Travel reviews by Marshalls from UK

"Much more luxurious than we expected which was a great start to our holiday - though not sure really what we expected! Good that all rooms have river views.

Standard of food and service excellent. Breakfast especially. Clear that the staff are all well trained and an obvious management presence throughout was much appreciated.

We visited the Falls morning, noon and evening so it was vital we could walk there easily. A hotel requiring a bus ride at set times would have been very frustrating.

Wine list was ridiculous - a comment already fed back to the hotel. Very overpriced ordinary French wines. $100 for something we can buy in the shops for £5.

One problem with this trip was too little exercise so it was a shame the pool (not heated) was so uninviting. It was a good size with a lovely view but remained empty.

One admin note - we were not given any info on our departure until too late. We rang at 5pm the day before as the departure time could have affected our evening plans. We were told the time then but it was not confirmed until 9pm that evening in a letter. Better communication called for."

"A good first camp for us - comfortable and high standards of food, service and game viewing - but it was nice to build up to even more luxury later. The zips in the tent/room were not 100% so that could be a bit frustrating.

Camp managers, Stuart and Tess, were fantastic. They were always around to chat too and the introductory briefing was very clear and comprehensive.

Lovely scenery especially around the spillway and we had many good viewings. Sorry to miss the wild dogs however.

Don't build more rooms - keep things the way they are!"

"We were so lucky to be the only guests on the trail so we had 100% attention. Our guide, K, was very knowledgeable and interesting and we enjoyed the walks very much - particularly as the main problem with safari is the lack of exercise. However, walking all the time would not work as you don't usually see as much as from a truck.

The two camps we stayed in were very different - one surrounded by trees and one in the open savannah - and were fantastic for mobile set ups. Having the loo and wash basin downstairs took on a different perspective when we could hear elephants munching trees just by our heads (we slept upstairs in a tented area).

Constance, our camp manager, was brilliant. She manged to produce quite amazing food on an open fire and we loved our long conversations with her about our common interests."

"Little Vumbura was a favourite among many travellers and guides we met. We can understand why as it has water and land game viewing and the size of the camp with just six rooms makes it feel friendly. We saw a huge range of birds and animals here.

The rooms are huge and very luxurious for the bush, though our room (no 3) was not very light and the deck did not get any sun at all during the siesta period - so was actually quite cold to sit on due to a stiff wind on some days.

As I have commented before, nobody uses the pool as the water is so cold. This is a shame given the expense of installing the facility. Can't it be heated - solar power should not be too expensive.

Extremely nice management team and guides. And we enjoyed the company of our fellow guests."

"We absolutely loved Duba Plains but it would not be for the traveller only spending a short time in Botswana and staying at just two or three camps.

Having said that, and having been led to believe this was not a place for lots of game viewing, we saw many animals and birds we did not see elsewhere. And, of course, one of our trip highlights was the 2.5 day adventure on the trail of lions tracking buffalo - and seeing the kill literally just before we had to leave!

Our room here was one of our favourites on the whole trip. We had room 6 - a good walk from the main facilities - but in a lovely location. It was very well appointed and very light. The small deck in front of the room was also ideal for a post lunch read or snooze.

While we were there the guests were mainly American - the camp must be getting more publicity there. Hardly any travellers had heard of it apart from those following the Jouberts' books and films.

One disastrous woman but fortunately she and her husband left after only one night as this spot - with no walkways - was not to her liking! It made us realise that one difficult person in a small camp can have quite an impact. Fortunately this was the only time."

"After three camps in vaguely similar terrain, Xigera was a wonderful change. We felt we needed something different at this point in our trip. We did all our game/bird viewing from the water.

As was now normal for our trip, the management, staff, food, service, rooms, guiding were all A1. We were in the most distant room again but we enjoyed the walk. A beautifully appointed room. With 10 rooms this was the largest camp we visited and we would not have liked any larger. A good mix of Europeans staying.

A great shop at this camp. We also loved the full-day picnic trip."

"We were delighted to be the only guests during our three night stay but with only six tents it would never have been overcrowded. We had the undivided attention of the staff though they prefer things to be a little busier! We could not believe our eyes to see coffee served in silver pots outside our tents at wake up time.

Our guide Kevin was excellent - and he catered for our needs and wishes completely. It was impressive how we never got combined with a group from neighbouring Jack's camp which would have made life easier for the staff but less enjoyable for us.

We saw much more than expected, having been led to believe there was not a lot of game to see. Good birds - and different from elsewhere - too. The bushman walk was also very interesting - we have done something similar before in Namibia but this one was better.

The visit to the pans was very memorable but we can't mention that!

My husband who sometimes suffers from back problems found the vehicles here the least comfortable."

"Not a lot to comment. Room was perfectly adequate for the purpose of an overnight before an early flight. Good breakfast.

However, we are not pleased the hotel has charged us on our credit card for a pre-paid room and never brought this to our attention at check out."

"We had a wonderful stay. Even after 10 days we left wanting more, especially as our days could get busy with two dives.

We had room 9 booked and confirmed but when we arrived we were allocated another room. We showed our voucher and luckily room 9 was to be used by other guests arriving that day so a swap was possible. Not sure what would have happened otherwise! Definitely go for rooms 8 or 9, then 6/7. Rooms 1-5 are nearer the generator which runs 24 hours.

Great dive school. Well organised, and everything arranged for you, including carrying of heavy equipment to the boat.

Great food too with lots of delicious local seafood. Staff very friendly and willing but their English was often limited to the extent they could not answer queries or take instructions, eg, coffee ordered for 7.15 came at 7.45. Language barrier also a bit of an issue with the massage girls as you could not tell them anything about the treatment you hoped for.

Good other range of activities - kayaking, walking round the island, picnic lunch, visits to other islands. The trip to Ibo, while very worthwhile, was rather overpriced at $400 we felt compared to the cost of other boat trips."