Travel reviews by Smitz from UK
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
3
Excursions taken
0
June in Botswana 2015
Botswana between 21 Jun 2015 and 30 Jun 2015
"I would return to Botswana, its brilliant for animal and bird viewing. Its not a cheap destination but you are rewarded with some extraordinary sightings of both the more common and the rarer African wild animals.
I'm particularly keen on Wild Dogs and was not disappointed in the sightings of them around Lebala and Little Kwara.
The staff in all of the camps and indeed all of the people I met in Botswana were helpful and welcoming.
However, I was not impressed by Little Kwara and would not return there. If it had not been for the experience there, I would have considered my trip to be 'very satisfactory'"
I'm particularly keen on Wild Dogs and was not disappointed in the sightings of them around Lebala and Little Kwara.
The staff in all of the camps and indeed all of the people I met in Botswana were helpful and welcoming.
However, I was not impressed by Little Kwara and would not return there. If it had not been for the experience there, I would have considered my trip to be 'very satisfactory'"
Lagoon Camp
"Lagoon Camp Review"
3 nights
Arrived
21 Jun 2015
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Lebala Camp
"Lebala Camp review"
3 nights
Arrived
24 Jun 2015
"Good location and rooms are spacious and comfortable.The laundry service is excellent.
The quality and variety of the food was good,particularly considering the remote location of this (and the other camps). The staff at Lebala are professional, very pleasant and willing to help. The manager at Lebala, Bikay (not sure of the spelling) was the best of the managers at the Kwando camps I visited. He was always visible, welcoming and helpful ......even at 0630 in the morning around the 'breakfast fire'. His enthusiasm, I'm sure, rubbed off on the rest of the staff because Lebala was by far the best run of the camps I visited.
Another 'best' for Lebala was my guide Dux. Dux is very knowledgeable, communicative and experienced. He listens carefully to his guests and tries to make sure everyone's particular wishes are fulfilled. Dux is tenacious and patient when looking for 'requested' animals but isn't reluctant to say that particular animals are not likely to be seen. This means even if someone is disappointed at not seeing their favourite, they don't hold unrealistic hopes. For example he told one guest that there was no hope of seeing cheetahs,he did it in a straightforward fashion but went on to say that the chances of seeing one at their next camp was high and also talked about cheetahs habits and behaviour and the reasons why there were none around Lebala at present.
Our tracker, Bohman (?spelling) was also the best one I encountered. He must have walked a good couple of miles one morning when he and Dux were tracking 3 lionesses for us. And, yes, they did find them and we all learned a lot about paw prints. Wild dog sightings were brilliant. I was fortunate enough to see them hunt and kill. Given comprehensive information about their hierarchical structure and the history of this particular pack and witness their greeting ceremonies.
Lebala was by far the best of the Kwando camps, though I may be a little biased because it was where I first saw wild dogs! Nonetheless, the quality of my guide and tracker and the Manager's professionalism would have made it my favourite even without the dogs."
The quality and variety of the food was good,particularly considering the remote location of this (and the other camps). The staff at Lebala are professional, very pleasant and willing to help. The manager at Lebala, Bikay (not sure of the spelling) was the best of the managers at the Kwando camps I visited. He was always visible, welcoming and helpful ......even at 0630 in the morning around the 'breakfast fire'. His enthusiasm, I'm sure, rubbed off on the rest of the staff because Lebala was by far the best run of the camps I visited.
Another 'best' for Lebala was my guide Dux. Dux is very knowledgeable, communicative and experienced. He listens carefully to his guests and tries to make sure everyone's particular wishes are fulfilled. Dux is tenacious and patient when looking for 'requested' animals but isn't reluctant to say that particular animals are not likely to be seen. This means even if someone is disappointed at not seeing their favourite, they don't hold unrealistic hopes. For example he told one guest that there was no hope of seeing cheetahs,he did it in a straightforward fashion but went on to say that the chances of seeing one at their next camp was high and also talked about cheetahs habits and behaviour and the reasons why there were none around Lebala at present.
Our tracker, Bohman (?spelling) was also the best one I encountered. He must have walked a good couple of miles one morning when he and Dux were tracking 3 lionesses for us. And, yes, they did find them and we all learned a lot about paw prints. Wild dog sightings were brilliant. I was fortunate enough to see them hunt and kill. Given comprehensive information about their hierarchical structure and the history of this particular pack and witness their greeting ceremonies.
Lebala was by far the best of the Kwando camps, though I may be a little biased because it was where I first saw wild dogs! Nonetheless, the quality of my guide and tracker and the Manager's professionalism would have made it my favourite even without the dogs."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Little Kwara (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)
"Little Kwara review"
3 nights
Arrived
27 Jun 2015
"Good location. The rooms are spacious but very tired and the whole place is in need of some basic maintenance let alone refurbishment. The charging point in the public area wasn't working and hadn't been working for some time.
The staff, though helpful, appeared to be low on morale and I thought that there was a general air of dejection pervading the camp. However, the laundry service is excellent and the food good and varied.
I was returned from one of my morning game drives at 1025. I considered this to be particularly early and said so to the guide, who said it was the 'normal time', which t wasn't. He did offer to take me and the two other guests out for another 30 minutes but that really is a ridiculous suggestion. I don't want this to be perceived as a criticism or complaint against the guide as I have little doubt that brunch had been arranged early to accommodate a family who were leaving at 1230. The camp's schedules need to be addressed.
My guide Wago, was average and gave me the impression that everything was a lot of trouble. However, Mike the tracker was very good and a very pleasant man and appeared more knowledgeable than Wago.
There is a good deal of very deep sand in some areas and we got stuck more than once, not anyone's fault, its easy to do. The guys had to jack the vehicle up and put brush under the offending wheels. Would it not be more practical to but some sand ladders to use on such occasions.
I did see wild dogs here and 3 tiny puppies. Brilliant!
However, overall I consider Little Kwando to be poor and not good value for money."
The staff, though helpful, appeared to be low on morale and I thought that there was a general air of dejection pervading the camp. However, the laundry service is excellent and the food good and varied.
I was returned from one of my morning game drives at 1025. I considered this to be particularly early and said so to the guide, who said it was the 'normal time', which t wasn't. He did offer to take me and the two other guests out for another 30 minutes but that really is a ridiculous suggestion. I don't want this to be perceived as a criticism or complaint against the guide as I have little doubt that brunch had been arranged early to accommodate a family who were leaving at 1230. The camp's schedules need to be addressed.
My guide Wago, was average and gave me the impression that everything was a lot of trouble. However, Mike the tracker was very good and a very pleasant man and appeared more knowledgeable than Wago.
There is a good deal of very deep sand in some areas and we got stuck more than once, not anyone's fault, its easy to do. The guys had to jack the vehicle up and put brush under the offending wheels. Would it not be more practical to but some sand ladders to use on such occasions.
I did see wild dogs here and 3 tiny puppies. Brilliant!
However, overall I consider Little Kwando to be poor and not good value for money."
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor
Location
Good
Service
Average
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Poor
Food
Good
Facilities
Terrible
Feedback response
We were sorry to read that this guest’s stay at Little Kwara didn’t meet expectations and, as with all feedback we receive, we forwarded these comments on to Kwando (who own and run Little Kwara) for their take on things.
We’re aware that some areas of Kwara and Little Kwara could do with upgrading and we are informed that there should be an announcement on that subject in the very near future. The broken charging point in the main area at Little Kwara needed two new batteries and, due to Civil Aviation regulations, these could not be flown in by light aircraft. This meant the camp had to wait for a truck to transport them in by road. In the event camp management arranged to charge all guest’s devices in the main office and we’re happy to read that, despite it clearly not being an ideal situation, the camp made a plan.
We also discussed the early return of the game drive that this traveller refers to with Kwando. Kwando spoke with management at Little Kwara. Management explained that because this traveller decided not to head out on a mekoro trip but instead opted for a drive they were allocated the remaining vehicle which included a group of travellers who had been together for the duration of their stay. These guests had been searching for leopards. The group continued to look for leopard on this particular drive and did indeed eventually find one, quite close to camp. As this group of guests was flying out that morning, and because the other game viewing areas were some distance away, they had to head back to camp in order to catch their onward flight.
Kwando explained that "Brunch was available from 10:30 - there is no obligation to be back in time for 10:30, but circumstances do sometimes necessitate that arrivals and drop-offs of other guests need to be factored in."
We would agree that a 10:30 return from a game drive is early. Under the circumstances we appreciate the guide had no other option however. It was great to read that this guest was offered an extension to the game drive to make up for this.
We were of course very disappointed to read that this traveller wasn’t impressed by their guide. Kwando have mentioned that they will speak with the guide and discuss his performance and this feedback with him. The general comments on staff morale are also very sad to read and again Kwando have said they will look into these.
We are confident that Kwando have taken on board these comments and where possible will act on them to improve. We were very happy to read that this traveller did at least find wild dogs with puppies, that's fantastic.
We’re aware that some areas of Kwara and Little Kwara could do with upgrading and we are informed that there should be an announcement on that subject in the very near future. The broken charging point in the main area at Little Kwara needed two new batteries and, due to Civil Aviation regulations, these could not be flown in by light aircraft. This meant the camp had to wait for a truck to transport them in by road. In the event camp management arranged to charge all guest’s devices in the main office and we’re happy to read that, despite it clearly not being an ideal situation, the camp made a plan.
We also discussed the early return of the game drive that this traveller refers to with Kwando. Kwando spoke with management at Little Kwara. Management explained that because this traveller decided not to head out on a mekoro trip but instead opted for a drive they were allocated the remaining vehicle which included a group of travellers who had been together for the duration of their stay. These guests had been searching for leopards. The group continued to look for leopard on this particular drive and did indeed eventually find one, quite close to camp. As this group of guests was flying out that morning, and because the other game viewing areas were some distance away, they had to head back to camp in order to catch their onward flight.
Kwando explained that "Brunch was available from 10:30 - there is no obligation to be back in time for 10:30, but circumstances do sometimes necessitate that arrivals and drop-offs of other guests need to be factored in."
We would agree that a 10:30 return from a game drive is early. Under the circumstances we appreciate the guide had no other option however. It was great to read that this guest was offered an extension to the game drive to make up for this.
We were of course very disappointed to read that this traveller wasn’t impressed by their guide. Kwando have mentioned that they will speak with the guide and discuss his performance and this feedback with him. The general comments on staff morale are also very sad to read and again Kwando have said they will look into these.
We are confident that Kwando have taken on board these comments and where possible will act on them to improve. We were very happy to read that this traveller did at least find wild dogs with puppies, that's fantastic.
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
The quality and variety of the food was good. I particularly enjoyed the traditional Botswanan dinner. The staff were very pleasant and willing to help.
My only really adverse comments about Lagoon centre around Hobs, the guide I was assigned, Hobs is clearly knowledgeable but he would benefit from being more communicative. He readily answers questions but it would be better if he offered more information about the animals and birds, particularly when the vehicle stops and there is an opportunity to observe the animals and their behaviour. Its not enough to say for example,'Its a lioness'. He has the skill and the knowledge, he needs to exploit it. This was somewhat mitigated by Timmo, our tracker who was very knowledgeable and a much better communicator than Hobs.
Sadly for me there were no wild dogs but a lion kill on the first morning made a very good start!!
."