Travel reviews by Mrs B from Cheshire

"The Zambezi Sun was the first stop on our holiday and it was perfect for this. It was relaxing and enabled us to chill out after the long journey, but had plenty of facilities and activities when we did want to do something. Its proximity to the Falls was also a huge bonus.

The Zambezi Sun is beautifully appointed but not in an intimidating way which made it ideal for our party (2 adult women plus 12 year old girl). Our room was a little cramped with 3 beds in it but as we weren't in it much it didn't really matter. We made a lot of use of the pool, which is excellent, and only ate in the hotel. Food was good quality and plentiful.

The hotel felt safe enough to allow Kirsty (the 12 year old) to wander around the main hotel complex without us being worried for her safety, and all the staff were great with her (especially when she discovered how to charge things to the room!!)

We went on a sunset cruise of the Zambezi (arranged by the hotel) which we loved and would highly recommend."

"We loved Lagoon Camp. We had the family room, which was huge, much bigger than we expected. Everything about this camp was perfect. The rooms are really beautiful and high quality with outdoor and indoor showers, lovely furnishings and incredible views over the lagoon - you can see to Namibia and elephants and hippos were frequently seen. The level of service really was outstanding, the staff come across as really genuinely friendly and keen to ensure we had the best time possible. Nothing was too much trouble and they could not have been nicer to Kirsty (12).

This was our first safari so it it difficult to compare, however in my view the wildlife viewing was exceptional. We saw an enormous variety of animals, and one of the best days of my life was when we saw a leopard with 2 cubs first thing in the morning, then wild dogs resting. Paul, our guide, then offered to change our plans to see if we could find the wild dogs hunting which we really wanted to do, and that was incredible. We followed them chasing 2 wart hogs and an impala, none of which they caught, which I was not too sorry about!

Then, on the way back, we saw the leopard and cubs again, up a tree (with a dead impala). The whole day was magical (although the dead impala was a bit gross!) and for me personally a dream come true. The boat trip was also a lovely change from the jeep safaris and by this time the guides were almost friends and we had such a laugh with them. It really did make it even more special for us.

The booklet given to guests to record the animals spotted is an excellent idea, and Paul, our guide, spent a considerable time with Kirsty on our last day going through the book to make sure she had recorded every animal we had seen, we really appreciated this.

All the staff were fantastic but Paul and James (guide and tracker) and Thuso (manager) were really outstanding and helped to make this a fabulous 2 days. The guide and tracker do an incredible job of tracking animals, their knowledge and experience are very evident and this added to the experience for us. We were really sorry to leave.

The only negative I would have about Lagoon is that there was some chemical in the pool that Kirsty turned out to be allergic to and gave her a rash on her face (we did narrow it down to the pool)."

"Little Kwara was our second safari camp (and also our second Kwando Safaris camp). After leaving Kwando Lagoon Camp, we were not sure how things could get better as we had such a fabulous time there. Well, Little Kwara (LK) managed it. The 3 days there were truly the best 3 days holiday of my life, and my travel companions (sister and 12 year old niece) are in complete agreement. It was not just that the wildlife viewing was incredible, it was the whole camp setup, the staff, the food and drinks, the other guests... really, everything was beyond compare.

Starting with the camp itself. We were expecting it to be similar to Lagoon, and in many ways it was, but there were enough differences to make it just that little bit different. It felt that Kwando camps were not clones of each and were individual, which we really liked. We also felt that LK was slightly more relaxed than Lagoon - one wasn't better than the other, it was just different. The bar area in particular in LK was really relaxing (I fell asleep there several times during siesta!) with a fantastic view. An elephant came into the camp several times which was really exciting.

As with Lagoon, the food was excellent and plentiful. We are not adventurous with our food so the choices were good, although the staff were happy to provide local specialities where requested. As we had one room with an extra bed, we were more cramped than Lagoon, however we were hardly in our lodge so it was not a problem. Again, like Lagoon, the rooms were beautifully appointed with lovely furnishings and fittings.

The game viewing was outstanding in LK. We saw lions several times and lost count of the number of other species we saw. My personal favourites were the night game drives, as the smell of flowers and grasses was released (especially jasmine) and we saw some nocturnal animals that I was really not expecting to see. We also very much enjoyed the mokoro and walking safaris, and the boat safari - all the activities were so different that we felt we had packed 2 weeks holiday into 3 days.

What makes LK stand out for me is the quality of the staff. Like Lagoon, they came across as genuinely friendly and keen to ensure we had a fantastic holiday. They were absolutely wonderful with Kirsty (12 year old) - one of them taught her a card trick and the others very kindly allowed her to show it to them all - I have some great photos of this!

All the above factors were going to ensure this was a wonderful experience, but what turned it into a life changing experience was the guide and tracker, Hobbs and Chester. Their attitudes, abilities to track, knowledge, skills, enthusiasm and the fact that they are genuinely all round lovely people made this an experience that will be hard to match."

"We went to Serowe to visit family friends. We stayed in the Serowe Hotel, which was disappointing and had very poor service.

We did not find the people of Serowe very friendly in the main."