Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs K from Bucks
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
5
Excursions taken
0
disappointing but with some highlights
Botswana and 1 other country between 28 Apr 2012 and 12 May 2012
"Botswana was our 5th trip to Africa on safari holiday. We had very high expectations on the basis of outstanding previous experiences. But we returned very disappointed. There were few exciting moments and our memories, quite honestly, are of relative dullness. Our photos convey this; we have relatively few and those which we have are not as good as others taken on previous trips. The meerkats and vic falls were the exception but this was an extremely expensive way to see them!!
There was just no excitement. We were expecting the delta to be lush and teeming with wildlife but in reality it is just a series of islands interspersed with wet bits. We went all the way to Botswana and didn't even see a hippo! And we saw just one elephant in the water. You see more in Kenya! The country is also very flat and visually dull. Even the short flights are boring.
The guides are all very pleasant but come across as bored. Where is the enthusiasm?
It's hard to put it onto words without coming across as overly moany. We regret going, to be honest, as it is an expensive country (why???) and we could have had 4 good other holidays in place of this one. We won't be recommending Botswana to anyone.
This appears to be a country which is cleverly marketed but fails to deliver in reality."
There was just no excitement. We were expecting the delta to be lush and teeming with wildlife but in reality it is just a series of islands interspersed with wet bits. We went all the way to Botswana and didn't even see a hippo! And we saw just one elephant in the water. You see more in Kenya! The country is also very flat and visually dull. Even the short flights are boring.
The guides are all very pleasant but come across as bored. Where is the enthusiasm?
It's hard to put it onto words without coming across as overly moany. We regret going, to be honest, as it is an expensive country (why???) and we could have had 4 good other holidays in place of this one. We won't be recommending Botswana to anyone.
This appears to be a country which is cleverly marketed but fails to deliver in reality."
Feedback response
We are really sorry indeed that these travellers didn't enjoy their trip as much as we would have hoped for. Clearly Botswana was a massive disappointment to them, and that is a real sadness for us.
It's always difficult to match and excel all of everyone's expectations but for a traveller to be disappointed by the country's landscape, its wildlife and even the short flights is exceedingly unusual. Taking one example: to stay for 5 nights at a combination of Kanana and Shinde and not to see a hippo, we'd also class as phenomenally unlucky.
The vast majority of our travellers really love their trips to Botswana as our Botswana feedback page shows; were only sorry that these travellers were clearly very unlucky in some ways and didn't.
There's a little consolation for us that there were some high points to their trip, including the meerkats; Victoria Falls; the pride of lions and elephant in camp at Kanana; and the leopard at Shinde.
Arranged By Megan Green
Camp Kalahari
"could be better"
3 nights
Arrived
29 Apr 2012
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Average
Feedback response
Reading about their whole trip, these travellers arrived with very high expectations of Botswana, but returned very disappointed and were sorry that they found aspects of Camp Kalahari which they didnt like.
When we passed all of their comments to the camp manager, Jo, she replied (regarding the bees) that Tent 5 is used often, and when these guests mentioned the bees to me, I sent a member of staff to check during tea. They didnt see any then, and we havent had any other comments from others in camp, about the bees.
Jo commented that she did speak more than usual, as the Italian family were asking a lot of questions and she apologized that at the time she had the flu, which may explain if I was too loud as my ears and nose were fully blocked.
Were glad that these travellers enjoyed the meerkats so much even if they were disappointed by the safari. We always try hard to explain that game is scarce in and around the Makgadikgadi Pans; we include this in our literature, and on our website. Were sorry if we failed to emphasise this enough to these travellers.
Finally, theres a very good point here about the relatively basic furniture and the full vehicle; Camp Kalahari is the lower-budget choice when compared with Jacks Camp and San Camp and these are some of the reasons why its less costly.
When we passed all of their comments to the camp manager, Jo, she replied (regarding the bees) that Tent 5 is used often, and when these guests mentioned the bees to me, I sent a member of staff to check during tea. They didnt see any then, and we havent had any other comments from others in camp, about the bees.
Jo commented that she did speak more than usual, as the Italian family were asking a lot of questions and she apologized that at the time she had the flu, which may explain if I was too loud as my ears and nose were fully blocked.
Were glad that these travellers enjoyed the meerkats so much even if they were disappointed by the safari. We always try hard to explain that game is scarce in and around the Makgadikgadi Pans; we include this in our literature, and on our website. Were sorry if we failed to emphasise this enough to these travellers.
Finally, theres a very good point here about the relatively basic furniture and the full vehicle; Camp Kalahari is the lower-budget choice when compared with Jacks Camp and San Camp and these are some of the reasons why its less costly.
Senior Africa Specialist | Southern Africa & Seychelles
Tau Pan Camp
"Great lodge but animals not great"
2 nights
Arrived
2 May 2012
"lovely lodge, beautiful rooms, good food, good staff.
But again relatively poor safari drives compared to other countries. It was good to have seen the Kalahari but in all honesty this place is disappointing in terms of animals. We were not sorry leave. It was not exciting."
But again relatively poor safari drives compared to other countries. It was good to have seen the Kalahari but in all honesty this place is disappointing in terms of animals. We were not sorry leave. It was not exciting."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Kanana
"Good lodge and good animals"
2 nights
Arrived
4 May 2012
"Tent comfortable.
Unfortunately Mrs K was very unwell here, with diarrhoea and vomiting. NOT due to malaria medication as have taken it many times before. Staff helpful with Rehydrate etc. Unwilling to accept responsibility though, which was disappointing. No apologies.
Fortunately we had a stock of powerful antidotes so only one activity missed.
Very good safaris here, with a pride of lions. Elephant in the camp was exciting.
Mokoro trip disappointing as the men seem to have been told to talk non stop for the whole trip which was very irritating.
Management very pleasant."
Unfortunately Mrs K was very unwell here, with diarrhoea and vomiting. NOT due to malaria medication as have taken it many times before. Staff helpful with Rehydrate etc. Unwilling to accept responsibility though, which was disappointing. No apologies.
Fortunately we had a stock of powerful antidotes so only one activity missed.
Very good safaris here, with a pride of lions. Elephant in the camp was exciting.
Mokoro trip disappointing as the men seem to have been told to talk non stop for the whole trip which was very irritating.
Management very pleasant."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Poor
Facilities
Good
Shinde Camp
"best of them all"
3 nights
Arrived
6 May 2012
"This is a lovely camp. It is not overly forced and formal but service is good. Management is very genuine and not remotely pretentious. Genuinely enthusiastic and no sign of tourist fatigue (well done!!!).
Safaris good when leopards were around but otherwise were, quite frankly, boring. Going fishing was great as we had not done this before. Very patient and helpful guide (cannot remember his name now...an older man with rheumy eyes) with an obvious lifetime of delta experience.
Mokoro here was excellent, plenty of time to enjoy the peace and quiet!"
Safaris good when leopards were around but otherwise were, quite frankly, boring. Going fishing was great as we had not done this before. Very patient and helpful guide (cannot remember his name now...an older man with rheumy eyes) with an obvious lifetime of delta experience.
Mokoro here was excellent, plenty of time to enjoy the peace and quiet!"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Avani Victoria Falls
"good location with extorbitant food prices"
2 nights
Arrived
9 May 2012
"Great location right next to the falls. Room comfortable. Very comfortable pool area. Main complaint about this hotel is the absolutely ludicrous food prices and the poor quality food. Buffet $45 pp at dinner is ridiculous. Judging by the standard of food at breakfast, dinner would not have been good.
Breakfast food was often cold and greasy (cold poached eggs....bleugh!), the waffles are tasteless cardboard, burnt and dry pastries, the fruit is the saving grace. So we learnt....eat a good lunch at the excellent pool bar (why is this fab place closed for food pm?) and snack on UK biscuits and bar peanuts for dinner. Very sad."
Breakfast food was often cold and greasy (cold poached eggs....bleugh!), the waffles are tasteless cardboard, burnt and dry pastries, the fruit is the saving grace. So we learnt....eat a good lunch at the excellent pool bar (why is this fab place closed for food pm?) and snack on UK biscuits and bar peanuts for dinner. Very sad."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Poor
Food was good.
Manager was Jo at the time. Enthusiastic person but very loud and liked to be centre of attn. Needs to be more discreet to avoid irritation. Hearing her stories more than once at dinner, at 20 decibels, was somewhat wearing. Normal front of house man was on compassionate leave.
Meerkats totally awesome! This was why we went here and they did not dissapoint. We went twice so very lucky.
Quad bikes good fun but made us feel guilty about pollution and noise etc. This is a desert not Brands Hatch.
Safari very disappointing. Never been to any lodge before that put 10 people in a car. Very squashed and impersonal. Felt like a herd os sheep. Unacceptable for the price. Also, few animals to be seen.
Furniture in the lounge area very uncomfortable. Looks nice but try sitting on it! Sticks do not make make for a good back rest!"