Review: Anga’ata Seronera Camp – Serengeti National Park Tanzania

What is it like to stay at the Angaata Seronera Camp in Seregenti National Park? My sister and I stayed here for two nights while on safari, so I’ll give you an honest review of this safari camp – because most reviews for this lodge look to be fake. I actually stayed here at the Anga’ata Seronera Camp and I’ll give you the real run down. Let’s go!

Table of Contents

• Where is the Angaata Seronera Camp?
• Rooms at the Anga’ata Seronera Camp
• Amenities
• Food
• My Experience
• Final Thoughts
• More East Africa Safari Information

Where is the Angaata Seronera Camp?

The Anga’ata Seronera Camp is located within Serengeti National Park, near the central region and provides a good location for game drives. However, if it’s your first time in the Serengeti, you’re not going to know where the hell you are when your driver takes you around the park — it’s huge.

The Anga’ata Seronera Camp was booked by my safari tour operator. We went with the mid-range comfort level, so this might be a place you end up staying if you chose this comfort level.

Most safari camps in the Serengeti are a lot like this place – they are either permanent camps or temporary camps. You won’t find a lot of actual lodges (you know, with REAL walls) here, unless you’re paying the big bucks to stay at the Four Seasons. I don’t have that kind of budget and if you don’t either, your tour operator might book you here at the Anga’ata Seronera Camp.

Related: Just beginning to plan an East Africa safari? Check out this article for my tips!

Rooms at the Anga’ata Seronera Camp

These are permanent tented cabins at the Anga’ata Seronera Camp, and are very similar to other tented camps we stayed in on our safari. Rooms were very spacious, and had a seating area, two queen beds with mosquito nets, a table and a large bathroom with a shower. Power gets cut at 10pm.

This is an unfenced camp, which means that wildlife can (and will!) roam through the grounds. Each night, we were awoken by a big elephant right outside our door, trying to tear down a tree. Honestly, it scared the shit out of us! The power is out, but we had moonlight, and we could see the outline of this giant elephant gnawing down this tree at 1am, just steps away from us. We also had a family of hippos walk right by our tent.

You cannot leave your room at night — if you must, you must radio for a guard to come and escort you. Each morning we had to radio for an escort to breakfast.

Amenities

Not much to speak of — this is a very basic place. There is no pool, the electricity gets cut during the day and overnight. Guests are welcome to charge their devices in the lobby area while the power is out. We had to take advantage of this to keep the camera batteries, phones, and ipads all powered up. There is Wifi in the lobby/restaurant area but it’s pretty slow.

Food

Food is served sit-down style, and with a fixed menu. Dinner is served at 7pm. The chef will ask you for your preferences — we didn’t want any seafood and we let him know we preferred chicken, but even so, we had some very odd meals here. It was pretty bad.

Breakfast was part buffet, part sit-down. You’ll be asked what type of eggs you’d like, and anything else, like coffee, milk, juice, toast, fruit, muffins, will all be available self-serve style on the tables.

RELATED: How to Pick a Tour Company for an East Africa Safari

My Experience

This was probably my least favorite place we stayed at on safari, and I had a hunch it would be –even when I had my tour operator book it (my tour operator gave us 3 options from which to choose in the Serengeti – frankly they all looked awful). This was not a very relaxing experience — this was too rustic for my tastes.

RELATED: The previous night, we stayed at the Mara Sopa Lodge. After we stayed here, we were at the Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge.

We were the only guests here, making for a weird experience.

The shower in the room had very little hot water with hardly any water pressure. We had to take showers extremely fast so that the other could possibly get a little hot water. There was no shower head on the shower — it was just a spigot. Plus, the floor of the entire bathroom was wood that was splintering — we had to wear flip flops in the shower.

RELATED: Ultimate 3-Week East Africa Safari Itinerary

Beds weren’t very comfortable and it was tough getting to sleep. And once you did fall asleep, that damn elephant would come around and start eating the tree (okay, that was pretty cool TBH!).

The pathway to the tents is lined with solar lanterns but they don’t give off any light. It’s very, very dark here at night.

Again with the reviews — when you google Anga’ata Seronera Camp, you’re going to find raving 5-star reviews. This is anything but! Like the other places we stayed, I swear these reviews are fake.

Final Thoughts

This is not the place for everyone. I don’t like roughing it. I would not stay here again — in fact, I actually would pony up the cash to stay at the Four Seasons (remember what I said about the Serengeti — very very few actual lodges, most places are just like the Anga’ata Seronera Camp). I like hot showers, real walls, and power.

Being out there with the wild animals is pretty cool, and sounds so neat in practice, but in reality, it’s a bit unnerving. Here we had this giant elephant and a family of hippos just a few feet away from our tent. All that was protecting us was a canvas wall with a goddamn zipper.

But again, you might like this stuff. You might not be as fussy as me. This might just be the perfect place for someone else. It’s just not for me.