Reviews of Little Vumbura
Wildlife sightings and reviews
138 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Little Vumbura and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
100% success
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"A very special place."
The game drives were an adventure with our very experience guide Sam whose tracking abilities were second to none. We found baboons grouped high in a tress to come around the corner to find lions lying in the track blocking our route!
Sam is also a bird lover and found some beautiful diversions to the search for the big 5. We met some really pleasant fellow travellers sharing stories over dinner and around the camp fire. The set up of the camp is informal, relaxed and gently brought all the guests to bond together. We have no idea who the manager was - we didn't need to know. Everything ran so smoothly.
The food was such high quality. The flavours so delicate! So please we stayed here." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
"Cozy Camp with Professional Guide"
Good Points
1 Nice View: I enjoyed the wide open view over the calm water from my cozy tent room. It has changed my image of Africa.
2 Hospitality: Camp staff sang local songs before dinner every night. Apparently, they enjoyed singing themselves. Such natural hospitality made my heart warm.
3 Expertise: Our guide Sam is a real professional. We stayed three nights. He designed our safaris carefully so that we enjoyed every safari during our stay. We saw lions, leopards, and cheetahs, in addition to many other animals.
To be improved: English spoken by manager too fast
The camp manager explained camp rules at first. But because she spoke too fast, I understood only part of them.
Feedback by Kazuko E.
This was our first trip to Africa, and Little Vumbula was the very first camp we visited in Botswana. Everything about the camp was far beyond our expectations—beautiful island location, friendly staff, and good food. Above all, I enjoyed seeing all kinds of animals, great and small, who were so beautiful and graceful in the wilderness. I was also struck by the artistic beauty of the landscape and skies in Africa. Our guide, Sam, was a true professional with an extensive knowledge of the wildlife. Every safari was full of surprises. All in all, our stay in Little Vumbula was FANTASTIC!" See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana
"Little Vumbura- the Best there is.."
Kaye was almost talking to the elephants - really was!! - and it was as if they respected and knew him. He has been at Little Vumbura for 28 years and it shows. If you go there, do request him.. We tracked and found leopards, wild dogs, a majestic male lion, buffalos and the elusive sable antelope with ease. My highlights included the fantastic sundowners looking at fisheagles on the trees, the numerous hornbills, egrets, and a really special sighting on our mokoro trip of a malachite kingfisher - which might not sound special but believe me - when on a mokoro in the delta at sunset and a sighting of this amongst the papyrus, it really was special.
Food and facilities were fantastic and talking to the guests, definitely a better bet than vumbura plains lodge. Everyone here was one happy team. We even had an okovango delta trust inspector called Wilson on our guides and it was his job to monitor the preservation of the delta etc and he was assigned there for 3 months.
All the other guides were winding him up e.g. hey wilson - hope you are behaving yourself etc - and it was all very friendly banter.
My son-aged 24y and daughter aged 22y were having a great time taking photos and videos etc..
Met some nice people from all over the world and some interesting conversations with this guest who was a private guide from Zimbabwe about his penchant for game hunting in Zimbabwe - aaarggh - which proved to be a highly interesting and provocative topic for after dinner drinks around a fire - all conducted positively!
An elephant swan across the lagoon and into our camp also and a leopard had left its kill outside our lodge the previous week - so of course we declined the open air bath tube on our patio!!! Some brilliant photos and videos here which i will ask my kids to add to this review.
If in doubt where to stay in the Delta, then just go to Little Vumbura.." See all these reviews: 4n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
"Three nights at Little Vumbura in June"
The most memorable sighting was of a herd of large, beautiful sable antelope.
We had two exciting and informative trips by boat going at fairly high speed through narrow channels between reeds and papyrus along the banks.
The staff was excellent, happy and professional. The food was excellent." See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia; 6n in Botswana
"Little Vumbura was like being in paradise"
The staff went beyond what was expected to provide a most enjoyable stay. We loved being surrounded by the water. Sam was a fantastic guide and Busi was so helpful with every request.
Wonderful three days and nights spent at Little Vumbura" See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia; 6n in Botswana
"Beautiful Little Vumbura"
The water excursions were great, especially the mokoro.
Food was excellent, the camp was very friendly and we enjoyed sitting around the fire before dinner and then having the staff singing that our dinner was ready..
Only problem was that it was very cold and windy in the mornings and evenings and the first night our accommodation was cold. The next day we did put up the external covering to the windows and this was much better." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
"3 day stay"
Naz did a great job guiding and we saw a lot of game - only one lion sighting and one leopard but huge heard of buffalo and plenty of other game. Staff were very welcoming but not as skilled at blending guests as we found elsewhere .Went out on mokoro and boat trip to gain a sense of the delta proper and enjoyed driving through water-covered roads.
Room was of a good standard, nice thermos of hot water for making drinks replenished regularly - outside bath a treat!" See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana; 5n in Mozambique; 3n in Zambia; 1n in South Africa
"Little Vumbura Visit 6"
Being constrained by space on the island to just 5 tents and surrounded by water, the camp ensures excellent contact with the other guests. Once again we made some good new friends. Oddly and for the first time in 6 visits we failed to see a single lion but were amply rewarded by the full range of Okavango sightings including treed leopard, buffalo writ large and a host of wonderful birds.
A lovely, small camp." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
"Great water location even in dry season"
All the staff are friendly and helpful and are present in noticeable numbers (compared to other camps) so all runs very efficiently.
The tented rooms were slightly smaller than other chalet style rooms, but very comfortable.......a little warm in high temperatures though." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Review"
As usual there is potential tension between people who are on Safari for may be the first time and want to see "everything", and those who want a more leisurely and specific drive from the camp may be focusing on a couple of animals. An example overheard is the US couple who did not want to look at wild dog but insisted the guide went to see the lions. Perhaps it is a good idea to advise people they can book private drives for themselves." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana
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