Travel reviews by W Party from Chorleywood

"The Oppenheimers have created a very special place. Every element is outstanding and made our whole experience unforgettable.

This is probably not for a first time safari goer, as the animals are not as easy to find as in some other parts of Africa but for the aficionados, tracking and then ,seeing animals is the way it should be. Also, the way things are organised so that vehicles do not go to the same areas and if there is an amazing sighting only two vehicles can view at the same time.

We stayed for seven nights and had not covered a fraction of the area."

"Enjoyed birdwatching round the gardens"

"Can't praise highly enough. The camp is in a beautiful, remote location and has a welcoming, friendly feel, which is made possible by the excellent staff from the management down.

The guides, Butati and Mateus were both superb. Knowledgeable and helpful, spoke very good English and had great sense of humour.

The chimp viewing was unbelievable and exceeded all our expectations! It was enhanced by the detailed information of the family history of the chimps and the enthusiasm of the staff.

We would have liked to stay longer as three nights are not enough to enjoy all the facilities of the camp."

"An extremely well run camp; friendly and professional. Emiel, the manager, was extremely efficient and tailor made our safaris for us so that we set off early and came back for brunch. Our waiter, Christian couldn't have been more helpful but was never intrusive.

The location of the camp in Ruaha is fantastic: remote with beautiful scenery and plenty of water.

Our guide, Lambert, was a very good all-round naturalist, who took us to many different spots and was sensitive to when we wanted to stop for birds but managed to show us many animals as well.

The transfer to Kigelia was a great success with good viewing all the way and timed perfectly by Lambert."

"A real bush camp which blended perfectly with its surroundings. The forests of baobabs in this part of Ruaha are spectacular and we were impressed by the variety of habitats in the park.

Our preferred routine of early start and back for brunch was again organised for us.

Our guide, Husain, had very good eyes and was a good birder but had a tendency to ask us where we wanted to go, which wasn't really what we needed. He only had one speed of driving, which was slow so we didn't get as far in the park as some other guests but this is nit-picking as he was a good guide but I suspect he lacked confidence.

Our last night was somewhat spoilt by the arrival of a French VIP group, who rather took over the camp."

"Would have given excellent but the camp was let down by the management. We had to tell Crystal that the towels had not been changed for three days, which normally I would not mind but in humid weather they don't dry. She thanked us profusely but we felt she wasn't quite on top of things and her responses to most things were formulaic. Our waiter, Victor was very helpful but, again he behaved in a formulaic way, which was obviously how he had been trained. In the other camps, we had been able to see the real person behind the training.

Our guide, Gerard was exceptional - very knowledgeable, wonderful eyes and an excellent sense of humour. We enjoyed every moment we spent with him and our last drive was especially memorable. He knew we wanted to see wild dogs and had been searching really hard all over the park and at the last moment, he had the message that they'd been found. We sat looking at eight gorgeous dogs and he said I'm sorry we're not having coca cola tonight I thought you might like this and he produced a bottle of champagne and three flutes. What could be better than drinking champagne and watching dogs!

The bush breakfasts were the best we've ever had - straight out of 'Out of Africa' and despite our minor critisms we would be very happy to go back to Impala.









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"Good food. Very helpful staff.

I had to 'phone BA in South Africa on their landline and they didn't charge me."

"Mind blowing!

Andre Schoeman was knowledgeable and fun to be with. After the first day we told him he couldn't possibly surpass it but each day was every bit as good. We can't praise it highly enough and wish that we'd done the longer safari. We would happily have spent two days at each camp.

I don't think comments on rooms or facilities in aspects form below have any relevance for this safari."

"Wonderfully happy camp.

We thought everything might be downhill after the Skeleton Coast but no, desert rhino camp ticked all the right boxes. The singing by the staff was a real joy and the rhino tracking was wonderful. Our guide Johann was excellent - knowledgeable and sensitive to our needs.

He quickly picked up that we were quite experienced safari travellers and didn't point out the obvious but enjoyed finding things that we wanted to see, particularly birds."

"There was a feeling that everything was done on auto pilot and it was easy to find fault with relatively little things. The staff were friendly but were allowed to coast and it seemed that this was because there was no overall management.

Our guide, Teak, started by trotting out the conventional patter for the average guest and was at first resistant to our clear objectives as to what we wanted to see. Eventually he cottoned on and he worked very hard for us, going the extra mile so that we had some wonderful sightings of elephants.

At our last dinner at the camp, I sat next to Vanessa, a young manager, who had only been at the camp for three weeks. I told her about some of the little things that we had observed and she responded positively. She was obviously intelligent and sensitive to how delicately things had to be handled with some staff who had been there for years but realised the necessity for change. The next morning, things dramatically improved. Staff were attentive, nets were placed over the breakfast things and starlings were shooed off the butter."

"On arrival,we were somewhat dismayed that we had to share a vehicle with other people as being birders and a photographer we are not everybody's cup of tea. The couple we shared with were first timers but luckily for us, they enjoyed our way of doing things and became converted birdwatchers!

We were very impressed with the way Chrisma, a manager handled the situation as for the last three days she gave us the vehicle to ourselves with the same guide, Rio, who was excellent. He had very good eyes and we felt that we were all part of the same team, enjoying it together.

Our only criticism was that we were given a room near to the car park. As we were staying for four nights, unlike most people, we felt that we should have been put nearer to the mess tent and the waterhole. However, again Chrisma dealt with this quickly and after two nights we were put into another room."

"Comments as before"