Reviews of Lake Manze Camp

"The camp far outweighed our expectations. Our tent (number 7) was gorgeous, very secluded and comfortable and how exciting to see Impala, monkeys, and elephants strolling past and hear the hippos in the night.

Waiting staff were very friendly and attentive and the food was lovely (I needed vegetarian food and this was never seen as a problem). The hosts, Trisha and Phil were also friendly and we really liked the way they came around every evening to see how our day had been and discuss the options for the next day.
Our guide (Emmanuel) was excellent - so friendly, approachable and knowledgeable and the experience of seeing all of those animals around us is unforgettable. You have the choice of walking, boat and driving safaris and everything is very organised.

We wished we could have stayed longer and I would recommend this camp to anyone." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania

"We had an amazing & unforgettable time at Lake Manze Camp. From the moment that we landed at the Selous Airstrip, we were completely emersed in our Safari adventure.

Staying at Lake Manze camp offered a unique experience which accomodated all of our needs and exceeded any of our preconceived expectations.

We wanted an informal, back to basics camp which was situated in the heart of the reserve and this was what we got. The staff were friendly, the food was excellent, and the tent facilities were not bad either. Having never been camping before, this felt more like "glamping" and we would definitely recommend others to stay here.

A special mention should be made to Phil and Trish for suprising us on our second night with a 'private meal' in front of our tent to celebrate our honeymoon. Sharing a special dinner under candle light whilst a Massai guard was keeping watch for any 'unwanted' visitors was something that we will always remember!

A second special mention should also be made to our designated guide Emanuel and driver Daniel for their wealth of knowledge and expertise of the area & of the animals. These guys made all our game drive activities lots of fun!" See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar

"This was our first ever safari and we felt that we definitely made the right choice in opting for Lake Manze Camp. The location is perfect, on the edge of the lake and right in amongst the wildlife. We had a wonderful time here and were extremely impressed by the professional yet informal way in which the camp was run. We felt very welcome and all of the staff were cheerful and helpful.

Our guide and driver were a lot of fun and extremely knowledgeable. The game drives were amazing: we saw a fantastic variety of animals and loved sitting and watching them. Most of the time, we were the only two guests in our Land Rover and that meant we could go at our own pace and just see whatever was around.

We went on two boat safaris and a walking safari too. Both are to be recommended for gaining a different perspective and learning a huge amount more about the birds and animals and their local environment.

We saw lots of animals in the camp, including a memorable visit from a herd of elephants one morning.

Food was very good, plentiful and varied. The camp had no problems in providing vegetarian options for one of us (as requested when we made our booking). We enjoyed the bush breakfasts, and our evening meals under the canopy of stars, with the sound of animals all around, were great.

We felt in safe hands at all times and the Maasai were always on hand to guide us to and from our tent.

The tent was well-equipped and comfortable. We certainly didn’t need anything more for our stay and we enjoyed the fact that there was no electricity in the tent. We took headtorches with us and that made finding our way to the bathroom much easier. It was great to be so close to nature. We really felt that we were in the middle of it all. We heard lots of hippos close by at night. Sitting outside our tent in the daytime, we were able to watch monkeys, giraffes, impalas and lots of beautiful birds. We wondered whether we would suffer insect bites, with the camp being so close to the lake, but that turned out not to be an issue for us.

The laundry service was fast and efficient.

We were delighted with our stay and were sad to leave. Our abiding memory will be of the enormous variety of wildlife we saw." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"Our entire stay at Lake Manze was wonderful. The accommodation was very good, the staff and fellow visitors very helpful and nice, and we saw a lot of game including very interesting animal behaviour.

We had a very good guide and driver during the stay who tried hard to find the various animals over the 4 game drives we took. The added bonus is the lake. We did 2 boat trips (one in the lake and one up the river channel) as well as a fishing trip where we caught 5 catfish (and later ate them). We also went on a walk and looked at spoor, dung, trees etc.

The managers Phil and Tricia were very helpful and took a lot of trouble in planning each evening everyone's individual programme for the following day.

The only minor disappointment was the lack of elephants but this may have been due to the time of year. We only saw a few by the lake. However, we saw a lot of lions and other mammals (including my first ever side-striped jackal) and lots of interesting birds. The lake and channels are teeming with water birds." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania

"An efficient we'll run camp with super attentive managers and staff.

We were given a lot of help when our luggage was lost in transit and the camp managers did all they could to organise it being forwarded to the camp.
The guides and drivers were very knowledgeable and took great care to ensure our holiday was unforgettable." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 4n in Tanzania

"Organisation of the camp and knowledge of the guides both excellent. Particularly appreciated opportunity to see wildlife on foot, by jeep and on the water. High ratio of guides to visitors and lack of other vehicles (at time we were there) gave a good wildlife experience.Small size of camp a bonus.

Accommodation very comfortable- exceeded expectations." See all these reviews: 4n in Zanzibar; 3n in Tanzania

"Phil and Trisha were good hosts.

The standard of accommodation here was more basic than at the other camps (eg no electricity in the tent) and it was therefore a good camp to start with. Solar heating meant that morning showers - after sticky nights - were only lukewarm. Game viewing was excellent and guiding good, although better on the drives than the river. The location was helped by having the river/lake within easy distance which enabled game drives to be alternated with mainly bird watching on the water, although we also saw game, mainly elephants, along the banks.

Although the shower/loo was 'en suite', as it was open to the sky there had to be a mosquito net between the bedroom section and the shower/loo which meant a lot of zipping and unzipping when one went from one to the other, by contrast with all the tents we had at other camps.

The variety of game seen was good, the guides and drivers good and off-roading does enable you to see game which you would not otherwise see. The 'champagne' in the bush, overlooking the river on the first night was a nice touch." See all these reviews: 19n in Tanzania; 2n in Zanzibar

"This camp was everything we expected and more. We wanted remote bush atmosphere so lack of electricity and any sort of mobile phone signal and wifi throughout was great - the lodge has plenty of facility to recharge camera batteries which was all we needed.

We safaried on foot, by boat, by 4*4 and just by sitting on our veranda - all were breathtaking, but if we were to vote, the boat safari on Lake Manze was the winner - the boat guides were the best we had throughout our holiday - we could have sat and listened to them all day. Everyone is catered for as their requirements, no formula for time to go out or come back other than sunrise and sundown restrictions. The Masai escorts after dark added to the atmosphere as did the elephants munching around our tent on our last evening.

We would definitely return here." See all these reviews: 9n in Zanzibar; 7n in Tanzania

"The standard of guiding and driving at Manze were outstanding, with the guides meeting our requests and requirements with 100% success rate." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"We'd been looking forward to our first African Safari and certainly weren't disappointed. We were met by Giraffes on the landing strip and the game continued to impress throughout our stay, both on boat safaris and game drives.

The tents were very comfortable and we enjoyed the experience of being part of the bush, without electricity. The constant stream of animals throughout the camp, particularly elephants, was a treat. Food was also good, lunches particularly, but didn't quite match the standard at Mdonya Old River camp where we went next.

We could always do the activities we chose when we wanted (walking safaris, boat safaris, fishing, game drives), although we kept swopping guides and swopping the guests we were with, which felt a little disruptive.

A special treat on our penultimate night was a private dinner on our veranda with a Masai guard.

The staff were helpful and professional throughout and made us feel very welcome.

We thoroughly recommend this camp, although it wasn't luxurious it was very comfortable and exactly what we wanted." See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania