Travel reviews by Dr B & Ms B from Horsham

"Excellent guiding from Fred and a lot of animals to be seen including leopards two nights running. Fred almost seemed to have a telephathic connection with leopards as he knew exactly where to find them and what they were going to do! Quite a lot of other vehicles in that part of South Luangwa.

Rooms very comfortable and nicely furnished but limited storage space - fine for two nights but not longer. Problem with no water when first arrived which took several hours to fix - initial attempt led to mud shower! Very apologetic staff who were going to move us if problem persisted.

Food very good - especially the buffet lunches which were exceptional.

Good eating and sitting areas. Potentially nice swimming pool which was full of green water and would have been more appetising if it had been treated.

Manager very helpful - eg brought along laptop so could download pictures onto hard drive."

"Fantastic staff at this camp who made us very welcome on arrival and by the time we left we felt like part of the family. Yvonne is an excellent manager who went out of her way to make sure people felt at home and were enjoying themselves. Andrew is an excellent guide who is a natural teacher and has an amazing knowledge of the animals, birds and plants. Great fun as well. Interesting hides which made a good midday activity.

The bedrooms could do with some serious maintenance - particularly compared with other camps we stayed at. Some of the netting of the windows had tears/splits - one quite a large hole. There was one minute fan which was so noisy that it couldn't be used at night and was useless anyway. The pressure in the shower was poor. There was an outside bath but one needed to ask for the water to be heated 1/2 hour in advance. The private deck is a lovely idea.

The communal areas are excellent - including a lovely lower deck by the river where afternoon tea was served. Main area comfortable and welcoming.

Breakfast after the morning game drive was excellent but somewhat snack-like lunches, served in a box on the private deck, were not very good. This arrangement was presumably to provide flexibility in when one ate and to allow the staff time off, but it would have been better to leave chilled, covered bowls of food in the communal area and allow people to help themselves. Evening meals were good. Lovely surprise breakfast in the ebony grove."

"This is a super camp in a lovely location with resident elephants! The camp staff are very welcoming and helpful which made our stay very enjoyable. However, the game drives were not of the same high standard as the two previous camps. This could be partly due to the relative paucity of game in the area and also the fact that our guide (Patrick) was not very outgoing and had obviously come back to work too early from being unwell. However, on the two river "drives" he demonstrated a huge knowledge (and enthusiasm) about the birds.

The individual "tents" are excellent and bathrooms very good as are the communal areas. All meals were really excellent - let down very slightly by the wine which although absolutely drinkable was not quite as good quality as the other camps. Because this camp is larger, there wasn't the same feeling of cameraderie as at the South Luangwa camps."

"Lovely place on the banks of the Zambezi. The rooms are very luxurious and spacious and the staff went out of their way to look after us. Isaac, our personal valet was charming and helpful as was Thomas in the restaurant. Everyone is friendly and welcoming and the whole ethos is to make guests feel pampered. The guides were very good. There is a certain lack of organisation manifest when trying to check out. However, Juliet, the manager is delightful and welcoming and provided a fantastic day room as we were leaving in the afternoon and they needed us to check out of our room - a nice touch not seen in many places.

Health and safety is excessive and intrusive - life jackets on every boat trip and indemnities to be signed in advance. Given the cost of the accommodation, it is a shame that entrance into the falls, game park and any transfers to non-Tongabezi activities were charged extra. The cost of the trip to Livingstone island - which is managed by Tongabezi - was pretty steep. I felt that the management were trying to extract every last dollar from guests. The activities manager was selling activities rather than offering experiences.

The food was mixed -sometimes excellent, othertimes less so. Quantities were very (over) generous with both lunch and dinner being 3 courses. There was a choice of main course but all came with multiple vegetables - one couldn't choose either content or quantity. Unfortunately I also got food poisoning.........

There is no atmosphere and very limited contact with other guests. It is more like a luxurious spa than a safari camp and could disappoint anyone who is there to see animals - except for rhinos which are not found in South Luangwa. However, it is a lovely luxurious place to stay when visiting the falls and to chill out at the end of a safari."

"Large international hotel. Really friendly, helpful staff who wanted to chat. Food ok.

Wouldn't rate as one of the best hotels I have stayed in but absolutely adequate for purpose - ie bed for night before morning flight."