Reviews of Splash Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
95 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Splash Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
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"Splash Camp review"
Accommodations, camp facilities, game drives, meals, everything was perfect.
One vehicle breakdown. Vehicles are an expensive asset, maintenance is key for a long life. Our guide "Mr G." and our spotter Knobli did an outstanding job. Interaction with them was easy, we went fishing and caught fish, which we got to eat for dinner; bird viewing (&photography) and introduction to trees, bushes & grasses was an unexpected additional highlight.
We also enjoyed very much the porridge by the fire in the early morning, the morning coffee and sunset drinks in the bush, the outside shower, the boat tour and the amazing nature & wildlife.
Spash Camp is an excellent choice, we recommend." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana
"A high quality, new camp with abundant game"
One drawback is the condition of the two track roads. Large portions of the roads are on deep sand, causing the vehicles to "wallow" and lurch rather severely and frequent instructions from our guide to "Hang on!". Because our visit was in July (the dry season), there is nothing the camp can do improve the condition of the roads. Apparently that is not an issue in the rainy season when the sand compacts and makes those portions of the road system quite tolerable.
Lagoon Camp and Kwara Camp share the guiding concession, hence there are sometimes three vehicles at a game site, even four vehicles on one occasion. Having many vehicles in a concession increases the chances of finding wildlife but it also makes the game drives less "intimate".
Splash Camp is a relatively large camp which made it so that dinner was at a very long table. The noise level at dinner was quite high, making it difficult, even sometimes impossible, for our group of three couples to hear each other talk. I developed a preference for smaller camps." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana
"Splash Camp review"
It's a big camp 12 rooms, but there was room in common areas and the different guests made it fun at campfire to compare notes. One of our three nights it was not full, so that was nice for a little more intimate experience. I'd recommend three nights here.
We enjoyed relaxing in the afternoons looking at birds and water bucks right outside our chalet. It was windy at this camp in July." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Splash Camp review"
Wildlife fantastic" See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Splash Camp review"
Guide here was also fantastic and had a near encyclopaedic knowledge of the wildlife. Worked very hard to make sure we got the best viewings and spent time at dinner telling us local stories.
Food also fabulous with one night local meal that really stood out. Very engaging staff and great service." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
"Splash Camp review"
There is a large dining area where one eats in the evenings, usually in ones group and guide, and breakfast is served around a large camp fire nearby. The rooms were beautifully decorated, very large with both an indoor huge shower room and an outdoor shower, and these along with the main areas, all overlook an enormous waterhole. We saw a herd of waterbucks there, but there was little water in it to attract other game. Some of the rooms were a considerable walk along a sandy path, from the main dining area, which would have been a challenge for those with walking issues.
Again ponchos and hot water bottles were provided for the night drives, which were definitely needed! Our guide was knowledgable and friendly and all the staff were lovely and gave the impression they were delighted to see us each time we returned.
A highlight was being taken to spend time at the den of a pack of wild dogs, with their pups. We then saw them hunting a Steenbuck." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Splendid Splash"
The variety of habitat made it possible to do boat safari trips in addition to the game drives. We saw lots of animals and birds. The tracker "KB" and guide "Mr T" worked well together and did a superb (truely unbelievable) job of tracking and finding animals off-road. In fact, the tracking and guiding was excellent in all three camps we visited (Mma Dinare, Lebala and Splash).
Our highlight was the cheetah "Mr Special" who posed beautifully for us in a range of settings, and demonstrated that he could climb a (fallen) tree almost as well as a leopard. Surprisingly, we saw a leopard hunting along the river in the marshes while on a boat excursion. There was a sitatunga and lots of red lechwe in the marshes.
The wild dogs and especially their new pups (June 2022) were very entertaining." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 4n in Namibia
"Splash Camp review"
It's a very new camp and you can tell, with everything in great condition and the rooms much more modern feeling that other camps we have stayed at. It's still the familiar layout of a central hub and then rooms spaced out in their own bit of wilderness but maybe it felt just a little less in harmony with the landscape than other camps. However, this would be great for anyone who wants authentic safari with a touch more comfort (solid built lodges, mosquito nets, individual tables in a more enclosed dining space etc.).
And don't get me wrong, you are still right in the heart of a beautiful wildlife area! We had a male lion walk past at one breakfast around the fire and a genet scavenging after dinner in that not-so-enclosed-after-all dining space.
The staff were all excellent. Particular shout out to our guide KP and tracker Alan (but he might be a guide by the time you get there... good luck in the exams Alan!). As at our other Kwando camp we were super well looked after and the managers were always around to check in with.
The food we also thought was really good. Not fine-dining maybe, but really high quality offerings on a small buffet with lovely range of dishes. Worth mentioning that one of the other guests whilst we were there was vegan and it looked like they did a great job of handling it. A super open bar as well with lots of beer, wine and we even opened some port on our last evening!
At the end of one of our morning game drives they had organised a wonderful brunch out in the middle of nowhere with a large herd of zebra just 100m away. So special.
The stars of the show were of course the animals. We had amazing sightings of lions, both some big males with a great roar and some lionesses walking right passed the vehicle (I mean RIGHT passed. I could have reached out tickled her ears...) then spreading out into the reeds to hunt. We saw wild dogs and hyenas both at their den spots, two different leopards, some cute baby elephants and an absolutely incredible night time Serval hunt. It caught a springhare right in front of us!
No cheetah this time sadly, but not for lack of effort on KP's part. He asked us from the beginning what we wanted to see and set out to make it happen. Compared to our time on safari in south Tanzania the overall game density felt lower, or at least harder to find, but that led to much more willingness to search for specific sightings and it paid off in sightings we had never had before. EA are right to highlight that at Splash they are quite predator focused and you will sometimes drive fast and cover quite large areas to get to sightings, but that really worked for us and we also enjoyed the mokoro trip and a boat cruise for a change of pace. (Do take note that the mokoro are a short 30min taster as part of a game drive rather than a full activity. I don't know if it's done differently elsewhere but it worked fine for us).
In June, Splash is a little less 'splash-y' than you might expect as it was just at the start of the Okavango floods (it looked like Kwara might be wetter sooner) but the more we drove, the more we started seeing flooded fields and fording roads that got deeper every time we crossed. Very exciting!
Splash is a great camp and we had an amazing trip. Would definitely recommend for a taste of the wonderful Delta!" See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia
"Splash Camp review"
We arrived late afternoon and joined a game drive in progress. Almost immediately we saw a pride of lions with a male lion as well. The action we saw at Splash was amazing!!! Our guide KLB and Tracker Seymore were wonderful!!!!
I asked to see painted dogs as I had missed them at Arathusa, sure enough we found a pack that had surrounded a baby Koodoo in the water. Hard to watch, but incredible at the same time. Our guide also tracked a Cheeta and we followed it for nearly an hour, beautiful!
These were the first rooms without heat but the staff put bush babies in our beds each night which really helped. We were also provided with them on morning game drives, game changer for us!!! Lion in camp the first night, exciting and scary! Our guide also set up a private dinner for us on our last night, it was so special getting to know everyone !!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 3n in South Africa; 2n in Zambia
"Splash Camp review"
Loved the landscape of the Okavango Delta. My favorite animal sighting here was “Mr. Special”, a 12-year old cheetah with such a chill and friendly attitude towards the game drive vehicles. Got to spend a lot of time with him over the course of my 3-night stay." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia; 5n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana
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