Reviews of Shinde Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
105 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Shinde Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

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"Beautiful location, beautiful lodge."
"Shinde Camp review"
Staff friendly and helpful and good management on site.
Laundry facilities good - we flew in a small plane in a thunderstorm and our baggage got soaked, but was dried and pressed as soon as we arrived.
Guides managed to find pretty much every animal we hoped for (leopards every day, jackals, hyenas, baby giraffes as well as the usual elephants, lions and a huge variety of zebras, wildebeest, antelopes etc).
Food and drink excellent." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia
"Best all round camp we have stayed at !"
We were extremely lucky to see leopard on every game drive together with assortment of lions, elephants etc and we owe so much to our guide Adam." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana
"Not the best time to be at Shinde?"
No-one was in overall charge; there were 3 young trainee managers who were all very polite but didn't always respond to requests. The wild life was mixed: not much to see on the boat trips and the game drives had been affected by a large bush fire three months ago - this meant no small mammals but easy to see the big game without the normal long grass.
But the main problem was our guide - he seemed grumpy and it felt like he didn't want to be doing the job. We tried hard to make a connection with him, but it was difficult and we certainly didn't feel looked after, as we did in the other 2 camps. But we enjoyed the company of other guests and the plentiful good food!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
"Shinde gets the holiday off to a great start!"
The tents were comfortable and well spaced with a wonderful view over the savannah. The food was varied, plentiful and well presented. It was nice that the guides had dinner with the guests.
The area provided a mix of water and land based outings enabling us to see some wildlife that we hadn't seen elsewhere in Africa including a rare sighting of a rock python thanks to the eagle eyes of our guide." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
"great safari at Shinde camp"
"Great fun on the water"
"Shinde Camp review"
"A good experience at Shinde"
We found the landscape very appealing with expanses of open grassland and the view from our tent was great.
The first day we arrived we were taken out on a motorized boat. We were accompanied by one guide. The guide took us into a very shallow area and the propeller became entangled with weeds and clogged up with thick mud, the motor very quickly overheated with the frantic efforts of the guide to try and disentangle us. This went on for a considerable amount of time, we even had our sundowner whilst waiting for the engine to cool! Eventually we suggested that the guide ought to radio in and let the camp know where we were situated, I felt very vulnerable and was thankful no hippos or crocs appeared as we would have been sitting ducks. We did actually manage to limp home but the engine was damaged and it wasn't an experience that I'd care to repeat.
In saying that we did have some amazing game experiences at Shinde. The best of which involved a leopardess, who posed quite regally for us in a tree for a considerable length of time enabling us to get some great shots.
I think in conclusion we overall enjoyed our time at Shinde, every camp we stayed at had something amazing to offer. The vehicles used by Kwando seemed superior to those used by Ker and Downy. Kwando Jeeps had 3 sets of seat and 2 people could sit together whereas K and D,s vehicles only had 2 sets which meant 3 people sharing. The Kwando vehicles also had a longer wheelbase and therefore were nothing like as bumpy as K and D's.
At Shinde, as noted by the above experience on water where only one guide accompanied us, it also applied in the jeep with one guide and no tracker. At Kwara we always had a guide and a tracker both in the vehicle and on the motorized boat. This felt a much more satisfactory and safer arrangement!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
"Unforgettable experience at Shinde Camp!"
First of all the managers Gabs and Mhpo and all the staff were very kind and extremely attentive to all their guests. Our guide Bee has been great and I shall never forget such a beautiful person. He not only was very knowledgeable like all the other guides that we have met but he has been able to transmit to us his love and his respect for nature. We have learnt so much not just about wild life and the flora, but also about each other's culture. At the end of the three days the two of us, Bee and another two ladies who were in our group had bonded so well that we felt like we had known one other for years. On our second day at Shinde we went out on a relaxing boat trip in the afternoon. It was lovely to see the sun disappearing at the horizon from the boat , while enjoying a drink. Back at the camp we found a lovely card and bottle of champagne waiting for us in the hut, courtesy of the managers Gabs and Mhpo who, together with the rest of the staff wanted to wish us happy anniversary. How thoughtful of them!
After having seen big groups of giraffes, wildebeests, warthogs, zebras, tsessebes, monkeys, baboons, impalas, lechwes, elephants, crocodiles, hippos, hyenas, honey badgers and many other wild animals (as well as many beautiful birds), on the morning of our third day Bee has managed to track a magnificent lion with his lioness. Spotting them amongst the high grass and following them while they were moving around was so emotional! In the afternoon we also saw a female leopard on a tree and that as well was amazing. We followed her while she came down the tree ready to hunt and even if we have not seen her catching her prey (despite we patiently waited while she was moving slowly crouching in the grass) again it was an exciting experience.
Then, towards the end of the day we met the lion and the lioness again but this time he had to compete with another three majestic males! Words cannot describe our emotion while we witnessed four adult lions fighting for a lioness, which in the end decided that none of them was good enough for her and left them empty ended... What a story!! It must have been a magic day as while we were driving back to the camp we also saw a red moon rising in the dark sky. Last but not least the food was amazing and we particularly liked the traditional meal that they cooked for us one of the evenings.
Our stay at Shinde was first class and we could not have asked for more!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
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