lions in the night, over the campfire and communal dinner, and we liked seeing their footprints outside our tent in the morning.
Ruaha itself is beautiful with a wonderful variety of wildlife, and our driver and guide were excellent spotters. We saw everything from lions and leopards and wild dogs and kudu to a tiny baby slender mongoose. The bird life was also fascinating (so many hornbills!), and I especially loved the sand grouse chicks. I would happily go to Ruaha again and stay at Mdonya Old River Camp. Many thanks to our guide Sostein, our driver Celestino, our hosts Fabiana and Micol, and of course Flora at Essential Destinations for booking everything.
One final note: although this is a place to disconnect, to enjoy nature and the company of your fellow travellers, there is a charging bank to charge camera batteries and other devices, and there is some cell phone connectivity in the camp and the park, if you need to check messages.
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Date of stay: July 2024
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Enjoy the elephants wandering through camp!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent two lovely nights at this camp, and it was the perfect start of a glorious time in the south of Tanzania. The park itself is exceptionally beautiful, in just a few hours we had seen both lions and leopards (plural). Not to mention the rest of the fauna which can be approached quite close without them running away. There are a lot of every kind of great herbivores so you'll be running into them constantly. Bith our guide, Henry, and our driver, Godson, were always very helpful, keen eyed, and knowledgeable, with useful explanations coming all along our safaris. The camp is very well organized, but be wary, the weather can be quite chilly. Luckily, helpful staff will put hot water bottles in your bed before you turn in (you'll love it). Sleeping under a tent in the middle of so much nature is awesome. You'll hear sounds you've never heard and wonder what is crawling outside your tent, but if you want a fantastic deep dive in nature, I hardly recommend it! All in all, you'll be glad the living conditions are so different from your own (no electricity in the tent, though you can recharge your devices in the office) and just enjoy what a natural reserve has to offer.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ruaha National Park in the rainy season is a tough proposition and Mdonya Old River Camp is very wild and remote. Very tricky and muddy roads, mosquitos and tse-tse flies, Its not for everyone.
However, the feeling of disconnection from the world and the remoteness and connection to Nature are unmatched. The Camp has the perfect level of simplicity and luxury needed to fully enjoy the stay. Extremely clean and functional tented rooms, solar powered showers, all the toiletries needed, etc, etc. The Camp gets daily visits of elephants, jiraffes, impala, zebras, monkeys, etc, etc just metres from your tent. The dedication of the Camp crew (thanks to Joel, manager) to their only guest was unparalleled, in tough conditions (it rained a lot). Excellent food, attention to detail including my massai companion guiding me to the tents, etc, etc Guide and driver John and Godson worked tirelessly to give the best experience in hard conditions. They were amazing. Support from Head Office at Essential Destinations in Dar es Salaam through the booking process was excellent, especially from Flora, Malcolm, etc. My luggage got lost on my flight to Dar es Salaam and Flora chased it until I got in Camp!! Thanks Flora!!
Ruaha National Park in January is extremely beautiful (never seen a greener green). Hundreds of baobabs, green pastures, fast rivers. The large groups of elephants with tiny ones just born was a daily occurrence with our car as single observer. JIraffes were everywhere, directly in Camp. Kudus, impalas, diks-diks, warthogs, hippos, crocodiles, etc, etc. All the birds...Too many to count.
Meat eating animals are tougher to locate but we were lucky enough to find a female leopard with a young one up close, 3 lions (belonging to a large pride of 25), a large group of hunting dogs (very lucky) and even 4 cheetas (mother with 3 cubs).
Remember, this trip was done in the rainy season. Dry season will be a completely different experience and I am sure an amazing one (an easier in many ways) that I hope I can enjoy in the next few years. But what I am sure is that the dedication of the Old Mdonya crew will be as good as the one I enjoyed.
Thanks!!
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Date of stay: January 2024
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Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wow! What an amazing experience. Ahead of our trip we read that you sometimes see animals in the camp but we wondered how often that really happens. On our arrival there were 2 elephants standing by the lunch area so we quickly realised it happens a lot here! We had a tent on the end and every afternoon we saw elephants pass by as well as lots of impala and monkeys. On our final morning we heard lions passing by the camp and our guides took us to see them resting nearby on our way to the air strip! Our guides (Godson and Ibrahim) were brilliant. They had great knowledge and got us really close to lots of animals, including lions eating a buffalo which was amazing. One thing that we loved about Ruaha was that we hardly saw any other cars. Most of the time if we sat by a lion or some elephants it was just us and the animals, so peaceful and an amazing safari experience. In the evening the camp create a nice atmosphere with a camp fire to sit and chat around followed by dinner together which we really enjoyed too. A great and memorable experience that we would definitely recommend.
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Hannah,
At Mdonya Old River Camp we believe in ' disconnect to reconnect ' , hence we do not have any wifi at the camp, neither in the vehicles. However, there is signal here and there throughout the park and we do have some phone network within the camp for emergency calls.
We trust that it helped,
kind regards
Iris
We’ve just spent five nights in this camp - most cars only have four passenger seats, but for our game drives, it was typically just us as a couple and our guides. Depending on how booked the camp is, you may share a game drive with other guests, but in our case, this was the exception and happened only once (where we were four guests and two guides).
In the camp, there are no tse-tse flies (and in dry season, also no mosquitos), however outside, there are, which is why the guides have tin cans with elephant dung at the car which they burn, the smoke helps against the flies. So it was really no problem in the camp (they take precautions why putting colored cloth in the bushes around the tree with a repellent). But it is unavoidable to have them in the bushes - standard repellent will do the trick though.
Hello,
sorry for the late answer, we had some satellite internet problems recently.
All our tents have wildlife passing by but if you request tent n 0 or tent 8 you have a better view of the dry riverbed
Hello Amanda, thank you for contacting with your question regarding vegetarian meals. It is no problem at all for us to cater for vegetarian diets, for lunch and dinner we have at least 2 vegetable dishes as well as carbs. We will then also have another vegetarian dish as a main for you. We are very fortunate to get all our supplies from the closest town Iringa which is the agriculture centre of Southern Tanzania so offers a large range in variety of fresh fruit and vegetables giving us lovely products for preparing vegetarian dishes.
Upon your arrival in camp we will double check with you if have further dietary requirements/food dislikes that we need to be aware of.
If you would like to see more picture updates etc. of camp leading up to your visit please check out Mdonya Old River Camp on social medias.
We look forward to meeting you soon.
Kind regards,
Rebecca, Andrea and the rest of the Mdonya team
There are more places to choose from in the Ruaha National Park area.
ALSO KNOWN AS
mdonya old river camp hotel ruaha national park
LOCATION
TanzaniaIringa RegionRuaha National Park
NUMBER OF ROOMS
12
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