Travel reviews by Mr N from Harefield

"A great introduction to my first trip to Africa. I was met at the airstrip by my guide GT (Gin & Tonic) and driven the short distance to camp where i was met by Dan & Charmaine who were great hosts throughout my stay. All the staff were very friendly and the food was excellent, especially after an evening drink at one of the best bars I've had the pleasure of leaning on!

General game viewing was excellent and we had a great sighting of 2 young Leopards on my third day in camp. We caught up with one of them again on a night drive as well as seeing plenty of nocturnal animals including Civet & Gennet. The concession was beautiful and every corner you turned seemed like you had entered a different wilderness, a truly amazing place.

The Monday night meal around the camp fire was especially fun when the staff sang for us and the food & service was very traditional.

Dan kindly spent some time one afternoon showing myself and another guest how to use photoshop to edit all the photos we were taking. On my last full day i was on my own for the afternoon drive so Dan came out to give me some tips which was much appreciated.

GT was a great guide throughout the trip, seeming to find the balance of what everyone wanted.

I did a Mokoro trip one afternoon though it was about 30 minutes from camp so we enjoyed a bit of a game drive as well. A very relaxing way to spend an evening.

I stayed in room 1 and it was extremely comfortable and had a great view. It was kept extremely clean (by them not me) and the laundry service provided works well.

Overall a great trip!"

"After a 30 minute drive from the airstrip you get to experience the magic of Little Vumbura when you take a short boat ride to the island on which the camp is located.

Millie and Hamish were fantastic hosts throughout my 3 night stay and have great team of staff behind them. Food was great, room was great and there was a really good atmosphere around the camp.

My guide was Madala Kay and this guys game spotting and tracking skills were a sight to behold. Within 2 days we had seen a few Leopards, Cheetah, Sable Antelope, Hyena Pups and much much more.

We had a surprise lunch in the bush one day which made a nice change.

The highlight of the trip was probably and afternoon/evening boat trip when after seeing plenty of Hippo's and a Bull Elephant feeding in the water we experienced the most amazing sunset while enjoying our sun-downers. Unfortunately the Wild Dogs that were about the week before had disappeared.

Little Vumbura is a truly special place"

"The new Duma Tau camp is only a couple of months old and had a slightly different feel to the 3 other camps i stayed at. It felt slightly new in places. Some people will love that but i felt it was just lacking the rustic feel of the other camps.

All the staff were great and the the food was of the same high standard as the other camps.

My guide was Bobby and he was great throughout the trip. He spent a lot more time than other guides explaining the ecology and history of the Delta, though he knew how to put his foot down when there was action we needed to see. He also took us out on a boat one afternoon (between drives) to watch the Elephants crossing the lagoon, and took me fishing the other afternoon i had in camp.

Game viewing was spectacular with numerous Lion Sightings which included watching a pride of Lions steal a Leopards kill. We also saw plenty of Leopards and lots of other game.

The Elephants regularly cross the lagoon near camp and this is a truly amazing sight to watch."

"I had really been hoping to see Wild Dogs on my trip but despite Chitabe having the reputation, I had been told everywhere i went that the Chitabe pack had spilt up last year when the alpha female was killed by lions. I therefore got the shock of my life when on the last full day my guide Phinley turned round while were watching some Lions sleeping and shouted "Wild Dogs, hold on!". The dogs had come trotting out of the trees but saw the Lions, did an about turn an bolted off. The way Phinley announced their arrival he was clearly as excited as me. We hurtled through the stunted Mopane woodland fortunately keeping an eye on the dogs. After a couple of Kilometers the dogs slowed down and we were able to get a proper sighting and watch them interact. This was 3 male dogs and they believe there is a new Alpha Female who was back at the den with about 9 pups.

The afternoon was scorching and we were luck enough to find them a couple of hundred yards away from where we had last seen them when out on the evening drive. This was a day i will never forget, i have about 300 photos of the dogs to sort but the way Phinley announced their arrival is definitely the highlight. The guides in Botswana have so much passion and seem to regularly get as much enjoyment from the animal sightings as we did.

Chitabe camp is very comfortable, all the staff were extremely friendly, the food was also extremely good.

Apart from the dogs we also had multiple Leopard and Lion sighting as well as lots of other gently game.

Chitabe was a great place to end my first safari and was only a short hop back to Maun."