Reviews of Lake Manze Camp

"A fantastic location by the lake, an almost total contrast to Mdonya.

We loved our stay here and the variety of activities on offer was excellent. Our guide, Nukumah, and driver, Ally, were tremendous - great company and so anxious to find any animals we were keen to see. The organisation of the camp was excellent and we have absolutely no complaints, but, for us, the atmosphere was somewhat more organised and timekeeping seemed more important.

There wasn't the same flexibility we had enjoyed previously. Having said this, we had fantastic game viewings and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"Food was very good (particularly the lunches)

The seating allocation at dinners was over regimented - they seemed determined to keep Italians and British apart - a better way would have been to have 2 separate tables rather than one large one.

The last day was spoilt by being told at dinner the night before that our tents would be required for guests arriving during our morning game drive. As it was then too dark to pack, the decision was made to leave later for that drive and continue on to Selous safari camp taking a bush lunch when that could have been decided days earlier and we could have had a proper lunch at Selous safari camp.

Mosquitos were present in tents and dining area which caught us unawares because our previous camp (Mdonya) had none
Adam (our guide) was disappointing with limited bird knowledge and he did not know the area well having only been there a short time" See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania

"Lake Manze's setting is delightful, sensitively blending in with the beautiful Selous bush and the lake in the foreground. The tents are very comfortable and all the facilities (showers, loos etc) work well. The communal area allows people to mix but also to remain in their separate parties if they wish. The food was excellent, freshly prepared and very tasty.

Lake Manze's staff were all friendly, welcoming and gracious. Our driver was a great character, who got on very well with everybody in the group, aged from 16-53, and worked hard, with his guide colleagues, to ensure that we saw the full range of game - hinting dogs, leopards, lions etc,. We had two guides for walking and driving safaris, both were excellent, providing detailed information and answering all of our questions. Our second guide was outstanding with excellent English and detailed knowledge of game and birds, despite being the youngest guide at the camp.

Our boat safaris and fishing trips were equally enjoyable, with plenty of opportunities to view the spectacular birds, hippos, crocodiles and other game and good advice on fishing - we caught two catfish of 8 and 10 kg respectively. All three managers were excellent and the trip went smoothly from beginning to end.

Our day trip to the hot springs was particularly enjoyable but the biggest surprise was the spectacular bird life." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 2n in Zanzibar

"We loved Lake Manze Camp.

The guiding and driving was superb: the food excellent: information and conversation with the camp's management very good.

Altogether a wonderful experience" See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"Good camp to stay .

The tents are clean and comfortable. The food is good as well. The manager and his assistant do their best to make guests happy.

I really enjoyed the boat trip in the channels." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania

"Everything possible was done to make us feel at home. As a family group our individual needs were catered for and the activities were very flexible. If you wanted to go on a game drive half an hour later, or do more another day, then all you had to do was say so.

The food was excellent. The only thing was that at breakfast there were more options available then we first realised. For instance we didn't know they did porridge or omelettes until onther guest asked for them." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania

"# the excellant camp fully met our expectations NB. the description in your brochure / website (& Adventure Camps of TZ) were spot-on in contrast to the overstated marketing hype that is still a feature of some operators literature.

# we appreciated the thatched 'hall' combined the bar, dining-room and lounge. Each time we entered as at least one member of staff was present and each were genuinely interested in our experiences and encouraged our attempts at Kiswahili.

# Pleasantly surprised to be bug free (in July) despite the adjacent lake.

#Vehicle tracks were often very poor and clearly very little of the Selous Reserve's income is used to maintain the infrastructure. We would certainly support any proposals to have the northern tourist blocks upgraded to National Park status.

# the boat rips were a particular feature and we enjoyed both a lake and channel trip - each time ELTON was our very experienced and truly excellant boatman.

# excellant food and being served under cover in the day in the impressive thatched 'hall' meant it was easier to interact with the staff.....and still enjoy the passing elephant or two!

# recommend the full day safari option to the hot springs, with an a delicious picnic lunch. We enjoyed the company of our guide EMMANUEL and driver OMARI MKOMA, who is fun character - promised photos of the hot springs 'team swim' will be posted shortly.

# impressed by our walking safari from the carefull briefing though to getting our proverbial dung recognition & tracking certificates!!

# Plenty of wildlife passed thought he camp but the Masai guards were pros and we felt very safe in their hands.

# Our regular landrover team was guide ADAM and driver ABUU - their combined spotting skills and knowledge was impressive and very much appreciated." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"We loved this camp and really enjoyed all our road, boat and all-day safaris.

Our guides Adam and Rashidi and driver Abu were absolutely excellent and put so effort into making sure we had a brilliant time." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 6n in Tanzania

"We had a wondeful time at lake manze camp. The staff there were fantastic, always helpful, friendly, warm and knowledgeable. Richard and Sara who manage the camp are both very welcoming and make every effort to ensure you have a great safari experience.

The camp is very much back to basics, no electricity and showering under the stars. The tents are clean and comfortable and provide everything you need. The guides are fantastic and our favourite part of the holiday was the lake safari's with rasheedi.

The evening dinner is quite an experience, a communal dinner out amongst the wildlife, if you don't like creepy crawlies you may stuggle a little as there are thousands of them, including all over the dinner table, I did find this hard to get used to, but enjoyed the experience nonetheless." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 3n in Tanzania

"We chose this style of camp because having experienced a number of safaris in Africa before our goal
was to be 'Close to nature' and this style of camp was as close as you could get (except mobile camping).
Generally, the more 'Up Market' a camp becomes the further away from the 'Close to nature' experience the lodge/camp becomes.
Therefore the level at which this camp is set is not for who desire fine wines and nouvelle cuisine but Lake Manze provides more simpler offerings and of course the price reflected this, however the food was good and the beds
clean and comfortable and we have no complaints in the area. The only thing I would mention was the taste of the drinking water,
it comes from the lake and I'm not too suprised it has a 'Special' flavour so I would stick to bottled water if I was you.
The staff were friendly and obliging, the guides were keen and enthusiastic and Richard kept them all in toe and was always there to see you off in the morning and also there on your return back from your venture into Selous. Excellent birthday cake made by Suleiman (thankyou).

Would I go back there ? - problably !" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar