Travel reviews by Mr K from Tonbridge

"I took a long time to be persuaded to go to Botswana, not because I didn’t expect the wild life to be excellent (it was) or the environment to be pristine ( it was), but because I wasn’t interested in high end lodges. I like to feel close to the wild life. I don’t want wifi, phone signal, fridges or air con in my room. This is where Andrew came in.

Harkness safari, doesn’t have wifi or room fridges, it has drop loos and bucket showers. You eat under the stars, fabulous food cooked by Patrick, who miraculously provides you with fresh bread, breakfast buns, luxurious salads and three course meals every day, in the middle of the bush. The wine flows , the chat flows, and is only halted by the nightly visitors coming through camp.

Lions roaring, wild dogs hunting impala by the kitchen tent, hyena giggling and cackling while jogging through the camp to a kill, jackals looking for wild dog scraps. We have never seen so many honey badgers in daylight, some times in pairs, some times alone, always trotting off on their business, little stripy tanks! If you go to Botswana just for the wild life you won’t be disappointed, Andrew has a trackers eye, and a guides knowledge, and a brits sense of humour. He knows where to look so your experience is always intimate and memorable.

If like me you come for the environment, the drive from Khwai to Savute is spectacular. The long drive is broken up as the vista changing from rivers, to open plains, to desert. Moremi, Khwai and Savute are different from each other, all worth visiting. You don’t have to be adventurous for a private mobile safari, Andrew and his team will look after every little detail, but you do have to love wildlife, its everywhere and its close!"

"Reluctantly we left Andrew to spend three days at Splash. We had been moved to splash two weeks before we left London. There was a refurbishment at little Kwara and we were staying at the enclave in Splash. Splash is lovely, well run lodge. The rooms are huge, clean, with nice views across a pan. But for me I was too remote from the wild life.

There are animals that come to the pan, lions and cubs early one morning playing was a highlight, wild dogs another morning, its exciting. My concern, though not my husbands, was the way we saw the wildlife. We followed a pack of wild dogs and puppies for two hours one morning, until they successfully hunted and killed. Three trucks travelling fast on the tails of the dogs, for my husband exciting, for me not so much.

There is nothing bad to say about splash if you are looking for a well-run lodge, good food, good sighting, then this may be for you. If your looking for a more intimate experience then you may be disappointed"

"For our last four night we stayed at Selinda explorers. Back to tents, back to a bush experience. We shared our guide, Oats, with another couple, and Oats made sure we were all happy all the time, that is not an easy task.

He showed us masses of wild life, wild dogs every day, lions, elephant, zebra, buffalo, hyena all on a back drop of rivers and grasses, sunsets and trees. The environment is beautiful, huge! Photographing elephants and zebra in long yellow grass, young leopards stalking and wild dogs hunting is a photographers heaven.

We shared our experience with nice company, the chef provides such variety and choice it is amazing, and delicious and plentiful. We were on our own the last night in camp and the camp staff organised a candle lit dinner, outside our tent, for a special end to our safari. If you are looking for a bush experience that isn't drop loos and bucket showers, but totally authentic then this is for you.

We are already trying to work out when can we go back….."

"The Kalahari is a safari lover’s paradise. You share the Kalahari with virtually no-one, occasionally you may see another truck, but if you’re lucky like we were, you have a pride of 12 lions to yourself. We followed the lions for three days morning and evening, watching the adolescents play and stalk. Their curiosity in the truck means they come up to sniff the tyres and flop into the shadow of the truck for shade. It’s a photographers dream, to photograph a big black mained lion as the sun raises will change your photography expectations for ever.

You don’t see wildlife around every corner, so come for the vistas. In April, the grass is long, and shimmering gold, pink, purple and white, the wild flowers are everywhere, and regularly you will see a cheeky black backed jackal trotting through the grass. You make your way slowly from pan to pan, you come out of a corridor of grass, to an open pan, where hundreds of antelope are grazing, the grass is cropped close, there is not another human in sight. The sun is shining, the antelope may look up, snakes basking on the road slide away (best ever safari for snakes), turn the engineer off.. Paradise.

The beauty of the Kalahari was shown to us by Andrew and his team, who are wonderful, we couldn’t have done it without them. Andrew is a great guide with encyclopaedic knowledge and stories, happy to share, but equally happy to just let the view wash over you. Nothing is too much trouble, no idea for the day is too hard…..after 4 days trying we even had a brief glimpse of the elusive Brown Hyena. The distances are huge , we went on 4 all day activities, lunch is provided by the talented Patrick, and the day just rolls by, you have tea and lunch, and chat, and debate, mainly about the animal shaped logs!!

Finally, at the end of the day you are back in camp, the tent is comfortable and welcoming, the water hot and plentiful. After scrubbing up, we sat by the camp fire with our wine and beer, going over the day’s events, waiting for the miraculous food Patrick produces. You are never hungry, and always amazed at what can be produced in the middle of nowhere. If you’re lucky the resident male lion may visit the camp to check you out.

We were sad to leave and Andrew and his team. This is our 13th safari, when you get hooked you get properly hooked, and this was by far our best experience, am I allowed to give 11 out of 10.? I’d like to keep the Kalahari and Andrew and his team secret.

If you want an authentic safari experience, April in the Kalahari, with Harkness Safaris is for you. We will definitely be returning."

"The lodge and the room were superb. Initially I thought I wouldn’t like the air con, we’re in Africa we need to acclimatise, but the middle of the day is so hot that you can’t walk on the sand in flip flops, so the air con is a welcome relief. We loved the mini bar always stocked up!

The dunes were interesting , but one sand dune is pretty much like the next! The balloon ride was good, apart from the burning head, but I would think more spectacular over the Serengeti or the busanga plains. The staff cant do enough for you. But three night is more than enough. There are lots of oryx and ostrich but little else. The sand storms are specular.

Landscape photography is great"

"Completely different environment. The landscape is fabulous, red rock and oasis. On our first evening we saw elephants, Giraffe, oryx.

You have to be patient at desert rhino. Our first day we saw one rhino for 10 minutes and we were in a bumpy truck for 9 hours, be prepared! The consolation was at the end of the day, cold G&T and beer in our room watching a beautiful sunset. Our second day was no shorter but much more productive we saw 5 rhino, elephants, giraffe. It was a wonderful day.

The downside is that all the time is in the truck so you are removed from the environment. However this is the happiest camp we have ever stayed in, there is lots and lots of singing. The staff cant do enough for you. The guiding is enthusiastic. Take your own charge adapter!"

"This is the poshest camp I have ever stayed in. The food was great, the camp was well run, the guiding was excellent. But the main area had no atmosphere and the restaurant was like eating in a library, whispering with over bright lights. Thank god for the camp fire.

I completely loved the trip to the skeleton coast, the desert elephant with their calf’s were magical to watch, against the yellow sand and white flowers , picturesque and moving. Huge expanses of desert, lots of wildlife, and birds, beautiful. Lunch by the sea. There are few safari experience that include elephants and whales.

Our guide was interested, knowledgably and tenacious. We spent 4 days looking for the brown hyena, and it was our guide’s idea to go out after dinner to the water hole, where we found the elusive brown Hyena"

"May have been better run as a wilderness camp. The food was pretty bland, but there was more atmosphere here. The guiding was ok, more of a drive around until you spot something, type of guiding, but we saw lots and lots of rhino so we can’t complain.

Ongave is a nice reserve, you do feel a bit closed in but that may be because of where the animals congregate , so you end up on the same loops. We did a day trip to etosha. I hated etosha with a passion. Busses, coaches, big 4 wheel drive cars driving too fast kicking dust in your face. Nothing to see from water hole to water hole. ( im shuddering) if this was really what safaris were like I’d never go again. Thankfully we only spent half a day at Etosha."

"This is where we had a proper safari experience. I love Bruno, he is the coolest man I have ever met. If his philosophy for conservation could be taken up across Africa , we would see the conservation issues being resolved. We walked and walked, we clambered, duck and dived. We sat on top of rocky outcrops watching the sun go down and giraffe moving across the landscape. This is a little piece of heaven.

You need to do your own washing or go smelly, you have salad for lunch and meat and veg for dinner, and thankfully there is no dreaded WIFI, but I would go back in a heartbeat. The bed is comfortable, this was where I slept the best, the shower is powerful and hot and plentiful. The chat is constant , interesting , challenging and yes educational.

I loved loved loved Mundulea."

"It was nice to finish the safari with a spa treatment and a gentle day"