Reviews of Lake Manze Adventure Camp
(93%) From 208 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
| 
Delightful lakeside safari camp
Lake Manze Adventure Camp was a brilliant place to stay in the Selous and have an authentic safari experience. The open nature of the camp, with no fences to keep out the wildlife made for amazing up close encounters with wildlife - on several occasions we were woken by the sound of hippos close by our tent and also saw elephant and buffalo from the porch of our tent.
The tented accommodation isn't high-end luxury, but we found them super comfortable with a hard floors, hot running water and mosquito netted doors to keep insects out; the open air shower and bathroom added to the immersive safari experience.
We took advantage of the possibility of going on walking and boat safari as well as the traditional game drives and recommend all of these activities to visitors.
We really enjoyed the great food each evening served in a communal dining area, as it offered an opportunity to talk with fellow holiday makers and share experiences from the days safari.
Great place to feel the bush experience
Wonderful experience in the Wilderness in such an eco friendly camp.
The owners were very attentive to our needs, our guide was really excellent in giving us all possible information about animals and plants, our driver Amazing, in particular when driving after heavy rain. A truly memorable experience with hippos grunting by our tent at night, and elephants giving us a good morning only two metres away once when we were pouring the coffee brought to us with our wake up call !
On top of everything else I loved the hot spring in the bush too. Also the boat safaris were great.
Very well run camp, good food, good tent
We stayed four nights, did mostly game drives with good sightings. One boat safari, which was very interesting. We liked the tent, pity though it did not have a view to the lake. The solar powered fan was a real bonus. The Masai brought us safely to our tent when it was dark, and he was very effective the evening we encountered a hippo along our path.
The food is very good in this camp, no frills, honest meals with a lot of fresh vegetables; delicious vegetarian lunches. We also liked the no-plastic-bottle approach: at arrival every guest receives a personal metal bottle that is refilled anytime you wish.
We really appreciated the excellent guiding by Kalisti, and our very competent driver Mgabo. Our daily bush breakfasts together were a pleasant break during the game drives, and gave us a good opportunity for a chat about our lives. We saw plenty of animals, but it struck me that there seemed to be not many elephants in the area; various reasons were mentioned: temporary lack of food due to drought, but also poaching.
We saw a lot of safari cars from outside the game reserve during the game drives. Selous attracts apparently more and more tourists who spend a holiday on Zanzibar and come over for a safari trip of one or two days.
Wonderful Safari Camp
We had a wonderful time at Lake Manze.
The camp managers, Shawn and Millie, are fantastic. They are very welcoming and accommodating and cater to your safari desires. Choices include all day or morning/late afternoon safaris, boat safaris or walking safaris. They make the logistics seem easy at this busy and fun camp.
Our guide, Imani, was wonderful. We saw many animal world dramas play out as opposed to a checklist of animal sightings. In particular, great lion sightings as well as giraffe water crossings. We also loved the dinners by the campfire and met interesting people from around the world.
Lake Manze Adventure Camp review
Absolutely fantastic! We had high expectations and hopes for this holiday and somehow they were exceeded. The unfenced nature of the camp meant we were so close to nature, with elephants regularly joining us at mealtime, whilst baboons, impala and giraffe were often seen within the camp.
The drives and boat trips were amazing and we saw everything we could have hoped for - and more - leopard (very lucky), lions (at a giraffe kill - sensational), impala (100s), zebras, wildebeest, elephant, warthog, hippos, eland, buffalo, kudu and a huge number of amazing birds (rollers, heron, bee eaters, kingfishers, fish eagles, batleur eagles, ibis, stork etc. etc.).
We had the same guide (Roger) all week and he made a huge difference to the experience with the knowledge he imparted. We built up a real relationship with him and it was quite emotional when we parted.
Food and service at the camp was great, and Shaun runs a great set-up - well done. We would love to go back one day. Truly the experience of a lifetime.
Lake Manze Adventure Camp review
Excellent well-run camp. For us, it provided the perfect balance between being a proper camp with no electricity (except for charging) with wildlife frequently passing by, yet enough comforts such as flushing toilets and solar-powered heated showers.
On my first morning when having an early shower (a cold on at that time) two hyenas walked rights passed the tent looking up at me - welcome to the bush. Some more "up-market" camps would not enable this experience. Elephants munched on palm leaves around our tent at night. Giraffes, warthog, impala, baboons, crocodiles, hippos, bushbuck as well as countless birdlife could be seen from our tent alone which we loved.
The fact that my wife and I had a private vehicle with a guide and driver for all game drives was excellent and the guiding from Kalisti was top notch. Lake Manze Camp, from our limited experience of 4 nights in Selous, appeared to be in the best game viewing area. The boat trips on Lake Manze and the nearby waterways were wonderful and provide a different perspective, as did the the walking safari, and these give a great mix to usual game drives.
On our last night, Malcolm arranged for my wife and I to have a private honeymoon dinner outside of our (isolated) tent which was special.
Magic in the wilderness
Sean and his wife were remarkable - awaiting our arrival and from then onwards, unintrusive hosts who made our time absolutely wonderful. We felt Lake Manze was incredibly special. The communal eating outside in the evenings was a highlight, and Sean and his wife carefully deciding who should sit next to whom. The staff under their supervision were superb. Delicious meals always. Incredible how the food was presented and the standard of cooking very high. Sean and his wife run a remarkable camp and they and their staff are to be applauded. Exceptional.
Our guides Sauduro (not sure of spelling, but know Saudoro was Masai as we discovered this one bush breakfast time!) and trainee Lasuro, and driver Jimmy, were so good. By the end of our stay, after three days of drives with them, we felt close to them and had enjoyed interesting conversations as well as wonderful game drives. This was a real highlight, the fact that we stayed with the same guiding team throughout our stay. Such a great way to really get to know your guides and to interact in a far more personal way, and to learn more about the lives of our guides. Never expected this and we all really appreciated this. They went out of their way to find animals for us and to share their knowledge. The same with the boat safari guide. Brilliant guides. We would love them to know how much we appreciated them.
Tent accommodation was wonderful - three of us sharing really worked well. High standard of comfort and loved the views and the shower to the stars! Liked also the fact that Masai lead you to and from your tent.
We felt that other guests were all there for similar reasons to us; to be out in the wilderness, to feel close to nature and wildlife and we had some lovely conversations with our fellow guests over dinner each night. Genuine feel to everything. The fact that no electricity was great - having a drink by paraffin lamps and candle-lit dinners was just what we loved. Elephants roaming so close to the camp plus hippos and giraffe made it very special. Had total confidence in Sean's ability to deal with any animals roaming close! He is a one off! Love the fact he wanders around barefoot too.
I liked almost everything about this camp.
I liked the placement of the tents, the Masai walkers who escorted us to an from our tents, the food (delicious), eating at a long common table under the stars at night, the arrangement of the common area, the bar, the Selous!
My only comment would be the Sean pours out a huge amount of information the instant you arrive. You're jet lagged and it's a lot to absorb...too much to absorb in one sitting.
Then the "rules" feel inflexible (even though you can't really remember them). We were a group of six women who all wished for a softer touch upon entry and more access to information as we settled in.
Lake Manze Adventure Camp review
Lake Manze was wonderful! Expert guides with timely departures and warm greetings.
Very international flavor with many Europeans and Americans being part of Lake Manze visitors. Staff are helpful and very well trained, a reflection of the country’s effort to support tourism.
Guides on the boat safaris and land safaries are very knowledgeable and wonderful to share time with.
Great way to end our trip
Enjoyed activities - had initial poor guide which Sean dealt with immediately and hooked us up with excellent guide Samwell/ Daniel... drive me to my chalet every time,
Read more about the whole safari
