Guest reviews

A wonderful and tantalisingly brief stay. We will definitely be back!"

One of the highlights for me was a drive along one of the island tracks which is an avenue for butterfly's and a boat trip to visit a nearby island fishing community of wonderful people and Rubondo will be aiding the clinic and school in the fishing village. Go. It is ideal for a relaxing post or pre-Serengeti or Mara Safari. It's wonderful as a destination of its own. I will never forget it."

The island is spectacular from the moment you start flying over Lake Victoria you know you are in for something special. It is real Africa, spectacular rain forests, birds everywhere, loads of animals and incredible activities. We did boat rides to deserted beaches, walked & ran through the rain forest, fished, tracked HUGE elephants and went searching for chimps. Forget a beach add on and head to Rubondo - oh, and the lodge is top notch as well."

The island itself is huge, and offers a very different experience from anything else on the Eastern African trail. Covered in lush rainforest, one has the feeling of stepping back in time to an era in which explorers travelled the continent in search of adventure."

We stayed at Mara house, and it was absolutely wonderful, Rainee and the staff took care of our every request. The house is well designed and tastefully furnished, and the meals were amazing! Gourmet 3 course meals in the bush had such a novelty factor! The pool and barbeque area was lovely and was a nice area to relax in between game drives. We especially loved relaxing with sundowners while watching the zebra, gazelles and warthogs come to the watering hole, which was a short distance away. (...) We had such a lovely time, we strongly recommend Mara house especially for families."

Paradise! What else can describe such beautiful views, powder white sands and tranquility! Thank you Martin and all the staff for making our stay so comfortable. Thank you Chef for your awesome food, especially the Octopus! World Class! Wishing you all the best for this new year!"

This place is begging to be explored, by boat, canoe and on foot. Birding is excellent and you will be surprised around every corner in the forest with birds and birdsong that you have never seen or heard before. The forest and giant trees are beautifull and the light early morning and late afternoon makes for a photographer's paradise - filtering through the high forest canopy, lighting up butterflies and all kinds of strange insects. The forests are home to chimpanzees and elephants, and during our walking outing we saw many signs of elephants, apparantly much bigger in size than the mainland counterparts! Hippos, otters and huge crocodiles are all around, fish eagles calling everywhere."

Rubondo Island Camp, is a private island camp very far away from the big crowds. A short 20 minutes flight by small airplane from Mwanza brings you to Rubondo Island. Think jungle, 5 star accommodation, superb fishing, forest walks with chimpanzee researchers, hippo's on your lawn at night, best ever service and gin & tonic while watching the red african sun setting over the lake with 4 meter crocs gliding past."

If you like bush walking (or would like to try) this is the place – Roelof’s passion is bush walking and is probably one of the most accomplished walking guides in Africa - on our morning walk we encountered three cheetah brothers hunting and female lions with young cubs – very exciting, but always safe and respectful with Roelof."

We spent 3 nights here in November and were treated to the beginning of the return migration. Animals walking past the camp every day and night."