Travel reviews by Ms H & Mr S from CA

"Basic hotel just about in the airport. Signage to get there just a bit confusing. No one to help with our bags either in or out. No luggage trolley nearby to get our bags back to the airport.

A parking lot employee (you have to navigate through the parking lot to get to the hotel) saw we were struggling and found a cart for us.

Arrived hungry. Food available was ok. Breakfast was included and was OK."

"I thought the staff wasn't super friendly and that it was more important for the staff to be accommodated than the guests.

I asked our guide to please talk about everything we were seeing but it seemed he was very ready for his break to go home, which really disappointed me. We repeated the same drives several times, I think because it was easy.

Wildlife viewing was OK. Highlights were a leopard with his aardvark meal up a tree, and a place with hundreds of carmine bee eaters who return each year to nest."

"Wonderful camp, wonderful location, wonderful staff, wonderful guiding, wonderful wildlife.

We've done several safaris and I have to say this was one of my favorite experiences. Our guide, Spencer, certainly added to the experience. He is very knowledgeable. But he's also an entertainer. As far as any subject not related to wildlife and the nature of the area, I'm not sure that I believed much of what he said. But he sure was fun. Our tracker, JD, was amazing. He and Spencer worked very well together and JD deserves a lot of the credit for spotting.

Good lion viewing, packs of wild dogs, large herds of buffalo, of course elephants. Tremendous bird viewing. And in many ways it resembled the Masai Mara in numbers and species of animals. And hundreds of carmine bee eaters nesting! We saw them at another camp and were excited to see even greater numbers here."

"Great staff, great wildlife viewing, nice camp all around.

Leopards, buffalo, crocs, hippo, tons of birds, lions, all sorts of antelope, hyena and puppies, so cute.

Great overall stay."

"The experience at Little Kwara was wonderful, top to bottom. Our guide, Charles, was maybe the best we ever had.

We started a game with our friends to see if one of us could come up with a question that he couldn't answer. We didn't. The tracker, Chairman, was very good and they worked well together. The staff was so warm and friendly and they seemed like family to each other. Charles is also the manager, along with Okie. I can't thank them enough for taking such good care of us and making us feel so welcome. The staff even sings together a cappella and what wonderful voices they have.

Animal viewing was amazing. Baboons and vervet monkeys playing trampoline and slide on the tent roofs, leopards, lions, lots of dogs, hippos, kudu, warthogs, and night sightings of serval, African wild cat, and civit. many giraffe, tsessebe, impala, red lechwe, I could go on and on. Wonderful cruise to Bird Island at just before sunset framed by a flock of about 200 flamingos.
I would have liked to stay longer, and I will definitely go back.

We stayed at three Kwando camps on this trip. I was struck by how the warmth and genuine friendliness made me forget how seamlessly and professionally the camps were run. The staff at all camps made sure that the guests were given the best possible safari experiences. I really appreciated that if the night game viewing was good, we'd stay out to watch, not scurry back to the camp at a specified dinner time. It was obviously worked into the management plan that this would make the guests happy.

I would highly recommend staying at Kwando camps."

"The tents were perfectly positioned to get the worst heat of the day. They were designed so that their was no cross breeze, so even if there was a little wind, it was blocked by the canvas. No ceiling fan, just a cheap floor fan and one swamp cooler, which quit working the first night. Our safe didn't work and we found out it hadn't for some time and our neighbors found a broken toilet on arrival.

The management is unengaged and the attitudes made me a little uncomfortable. Any problems brought up to the management were answered with, we'll take care of it, but then nothing would happen. I heard there are plans to re do the common areas and to put in a new pool. Time and money would be better spent fixing the guest tents.

Scheduling for wake-up, drive start time and end time, meals, cocktails, allowed for no flexibility. Heaven forbid you were watching an interesting animal encounter on the afternoon game drive. You had to get back to camp. It just wasn't a welcoming place and it was due to how the camp is managed. I experienced this at the other Wilderness Safari camp where we stayed, and I will avoid them in the future.

The staff outside of management was very nice and our guide OD was knowledgable. Game viewing was good."

"Pleasant stay in a quiet neighborhood."