Kisima Ngeda: Lake Eyasi, Tanzania
Go fly camping with the Hadzabe tribe in the hills above Lake Eysai’s eastern shore to discover ancient rock paintings and swim in shady spring pools. Gather seasonal offerings such as wild honey or baobab fruit at a Hazda encampment before a campfire sleepover. Learn how the Desert Rose provides poison for arrow tips.
Kisima Ngeda Camp introduces its guests to Tanzania’s two remaining hunter-gatherer tribes through immersion and education. Take a guided tour into the nearby depths of Hadza country to understand its people. Their neighbors are the Datoga people, traditional pastoralists who roam with cattle herds.
Some travelers are drawn to Kisima Ngeda Camp for a deeper connection to its surrounding land and the communities that settled it. Others come just to relax in a tranquil setting on a 100-hectare farm and eat great food.
The camp employs chefs from neighboring communities who use local organic and seasonal produce to prepare all meals. Favorites like the bread and ice cream are freshly homemade.
“We became friends with our guides and chef and felt like we were immediately ingratiated into their community like family,” a reviewer wrote on TripAdvisor. “They provided unparalleled access to the Hadzabe tribe and we had an experience that will stay with us for a lifetime.”
The camp is cozy, nestled in a Doum palm and fever tree forest overlooking Lake Eyasi. It offers eight palm-thatched tented chalets on wooden decks that blend into the forest. Inside each is a king-sized bed and en-suite bathroom with a shower that can have its water heated through a traditional Tanganyika boiler warmed by palm fronds.
Décor within the chalets is inspired by the local indigenous people with such details as brass coil lamp shades and handcrafted metal-framed mirrors. Each living area comes with a comfy armchair.
Leave the room to visit Kisima Ngeda’s palm-thatched main bar and lounge area, and relax in cushioned, bench-seated nooks before dinner. Walk over the wooden floors to the adjoining dining room, where meals are served with an expansive view of the lake.
Lake Eysai is a seasonal soda lake south of the Serengeti and southwest of the Ngorogoro Crater, with major water inflow provided by the Sibiti River. The area attracts migrating flamingos and pelicans, as well as the yellow billed storks and migrating water birds that eat the lungfish and catfish living there.
This makes birdwatching a popular activity for those who stay at Kisima Ngeda Camp, along with hiking the scenic landscape, gazing at the stars, and visiting the local Datoga pastoralists and Hadzabe hunter-gatherers.
But if the heat and activity get to be too much, the pool is always an option. The Kisima Ngeda pool is nestled in the forest under a rocky ridge where guests can lounge on the wooden deck under parasols.
“This place is simply stunning,” another TripAdviser reviewer wrote. “Our welcome was warm and everyone was eager to please. The food – wow, the food! This is the perfect place to begin to unwind following a safari and I highly recommend it.”
