Siwandu Camp | Selous Game Reserve

Loved this one too. The “tents” were beautiful, the whole camp was very luxurious and the staff were brilliant and really make the place special. They also gave us lots of honeymoon treats like lunch on the lake one day and a candlelit dinner by the pool on the last night which was lovely. Our guide was great too, so so knowledgeable and showed us so much big and little stuff!

Siwandu -- 5.  Very luxurious, with wonderful rooms, open to the surroundings but protected by nets.  Great food.  They surprised us several times with little treats, such as a lunch on a boat.  The guides were knowledgeable and friendly.  Animal density not as great as in the northern parks, or in other places in Kenya or South Africa that I have visited, but still wonderful, especially the hippos and crocs near the camp.

5/5 -> More luxurious than Ruaha and also very friendly staff. The guide was not as good as in Ruaha and we also had more difficulty spotting more elusive animals such as lions, leopards, etc. If we had to make a choice between the two parks, Ruaha would win (even if it was very chilly in the morning and at night :))

Siwandu was situated on  a lake and we loved the boat trips sailing gently by the hippos and crocodiles. The walking safari was a highlight and there were a couple of surprises on our first day making the whole experience very special - cooked breakfast by the lake after the walk  and lunch just for the family on the boat on the lake. The accommodation was excellent with open air showers, the food was delicious and the service was exceptional.
We didn't see any elephants here which wasn't too disappointing as we had seen so many in Mdonya but would have been had it been our first or only camp.

Siwandu- very formal after Mwagusi. No mixing for meals so we only met people briefly for drinks before supper. The lack of game was startling after Mwagusi and it felt a very sad place with the devastation of poaching clearly evident. We didn't see a single elephant. However, its a great place to see crocs and hippo and we did find one pride of lions. The bird life is also different to Ruaha.  Siwandu provide driver/guide combined and after one of each at Mwagusi we felt that this was a huge drawback as they can't spot that well when driving. The staff  and put on some lovely events e.g, pontoon lunch , evening pontoon to see the sunset, early morning guided walk to breakfast by the lake.  I think thy are used to honeymoon couples rather than families! The pool is great I should say. Night times were very noisy, the bush babies are very, very loud and seemed to enjoy leaping all over our bandeau! Hippo crashing around as well. Although the camp is positioned in view of the water there was very little game around that we saw apart from impala. The food was absolutely amazing and again drinks were well priced. Overall we all felt it was too formal for us and missed the relaxed atmosphere of Mwagusi and mixing with other people but its very smart and may suit others.
M. Hutchinson

Siwandu/Selous was a great bit of luxury….we organised our own vehicle!!!....just had a great time here.Obviously it is more commercial than the other two reserves,but has a good variety of activities.Guides were not too bad,but not quite in the same league as the other two camps.
The game in Southern Tanzania is great,and again the people etc all good.

The Siwandu camp in the Selous was in a spectacular reserve, unspoiled and quiet, teeming with animals. Our guide, Walter, was a joy to be with, so well informed and interesting and patient. And the camp itself was a lovely place to stay.Great accommodation, in a great location by the lake.

We thought that Siwandu Game Reserve was pretty much faultless. The service was exceptional, the location terrific and the game watching superb. Great food (considering we were in the middle of the bush) too.