Reviews of Lake Manze Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
222 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Lake Manze Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
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"Lake Manze Adventure Camp review"
Our guide and driver were a lot of fun and extremely knowledgeable. The game drives were amazing: we saw a fantastic variety of animals and loved sitting and watching them. Most of the time, we were the only two guests in our Land Rover and that meant we could go at our own pace and just see whatever was around.
We went on two boat safaris and a walking safari too. Both are to be recommended for gaining a different perspective and learning a huge amount more about the birds and animals and their local environment.
We saw lots of animals in the camp, including a memorable visit from a herd of elephants one morning.
Food was very good, plentiful and varied. The camp had no problems in providing vegetarian options for one of us (as requested when we made our booking). We enjoyed the bush breakfasts, and our evening meals under the canopy of stars, with the sound of animals all around, were great.
We felt in safe hands at all times and the Maasai were always on hand to guide us to and from our tent.
The tent was well-equipped and comfortable. We certainly didn’t need anything more for our stay and we enjoyed the fact that there was no electricity in the tent. We took headtorches with us and that made finding our way to the bathroom much easier. It was great to be so close to nature. We really felt that we were in the middle of it all. We heard lots of hippos close by at night. Sitting outside our tent in the daytime, we were able to watch monkeys, giraffes, impalas and lots of beautiful birds. We wondered whether we would suffer insect bites, with the camp being so close to the lake, but that turned out not to be an issue for us.
The laundry service was fast and efficient.
We were delighted with our stay and were sad to leave. Our abiding memory will be of the enormous variety of wildlife we saw." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar
"Lake Manze feedback"
We had a very good guide and driver during the stay who tried hard to find the various animals over the 4 game drives we took. The added bonus is the lake. We did 2 boat trips (one in the lake and one up the river channel) as well as a fishing trip where we caught 5 catfish (and later ate them). We also went on a walk and looked at spoor, dung, trees etc.
The managers Phil and Tricia were very helpful and took a lot of trouble in planning each evening everyone's individual programme for the following day.
The only minor disappointment was the lack of elephants but this may have been due to the time of year. We only saw a few by the lake. However, we saw a lot of lions and other mammals (including my first ever side-striped jackal) and lots of interesting birds. The lake and channels are teeming with water birds." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania
"Lake Manze Adventure Camp review"
We were given a lot of help when our luggage was lost in transit and the camp managers did all they could to organise it being forwarded to the camp.
The guides and drivers were very knowledgeable and took great care to ensure our holiday was unforgettable." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 4n in Tanzania
"Lake Manze camp - highlight of 3 week holiday"
Accommodation very comfortable- exceeded expectations." See all these reviews: 4n in Zanzibar; 3n in Tanzania
"Lake Manze Adventure Camp review"
The standard of accommodation here was more basic than at the other camps (eg no electricity in the tent) and it was therefore a good camp to start with. Solar heating meant that morning showers - after sticky nights - were only lukewarm. Game viewing was excellent and guiding good, although better on the drives than the river. The location was helped by having the river/lake within easy distance which enabled game drives to be alternated with mainly bird watching on the water, although we also saw game, mainly elephants, along the banks.
Although the shower/loo was 'en suite', as it was open to the sky there had to be a mosquito net between the bedroom section and the shower/loo which meant a lot of zipping and unzipping when one went from one to the other, by contrast with all the tents we had at other camps.
The variety of game seen was good, the guides and drivers good and off-roading does enable you to see game which you would not otherwise see. The 'champagne' in the bush, overlooking the river on the first night was a nice touch." See all these reviews: 19n in Tanzania; 2n in Zanzibar
"Lake safari"
We safaried on foot, by boat, by 4*4 and just by sitting on our veranda - all were breathtaking, but if we were to vote, the boat safari on Lake Manze was the winner - the boat guides were the best we had throughout our holiday - we could have sat and listened to them all day. Everyone is catered for as their requirements, no formula for time to go out or come back other than sunrise and sundown restrictions. The Masai escorts after dark added to the atmosphere as did the elephants munching around our tent on our last evening.
We would definitely return here." See all these reviews: 9n in Zanzibar; 7n in Tanzania
"Lake Manze Adventure Camp review"
"Three nights at Lake Manze"
The tents were very comfortable and we enjoyed the experience of being part of the bush, without electricity. The constant stream of animals throughout the camp, particularly elephants, was a treat. Food was also good, lunches particularly, but didn't quite match the standard at Mdonya Old River camp where we went next.
We could always do the activities we chose when we wanted (walking safaris, boat safaris, fishing, game drives), although we kept swopping guides and swopping the guests we were with, which felt a little disruptive.
A special treat on our penultimate night was a private dinner on our veranda with a Masai guard.
The staff were helpful and professional throughout and made us feel very welcome.
We thoroughly recommend this camp, although it wasn't luxurious it was very comfortable and exactly what we wanted." See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania
"Truly Authentic and Amazing Camp"
We had initially toyed with the idea of doing the Northern Circuit (Serengeti, Ngorongoro etc), but chose the South as it seemed to be more secluded, less busy and more authentic. I am so happy that we did this as we weren't disappointed.
The camp is impecably run by Pippa, the manager and she is extremely welcoming and accomodated all our requests. There are a large selection of activities on offer here, namely full day drives (including a trip to the hot springs), morning and evening drives, walks, boat trips and fishing. There is lots to do at the camp and in hindsight we should have stayed 5 nights and not moved on to Mdonya Old River Camp, in Ruaha), which was slightly disppointing. Pippa was very informative about all these activities and explained each one in detail to us. She would talk to all guests before dinner to arrange the activities for the next day. I loved that fact that she always tried to make sure that each party was on their own for an activity at least one during their stay. This really showed that some thought had been put into this.
In terms of wildlife, the Reserve is absolutely teaming with animals and birds - I don't think 5 mins passed without us seeing something - even if it was only an impala! The only time we didn't see many animals was on the way to the hot springs, but we had already been pre-warned about this by Pippa so it wasn't an issue. We had some amazing experiences with lions, elephants and baby hyenas. Our guides and drivers were fantastic and hugely knowledgeable about everything. The only animal that we didn't manage to see was the elusive leopard, but hat wasn't through lack of trying on the part of our guides!
The food was good and very wholesome - the type of food you may cook yourself. There's always lots available and you never go hungry.
All in all, this isn't a luxurious camp, but what in lacks in luxury it makes up (and more) in hospitality! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this camp to anyone looking for somewhere to stay during their safari!" See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 5n in Tanzania
"Lake Manze"
The location of the camp is excellent permitting game viewing from the tent and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing hippo, buffalo and elephant on the lake shore.
Our baggage was lost by the airline and did not arrive until after we had left Lake Manze but the staff were extremely helpful in lending us clothes and chasing the airline to forward our baggage." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar
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