'One moment I will never forget was our first lunch at Mikumi: Imagine
enjoying a most delicious rhubarb crumble with warm vanilla sauce and at the same time watching an elephant scratch his back at a distant tree.
Unbelievable!

Ruaha´s landscape is impressive, unforgettable, beautiful, marvellous. The
setting of the camp is fantastic - you are spoiled forever when you have
been there.

I could go on forever, telling you about campfires waiting for us before
dinner, candlelight barbecues under the stars, about the most friendly and
reliable staff we ever were looked after by in Africa, tents and bandas
perfectly maintained, furnished with so much taste, about the feeling that
our hosts really CARED and weren´t simply interested because we are paying guests...

I am sure you know everything I mentioned because everyone who ever went on safari organized by you and your family will tell you the same.'

Dorothee Eckstein
September 2004

"...Ruaha was THE highlight of my Tanzania trip -- not only Ruaha River Lodge, but the entire National Park. The wildlife was so abundant and the scenery spectacular. I was amazed at how close we could get to the wildlife. One time we came across a pride of lions -- a male and 6 females -- plopped down under a clump of trees along the river. The male and one of the females were mating every 10 minutes or so (which, I am told, is the typical mating ritual among lions), and we were able to get within 20 feet of them. They acted completely nonchalant toward us, but I know they were keenly aware of our presence. Another time we saw 10 lion cubs with 4 female lions, while the male lion lazily snoozed in the shade of a nearby bush. The cubs were so curious about us: they walked right up to our vehicle, sat down, looked up at us and mewed. The females, keeping their distance, appeared to be ignoring the whole thing, but when one of them finally called to the cubs, they all ran back to join the pride and walked off into the distance.

At Foxes Safari Camp, I experienced what I consider quintessential Africa. I felt like I was the character in the best African novel. My tent at the bottom of the hill overlooking the tall, swaying grasses of the savanna was how everyone should experience Africa. Since I had already seen tons of wildlife, I only went on one game drive during the three days I spent at Foxes. The rest of the time I sat on the front deck of my tent: I took in the incredible landscape; finished reading the book, The Mosquito Coast, by Paul Theroux; listened to a custom-made CD of "Out of Africa"-type music; and just walked around the camp, though this was a little scary because there was a crazy elephant that always seemed to be lurking around. Every evening at 6 pm, after I took a shower, I walked along a path, where a lone baboon scampered from treetop to treetop, over to a tentless platform and waited for the sunset; I got some spectacular sunset photos. This become my ritual during the three nights I spent at Foxes. That and two shots of Konyagi mixed with Bitter Lemon with a twist of lime!

What incredible memories!"

Janice
USA

"We were fortunate to visit Ruaha River Lodge in July 2003, flown in
from Selous Game Reserve in Peter Fox's Cessna 206 from which we could
see the varied landscapes of this wonderful piece of virgin bush. In our
opinion, Ruaha National Park has to be up there with Luangwa Valley,
Moremi and Etosha as among the best Africa has to offer in terms of
variety of landscape, tranquility & quality of game viewing.

In just one morning's game drive we saw: Leopard, 4 female and 2 male
Lions, Greater Kudu, Roan, Duiker, Waterbuck, Lichenstein's Hartebeast,
2 species of Mongoose, Zebra, Giraffe, Elephant in groups of 80+, large
herds of Buffalo, troops of Baboon etc etc. Birds included Booted, Brown
Snake, Verreaux's, Bateleur and African Fish Eagles, Grey & Dickinson's
Kestrels, Eastern Pale Chanting Goshawk, 6 species of Hornbill etc, plus
rarer sitings of Sulphur-Breasted Bush-Shrike and Yellow-Collared
Lovebird.

The Bandas at the River Lodge were comfortable and beautifully sited for
privacy and views of the river. For us one of the unexpected luxuries of
the trip was the quality and variety of the food on offer - imagine
fresh leeks in the middle of the bush! Fresh produce is regularly flown
in from the Fox family farm in the highlands.

Our hosts were Peter and Sarah Fox, who couldn't have been kinder. They
were ably assisted by Manageress Jennifer Coxell (what a star) and a
host of local staff, all of whom were very professional. The Game Guides
Josephat and Essau also deserve a special mention, even seeming to
have eyes in the back of their heads at times.

All vehicles were well maintained and had working radios, something
prospective clients should always consider when choosing who to go on
safari with. Having been stuck for 3 days in the bush in the past, this
is something we have learned from experience!

All in all, a stay at Ruaha River Lodge comes highly recommended."

Ian & Helen
Tunbridge Wells
UK

"Dear Bruce and Family,
We just wanted to let you know what a wonderful holiday we had in Tanzania, thanks mainly to the efforts of the Fox family.

Firstly, the locations were splendid in every way, offering real variety in
scenery and wildlife. Ruaha River Lodge in particular was stunning, whilst
Mufindi offered a quite unique experience of farming in the beautiful
Southern Highlands. Mikumi National Park fulfilled all our expectations and
Lazy Lagoon was a relaxing way to end a spectacular holiday.

The real highlight for us though was the way in which we were made to feel
like guests of the family, as opposed to paying customers. This feeling came across very early in our stay at Mikumi, thanks to your father and to Tim, who proved to be such an entertaining and informative guide. This special care and attention continued at Mufindi and at Ruaha, where Jennifer quickly became an old friend. At Lazy Lagoon we met the rest of the Foxes and also enjoyed the company of another family visiting from the UK.

Your father talked to us a lot about a "wow factor" for Mikumi - we think
you've already got it because of the way guests are treated. And at Ruaha,
our lovely guide, Esau, was particularly knowledgeable about bird life and
helped us to get so much pleasure from spotting many birds for the very
first time. The organisation within the camp was brilliant. We chose when we wanted to go on the drives and sure enough there would be Esau and our
driver at precisely the agreed start time.

Finally, everything was extremely well organised, from when we stepped off
the plane at Dar es Salaam to when we finally left on our return flight to
he UK.

Thank you so much - it really was a holiday of a lifetime.

You will see that we both had a wonderful time and would not hesitate to
recommend Foxes to our more adventurous friends.

Kind regards to all of your family"
Philip & Ruth
UK

About Katavi:

"We visited Katavi at the end of 2003. Descending over the Katavi floodplain, it was amazing to witness first hand the vast amount of game beneath us.

Upon landing, a very warm welcome was given by the camp manager Tom Appleby, whom we had met previously in Mikumi National Park. The camp nestles in the tree line on the edge of a floodplain teeming with animals that passed to and from the spring-fed water supply, around the corner, all day long. Our tent was very comfortable with all we needed as regards facilities with a king size bed, hot and cold running water in the shower and wash basin and en suite flushing WC.

A delicious buffet lunch in the big open lounge/dining tent was most welcome and afterwards we had to decide if we could move far enough to make it to out tent or collapse in the invitingly comfy lounge sofas. Whiling away siesta time in the afternoon between lunch and tea was made all the more pleasant sat in the loungers on the veranda watching the wildlife and the world go by.

We headed out on a late afternoon game drive in a Landrover that gave us a
smooth ride with a shade netting canopy which meant we were able to watch the wildlife in cool comfort. Our first views of the vast herds of Zebra and Topi left us awestruck. During the five days in Katavi the list of species
we saw, often at close quarters, grew. Notables were a male Leopard
consuming the remains of a young Zebra, several Lions that had brought down two young Buffalo, plus a hunting male Cheetah that we watched for at least an hour which culminated in his astonishingly fast attack on a young Zebra. We were also amazed at our good fortune in seeing two rare African Clawless Otters attempting to successfully evade the jaws of a large Nile Crocodile.

Upon returning in the evening and after freshening up, no camp would be
complete without the chance to sit around an open fire, and this we did
whilst having our pre-dinner drinks, quite magical. As darkness fell the
roars, whoops and chirrups blended to produce a nocturnal chorus not to be
missed.

The staff make sure you want for nothing, the food is excellent and varied.
We loved the picnic breakfast provided by the chef as we left at first light
each morning. This was consumed a couple of hours later in the shade of a
Winterthorn after watching lazy Lions lounging in that early golden sun -
such fun. Tom's knowledge of the animals and birds with his uncanny knack of spotting them is brilliant.

For a really true experience of raw Africa without the crowds, we would
thoroughly recommend staying in Katavi, it IS special."

Rod and Marion Gough
UK