Maramboi Tented Camp

Sunset over the flooded surroundings

Maramboi Tented Camp has one of my favorite surroundings of any lodge in the north, especially for a lodge outside of a national park. Mamramboi Tented camp sits on the eastern side of Lake Manyara (Lake Manyara National Park is on the western side of the lake). The lodge is situated in a Wildlife Management Area (WMA), one of several community run conservation protected areas in Tanzania.

Maramboi is a massive tented camp far less intimate than many other tented camps. It has over 40 rooms (most tented camps have less than 15) and serves more or less as an appetizer for other camps on safari. Most safari goers will stay here their first day of safari on their way from Arusha en route to Serengeti National Park. As a result most of the guests are only staying one night and they come in the evening with a quick turn around to be out in the morning. Thus some of the intimacy and attention to detail isn't quite as apparent in this lodge as others but it avoids feeling like an empty big box lodge/hotel.

The best thing Maramboi has is its setting. Normally it is set in a grassland with views of Lake Manyara but the massive rains this year have flooded the area right up to the lodges. Waterbirds are numerous and wildebeest and zebra graze right outside the tents. We've visited when the waters are lower and the shoreline is kilometers away and it's still quite beautiful. For us residents we still must pay a WMA fee but they're far less expensive than the national park fees. The lodging is far superior and better value than anything you'd find in the park with the only downside being it can feel quite crowded. However, for those in Arusha it makes a perfect weekend getaway.

The pool looking out into the lake.

Totally flooded

Wildlife from our balcony