Travel reviews by Mr C from Ontario, Canada

"The hotel is centrally located so it is convenient to all amenities. The staff was friendly. Breakfast was included but somewhat limited in selections. My room was old but clean. I believe my bathroom is situated right next to the kitchen so it was noisy in the morning until I learned to close the bathroom door.

The rooster woke me up at the earliest light which was before 5 every morning. We were not sure about the quality of the food in the hotel so we did not stay for lunch or dinner. The internet-connected computer in the lobby area is a good convenient feature.

There is very limited space for hanging up clothes and no cloth line for drying hand-washed clothes."

"If you like a quiet time, this is the place. The whole lodge does not have a TV (although a TV reception dish is conspicuously located on our path to the bar/eating area). The room does not have a telephone. I stayed there in separate room with my daughter so we had to make arrangements with each either ahead of time or in person.

We liked the food in the lodge. They prepared the food well and we enjoyed them everyday. The service was also quite good. The lodge provides WIFI in the common areas and has a computer for guest use in the office.

My room faces west and has an ocean view. The room design is typically a beach house with some very unusual notions. It comes with a modern air-conditioning unit and an over-head fan; but the room is fully ventilated to the outside environment. It is a good thing but it can be undesirable.

The ventilation is good for fresh air, especially at night. However, the huge french doors to the back and small widows in the front are only covered by screens, California blinds and a layer of drapes. This arrangement allows outside air to come into the room unabated. With hot air coming in from outside, the air-conditioning unit was working non-stop to keep the room cool. The AC unit sucks a lot of power from the grid. To me, this is not very environmentally friendly.

Furthermore, the toilet and showers room are totally open where the walls meet the roof. The openings are fairly big such that insects (e.g., mosquitoes) can come in unobstructed. This is particularly noticeable when you want to take a shower with the lights on after a long hot day. It is the most undesirable part of the lodge.

If the lodge can close and seal the openings in the toilet and shower rooms, I would have rated this lodge one notch higher."

"We enjoyed the activities especially the water safari, which, according to the site manager, is unique to this area. The guides are knowledgeable and polite. We had a welcome party with snacks and champagne on the first day; sit-down breakfast at around 9:30 during our safari. All meals were cooked and well served.

The water safaris to the bird island; offered great opportunities for taking bird pictures although, in retrospect I feel guilty in disturbing the birds. I hope this activity does not agitate the birds in any harmful way.

My daughter and I arrived the camp with a couple also clients of Expert Africa. I believe the camp assumed that the four of us travelled together and therefore put us together everyday. I think we were good company to each other but it would be a good idea for them to consult us before hand. We did choose a different activity on the last afternoon, and it made me feel a bit special.

My daughter and I shared a family tent, i.e., two separated tents connected by a raised platform. On arrival, the people who carried our luggage to the tents had no idea of the difference between the two tents, so my daughter and I pick our own randomly. I would imagine one should be labelled as a parent tent and the other children.

The tents are well constructed and very sturdy sitting on a raised platform. They are well covered with screens to prevent insects from coming in. The entrances to the tents are equipped with a long vertical zipper in the middle and Velcro strips on the bottom. The zippers work well but the Velcro strips do not fasten too well so a few insects do come into the tents.

One major defect with my daughter's tent: the top of the toilet and bathroom area is not covered. Since we had to wake up around 5:30 AM and retire to the tent after 10 PM, using the toilet or shower would mean turning on the lights. In the forest, insects love light. With the lights turn on, insects swarmed the area, so using the toilet and shower was totally out of the question. My daughter ended up using my facility instead. They should have prepared the area ahead of time for our convenience and enjoyment."

"We had an excellent guide called Steve who also enjoyed photography as much as the guests. It really helps that he is well educated and knowledgeable, not only on plants and animals but also on geology.

We saw lots of animals. The rooms, service and food are excellent. The only comment (and possibly complaints) I heard from my daughter and another lady was that, the servants who tidied up the room actually folded their underwear although they are not supposed to touch them.

It was also good to have the all inclusive feature on drinks."

"We only stayed there one night. We arrived in the late afternoon and left really early in the morning. The rooms were clean although noise from the garden bar below could be heard late into the night.

We had to leave around 5 AM and the hotel took the time to find out what we wanted the night before and provided us with box breakfast to our order without any problem."

"It is centrally located, i.e., it is close to the town but about 10 minutes walk from Victoria Falls and 20 minutes from the bridge where my daughter did the swing; a form of bungee jump from the bridge. We enjoyed the town where we shopped and ate our meals.

The hotel has a great buffet breakfast with orders to menu. I have a very special diet requirement and they kept mixing it up. We had our first dinner there and the meat was so over-cooked that it was simply unacceptable so we were happy that we could eat out in close-by restaurants.

I had to change room twice in a 3 night stay. The first room has cockroaches. The second room air-conditioning was not working. They were prompt in changing my room in this low season when many rooms are available."