Reviews of Shinde Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
102 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
73% success
67% success
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56% success
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"More fun at Shinde"
Julius and his staff were again very helpful and we very much enjoyed our meals in the fantastic dining room built into the trees.
We again went out on the makurus - it is just so peaceful gliding along the waterways. We also went fishing and caught some bream, which were cooked and served to us to share with other guests for dinner that evening." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
"Shinde Camp review"
Wonderful mokoro trip and v good game drive." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana
"Shinde Camp review"
Our gamedrive guide, Mr Bee, was so unskilled, that we just can´t believe he has passed any necessary training to become guide. Against our clear wish he for example drove again to show us a wounded lion that was unable to move. He repetitevely steered the wehicle directly into the herds causing the animals to escape. Most of the animals he spotted we had spotted much before him. There were hardly any breaks unless we forced him to stop in order to listen to nature sounds. On other camps this was how the guides spotted animals that were not visible yet.
The „managing“ youngsters (Magda and Falie) appear to lack the necessary experience and natural born competence and have not gained the undestanding on how to run a camp. They master small talk and entertainment but from our perspective such suits better a cabaret. This is however not what we do expect on a camp in Botswana.
One guide being a low light could be acceptable as one just can't always get the best cards but we are confident the problem was not just our guide. Merely the root here is the camp management. They appear to be totally lost and as young, dynamic and career minded persons try to hide it behind all that „hahaha hohoho, you guys, see any big stuff -management“.
Just one of the countless occasions: On one meal one of the guests shot a picture of a dove sitting inside our salad bowl and holding a piece of olive in bill. Magda asked the guest not to upload such a picture into internet as they are not allowed to feed wild animals. The animals, various birds and squirrel were there always and nobody from the staff seemed to care. On other camps all the food was always covered when unattended or not being taken to the plates. This was not the case at Shinde.
Our stay at Shinde camp was waste of time and money!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
In light of this feedback the General Manager and Managing Director of Ker & Downey Botswana have both been to Shinde Camp to investigate. They have discussed the various incidents with the managers to ensure that they don’t occur again. The General Manager will be staying at the camp for some days to monitor their performance. The guide, Bee, has been a member of the guiding team at Shinde for some years and has always garnered good reports from guests, even on Expert Africa's website – so it was particularly disappointing to hear of his recent conduct. The matter of Bee’s guiding methods has been taken very seriously and he has been suspended, pending an evaluation by management.
On a positive note Shinde consulted closely with the Botswana wildlife department and veterinary department regarding the wounded lion. They flew in a consultant who checked on the lion’s progress and we are happy to say that he has now been given a clean bill of health.
"Shinde"
It is quite something to hear the elephant and hippo crashing around the tent at night and we had a family of genet chasing around on the decking. Service was amazing with an incredible eye for detail including hot water bottles on game drives.
Wonderful, we just loved it." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana
"Shinde Camp review"
Game viewing, for the time of year, extremely good." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana
"Shinde Camp review"
"Good place to be, good people to be with."
of our guide Bee.Period of the year not the best for the location, but the staff did everything possible do proportionate a very good stay." See all these reviews: 3n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana; 3n in South Africa; 1n in Zambia
"Larger camp but very welcoming"
It provided the outstanding highlight of our trip whilst out walking when we saw two lionesses kill (One Eye and her daughter) at 50 feet. This was trully exhillerating, but nothing like as scary as hippos stampeding throught the camp in the middle of the night." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana
"Nice stay at Shinde"
Staff is friendly, the tents are quite Ok, and one can find at all times something to do (even resting for siesta). Food is ok, and the ambience in the camp is quite informal which allows easy going with other guests. Fauna is the one expected at the Delta, with dominance of red lechtwe, tsesebee, blue wildebeest, zebra, giraffe and hippos and elephant, also hyena,and cats as lion and leopard (those late ones more elusive to see).
I myself didn't give a chance to the pool, which I see useless in such a place, but some other guests tried, so it depends on one's moods. Guides are pretty good, with a good knowledge of the area and the ecosystem, and eager to talk to visitors about anything." See all these reviews: 2n in Botswana
"Amazing animals"
Some of the other guests were great fun, but others were rather reserved and stuffy. Any reservations about the atmosphere were more than made up by the quality of the game drives, with excellent guides (our guide, Trust, was really good company, found lots of animals and told us lots about them with a relaxed and chatty manner. We also had very interesting long chats with him about Botswanan (and wider southern African) social issues and politics over sundowners (he did a good line in G&Ts too)." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia; 6n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
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