Reviews of safaris to Kwando-Linyanti area
621 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include Kwando-Linyanti.
Mr H
Vancouver
"Our second trip to Botswana, 6 years later."
I visited Botswana between 25 Sep 2013 and 5 Oct 2013
"Altogether we had a wonderful trip and generally loved every moment of it (some minor exceptions, will be forgotten).
In spite of (in our opinion) generally less animals and smaller herds, we had many good sightings, very good photography.
Many thanks for organising it and the camps we asked for in spite of rather short notice.
Thank you again for a great safari vacation!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Your trips, service and help are excellent (we got used to that).
One minor thing - maybe update your Botswana brochure re.: tips. We took US cash as per recommendation, found that the local (camp) brochures raised tips to $15/day. Your brochure is the same as 6 years ago." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari
In spite of (in our opinion) generally less animals and smaller herds, we had many good sightings, very good photography.
Many thanks for organising it and the camps we asked for in spite of rather short notice.
Thank you again for a great safari vacation!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Your trips, service and help are excellent (we got used to that).
One minor thing - maybe update your Botswana brochure re.: tips. We took US cash as per recommendation, found that the local (camp) brochures raised tips to $15/day. Your brochure is the same as 6 years ago." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Ms C
Wiltshire
"A wonderful holiday"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 19 Sep 2013 and 6 Oct 2013
"It was a special trip - not the cheapest, but something we'd always wanted to do, and it didn't disappoint."
Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs S
Ontario
"Namibia/ Botswana Trip"
I visited Namibia and 3 other countries between 18 Sep 2013 and 10 Oct 2013
"Our itinerary was so well thought out. Driving times in the Self -Drive part were manageable. Definitely a key point. The folder with notes for travellers was priceless. It really contributed to the success of our excellent holiday. It was most appreciated to have all the bases covered in such exacting detail.
Maruska really helped walk us through the initial planning stages, pointing out practicalities in her most diplomatic way. Her suggestions always held true, yet she listened to our ideas as well. She showed great patience and carefully dealt with our concerns. Her knowledge and expertise enabled us to experience a great adventure.
It was truly a unique experience. We were so very fortunate to have had Maruska as our contact.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
At this time, I can't think of any way our experience could be improved upon." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip
Maruska really helped walk us through the initial planning stages, pointing out practicalities in her most diplomatic way. Her suggestions always held true, yet she listened to our ideas as well. She showed great patience and carefully dealt with our concerns. Her knowledge and expertise enabled us to experience a great adventure.
It was truly a unique experience. We were so very fortunate to have had Maruska as our contact.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
At this time, I can't think of any way our experience could be improved upon." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr G & Mrs F
Canada
"My Sep 2013 trip"
I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 16 Sep 2013 and 8 Oct 2013
"We talked to a number of travel agencies when we decided to go to Namibia and Botswana. Expert Africa was clearly the most knowledgeable and helpful so it was easy for us to choose to use your services. We spoke to Maruska a number of times and she was able to answer all of our questions and help us make informed decisions. The materials she sent and your website resources were extremely informative and helpful.
This was a great trip and exceeded our expectations, especially the wildlife viewing opportunities. All of the lodges were very good and more luxurious than we are used to. We only gave a few "Excellent" ratings on our survey responses so we could single out the truly outstanding lodges and activities.
When we started planning this trip, we realized that it was going to be an expensive holiday: certainly more expensive than any of our other vacations. After returning home from a wonderful 3 weeks in Namibia and Botswana, we feel that it was money well spent.
Thank you for helping us to have the trip of a lifetime.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
There's nothing that you can do about this, but you might want to warn other travellers about the long wait time when arriving at Windhoek airport. It took well over an hour to clear Customs and Immigration. It would have been even longer but they moved a few of the older passengers (including us) to the front of the line. The staff were generally unwelcoming and unhelpful - not sure if this was an isolated incident or general practice. This was such a contrast to everyone else we met during our stay in Namibia." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip
This was a great trip and exceeded our expectations, especially the wildlife viewing opportunities. All of the lodges were very good and more luxurious than we are used to. We only gave a few "Excellent" ratings on our survey responses so we could single out the truly outstanding lodges and activities.
When we started planning this trip, we realized that it was going to be an expensive holiday: certainly more expensive than any of our other vacations. After returning home from a wonderful 3 weeks in Namibia and Botswana, we feel that it was money well spent.
Thank you for helping us to have the trip of a lifetime.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
There's nothing that you can do about this, but you might want to warn other travellers about the long wait time when arriving at Windhoek airport. It took well over an hour to clear Customs and Immigration. It would have been even longer but they moved a few of the older passengers (including us) to the front of the line. The staff were generally unwelcoming and unhelpful - not sure if this was an isolated incident or general practice. This was such a contrast to everyone else we met during our stay in Namibia." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr L & Mrs O
PA, USA
"The Trip of a Lifetime"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 13 Sep 2013 and 29 Sep 2013
"Maruska, thank you so much for all your work and patience too!!! Everything went perfectly. There were no hiccups or problems of any kind.
The game viewing was better than I had hoped as we were lucky enough to see lion, leopard and cheetah at all three camps! Though observing the dogs was not a high priority for us, it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. Eleven nights at three camps was perfect as we departed content but fatigued too!!!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Just keep doing what you are doing and give Maruska a raise!!!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari
The game viewing was better than I had hoped as we were lucky enough to see lion, leopard and cheetah at all three camps! Though observing the dogs was not a high priority for us, it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. Eleven nights at three camps was perfect as we departed content but fatigued too!!!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Just keep doing what you are doing and give Maruska a raise!!!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr W
Essex
"My Sep 2013 trip"
I visited Botswana between 13 Sep 2013 and 29 Sep 2013
"Absolutely wonderful, a real once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
The Dassies
Cumbria
"Excellent September Safari"
I visited Botswana between 4 Sep 2013 and 18 Sep 2013
"Overall our trip was amazing. We'd chosen five different camps to give us variety and I think we achieved this.
We hadn't realised that it would be quite so hot in September despite studying temperature charts and if we were to return we would probably choose a cooler month.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I think the only change I would have made to the holiday was to use South African Airways rather than Botswana Air.
Our flight from Dum Tau to Little Kwara was rather long despite the small distance involved. We made two stops on the way to take on and let off passengers and the journey took over an hour and a half. Due to the heat it was very uncomfortable. I imagine this though is outside your control." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari
We hadn't realised that it would be quite so hot in September despite studying temperature charts and if we were to return we would probably choose a cooler month.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I think the only change I would have made to the holiday was to use South African Airways rather than Botswana Air.
Our flight from Dum Tau to Little Kwara was rather long despite the small distance involved. We made two stops on the way to take on and let off passengers and the journey took over an hour and a half. Due to the heat it was very uncomfortable. I imagine this though is outside your control." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs C
Bucks
"Great trip to Botswana"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 4 Sep 2013 and 17 Sep 2013
"The whole trip was excellent. All arrangements worked like clockwork.
The camps, game vewing, quaility of guides met our expectations.
We met lots of interesting people along the way which enriched the experience and encouraged us to do even more safari travelling in the future!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
The camps, game vewing, quaility of guides met our expectations.
We met lots of interesting people along the way which enriched the experience and encouraged us to do even more safari travelling in the future!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs C
Berwick
"Magic moments"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 4 Sep 2013 and 16 Sep 2013
"First we thought Nick advised us well to start at Victoria Falls then move on to the camps. The pre-holiday information sent by Expert Africa was extremely informative and useful and Nick was always prompt in answering our queries.
The three Kwando camps were uniformly excellent but different in their own ways. The common denominator was the positive and welcoming attitude of all the staff. No exceptions. We can't praise them too highly. All were extremely helpful, worked hard and really seemed to want to contribute to the enjoyment of your holiday.
We were apprehensive when setting out as to how we would cope as vegetarians but we enjoyed every meal. We have seen negative reviews about the food but literally everything is cooked or prepared from scratch and we found it extraordinary how such delicious things are prepared in the middle of nowhere.
A small point but we think Kwando are missing an opportunity in the camp shops where there is little choice of local crafts as mementoes. Indeed no-one seemed to know what if anything had been made in Botswana.
This was our first visit to Africa and would probably be difficult to beat. Everything went smoothly from the moment we landed at Victoria Falls to our return flight to Maun. We saw everything that we wanted to see and more and returned home with more than 1600 photographs and memories that will be with us for a long time. Kwando's policy of a maximum six people per jeep makes for memorable and intimate sightings. On a couple of occasions we were the only ones in the jeep. Being so close to the wildlife with no-one else about was magical." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari
The three Kwando camps were uniformly excellent but different in their own ways. The common denominator was the positive and welcoming attitude of all the staff. No exceptions. We can't praise them too highly. All were extremely helpful, worked hard and really seemed to want to contribute to the enjoyment of your holiday.
We were apprehensive when setting out as to how we would cope as vegetarians but we enjoyed every meal. We have seen negative reviews about the food but literally everything is cooked or prepared from scratch and we found it extraordinary how such delicious things are prepared in the middle of nowhere.
A small point but we think Kwando are missing an opportunity in the camp shops where there is little choice of local crafts as mementoes. Indeed no-one seemed to know what if anything had been made in Botswana.
This was our first visit to Africa and would probably be difficult to beat. Everything went smoothly from the moment we landed at Victoria Falls to our return flight to Maun. We saw everything that we wanted to see and more and returned home with more than 1600 photographs and memories that will be with us for a long time. Kwando's policy of a maximum six people per jeep makes for memorable and intimate sightings. On a couple of occasions we were the only ones in the jeep. Being so close to the wildlife with no-one else about was magical." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs O
Cambridge
"Sept 2013 trip to Botswana"
I visited Botswana between 1 Sep 2013 and 10 Sep 2013
"We had been planning to go to Botswana for some years having been on safari to a number of other African countries and had high expectations for Botswana. We were not disappointed - we had a fantastic trip.
Botswana is a beautiful country and the combination of the terrain, the mix of desert and abundant water, the remoteness and unspoilt and uncrowded nature of the area, the universal friendliness of the people and the superb array of animals and birds makes for an unforgettable time. Everything on the trip went like clockwork. All the camps were excellent - all had great location, great tents, wonderful staff and good food.
We thought that the Kwando camps distinguished themselves with the quality of their guiding and their dedication to the task. Duma Tau (the Wilderness Camp) had a greater degree of luxury throughout and a real responsiveness in the staff to allow you to do whatever you wanted - although we felt that the guiding was not as good there. In addition we preferred the Land Cruiser vehicles at Kwando (which had more room) and preferred not having a canopy on the vehicles. We also valued the guide and tracker system that was used by Kwando.
Overall a fantastic trip - we are already talking about when to go back!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I thought that the service from Expert Africa through Megan was excellent. I particularly valued the advice and input when we were putting the trip together and the views on the different strengths and weaknesses of camps and operators - which I think was borne about by our experience." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari
Botswana is a beautiful country and the combination of the terrain, the mix of desert and abundant water, the remoteness and unspoilt and uncrowded nature of the area, the universal friendliness of the people and the superb array of animals and birds makes for an unforgettable time. Everything on the trip went like clockwork. All the camps were excellent - all had great location, great tents, wonderful staff and good food.
We thought that the Kwando camps distinguished themselves with the quality of their guiding and their dedication to the task. Duma Tau (the Wilderness Camp) had a greater degree of luxury throughout and a real responsiveness in the staff to allow you to do whatever you wanted - although we felt that the guiding was not as good there. In addition we preferred the Land Cruiser vehicles at Kwando (which had more room) and preferred not having a canopy on the vehicles. We also valued the guide and tracker system that was used by Kwando.
Overall a fantastic trip - we are already talking about when to go back!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I thought that the service from Expert Africa through Megan was excellent. I particularly valued the advice and input when we were putting the trip together and the views on the different strengths and weaknesses of camps and operators - which I think was borne about by our experience." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
621
reviews of Kwando-Linyanti by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
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Where to stay in Kwando-Linyanti
Our suggestions for safari camps in Kwando-Linyanti area
Lagoon Camp
Within the vast Kwando Reserve, renowned for its wild dogs, Lagoon Camp offers excellent game viewing that focuses on predators.
Lebala Camp
With enthusiastic guides and trackers, Lebala – in a vast private reserve – is particularly well-placed for seeking wild dogs.
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.
