Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs M from Weymouth

"A well established camp with the friendliest staff, guides and trackers who always had smiles on their faces. Our first drive to the camp waterhole when we arrived gave us a male lion crouched drinking with a wonderful reflection in the water.

Vasco our guide and tracker Mishak were founts of knowledge on where the animals were likely to be found and Mishak's game walk describing how people lived in the Kalahari, found food and medicine and made fire was impressive.

The evening meal was announced in song by the waiters and kitchen staff, a truly amazing touch. The food itself was fantastic and we were never hungry - quite amazing for a bush camp.

Early morning game drive at 06.30am it was only 3C and with wind chill on the vehicles, it was COLD to say the least but by 2.00pm it was 31C. Bush babies were very much appreciated on one's lap.

A fantastic visit to Tau Pan"

"A newly established camp with very comfortable rooms. All staff, guides and trackers were so friendly and hospitable and the food was amazing.

Game viewing was superb and we were privileged to see a pack of wild dogs at their den and 10 puppies - these are very endangered animals facing extinction, so it was great to see them. Mr T and Matt were great at knowing exactly where to find the wildlife.

Amazing to hear an elephant eating the tree outside our room in the middle of the night."

"A great stopover on the way from Botswana to the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia, the lodge is a quiet peaceful place on the banks of the Zambezi above Victoria Falls with plenty to see on the river trips arranged by the lodge.

Great staff and wonderful food."

"Arrival at the camp by river is a safari in its own right, so much to see in the river and on the banks and in the air.

The camp is in a great position on the river bank with all tents having great views of wildlife that wander through the camp and in the river. A choice of game drives or on the river in the boats, always so much to see as found by the guides and trackers.

With no moon, the night drives were spectacular with views of the planets and stars that are just not visible in populated parts of the world, and a first for me, three sightings of satellites and the International Space Station - the wildlife was good too!!

The camp staff and food were superb - a great stay. Thanks to Tom, Hugo and owner Chris."

"A very impressive hotel built in the Colonial style, the public rooms look amazing with a wealth of historical information and photographs, but the bedrooms are rather dated.

Great view down to the bridge over the Zambezi. Food was good with plenty of choice.

We were there for only one night before an early morning departure, the hotel seems to cater for the masses and is not a place we would have wanted to stay for longer"

"After passing through the Chinese owned open cast mining area on the drive from Victoria Falls to Mbala Gate where there is total devastation to the landscape and a smoke haze pervades the skies, it was a relief to arrive at Camp Hwangei where the skies were clear and blue.

Super guides Moses, Changa and Shaun who knew just where to go for the best wildlife viewing, a highlight was a herd of 25 elephants of all ages ranging from tiny babies to big bulls all wallowing in a mudpool and squirting mud and water over themselves."

"Totally amazing the ingenuity in working out exactly how to make rooms among the rocks which form parts of the interiors of the rooms.

We had our first sight of a white rhino due to the persistence in searching by "Bones" our guide, with the help of a couple of park rangers, unfortunately the rhino had been dehorned, supposedly to prevent it from being poached.

Great views from Cecil Rhodes grave.

The highly polished concrete floors in the rooms mean that it's very easy to slip and fall - which my wife did!!!"

"First visited in 2001, there is a whole new block of rooms in which we stayed this time, same high quality as the original hotel rooms.

A nice place to rest between safari camps, short walk to the falls and the bridge.

Shops are very touristy and nothing special, lots of begging and you felt a little uneasy if you ventured off the main street, there were guards and police in evidence.

Main drawback to Victoria falls is the constant noise of helicopters and microlights in the sky all day long

A highlight was the early morning breakfast cruise in the Ilala Lodge's own boat, lots of elephants, crocodiles and birds to see."

"We were supposed to be met at the airport by a driver from the hotel with our names on a board, but there was no one. Took us some time to find a representative from the hotel who eventually found our names on a list, he then had to phone for a car which took half an hour to arrive.

The hotel is in a very freight type commercial and unattractive part of the airport, the security checks just to get through the gates and then again through the front door of the hotel were something we've never experienced before, but once inside, the hotel is superb."

"Alfred "Papa" Sakita was a great guide who was with us for the whole of our stay at the amazing Ngorongoro Crater, he knew exactly where to go for the best places and positions for wildlife photography, including finding three black rhino, two of whom were mating - and yes, I have the photograph.

The crater is quite amazing in its size and the amount of big game and birds that are there, the view from the hotel on the crater edge is spectacular when the early morning mist burns off.

We managed to see our first leopard standing in the mist beside the track as we left on our last day."

"Thousands of wildebeest crossing the Mara River non stop for half an hour is truly an amazing sight plus a few zebra at the same time, a couple of nearby sunbathing crocodiles took no notice, presumably they had had their fill on an earlier crossing.

Although the camp moves twice a year depending on the migration, you would never know as it looks permanent.

Great food and accommodation as always with these safari camps, the staff and guides are friendly, knowledgeable and attentive for your every need.

Our guide Eustace was superb in getting prime positions for the Mara crossing in competition with the many other safari vehicles jostling for a view.."

"Another wildebeest migration river crossing viewed from the camp - amazing sight.

So much wildlife to see on the game drives, BUT also in camp. We decided to forgo the morning drive and stay in camp to walk round and photograph birds, flowers, insects, crocs and a lion.

A highlight was the sight of 5 cheetahs strolling in different directions towards a very large herd of wildebeest, gradually splitting the herd till they isolated their victim. We did not see the kill as the action was moving away from us, however after a very fast drive to the other side of the kill we were able to get many close up photographs of the 5 cheetahs eating their meal. Interestingly a spotted hyena tried several times to creep up on the cheetahs to steal the meal but he was chased off - outnumbered."

"Great location with game coming into the camp at night.

Our guide Johnson wore Masai traditional dress and was very knowledgeable where to find the wildlife and the highlight was to see a pair of lions mating every 10 minutes or so, they keep this up for several days!!!

On our last night Marietta and Brandon arrange a private dinner outside our tent to celebrate Janet's birthday - a very nice gesture from the camp."

"The camp is set in a lovely location, the owner's house set in the middle. Our room requested by Richard Trillo was superb with wonderful views. Beautiful lawns and flower beds in camp make this a special place to visit.

The trip to the farm going past the stables was well worth a visit, they are virtually self sufficient for food.

Game drive viewing was great, both white and black rhinos were seen - including Elvis who had been hand reared many years previously - friendly chap who came right up to the vehicle.

Francis was our Masai guide - in Masai dress of course."

"Peace, quiet and tranquility in the hotel and grounds - away from the hasstle of beach sellers and the hubub of the main road.

This was a great place to relax and unwind after 5 weeks of safaris in 5 African countries - glad we chose to come here rather than a large resort hotel.

Staff all very friendly and helpful."

"This was an amazing camp in a national park so close to Nairobi that you could see the city skyline as well as wildlife in front of you.

The pickup from the airport and transfer to camp was so well organised, it was a game drive in its own right when we arrived as soon as we passed through the park gates.

We were only here for one night, but this camp is worth a longer stay.

Great food and accommodation - and the rock hyrax love to eat the roses!!!!!"

"Car pickup at airport from Hertz easy, drive to our hotel in Camps Bay made easy as we took our own TomTom satnav. Primi Royal Boutique Hotel overlooks the sea, staff helpful and friendly, hotel clean and comfortable, breakfast good, full English or Continental.

A good base for visiting Cape Town, the winelands and Cape of Good Hope. Having a satnav certainly made it easier driving through Cape Town.

Lots of really good restaurants in Camps Bay. Do make a visit to "The Cod Father" restaurant, you chose various pieces of raw fish from the slab, it's weighed to determine the price and then cooked for you, it actually worked out to be a very cheap but very tasty meal, highly recommended."

"A very warm welcome from Wilma to her lovely house after the car was parked through the electric gate, so very secure.

Our room was lovely with period furniture, the bathroom massive. A relaxing beer in the shady garden on arrival. Pool available though we did not use it.

Wilma organised our trip to the Rooibos estate the next morning and pointed us to the rock art trail for the afternoon.

Breakfasts were eaten in the garden from a substantial choice laid out inside. Long chats with Wilma and Johan who were excellent hosts making for a most enjoyable stay in Clanwilliam."

"Only one night as we were just passing through, but there was a warm welcome on arrival when we were shown to our uniquely furnished, but very comfortable room, although by the morning we felt that the bed was not the most comfortable that we have ever slept in.

Long chat with Pet Trumplemann at breakfast who thrives from meeting and talking to guests."

"Our first venture onto gravel roads in our little Toyota Aygo!! But we arrived OK.

Wonderfully laid out with lots of green grass and trees, a veritable oasis in the desert, with the lodges dotted about blending in with the massive boulders. The pool at the edge of camp has a fantastic background of the wide open vastness of Namibia.

Drive to the Fish River Canyon next day with lots of wildlife sightings, then the "OH WOW" , just look at that view over and down into the Canyon! I'm now going to buy a "fisheye lens" for my camera!

The food in the restaurant at Canon Lodge was excellent."

"A tip for self drivers, DO ASK your host when you leave about the next available fuel supply, we missed the Canon Roadhouse fuel as we saw no sign for the garage.

The next fuel on the map was at GOAGEB but the reserve light came on 30km before we got there. The garage was derelict, no fuel for another 30km at BETHANIEN!!! We just made it and fueled up thankfully.

A very warm welcome from Mildred, Hanalore's newest recruit, who provided us with a most welcome cold beer. Tea at 4 pm with Hanalore who loves talking to her visitors, then a walk to the mine with the dog leading, unfortunately he led us in the wrong direction so we decided to visit the old copper mine the next day before we left, well worth the 6km walk.

Food was excellent both in the evening and breakfast the following morning."

"The only niggle here was that the individual thatched rooms became unbearably hot making sleeping at night difficult because you were wet through, no air conditioning except to open windows and move the hot air around with the large ceiling fan.

A warm and friendly welcome from the staff, the food was very good, both breakfast and evening. It was HOT there, so the pool was very welcome.

Marvellous day trip to Sossusvlei and the dunes, our guide was very knowledgeable and found and showed us things you would never have seen on your own, such as a Sidewinder snake and a White Lady spider that builds a silken trap with a lid under the sand. Champagne breakfast included in the trip, just for us two, wonderful.

Another word of warning for self drivers, BEWARE of sand roads ie. the D845 between the C27 and C19 just before Desert Homestead, we got bogged down to the axles in sand and had to dig ourselves out with the help of a passing 4X4 with a spade."

"We had a car problem on arrival, Sam directed us to the nearby Toyota garage, problem solved. A warm and friendly host, Sam was a font of local knowledge.

The Giardino was lovely, full of character, books and classical music. The gardens were wonderful, so relaxing, and Beethoven for company too.

The breakfast and evening meals were superb, definitely not worth going out in the evening looking for a restaurant."

"Amazing place, park at the bottom and then transfer to the camp in a 4X4.

Warm welcome by the staff and then shown to our very luxurious tent on a wooden platform with tremendous views to the massive rock formations populated by baboons.

Lots of dassies and various lizards of varying colours.

Food again was excellent both in the evening and breakfast.

An amazing night, the baboons were screaming and seemed as though the were at the side of the tent, however the night guards were there making sure that none breached the camp perimeter."

"NWR or Namibia Wildlife Resorts, State owned and State run have a lot to learn from the private sector. Our stay at Okaukuejo was our only disappointment of our total trip.

Our views were NOT just ours, a glance at the visitor book in reception showed countless complaints of rude, incompetent, untrained and just couldn't care less staff.

The restaurant was total chaos, food mediocre and poorly cooked, of a standard that you would expect in a works canteen or school dining room. Tables are relaid as diners finish their meal, but the tablecloths are not changed and the next diners therefore have food stains to look at as they eat.

At an evening meal, a jackal came to within about 10 yards of people eating, begging for food, and although a small wall separated us from the animal, the staff took no action despite being asked to shoo the animal away. We had been warned to be very wary of wild animals that appeared to have lost their wariness of humans in view of the risk of rabies. This was not a pleasant experience.

We had to pay a N$500 deposit for our room key and check an inventory of the room contents and advise any discrepancies, there were none. On checking out, we had to wait in reception whilst the staff radioed through to the cleaning staff to check whether we had taken anything or whether the inventory was correct, before we were refunded our deposit. Highly demeaning!

Now to the good part, our self drives in Etosh were wonderful, we saw so many animals and have some great photographs to prove it. There had been quite a bit of rain, so there were no animals apart from jackals at the floodlit waterhole, they were drinking elsewhere.

Etosh IS GREAT, but steer clear of NWR. Trouble is that the camp IS right in the wildlife reserve and no other lodges are so well placed."

"WONDERFUL. The Africat Foundation is doing great work and the staff are all so involved and their enthusiasm and friendliness just shines through.

Norman Victor our safari drive guide was knowledgeable and relentless in his hunt for us to see the leopard.

Food was excellent for all the meals.

As a last camp at the end of our African trip, Okonjima couldn't have been a better choice."

"Instead of leaving Okonjima and then flying straight back to the UK, we decided on a night in the capital of Namibia, Windhoek to unwind and see the city.

Kalahari Sands Hotel is right in the centre of Windhok on Independence Avenue, a big bustling hotel with a casino if you are that way inclined, but it was comfortable and the food was really very good indeed for a big hotel.

Time to see the local craft market over the road and the big shops in the shopping malls, the same the world over!

Parking was free in the attached multi-story, a boon as on street parking is not an option."