Reviews of Siwandu

"Siwandu is set next to an oxbow lake, fed by the Rufjii river, and is quite spread out with reception at one end of the camp through seven spacious and well equipped tents to a large dining area overlooking the lake. Each of the tents also has a view of the lake, albeit we were set back about 100m. The camp is excellent, good food, great service with a very friendly willing team.

At the time of our visit (June 2023), the dry season hadn't really got going, the rainy season having lasted nearly two months longer than normal. The animals were therefore quite dispersed as there was still plenty of water on the higher ground away from the lakes and river. As a result, there were limited prey species around and therefore limited predators. In six days, we didn't see a cat, although we saw signs of leopard and lions. However, it was clear that the park was drying quickly and by the end of our stay the numbers of prey species around were clearly rising.

Despite the lack of predators, there was plenty to see and the birding was excellent. Our guide also went above and beyond." See all these reviews: 17n in Tanzania

"Second time staying at Siwandu and still a great place to stay. Fantastic location on the edge of a lake.

Many activity options available including a boat safari, seeing Hippo, Crocodile up close as well as lots of birds. Also walking safari available if desired (we didn't do this) Not entirely clear if night drives are possible at Siwandu.

Food and service top-notch. Really enjoyed the pre-dinner camp fire chat. Emile was a great camp manager, larger than life and very engaging. Additionally, was very helpful to me when trying to capture particular types of photos around the camp (star trails)" See all these reviews: 17n in Tanzania

"Siwandu was our second camp and was much busier than Jongomero - with both more animals and people. All the staff were very friendly and helpful, particularly the bar and restaurant staff and the assistant manager who looked after us really well. We really liked our guide Mpoto and he was extremely knowledgeable and experienced.

The camp is spacious and split into two so we had quite an intimate experience with fewer guests.

The food was delicious throughout although the drinking water is quite sandy.

On the first game drive we had, there were 4 other guests with us so we were very happy that the manager managed to find another guide for us so we had a private experience for the remainder of our stay. We would highly recommend organising a private car in advance as the experience was completely different and so much better.

The game drives are full of different animals but we also saw loads of other vehicles. A boat safari is also available on the lake and we did it twice, very relaxing and different to being in the car. We really enjoyed it!" See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"Beautiful lakeside location, Great service.

The area was very green in December, and there had been much rain the previous week. This made hunting for wildlife more of a challenge - but we still saw plenty, including wild dogs. The water trip was excellent, and also lunch relaxing on the pontoon.

A new dam is being built in the Selous - far from the lodge, but the new access road has made the area more accessible. I am worried that the dam will also affect water levels and wildlife over the next few years." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"Selous was a great contrast to our few days in Ruaha. The rains had come early and it was very green and lush. Siwandu is beautifully situated on a lake and offers evening boat safaris and pontoon lunches (lunch on a boat) which provide a different perspective from land safari drives. The tents are large, comfortable, and well equipped. Mau did an excellent job of caring for our room and clothes washing. Our lake view was slightly restricted (room name Moja), numbers 3 to 6 on the south side have a more open view. All the food was excellent and we were superbly looked after by Alphonse. Evening meals start with a communal drink around the camp fire followed by dining alone on tables dotted around the banda. It is an open camp and regularly visited by elephants, giraffes and hippo. Maasai warriors escort you around after dark in case of any close animal encounters - we felt safe at all times.Our guide Christopher was knowledgeable, attentive and patiently answered all our questions. We asked to see wild dogs and he had tracked them down within an hour. We also had an excellent lion sighting finding them camped for the day in a little thatched open hut. One downside is the lack of mobile coverage in the camp and wifi only available in the reception area. It was also quite humid whilst we were there and we incurred a number of mosi bites. But overall a great safari experience." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"It was lovely to return to Siwandu and it was made more special by our request for our previous guide being granted.

Some improvements had been made to the camp in the four years that have passed since our last visit.

We had heavy rains towards the end of our visit and they coped well maintaining our safari programme. Also despite the airstrip being closed due to flooding, suitable arrangements were made for our onward flight." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"The location of Siwandu by the lakeside with views from the terrace was excellent. There was easy access to boats at the lakeside. The camp also provided lunchtime boat trips with lunch served on board whilst enjoying the wildlife.

Every member of staff contributed to the excellent service. It seems there was nothing that was too much trouble. The food was creative and good quality.
Our guide during the four days of our trip was Christopher. He was knowledgeable and took the time to give context and background information about habitat etc. We were fortunate to have Christopher as our guide throughout our stay.

A unique experience for us was discovering many species of birds at a feeding frenzy of catfish after rainfall.

Siwandu is a bird spotters paradise." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania

"An oasis of calm, Siwandu has impeccable standards, and our second visit lived up to all our expectations. The staff are friendly but discreet, and very efficient. The tents and facilities within are of a very high quality, spotless and comfortable with amazing views down to the lake. The food is fabulous, every meal a joy, portion sizes perfect. And lovely to have a lunch out on the lake again. It’s great that Siwandu is now all inclusive, but I was slightly disappointed that there was no longer a little shot of liqueur offered on return from the evening game drive!

Activities were excellent, with a combination of drives, boat on the lake and walks. Would like to see different levels of walking tour offered though, as we all found the walk too sedate, despite being incredibly interesting. But we had excellent sitings every day.

The only slight negative, which is totally beyond the reach of Siwandu to fix, is waking up to the sound of trucks rumbling down the newly widened road on their way to the dam construction site. We hope this doesn’t have a negative impact on Siwandu and the reserve as a whole in the coming years." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"Accommodation: The best safari style accommodation I've seen in 4 trips. Very well designed and equipped "tents" and with that all important view to the middle distance down to the lake.

Food and drink: The food was less fancy than some places of this type, but was very suitable to the weather and the activity level of the trip. In some ways, actually, this type of food is ideal being relatively simple, but is less spectacular than elsewhere. Overall, we preferred the food here to Ikuka. The wine however was a weakness and not of a good standard. Just a question of getting better advice I think, because the wines at Ikuka were absolutely fine.

Staff generally: Very willing and helpful although less refined than some places. Emil, the camp manager, is highly attentive and the room butler was exceptional. The atmosphere here is more of a camp with connections to its local community rather than the "colonial outpost" vibe of some places.

Guiding: Our young guide Amos was extremely knowledgeable and competent (although not as experienced as Geofrey at Ikuka who was exceptional)

Vehicles and game drives: A weakness - the vehicle was older and the roads in the Selous were considerably worse than other areas I've been to.

Game viewing: Very good for giraffe as well as hippo and other water dependent wildlife because of the lake. We were fortunate to see buffalo and lion relatively near by as we understand this is not typically the case and the long drive to get a sighting could be quite bad (as we discovered with a drive out to see some Wild Dogs). Also only two sightings of a single elephant here. This is all relative of course, and I'm nitpicking as one of our game drives in particular was absolutely stunning. Also a very interesting and entertaining walking safari with Allen, the head guide." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania

"Staff were fantastic. Lovely people, couldn’t do more for you. Everything went extremely smoothly.

Premises all clean, tents/ rooms had lovely decor. Safari also good, with fun guides. Walking safari a bit tame, and felt a little staged.

We all enjoyed the delicious food, and the stories around the bush tv, as they called the camp fire.

Highly recommended." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar