Reviews of Lebala Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
204 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Lebala Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Jun-2018, 47 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Lebala Camp.
Lion
100% success
Leopard
55% success
Cheetah
26% success
Wild dog
38% success
Elephant
100% success
Giraffe
100% success
Wildebeest
98% success
Zebra
98% success
Hippo
93% success
Buffalo
72% success
Spotted Hyena
50% success
Sable antelope
32% success
Roan antelope
30% success
Brown Hyena
13% success
Pangolin
3% success
Aardvark
0% success
Dr R & Mrs C
France
"We loved staying here"
2 nights Arrived 15 Nov 2011
"Having arrived here from Lagoon Camp, we were happy to find accommodation which was just as good and in another beautiful setting. Food was great and staff couldn't do enough to make our stay enjoyable.
Very good game viewing with Alex. He is very knowledgeable and obviously loves his job. He gave us lots of information on everything we saw and was able to answer all our questions." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Very good game viewing with Alex. He is very knowledgeable and obviously loves his job. He gave us lots of information on everything we saw and was able to answer all our questions." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Miss K
Kent
"Lebala Camp review"
3 nights Arrived 4 Nov 2011
"After having such a fantastic experience i was concerned that Lebala would not be as good. However, it was every bit as good.
Guide Alex and tracker Julius showed enormous forbearance in the face of a well meaning American who insisted we went back to look at some tracks she had seen, as she thought they were Wild Dog. Alex identified them as avian, and she asked him if he was sure! We did find the dogs though; the highlight of the trip. Both guiding and tracking were of a high standard.
Lying in bed in the middle of the night, listening to an elephant chomping on something just outside, is a real priviledge." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana
Guide Alex and tracker Julius showed enormous forbearance in the face of a well meaning American who insisted we went back to look at some tracks she had seen, as she thought they were Wild Dog. Alex identified them as avian, and she asked him if he was sure! We did find the dogs though; the highlight of the trip. Both guiding and tracking were of a high standard.
Lying in bed in the middle of the night, listening to an elephant chomping on something just outside, is a real priviledge." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs S
Nevada
"Lebala camp"
3 nights Arrived 19 Oct 2011
"Lebala camp was also very nice. We had a max of 4 people in our car and occasionally just the 2 of us. Our guide and tracker, Alex and Shooze, were excellent. The tracker and guide system seemed to work really well. We were lucky enough to see the wild dogs and their 9 puppies on a kill. We also saw a leopard very close up. They definitely tried their best to do whatever they could to make us happy.
I liked the open trucks much better than the covered trucks, despite getting mildly wet and a little bit hotter. The trucks at Lebala are pretty old, but I probably would not have noticed, if we had not gone to Kwara next. They apparently will be replaced at some time in the future. The camp is in a beautiful location.
The only problem at Lebala was that a trophy hunter stayed in the camp the first night we were there. He had chartered a helicopter to hunt in Zimbabwe. We are in a current battle in the states with trophy hunters, so the last thing I wanted to hear on my vacation were hunting stories about animlas I would love to see in the wild. I understand that Botswana and the other African countries probably still need hunting revenue to help with consevervation (kill to conserve, the lesser of two evils) and there are concessions in Botswana which allow hunting, but it really ruined my first night there and would have ruined the rest, if he had not left.
I preferred the open trucks with Kwando and really enjoyed our drivers and trackers at both camps, but I don't think I can return to Kwando camps if there is even a small chance hunters will be in the camps. I do not agree with multipurpose camps. It is way too depressing." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in South Africa; 2n in Zimbabwe
I liked the open trucks much better than the covered trucks, despite getting mildly wet and a little bit hotter. The trucks at Lebala are pretty old, but I probably would not have noticed, if we had not gone to Kwara next. They apparently will be replaced at some time in the future. The camp is in a beautiful location.
The only problem at Lebala was that a trophy hunter stayed in the camp the first night we were there. He had chartered a helicopter to hunt in Zimbabwe. We are in a current battle in the states with trophy hunters, so the last thing I wanted to hear on my vacation were hunting stories about animlas I would love to see in the wild. I understand that Botswana and the other African countries probably still need hunting revenue to help with consevervation (kill to conserve, the lesser of two evils) and there are concessions in Botswana which allow hunting, but it really ruined my first night there and would have ruined the rest, if he had not left.
I preferred the open trucks with Kwando and really enjoyed our drivers and trackers at both camps, but I don't think I can return to Kwando camps if there is even a small chance hunters will be in the camps. I do not agree with multipurpose camps. It is way too depressing." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in South Africa; 2n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Feedback Response
There’s no hunting on the Kwando Reserve. Photographic tourism has effectively replaced hunting on Kwando, as it has on many of Botswana’s photographic areas. That’s something we celebrate! Tourism has played a huge part in this change and visits to wildlife areas like Kwando by our travellers, and others like them, ensures that the shift from trophy hunting to photographic safaris is long term.
Expert Africa have never, and will never, arrange hunting trips; we don’t support it in any way. However, we can’t ‘vet’ travellers who are sent by other tour operators to the camps that we use. We understand that the person who upset this guest was on a photographic holiday at Lebala Camp; but another part of their trip was a hunting trip in Zimbabwe. Upon realising that this person was a trophy hunter, the managers at Lebala Camp arranged a private vehicle for him and his party, understanding that his views would also not be appreciated by other guests.
As with anywhere, different people hold different views. A very small number may have views that others find offensive, or pursue topics of conversation, or pastimes, which upset others. We’re really sorry about the serious effect of this, but we can’t predict who fellow guests will be at any camp in Africa. Incidents like this are thankfully very rare; certainly most of our travellers have a clear ethic in favour of conservation and development – and we do our best to encourage this where we can.
Expert Africa have never, and will never, arrange hunting trips; we don’t support it in any way. However, we can’t ‘vet’ travellers who are sent by other tour operators to the camps that we use. We understand that the person who upset this guest was on a photographic holiday at Lebala Camp; but another part of their trip was a hunting trip in Zimbabwe. Upon realising that this person was a trophy hunter, the managers at Lebala Camp arranged a private vehicle for him and his party, understanding that his views would also not be appreciated by other guests.
As with anywhere, different people hold different views. A very small number may have views that others find offensive, or pursue topics of conversation, or pastimes, which upset others. We’re really sorry about the serious effect of this, but we can’t predict who fellow guests will be at any camp in Africa. Incidents like this are thankfully very rare; certainly most of our travellers have a clear ethic in favour of conservation and development – and we do our best to encourage this where we can.
"Manager"
Mr D
Witney
"Lebala Camp review"
3 nights Arrived 11 Oct 2011
"The transfer from Jo'burg through Maun to Lebala worked as planned.
The staff at Lebala were all delightful and very helpful; special praise should go to our guide Tabu and to the Manager, Obi and Oscar. The facilities were excellent although the need for some minor repairs was evident and being addressed.
We saw Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Giraffe, Hippos and many birds and we got closer to the game here than at any other camp. Judy was especially impressed by the efforts the cooks made to provide her with fat-free food - including her own muffins for breakfast and exclusive dishes at other meals." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa
The staff at Lebala were all delightful and very helpful; special praise should go to our guide Tabu and to the Manager, Obi and Oscar. The facilities were excellent although the need for some minor repairs was evident and being addressed.
We saw Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Giraffe, Hippos and many birds and we got closer to the game here than at any other camp. Judy was especially impressed by the efforts the cooks made to provide her with fat-free food - including her own muffins for breakfast and exclusive dishes at other meals." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs GJ
Chester
"Hippos galore at Lebala"
2 nights Arrived 18 Jun 2011
"We certainly had an exciting start to our stay at Lebala. As we were being guided back to our tent on the first night, we were half way along the open path to the tents when we came to realise that there were hippos on both sides of us looming in the dark. Some very careful, quiet and decisive footwork and we all reached our tents safely, but it made us realise just how cautious you need to be, especially after dark.
Having water on three sides, the camp is very open and during our stay many hippos came out to graze around the tents at night. Don't expect to get a quiet night's sleep as they make the most amazing range of noises, but it's great to listen to them. Being woken in the dark by the deep rumble of an elephant only just the other side of the canvas was really amazing, if slightly scary!
The rooms/tents are very spacious, stylish, spotlessly clean and very comfortable. The only slight down-side is that all the walls are made from strong fly-screening material, with just thin curtains that are pulled around some of the walls at night. Whilst this is very pleasant in the day (and probably excellent when it's hot in the summer), I did feel that it gave less privacy when the light is on at night and when the temperature drops significantly at night, it can feel quite draughty." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana
Having water on three sides, the camp is very open and during our stay many hippos came out to graze around the tents at night. Don't expect to get a quiet night's sleep as they make the most amazing range of noises, but it's great to listen to them. Being woken in the dark by the deep rumble of an elephant only just the other side of the canvas was really amazing, if slightly scary!
The rooms/tents are very spacious, stylish, spotlessly clean and very comfortable. The only slight down-side is that all the walls are made from strong fly-screening material, with just thin curtains that are pulled around some of the walls at night. Whilst this is very pleasant in the day (and probably excellent when it's hot in the summer), I did feel that it gave less privacy when the light is on at night and when the temperature drops significantly at night, it can feel quite draughty." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Good
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr O
Washington DC
"Lebala Camp review"
3 nights Arrived 5 Jun 2011
"If I could give Lebala an Excellent Plus, I would. This tent camp, set in a more savannah type setting, was luxurious. The so called tents were really more like five star hotel rooms.
The staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful.The food was great and plentiful and there were lots of fruits and vegetables, which I appreciated. I celebrated my birthday at this camp and the staff bent over backwards to give me a real birthday surprise!
Our guide was Charles, the camp manager. He was unbelievably great! So knowledgeable and friendly and bold! He got us closer to the animals than any other guide. He drove hours out of the way so that we could see the wild dogs that were resting after a hunt at another camp. We saw herds of elephants, zebras, an enormous pride of lions and giraffes, zebra and cheetas. And we were so close to them that our pictures are National Geographic quality! Our entire trip to Africa was amazing, but we will always hold a special place in our hearts for Lebala." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 3n in South Africa; 1n in Zambia
The staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful.The food was great and plentiful and there were lots of fruits and vegetables, which I appreciated. I celebrated my birthday at this camp and the staff bent over backwards to give me a real birthday surprise!
Our guide was Charles, the camp manager. He was unbelievably great! So knowledgeable and friendly and bold! He got us closer to the animals than any other guide. He drove hours out of the way so that we could see the wild dogs that were resting after a hunt at another camp. We saw herds of elephants, zebras, an enormous pride of lions and giraffes, zebra and cheetas. And we were so close to them that our pictures are National Geographic quality! Our entire trip to Africa was amazing, but we will always hold a special place in our hearts for Lebala." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 3n in South Africa; 1n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs I
NZ
"Lebala Camp review"
3 nights Arrived 21 May 2011
"Lebala was wonderful too. Our guide Thabo was great and the staff were just amazing.
I had my birthday there and they made it into a very discreet but lovely celebration. Loved the hippos around and we saw lots of wildlife and great birds.
Unsuccessful leopard hunt!! but we did see the Cheetahs!!" See all these reviews: 8n in Namibia; 6n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
I had my birthday there and they made it into a very discreet but lovely celebration. Loved the hippos around and we saw lots of wildlife and great birds.
Unsuccessful leopard hunt!! but we did see the Cheetahs!!" See all these reviews: 8n in Namibia; 6n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mrs & Mr T
Oxford
"good game drive safari"
2 nights Arrived 10 May 2011
"Welcomed warmly when we arrived. Tent was very elegant but bed infested with ants on arrival and no water.
Both issues sorted out fairly quickly.
Helpful staff and interesting game drives" See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Both issues sorted out fairly quickly.
Helpful staff and interesting game drives" See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mrs & Mr S
Oxford
"Luxurious Lebala."
2 nights Arrived 10 May 2011
"Stunning lodge, amazing views and wonderful accomodation.
Although this was our fourth and final camp experience, our guide, Hector was able to share a wealth of interesting new information and knowledge which kept the whole experience fresh." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Although this was our fourth and final camp experience, our guide, Hector was able to share a wealth of interesting new information and knowledge which kept the whole experience fresh." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs G
Darley
"We loved Lebala"
3 nights Arrived 7 May 2011
"This was the best run camp we stayed in due to the superb management of Charles.
From our point of view the Night Drives went on about an hour too long( our age??)
The vehicles had seen better days, but we think they were getting new ones" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia
From our point of view the Night Drives went on about an hour too long( our age??)
The vehicles had seen better days, but we think they were getting new ones" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Good
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Holiday styles & special interests in Botswana
From birdwatching breaks to walking holidays, find great ideas for your trip in Botswana.
Other lodges in Kwando-Linyanti area
Alternative places to stay in this same area.
Lagoon Camp
Within the vast Kwando Reserve, renowned for its wild dogs, Lagoon Camp offers excellent game viewing that focuses on predators.
Selinda Camp
In an attractive area that is particularly rich in game between June and November, the luxurious Selinda Camp caters particularly well for photographers.
DumaTau
DumaTau, in the private Linyanti Reserve, offers game drives, seasonal boat cruises and walks. Wildlife safaris here are quite seasonal, and are at their best during the height of the dry season, between June and October.
Linyanti Bush Camp
An increasingly rare find in Botswana, Linyanti Bush Camp blends relative simplicity with numerous activities and very good guiding.
Selinda Explorers Camp
The luxurious, traditional tented Selinda Explorers Camp offers a mix of walking, canoeing and game drives led by really top notch guides in a game-rich area.
Savuti Camp
For years the Savuti Channel ran dry, but it's now flowing again and this newly refurbished, 7-room lodge has pride of place to witness the spectacle.
Zarafa Camp
Zarafa is an exclusive camp overlooking the scenic Zibadianja Lagoon within the Selinda Reserve, a particularly game-rich area between June and early November.
Kings Pool
King’s Pool is a top-end luxury safari camp with a price tag to match; the game viewing can be very good during the dry season.
Linyanti Ebony
Independently owned and run, the small Linyanti Ebony sits on the same site as Linyanti Bush Camp, with similarly high standards of guiding, and a strong emphasis on the wildlife experience.
Linyanti Expeditions
Tip-top guiding. In tune with the habitat. Down-to-earth, authentic camp comfort. A place of wilderness safari harmony.
Little DumaTau
Small and sophisticated, Little DumaTau lies adjacent to its larger sibling in the private Linyanti Reserve, overlooking a beautiful lagoon.
