Nyerere Tented Camp — Hotel in Pwani Region

We’re fortunate enough to have travelled extensively across Africa, staying both in and outside hundreds of national parks. This review is therefore based on many years of safari lodge experience. Unlike many travellers who stay here for just one or two nights, we chose to spend eight nights exploring Nyerere National Park, having already visited other parks in Tanzania. Sadly, for us, Nyere Tented Camp falls short in several key areas||🏕️ Accommodation & Atmosphere||This is not a 5-star lodge, but then it does not charge a 5-Star price. Therefore, my observation is based on value for money and the overall experience of our stay. For us it does not offer the 5-star experience reflected in the many reviews on here and at best, can be evaluated as 3-star.||The main area is functional but lacks the warmth or safari charm found in most other lodges. Tables are laid out more like a café than a restaurant, and the choice to play reggae music during dinner was somewhat questionable, detracting from the African experience.||The tents are tired and very dark – even with all the lights on and the tent sides open, it was difficult to see. A simple fix would be to replace the bulbs with higher wattage, energy saving options. The shower was cold for the first five days, but following some maintenance, we did have hot water for the remaining three days. The shower in our tent seeped heavily into the bathroom, meaning once you got out of the shower, you were stood in a puddle of water that remained for many hours.||Whilst the tents are advertised by staff as insect-proof, they were easily accessed by squirrels through gaps between the floor and tent sides. Whilst we didn’t feed the squirrels or keep food in the tent, they have clearly become accustomed to people doing this and make their daily pilgrimage to check the tent for food. Whilst the squirrels didn’t worry us, the fact that they could get into the tent made us cautious of the more dangerous things that could also easily find their way in.||That said, the beds and bedding were very comfortable, and towels and bedding were changed regularly, which was a lovely touch. There are also electric sockets and an extension lead in the tent for charging devices, an electric fan, and for using a hairdryer if needed. The cleaners were amazing, keeping the tent immaculate. There are NO toiletries provided, so you will need to bring what you need with you.||The Maasai Boma, located just a few metres from the restaurant, filled the dining area (and our tent) with wood smoke once the fire was lit early each evening. This resulted in our hair, clothing, bedding, towels and luggage constantly smelling of smoke. The location of the Boma is somewhat puzzling, as it also meant that our tent was overlooked by both the Maasai sitting at the fire during the night and any guests that joined them during the evening. Whilst we of course zipped all the tent’s windows and doors with the tent fabric as opposed to the mesh fabric, this resulted in no airflow and very hot night||🏊‍♂️ Swimming Pool – Misleading Information||Whilst you will see various reviews on here and on the lodge website referring to a swimming pool being under construction and ready for 2025, this is not the case. Once again, misleading information has been provided by management. The swimming pool is yet to be started, and a new bar is actually first on the list to be built.||🍽️ Food||The food was basic and plentiful, but also repetitive:||Soups: Five days of pumpkin soup and three days of potato soup. This completely puzzled us – Tanzania has so many vegetables, yet they offered only two options over an eight-day period.||Main meals: Fish and rice two consecutive nights, with a cold fish omelette for lunch in-between.||Desserts: No desserts – a slice of watermelon was offered each night. After five nights, we asked for pineapple, which we thankfully got. Once again, to offer no dessert is very strange.||Whilst the chef clearly did their best with the limited supplies, the variety was lacking, and the food was more reminiscent of school dinners.||🚙 Game Package & Pricing||We paid for an eight-night stay and, in addition to this, a seven full-day safari package. The game package was priced at $185 per person per day, which included the gate fees. This means we were paying $180 per day for the use of the vehicle alone, which is more than most other lodges or the independent hire of a safari vehicle with driver. Wanting to support the lodge and for ease, we accepted this inflated price, which in hindsight was a mistake.||The vehicle was great overall, though we did lose half a day of game viewing due to a breakdown, its repair, and a subsequent swap to another safari vehicle for the remainder of the day. Sadly, this fell on the day that we had travelled many hours to reach a part of the park we really wanted to visit, which we were unable to do due to the vehicle breakdown and the need for us to then travel the many hours back down to meet up with the replacement vehicle. This also included meeting up with mechanics and the fixing of the vehicle as part of our day. The result of this sadly meant that there was no opportunity for game viewing that morning as we had only traversed the central highway of the park. Whilst we accept that things like this occur, given that we had lost half a day of a package that we had paid for, the following additional charge for the vehicle seemed both unreasonable and unfair.||We were asked by our guide if we would like to do a night drive and we jumped at the opportunity. However, what travellers need to understand is the gate fees here are not like other National parks where you pay for 24 hours or single/multiple entry (The internet shows the gate fees are valid for 24 hours so beware, here you need to pay gate fees again if you want to go on a night drive). This is unlike any other National Park we have visited in Africa.||What really upset us though was the lodge saying that we needed to pay extra for the use of vehicle for the night drive, even though we’d only used it for a few hours in the morning (as suggested by the guide) and had already paid for 12 hour use and lost half a day’s game viewing the day before due to the vehicle breakdown.||We acknowledged the requirement for a ranger escort after dark and accepted that this should be charged as an additional cost. We also, albeit reluctantly, agreed to pay the extra gate fees. However, we maintained that the vehicle should not be subject to a further charge.||Ultimately, we agreed to pay an extra $240 on top of the $370 already paid, which still felt excessive. This included the additional gate fees, ranger escort, VAT, and other associated costs, the lodge imposed a further $90 fee for use of the vehicle, despite the fact that we had already paid $180 for its use that day.||At checkout, we were presented with a final bill charging $280 for the night drive – $40 more than agreed just two days earlier. While the amount may seem small, the principle and already excessive costs made it feel money-grabbing and dishonest, especially as we had stayed so many nights at the lodge, booking direct with them, ensuring no third party deductions, and using their game package as opposed to hiring a vehicle and guide, which most people staying at the lodge appear to do.||🦁 Park Access & Lost Opportunities||One of the main reasons you should consider whether a stay here is right for you is the access to the National Park. If you stay at this lodge, you cannot enter the park before 07:20am, well after sunrise, meaning you miss the best part of the day and any chance of seeing predators on the move. As a photographer, there were no opportunities for golden hour photography, which was hugely disappointing.||We have NEVER encountered a gate of a National Park not opening at sunrise anywhere else in Africa. The gate here appears to centre its operations around daily flights from Zanzibar arriving at the airstrip at 06:50 hours, therefore opening for the many trucks from one-day tour operators like Safari and Beach and Uwanda Tours. This resulted in long queues at the gate each morning, followed by a race up the very dusty central highway to escape the crowd. We sadly saw many dead animals on this central highway as safari trucks and other construction vehicles used this to travel at speeds way too fast.||Whilst we asked if we could get a permit to cover our seven days in the park, we were told this was not possible and that we needed to pay each day (again, this is very unusual). We would then leave the park each day between 17:00 and 18:00 hours, being told that the gate closed at 18:00.||🧳 Lost Items & Trust Issues||If you accidentally leave anything in the vehicle, it won’t be there the next day, with claims of “sorry, it’s been thrown away.” On one occasion, I left the case to my sunglasses in the vehicle. Realising only moments later, my husband ran back to retrieve it, but it was already gone.||The guide helped my husband search and spoke to an older man near the vehicle, who then pulled the case from his pocket and handed it back. We’ve never experienced anything like this at any other lodge and found it deeply disturbing, especially as the vehicle was supposed to be exclusively for our use.|| ||🧭 Final Thoughts||If you’re staying for just one or two nights as part of a longer trip, and/or have no prior safari and safari lodge experience, this is basic 3-star accommodation close to the gate of the park. For seasoned safari travellers, however, I would not recommend...

We stayed at the camp for two nights while visiting Selous (Nyerere) Park but I wish we stayed longer! The place is amazing and the staff is so kind and professional (special thanks to Germano and Thomas). The camp is located in the forest and you can really feel the safari spirit (which is not true for other camps we visited). There is an authentic-looking common eating area with a bar and also a camp fire area. The camp is guarded by a Maasai warrior at night which adds even more charm to the place.

The tents are cosy, convenient and safe. I'm not a fan of camping and tents so I had a lot of reservations but really loved this camp, which I can describe as luxurious glamping. Each tent has its own toilet, sink and shower with running water. It's a new camp and they will be adding more traditional low-cost tent site to it, I heard from the manager, for those of you who like that type of experience. We were on a full board, the food was plenty and very delicious, including three course meals at dinner and cooked-food packed lunches for the safari trips.

The camp is close to Rufuji River where you can go on a boat trip and very close to Selous (Nyerere) Park which is amazing for a safari. If you need to chose only one park, I suggest you go for Selous (Nyerere), just personal preference, and stay and the camp. I would recommend 5 days with a boat trip and ask for an additional Maasai village experience, this is amazing to visit.

Our safari was organised by the company who owns the camp site (Daigle Tours). Everything was tailored to our needs and preferences. The transport was comfortable, the accommodation was amazing, the food was delicious and more than enough, there was plenty of drining water. The organisation was perfect, these guys knew what we would need before we did! :)

The safari itself was magical! We saw so many animals and observed their daily activities. Our guide Otto was fantastic, he literally knew where the animals live and where to find them and could answer all our questions with such competence! We managed to see a lioness, a hyena family, and lots of giraffes, elephants, zebras, gnus, buffalos, hippos, baboons, different types of antelopes, crocodiles, and (my personal favourite) the warthog (also known as Pumba in The Lion King). There is so much for the bird fans as well. We also had a fantastic boat trip on...

We stayed here as a couple for 2 nights in September 2024. |We stayed in one of the tented lodges across the resort. They are of a high quality and include a good sized bed, shower and toilet and fan. There is a decking area out of the front of the tented lodge. |The resort is peaceful and quiet and whilst we were there we saw numerous birds, lizards and squirrels. We also saw a baboon in the resort. However there is 24 hour protraction at the resort from the resident Masai Mara. They sit around the Masai Bomba and are happy to exchange stories with you round the fire. They escorted us in a walking safari from the resort and just outside the gate we encountered Wild Dogs , Zebra and Water Buffalo. What an experience.|The main area in the resort is the dining area which is if a good size. The staff were all very good and the food provided was of a good quality. It was very quiet on an evening which suited us, although we did have the odd game or two of connect 4 with the staff. Drinks were well priced at about $3 for a beer. |Really enjoyable stay thank you and highly...