Travel reviews by Profs B & B from Warwick

"This was a good place for us to start on our first safari as it was driving only and got us into the swing of things. Facilities were good and the staff supportive. It, however, to us did not come close to the other camps we visited and we would not return to this camp (unless we did a rainy season trip, which we are tempted to do, which has much more limited options.

In the end the distance from the park and the presence of so many other vehicles on game drives would put us off - but that is because we had so many wonderful experiences in remote locations later in our trip.

Views from the terrace where meals were taken were good - unusually lights enabled a good view at night. We had Room 2 at Kapani which in retrospect I think was a larger than average room."

"What a change from Kapani - one extreme to the other! We loved the room (we had Room 1 - the most remote from the bar) our first experience of an outside shower and toilet. We were the only guests for the first night and although this was intimidating at first in the end we really loved the personal attention we got form Lani (the host) and Lawrence the guide. Our first experience of walking - such fun. We tracked and found ions on one of the walks - an experience no-one in a Land Rover could match. Also we saw no-one else on our drives or walks - this is something we were to get used and love.

On the second night we were joined by a writer and photographers from Conde Nast UK Traveller magazine - a great group who made our second evening a lot of fun. Look out for an article on Norman Carr's new super fancy new camp in January's edition (on sale in December).

We felt the rooms did not provide anywhere particularly comfortable to sit - an essential given the long siesta times. Otherwise they were fine. (Even if a mouse did threaten me on the toilet!!!)."

"What can we say here - from the moment we were greeted by Tatum (our hostess) to the moment she waved us goodbye we had the most wonderful experiences. Her friendliness and exuberance made this camp special to us and we would be pleased if that was fed back to the company. Again we were lucky as were the only guests for our two nights stay and the private meal Tatum arranged on our deck was magical. (I challenge any guests to guess her nationality!)

But it wasn't only the hosting that was excellent but also we were very lucky to have Innocent as our guide. What a lovely man and his love of the Zambian wild life was self evident - he was the perfect guide for us. We had so many great experiences on foot and in the vehicle they are too much to list. But approaching lions and seeing how close we could get on foot is something we will never forget. Also watching elephants clear lions away from a waterhole so they could drink was amazing to watch ( especially with sundowner in hand!). Elephants visiting us for lunch was such fun.

We had Room 2 - which I suspect was the best as the balcony was wonderful with a lovely tree built into it giving great shade (comfortable chairs inside and out here)."

"To us this was different as it was our first experience of sharing a bush camp with other guests, so was a different feeling for us. We really liked the setting on the river - indeed we would probably rate this camp to have the best location and the position of the bed overlooking the river was great. Having an inside shower was a disappointment but needed we understand as it is used in the rainy season.

Aubrey the guide was great - really entertaining and interesting. He tried so hard to find us leopards but no luck! Surprisingly we saw the least in terms of wildlife on walks and drives - but that is just the luck of the draw we think. However, watching hippos and animals coming to river was really great.

Watching a male lion walk past the frony of our tent at 04.00 in the morning is not something I will forget - could not get back to sleep!"

"Had a great walk from Kakuli to Mchenja with Julius (yet more lions).

Mchenja is a lovely camp. Niketa runs a great team and made everyone feel comfortable. Situated on the river (not quite as dramatic a view as Kakuli but room lovely). Great having antelope around room eating flowers from sausage trees. Great watching animals coming down to drink at river - highlight was a leopard walking along the bank while we ate lunch - never be without your binoculars. We had Room 5 which is the most secluded and set back quite a bit from the river so not such a good view from the deck and not very shady until later in the day.

Simon was our guide - while more distant than Innocent or Aubry - he was once again very good. Following a herd of elephant on foot from grazing to the river was such fun. Again here we saw so much including a close up leopard sighting and topped off by two two month old lion cubs."

"What a jolt from the bush camps! Fantastic location ( we had Room 3 - Mahogany - with breathtaking views of the Zambezi). But it felt more of a production line hotel experience than the bush camps - probably affected by a different clientele. This was compounded by having to make rapid choices about options for the Victoria Falls - all of which seemed very expensive (I still do not know if they would have been cheaper if we had arranged ourselves). Food seemed less interesting and vaired as we had experienced in the bush camps. In the end we took none of them and still felt very happy with seeing the falls on their included tour.

What really surprised us was how positive and interesting the village tour was - a really interesting insight into Zambian society that I would not have been able to get in any other way. The mukoro rides were brilliant and a final mukoro sundowner in the middle of the Zambezi an experience not to be missed.

In the end we warmed to the place. At first we thought it too far from the Falls but in the end it did exactly what we wanted as we relaxed on our last days in Zambia."