Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Oxford

"The best aspect of this camp was its location - being in the middle of the Delta it had the best combination of water based and land based activities of all the camps we visited. The cruise to the Heronry and the Makoro trip were particularly memorable. On the land based side we had an excellent leopard siting.

The rooms, food and general facilities were all good.

I've marked them down slightly on service due to an unimpressive response when my wife stepped on a scorpion. Although the camp manager stayed calm (unlike my wife) they were totally unprepared for this, had to phone a doctor in Maun for advice on what to do and had no suitable medication on-hand. Fortunately, the sting was non-venomous. A further negative on the service was that the organisation of getting us and the other couple we were sharing the game vehicle with to the airstrip on the day we left was quite poor.

We were there for 2 nights, as advised by Expert Africa, and I think this was just about enough time for us to experience most of what they had to offer."

"The reason we visited Motswiri was because it is one of the few places in Botswana that offered horse riding (for my wife) plus other activities for non-riders (i.e., me).

The horse riding was excellent - very well looked after and well trained high quality horses, and very good terrain for riding. The horse safari guide was extremely good and helped to ensure the experience was both outstanding and safe.

The non-riding activities were also good and included game drives, walking safaris and canoeing. It should be noted that lion, leopard and cheetah sitings are infrequent in this area (hence riding is more practicable) but there was a lot of other game on view to keep the interest high, including lots of elephants, wild dogs, buffalo, giraffe, hippo, etc etc.

We would recommend the late afternoon canoe trip down the river running past the camp - our experience here was particularly memorable as about 100 elephants had congregated around the start point - making setting off very interesting.

Another highlight of our stay here was being treated to some fantastic singing and dancing by all the staff on the day of the 50th anniversary of Botswana's independence.

The location was excellent with a lovely view over the river. The rooms were not of the highest quality of the camps were stayed in but were more than adequate. The food was also good - a particular highlight being British Desserts (e.g., a yummy sticky-toffee-pudding one evening).

We stayed at Motswiri for 3 nights, which I think was ideal - long enough to really enjoy all the riding had too offer, but short enough that the non-rider didn't get bored."

"A lovely camp with a fantastic view over the river which seemed to be full of elephants and hippos for all the time we were there.

The game drives here were great, with particularly wonderful sitings of lions and wild dogs: The guide and tracker worked really really hard to make our experience as memorable as possible.

The rooms were particularly lovely - very spacious and comfortable. The food and service were also good - a highlight being treated to a private dinner in our room one evening.

We stayed here only two nights and had a game driver transfer to the Lebala Camp on leaving (where we also stayed 2 nights). Two nights in both camps with a drive between the two turned out to be absolutely ideal."

"Lebala is a sister camp to Lagoon and offers similarly very high quality rooms.

We felt, however, the location was not quite as good as Lagoon as it is much drier. However, it is still very worthwhile a visit.

The only major negative of our time there was that we were really quite unimpressed by the guide that was allocated to us. He was quite uncommunicative and, unlike most of the other guides in the other camps, lacked enthusiasm and certainly didn't express any particular interest in his guests!!!

Two nights here following 2 nights at Lagoon word well."

"We were at Kwara for 4 nights.

Going there, we were somewhat apprehensive as some people we had met in the previous camps (and other Trip Advisor comments) let us to believe that it was going to be rather run down. This was reinforced by the fact that it was considerable cheaper than the Lagoon and Lebala camps (all part of the Kwando group).

In fact, it turned out that this was probably the best camp we stayed at - certainly from a value-for-money perspective.

The location was really good, right on the edge of the delta close the the Moremi Reserve, so a great mix of water and land based activities. The camp itself overlooked a large lagoon with elephants wandering about (often into the camp). Also, there was a family of baboons living in the camp itself and a hoard of Impala also wandering about throughout the day, making things always lively and interesting.

Our guide and tracker were particularly excellent and worked really really hard to give us a great experience, tracking down cheetah, loads of lions, wild dogs on the hunt, elephants having a mud bath, etc etc.

The rooms were probably the most basic of the 7 camps we visited, but more than adequate, and the food was a similar standard (good) as all of the other sites.

We would certainly recommend this camp."

"We ended our trip with 2 nights at Sindabezi (on an island in the Zambezi close to Victoria Falls) followed by 2 nights at Tongebezi (close by on the shore).

Our idea here was that we would conclude our trip with a bit more luxury and relaxation after 13 somewhat frenetic nights on safari. This turned out to work out really well and we were very glad we didn't do it the other was around (starting the trip here and then doing the safari).

Sindabezi itself was really quite unusual. The island setting was really lovely with views across to both the Zambian and Zimbabwe sides of the river where hoards of buffalo and the occasional giraffe and elephants could be seen.

The food and personal service one the island were extremely good - with the Lamb Burger offered at lunch a highlight.

There are a range of activities available at the camp (such as as canoeing and sunrise and sunset cruises) and around Victoria falls (such a trip to the Devils Pool which is an absolutely must).

Our only real negative here was that our guide seems to be pretty hopeless in organising the activities (hence I've marked that down). First of all, it was at least 6 hours after we arrived before he got round to briefing us on what was possible. Then he told us he had booked us into something the following day that we'd specifically said we didn't want to do, which took a huge amount to untangle. Then we had all sorts of trouble organising a trip across the border to see the falls from the other side which included lunch at the Royal Victoria Hotel (which turned out almost impossible to organise car for, so we walked in the 40 degree midday heat).

A final thought, the tents in the camp have no walls (just curtains) and the camp is on an island with no fencing. This means animals (particularly hippos and elephants) have quite free access. Infact, the day after we left a hippo that had had a fight with another burst into the camp just after sundown, when the only couple staying there at that time were having dinner on a small pontoon on the river. They were somewhat startled to say the least (the staff having disappeared into the kitchen to keep out of its way)."

"Our final 2 nights we at Tongabezi.

The highly here is the rooms which were really lovely (including air conditioning), plus the setting, overlooking the Zambezi with the most absolutely wonderful sunsets in the evening.

The pool, restaurant and other facilities were also of a high standard.

As with Sindabezi, there are lots of inclusive activities here, but we really enjoyed just lazing about enjoying the view.

Just one slight negative, in all of the other camps, there was a great communal atmosphere, with all the guests getting together for breakfast, lunch and dinner and really enjoying sharing their experiences.

Although this was said to be possible at Tongabezi, it didn't really happen, so you didn't get the chance to interact with the other guests. Tongabezi felt more like a exclusive boutique hotel, which itself is not a bad thing, but it did slightly lack the social aspect that often makes the Safari Camps really quite memorable."