Travel reviews by Clown Fish Family from UK

"Lake Manze camp is an excellent way to start a multiple stop safari. The terrain in this area is quite open so there are plenty of opportunities for viewing the grazing animals and we were fortunate to witness lions with a kill. Our drivers Olay and Salom were excellent. They seemed knowledgeable were prepared to be talkative in a general way when we were out on all day drives.

I was especially impressed with their respect for the animals and that they resisted the pressure of other guests to 'go closer' or 'follow the lion'. Guests were politely but firmly discouraged from trying to interact with the animals. Credit to them for their professionalism. The boat men were also very good. Two contrasting trips on the water, one on the lake and one up a creek revealed very different aspects of the wildlife and birds.

The accommodation was exactly as described in the brochure; however it may be useful to note that Manze's family accommodation is a standard tent with a supplementary tent covering the veranda area. Although this did give the advantage of being together it made things rather cramped as we lost the sitting area by our tent and had to share our bathroom four ways. Had our children been smaller I might have been more appreciative of the situation but travelling with teenage boys it made for a few embarrassing moments! That said, not a camp for young children.

The camp wildlife may appear tame but you can tell from the respect that the Masai afford it, it's not! Also, although I really enjoyed the 'out in the wild' feel of Manze, Hurricane lamps are really not that illuminating!! However, the days were so full that there was no time to miss the electricity.

The food was of a good standard and supper was served communally at a table outside. Torches required if you wanted to know what was in the dishes! It was really nice to mix with other guests and swop stories. Richard (a recent recruit to the staff I think) was an excellent source of interesting information and stories and was still as enthusiastic about the wildlife as us new to safari.

Camp was almost full when we stayed, a mixture of honeymooners and ex-pats with a complement of other nationalities as well.
In hindsight we wish we had resisted the host's suggestions to have breakfast before going out on a drive. The wildlife definitely seemed (relatively) less plentiful as the morning wore on. (See my Impala comments)

We found this camp to be one that fulfilled our hopes for a rustic 'out in the wild ' safari experience to a tee."

"Relative to Lake Manze camp where we started our trip, Selous Impala was rather more luxurious and less informal. This made it feel like we had started our trip all over again! The terrain local to Impala is more bush than scrub and so it affords a different set of game viewing, less zebra and impala, more elephants.

On one occasion we stopped to look back at an elephant emerging from the trees only to find that a herd of over 20 emerged and passed the Jeep on both sides and on into the distance, an awe inspiring sight. Leopards proved elusive for us despite Mpogo's best efforts but that did not detract from the overall excellent quantity of game viewing available.

Impala Camp encourages guests to leave camp early after a cup of tea in their tent and then break their morning drive with a bush breakfast. This seemed a very good system for optimum game viewing. We would then return after midday for a three course lunch and some close encounters with animals! Even during the middle of the day Impala has semi-resident and visiting large game.

The nature of the camp, with tents placed discreetly among the bush, means that you need to be vigilant at all times when walking without a Masai. Elephants are surprisingly quiet when not demolishing trees and although the Masai generally knew when Tempo where in camp, animals often crossed the river and came up into camp unnoticed. Thrilling and sometimes the cause of a delay to supper.

The family accommodation at Impala, two tents sharing a raised platform was ideal and the location, overlooking a sandy 'beach' where animals would leave the river was superb. Meals were served at you own table, in the dining area which overlooked the river, allowing you to continue watching game as you ate. At night the tables were moved out on to the deck under the stars.

A variation, if you feel you've done enough game viewing, is to go fishing on the river. It is a nice relaxing way to spend the morning and with simple rods and lines we caught two impressive fish without too much trouble.

All in all a fabulous 4 days."

"From Impala it is possible to 'Fly camp' with dusk and dawn walking safaris. This may be a good way of varing your activities. The walking safari was very interesting. It is a completely different feeling to be at floor level, 10 metres from an elephant trying to work out what you are and whether to charge, than viewing from the security of a Jeep.

Seeing the minuture of the bush added another dimension as well. However, the dining gazebo, linen, five staff and electric light somewhat took away from the 'out in the wild-temporary camp' experience we were hoping for. Having been at Manze Camp already we felt that theyhad done the job better. I guess that it's just a matter of taste."

"See earlier comments

[ Ed: see the review below! These travellers stayed at Selous Impala Camp twice, taking a short one-night fly-camping expedition during the intervening time. ]"

"As described in the brochure this was a lovely place to chill after a safari. We found the staff pleasant but unobtrusive and the gentle range of activities plenty for our needs. The dive master Audie was very good. He was fun and generous and knew his stuff. For reserved Brits he may come over a bit larger than life but our teenagers thought he was great.

Having the only pool on the island made it possible for them to do their dive training and Audie then made time to take them out for a second dive despite there being other, experienced divers staying who might have been more interesting.

The pool was also a bonus because the beach is extremely tidal. During our visit the monsoon winds meant it wasn't practical to go for sand bar picnics and you can't actually get to the sea at low tide. If you stayed for only a few days you could find that you missed out on any day when the beach / sea combination worked well. As we were told when we arrived, more of an activities resort than one for full on sun worship. However there was no pressure to participate if you didn't want to.

The accommodation was lovely, the family bungalow being one of the ones that looks over the sea. The food was good, generally soup and salads at lunch and predominantly fish in the evening. They offered to adjust the menu for the boys if necessary but frankly by the time they had finished breakfast they didn't need any thing else!

Mafai has the advantage that being on a lagoon it is possible to dive even when it is windy, whereas in July diving off Zanzibar can be a bit hit and miss.

A lovely way to finished an excellently organised fortnight in Tanzania."