Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs W from Washington

"We enjoyed our stay of 2 days/nights in the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, the room was well appointed with a view to the water hole way beyond, the staff was friendly, warm and efficient. We had our breakfast and dinners here for both days, and we enjoyed the inventive food with plenty of local specialities, particularly the lightly smoked duck breast with lichee and plum compote, the crisply fried Zambezi river bream and the tender and tasty warthog tenderloin.

The highlight in our opinion was definitely the location a bit outside of the town, which at first appeared to be a draw-back, but the quietness and the wonderful view from many parts of the hotel over the countryside and to the water hole beyond with the procession of different animals made this a very positive experience.

Day trip to Chobe National Park
We very much enjoyed this trip. Even though this was a day trip and all the viewing was during the day instead of the cooler hours in the morning and the evening, there were plenty of animals to see, in all our previous trips to Africa, we have never seen so many elephants as here in Chobe. The cruise was good, not too many birds but plenty of hippos (groups of up to 10) and families of elephants along the shore as well as bathing in the water. Furthermore, we saw cape buffalos, crocodiles, lizards, warthogs, etc.

The lunch buffet at the Chobe Safari Lodge situated right on the Chobe River offered a reasonably good variety of local specialities, our favorite was the tasty stamped impala.

We saw plenty of animals on the afternoon drive as well, particularly the ever-present elephants and impalas, but also groups of giraffes, kudus, warthogs, marabou storks, etc.

Overall a very positive experience, possibly the only criticism I would have that at times too many vehicles from the same company were at the same spot viewing animals, maybe a more timely phased departure of the vehicles from the lodge would reduce this bunching of vehicles."

"A fantastic place on 2 tiny islands in the Zambezi river, the seven double-occupancy chalets are extremely well appointed and spaced out, each has its own private deck, where you can relax and watch the waters of the Zambezi floating by, providing a great feel of nature with a good but not pretentious touch of luxury.

Management and staff were very attentive and kind, the food, including complimentary drinks, was excellent and inventive. We particularly enjoyed the smoked warthog with balsamic dressing and thin slivers of a hard cheese. A nice extra touch was the hosting of the communal suppers by different members of management (including the school teacher Malindi) - bringing local flair and knowledge to the table.

The evening sun-downer cruise on the Zambezi with sightings of hippos and birds and a stop for hors d'oeuvres and drinks in a sheltered cove was a nice experience, as was the visit to the falls on the Zambian side, enveloped at points by the spray from the falls hitting you from the top, bottom and sides - a glory to behold! The Siankaba village morning walk with Joseph, where we visited the school built by the lodge, met some of Joseph's relatives and plenty of other people was lovely. An afternoon nature walk on the island with sightings of monkeys, a giant king fisher, monitor lizards and tracks of more animals brought us even closer to nature.

Overall a great and relaxing experience, which we highly recommend."