Reviews of Siwandu

"We spent four nights at Siwandu. It is an excellent camp, very well managed by Conrad and his team. Very comfortable tented rooms well spread out from each other and overlooking the large lake. We enjoyed the variety of game viewing activities - drives, boating and walking.

It had been unseasonally wet for two weeks before we arrived, so there were areas of Selous that were inaccessible. Consequently we were unable to find most of the predator species during our stay, although we did see a pack of wild dogs. However, there were remarkable densities of several other animals, notably giraffe and zebra as well as impala, along with sightings of less common species such as kudu, waterbuck and eland. Being the green season, the bird life was prolific. Flocks of carmine bee-eaters around the safari vehicle were particularly spectacular.

Our guide, Mohamed, was very knowledgeable and competent, as was Allen, who led our game walk." See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania

"Very good service from helpful and attentive staff. Dinners under the stars as in the bush. The tents are very comfortable, too dark, lamps should be brighter.

Game drives were well organised and lunch at the boat perfect! I enjoyed Allan our guide, he really is very experienced.

The airstrip could not be used for arrival nor for departure due to the heavy rains, but everything was an adventure." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania

"Incredibly friendly, efficient, professional team at Siwandu made our stay an absolute delight!

Location fabulous, food was really, really good, accommodation excellent, guide and activities brilliant, attention to detail spot on!

Would love to go and stay there again!" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"Simply stunning! From the moment we were collected at the air strip we were made to feel extremely special and welcome.

We cannot rate every part of the service, facilities and experiences highly enough. The safari tours were so personalised with extremely knowledgable guides who were so enthusiastic. The food was on par with Michelin star quality! The personal touches such as the river boat lunch,sundowners,camp fire and our private dining experience were sensational.

All of the staff,especially Conrad, Kim, Onesmo and the Massai did everything they could to make our stay the most memorable experience we have ever had.

A huge thank you!" See all these reviews: 9n in Zanzibar; 4n in Tanzania

"Our experience at this camp was spoiled by the scarcity of wildlife to be seen. Whether this was because there had been some rain before our arrival or whether there is always a scarcity, we do not know. We suspect that the rain probably made it unnecessary for wildlife to visit the lake in as great numbers as it would have done in drier conditions.

The camp is well located in the sense that it provides good views over the lake, but not in the sense that it offered satisfactory game viewing. The rooms are in many ways beautiful, but lack a certain practicality in some respects. The very personal service provided was excellent." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"We liked the location of this lodge & liked the locatoin of our tented room, overlooking a lake. The food was nice & our guide was excellent.

I did not like the fact that the toilet & shower facilities of the room were simply an extension of the bedroom so that to obtain a modicum of privacy one had to lower a curtain that in turn cut off all cross ventilation. I also did not like the fact that there was no way to communicate with the lodge in case of some emergency or other. A walkie talkie would have been welcome.

My cousin & I were also annoyed by the fact that drinks at this place were charged as extras. My cousin found that non bottled water disagreed with her. Both she & I agreed that while it might be acceptable for a place for which one was paying many hundreds of dollars to stay might be justified in charging guests for alcoholic drinks, to charge them for non-alcoholic drinks was simply cheap & unacceptable.

I loved the bird life in the area." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania; 10n in Kenya; 3n in Zanzibar

"Really excellent stay at a top notch camp. The guiding and the 'tents' were excellent. Indeed the tent was one of the best I've seen, large and very open, with mesh all round (and blinds when you want privacy). They even have a writing desk on our veranda facing the lagoon.

There can be some long (and bumpy) drives.

Very pleased with our stay here and will stay again." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"The Siwandu experience was amazing. Emma and George run a very well organised outfit which offers everything you need, even before you realise you need it!

The staff were fantastic: friendly, approachable, professional. The facilities were beyond our expectations. The 'tent' was luxurious and provided us with everything we needed. The laundry service was excellent and the food was first class - plenty of variety and catered totally for our needs. The extra touches such as the bush breakfast, coffee and sundowner stops during the game drives and lunch on the boat were unexpected and made the holiday so special.

We couldn't fault any part of the trip and would highly recommend this to anyone considering going on safari." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania

"In terms of layout, design, accommodation, atmosphere and food this was our favourite lodge by a long way. It was really well run. The managers, George and Emma, were very professional and really nice people, good fun and very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. They had a very good relationship with their staff, who really did seem to work like a large family. All the staff were great too, very helpful and friendly without being deferential. The guide we had, Mohammed, was very experienced, with an uncanny knack for being in just the right place at the right time. He also had a wealth of local folk stories told to him by his mother, which were very amusing.

The accommodation was just about perfect. Everything was really well thought through, down to the smallest detail, and it all worked. The banda we had was a very clever and pleasing design, and really comfortable. And all sorts of game just sauntered past! All it lacked was a hammock on the veranda (although the beanbag chair was a pretty good substitute).

The activities were very well organised and planned. As well as the game drives, we had a really interesting walk with George and Mohammed, and a couple of excellent boat trips with Mohammed. We saw a large variety of animals, birds and plants, and were given very good explanations of how they fitted into the ecosystem, and how it all worked. We had some up-close (but very well handled) confrontations with elephants, and got very close to lions, crocodiles and lots of other animals.

The food was really excellent – up to London restaurant standards. The locations chosen for sundowners were amazing.

We saw and did so much it didn’t seem possible it had all happened in only 4 days. However it was never rushed, and always felt very comfortable and relaxed. All together a very comfortable, relaxing, but intensive experience: just what we came for." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 8n in Zanzibar; 1n in Kenya

"Excellent camp, very comfortable and spacious tents.

Game drives were great and they were very flexible on letting us go out early every day and also for a full day drive to the hot springs. Our guide Dula was great and we got to see all five lakes in the time we were there. Very varied terrain and beautiful area.

Unusual to see many other trucks which was just what we were looking for." See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania