Travel reviews by Mr&Mrs T from Biggleswade

"This was a great place to be based to visit the Zimbabwe side of the Vic falls. It was our first stop on our overall holiday and had good rooms, with a restful view out over the garden.

The restaurant terrace was delightful and we enjoyed our dinners and breakfasts here. There is clearly an excellent chef here, and a live piano player during dinner. There were Bush Bucks in the garden.

The Lodge is a short, safe walk to the Falls. Definitely an excellent choice for this part of the holiday.

The turn down service was excellent - they virtually re-did the room!"

"This was our first stop actually on Safari after the Vic Falls. We were met at Kasane airport and did a 3 hour plus game drive across the National Park to get to the position of the Camp, which moves every few days. During this first drive it became clear that the NP was absolutely teeming with wildlife. We spotted so many things on this first drive, and all subsequent ones.

We had an excellent guide for all our activities in Michael. He clearly knew his way around the area, especially where all the lions hung out!

We stayed three nights which meant that we got a free Photo Safari Cruise which was definitely worthwhile, and also that we had the same guide for all three days and were the only ones in the jeep - which was an incredible bonus for us.

It is an incredible feat to move the entire camp every 5 or 6 days, but it was well established in the position we found it in - well to the west of the Park which was quieter than near to the main gate. Our personal tent was adequate. The biggest problem we found was that we arrived after dark, and the lighting in the tent was very low level - putting it mildly!! So we were rather fumbling around in the dark - literally! The camp manager knew this was a problem and apparently they are looking at better lighting in the individual tents. I got quite quite adept at putting my contact lenses in in the dark. There was a good flush toilet and bucket shower, and jugs of lovely hot water provided on wake-up, return to camp and before bed. The bed was comfy, although we often lost our pillows down the back!

We took our hats off the chef who was cooking on open fire and with a dutch oven only. The food produced was okay in these circumstances - but it was carried across from the kitchen area completely uncovered and the dining tent was open on all sides and could be quite windy. This tended to mean that most of the food was cool verging on the cold. A few plate covers or covering them with foil would have helped this.

This was our first mobile camp, as we had stayed in a semi-permanent one in Tanzania a few years ago, and in lodges, and were moving onto permanent camps, so it was a really good experience.

We know that Expert Afrtica make a bit of a thing about it being the NP, so it is not quite such a good experience - but we saw more game here than anywhere else, and there were not too many jeeps - although there were more private cars on the Saturday (just as we were leaving) .

So in summary - great guide, fantastic game spotting, interesting and adequate accommodation. We would definitely recommend a stay here."

"We loved this camp - in fact it was possibly our favourite of the three we stayed in, but that said we had a guide who was relatively new to the camp (a few months) and who did not seem well versed in where to find different types of game. The position on the marsh was great - and we could hear hippos every night.

We were overall disappointed with how much game we didn't see, especially having come from Chobe NP where there is so much. The Guide knew his stuff, characteristics, tracks, droppings etc., but just didn't seem to find too much to see. From that perspective it was a weaker stay than our other stops although a lovely camp. The camp has a good system of a hostess who always met you, and dealt with queries etc.

The tents were excellent with lovey bathroom, nice shower, a fan and a settee in the tent, as well as a deck. Laundry was done efficiently and quickly.

The food was good and the camp staff were very imaginative at moving things around. We had lovely lunches by the pool one day, down on the marsh another, a boma with a Braai one evening, and because I had a special birthday a private dinner on our deck for our last night - so they really varied things. All the staff were very friendly and helpful.

We had a good Mokora ride - very peaceful and informative, and because we were there for three nights we had a 30 min helicopter ride over the marshes, which with an open door helicopter was a great new experience. I wanted to do a walking safari but it was not available. We did a night drive which was more worthwhile than some we have done!

With hindsight perhaps we should have perhaps requested a different guide which would have improved the overall experience.

It is also worth noting that the local airstrip had been washed away, so it was almost a 2 hour drive each way to get to the airstrip which was very uncomfortable!"

"We enjoyed our stay at Shinde where there was a good variety of activities. We had a really good guide (Chachos) who certainly went the extra mile for us. The setting of the public areas was delightful overlooking the water, but the tents looked out onto a lot of growth , so you barely had a view at all. However the rooms were well equipped and furnished, the bed was comfy, and the bathroom and shower were good. Laundry was done efficiently and quickly.

The Game Drives were very good, and Chachos and his fellow guides knew where to find lions and leopards which we saw several times. I was keen to see wild dogs, and when a pack made an appearance for the first time for many weeks, we got there and saw them, and tracked them across the plain for a while - it was an unforgettable experience. This was where Chachos went the extra mile, as once one of the other jeeps saw the dogs, he came and found us on our mokora ride, with a faster boat, and took us back to the jeep and drove fast so that we wouldn't miss them - as this was our very last afternoon - last chance saloon to see them - we were delighted that he did this for us.

We did an excellent walking safari, and enjoyed the Mokora and the big boat ride where we saw lots of hippos. On the ride back - James Bond and a speedboat in the Everglades came to mind - but it was a great experience.

Although much is made of being able to do three activities a day, this was only the case on the day you could do the night drive - otherwise it was just the standard two events a day.

The food was mostly good, although some of the meat dishes were not such good quality. The wines served here were very good.

The Camp is just 3-5 minutes from the airstrip which was great."

"The Serena was a nice 'multi-national' style hotel. The Restaurant and bar had a lovely terrace overlooking the pool and gardens.

The staff were helpful and friendly.

We were allocated a lovely room with a balcony - suspect they were not too busy, as on our return it was nowhere near as nice!"

"This lodge is ideally placed for the Gorilla trekking in the volcanoes national park. The room was nice, with an open fire which was lit and stoked up periodically.

The bathroom however was very basic. Some sort of enclosure around the shower would be good, and maybe a handle or something to hold onto as it was a large area and fairly slippery.

The food was a buffet with a reasonable amount of choice. The staff were very friendly and helpful - and keen that you enjoyed your stay.

The gorilla trekking that we did from here was well worth it. We had requested a 'short' walk which was 2 hours, much of it uphill and a very steep downward trek. However the rangers and porters were great at ensuring that everyone kept up, and it was well worth it once we arrived at Family Kwitondo!!

On our way back to Kigali our guide took us to two beautiful lakes - which was a trip well worth doing."

"Same as previous stay [Ed: see below] - although being busier I think we just got the standard room!"

"Ubuntu Camp (North) was absolutely excellent - we can't recommend this highly enough. It was the high spot of our entire holiday. It was our first tented safari - and an experience that we would certainly want to repeat.

From the wake-up call with a tray of tea/coffee, watching the sun rise through the tent window, to breakfast outside - it was always a great start to the day. All meals were fantastic - there is a really good chef there - and he has a great sense of humour! The staff team couldn't do enough for you, and it was always service with lots of smiles. The beer was always lovely and cold, there was a great selection of wines with the meals.

The bucket showers were great - about 10 mins before arriving back in camp each evening the guide would radio in with our shower requirements, so the buckets could be readied! They were lovely and hot. We were always met with damp towels and a great welcome back. We particularly enjoyed the bonfires, sharing stories of the day with all the guests and guides.

The whole stay clearly was about seeing game, and hopefully a river crossing - and as with everything else at Ubuntu - we couldn't have done better if we tried.

Our guide was Eustace - who was absolutely top rate. He could spot animals in the most amazing places, and once he heard of sightings over the radio he was there for us. We were fortunate to witness the largest river crossing for about 3 years on our second morning - and Eustace made sure that we had good views and gradually moved the jeep as the current moved the Wildebeest downstream.

His knowledge of the technical aspects of the animals and birds that we saw was really outstanding. We saw all the big five virtually every day - and we also managed cheetah for the first time. His guiding abilities made the whole experience completely unforgettable. We were very touched when having mentioned on our arrival that it was our wedding anniversary that day, that a cake and a true African celebration took place at dinner that evening - it was these sort of touches that made it so lovely and so memorable.

We would certainly return to one of the Ubuntu camps when we return to this part of Africa."

"This was a nice camp once you got here. The details on the website say 2 hours from Manyara airstrip - it took us 3, along the most atrocious roads which are often no more than dirt tracks - which was pretty exhausting for this length of time. The 40 min from Crater Rim claim was also optimistic, as it was at least 45 mins - more like 50.

The staff at the camp were still melding into a team, and there wasn't the lovely atmosphere that we found at Ubuntu, but they were always very friendly and helpful.

The food and wine was good. The accommodation was lovely - not sure whether they are tents/domes/lodges - but they were certainly interesting and had a wonderful bathroom - the best we had ever come across in Africa! Unfortunately we didn't have a great guide at this site - his timing predictions were poor, which led to rather a wasted last day.

The problem with the Highlands is that getting anywhere from the camp is very time-consuming and uncomfortable and that is a bit of a disincentive to go too far afield - there is really very little to do that is less than almost an hour away. However for a couple of days at the end of a busy holiday it was good to just sit and enjoy our accommodation and read a few of our books!"