Travel reviews by Mrs C from Southwest USA
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
3
Lodges stayed in
5
Excursions taken
0
Wonderful Safari
Botswana and 2 other countries between 27 May 2017 and 12 Jun 2017
"I have tried hard to frame my comments from a specific point of view of an ex tour operator. The majority of our party was overwhelmingly satisfied. My dissatisfaction with Kwando comes from (perhaps unrealistic) previous expectations. The animals, the service, the camps, and the people were all 5 stars. I purposely put off giving this feedback to gain some perspective on the events of the trip, and I feel like what I have said is justified and fair.
I would like to offer some feedback to ExpertAfrica specifically - we were very frustrated with the lack of a final reconciliation 2 months before we left. We were trying to make our individual final payments and there seemed to be no way for us to get a list that said, PAX #1 owes THIS, PAX #2 owes THIS, etc. We ended up having to sit down with literally pages of payment records, separate out our own credit card surcharges, subtract our own payments made to come up with final payment amounts. It was EXCEEDINGLY frustrating. I can't believe that we are the first group travel you've ever dealt with - so it baffles me that a clear and final reconciliation was not provided. I went round and round via email, and requested this several times in several ways, but got the impression that I was asking the impossible.
In addition, I asked about tour arrangements in Cape Town, and was quoted USD75 per person to join a scheduled bus tour. When I asked about a private mini-van, the price doubled. I did a little research and booked privately with a well-known, well regarded tour company who gave us private tours for USD60 per person inclusive of wine tastings and park fees. My issue was that I had no means of contacting them once we were on holiday - although they were great and checked in with Acorn House, and it all went off just perfectly. it would have been much simpler to do this through Expert Africa and I cannot believe that with an office there you can't do better than what was quoted. The LEAST you could do is offer a recommendation of a company you like to save your clients the trouble of finding out. This booking was over USD40,000 and I had to do a lot of the legwork myself - don't get me started on international air because thats a different can of worms. I understand if you can't offer consolidator fares from the US, but arrangements need to be made if you're serving the American market."
I would like to offer some feedback to ExpertAfrica specifically - we were very frustrated with the lack of a final reconciliation 2 months before we left. We were trying to make our individual final payments and there seemed to be no way for us to get a list that said, PAX #1 owes THIS, PAX #2 owes THIS, etc. We ended up having to sit down with literally pages of payment records, separate out our own credit card surcharges, subtract our own payments made to come up with final payment amounts. It was EXCEEDINGLY frustrating. I can't believe that we are the first group travel you've ever dealt with - so it baffles me that a clear and final reconciliation was not provided. I went round and round via email, and requested this several times in several ways, but got the impression that I was asking the impossible.
In addition, I asked about tour arrangements in Cape Town, and was quoted USD75 per person to join a scheduled bus tour. When I asked about a private mini-van, the price doubled. I did a little research and booked privately with a well-known, well regarded tour company who gave us private tours for USD60 per person inclusive of wine tastings and park fees. My issue was that I had no means of contacting them once we were on holiday - although they were great and checked in with Acorn House, and it all went off just perfectly. it would have been much simpler to do this through Expert Africa and I cannot believe that with an office there you can't do better than what was quoted. The LEAST you could do is offer a recommendation of a company you like to save your clients the trouble of finding out. This booking was over USD40,000 and I had to do a lot of the legwork myself - don't get me started on international air because thats a different can of worms. I understand if you can't offer consolidator fares from the US, but arrangements need to be made if you're serving the American market."
Feedback response
We’re very pleased that this group of travellers enjoyed their overall trip.
Amidst the successes, we’re sorry about the admin side of things when it came to their individual balance of payments. We have explained that we have a fairly new reservation system, and we’re still ironing out the finer details. Separate payments, joint bookings, credit card surcharges and individual amounts all led to some confusion on both sides. We're very sorry about the inconvenience caused. It's a good lesson learnt!
Arranged By Lucy Copson
Ilala Lodge
"Great service great location"
2 nights
Arrived
27 May 2017
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Lebala Camp
"Good animals "
3 nights
Arrived
29 May 2017
"I've been to Lebala before - I pass these comments along to you from the perspective of a former tour operator and experienced Botswana traveler. I've not been to Botswana since early 2002, and I was shocked at how much it had changed. Perhaps I was not prepared enough myself, and I was dismayed. My favorite thing about the Kwando camps was the flexibility of the guides and activities in terms of animal viewing. If that philosophy still exists, it is no longer apparent. The grass was still long, so walks were actively discouraged, which is fine, but there was no alternative offered and no indication that the game drive schedule wasn't fixed.
First let me say that the concession at Lebala is too small by far. They don't appear to have a good relationship with Selinda at the moment, so it severely limited our movements and viewing. We saw all the other vehicles on every single drive; often using the same coffee or sundowner spot. In the evenings on the way back to camp after sundowners, all the vehicles would be on the same road heading into camp with their spotlights about 70 meters apart. (I realize this sounds nit-picky, but these are the kinds of things tour operators should be made aware of.) The effects of poaching were apparent this close to the Namibian border as the elephants were very skittish and aggressive. (Obviously not the fault of Kwando, but something to be aware of if the focus is elephants.)
At both the Kwando camps the guides were so focused on getting good light for a photo that they were not respectful of the flight distance of the animals. We would approach this amazing sight of a hyena or a kudu, and the guide would drive around it so much trying to get it into good light for photos that the animal would flee. I understand the importance of photos, but theres not much point of getting good light on an animal that is running away. This happened so often - literally at almost every sighting that I found myself asking the guide to stop farther away just so the first-timers could see the animals not running away. It was incredibly frustrating and it seemed the guides had no concept of flight distance. When we did have a good sighting in good light, the guides rarely asked if the photos were finished or the group was ready before moving along. Many times they would start the vehicle while we still had cameras up or were happily watching the animals. I think you can chalk this up to lack of experience from the guides.
One instance at Lebala I feel I must share because it was the most shocking thing that happened. We'd come across a lion pride the night before and had a good view of them feeding on a carcass. (We ended up leaving before we were ready in order to get back to the lodge for dinner - which was disappointing, and not at all what I expected from Kwando.) The next evening the lions were picked up again right on the Selinda border, and off the Kwando concession. Rather than let it go and make the most of the drive with other animals, our guide parked in a clearing - explaining to us that there were only 3 cars allowed at the sighting and so we must wait in line. Then he proceeded to argue with the Selinda guide over the radio fighting to get to the lions. We killed time sitting in a vehicle with the sun going down listening to the guide alternately negotiating with Selinda, gossiping with the tracker, and complaining to us that they should let us get in there before the sun went down and we lost the light. Eventually we did get to see the lions - for about 10 minutes just as the sun went down. Then the guide said we must leave because we were off the concession. From there we skipped sun downers and headed back to camp.
I was fuming. Why not just say the lions were gone and move on? Why not go have sun downers until a spot opened up? Why would you involve guests in the politics of concession rights?? This was so unprofessional and disappointing. It seems that the demand for guides is so high now that they don't receive the training necessary and the schools are turning out lower quality guides. (The tracking skills were fine - it was the inter-personal stuff that needs work)
I found this to be true overall of both the guides at Kwando. That said, I must tell you that the guides were delightful people and did work hard for us. They were very friendly and warm, but they lacked that polish. Again - perhaps this is nit-picky, and perhaps it was only apparent to me because I knew what it could be like (and still is down in the Sabi-Sand reserves...) Two of the people of my group most enjoyed Lebala and our guide there.
The camp itself is stunning - highest class accommodations and comfort. Food was incredible, staff was amazing. Tents are WAY too close together and we heard literally every single word coming from the tents on either side."
First let me say that the concession at Lebala is too small by far. They don't appear to have a good relationship with Selinda at the moment, so it severely limited our movements and viewing. We saw all the other vehicles on every single drive; often using the same coffee or sundowner spot. In the evenings on the way back to camp after sundowners, all the vehicles would be on the same road heading into camp with their spotlights about 70 meters apart. (I realize this sounds nit-picky, but these are the kinds of things tour operators should be made aware of.) The effects of poaching were apparent this close to the Namibian border as the elephants were very skittish and aggressive. (Obviously not the fault of Kwando, but something to be aware of if the focus is elephants.)
At both the Kwando camps the guides were so focused on getting good light for a photo that they were not respectful of the flight distance of the animals. We would approach this amazing sight of a hyena or a kudu, and the guide would drive around it so much trying to get it into good light for photos that the animal would flee. I understand the importance of photos, but theres not much point of getting good light on an animal that is running away. This happened so often - literally at almost every sighting that I found myself asking the guide to stop farther away just so the first-timers could see the animals not running away. It was incredibly frustrating and it seemed the guides had no concept of flight distance. When we did have a good sighting in good light, the guides rarely asked if the photos were finished or the group was ready before moving along. Many times they would start the vehicle while we still had cameras up or were happily watching the animals. I think you can chalk this up to lack of experience from the guides.
One instance at Lebala I feel I must share because it was the most shocking thing that happened. We'd come across a lion pride the night before and had a good view of them feeding on a carcass. (We ended up leaving before we were ready in order to get back to the lodge for dinner - which was disappointing, and not at all what I expected from Kwando.) The next evening the lions were picked up again right on the Selinda border, and off the Kwando concession. Rather than let it go and make the most of the drive with other animals, our guide parked in a clearing - explaining to us that there were only 3 cars allowed at the sighting and so we must wait in line. Then he proceeded to argue with the Selinda guide over the radio fighting to get to the lions. We killed time sitting in a vehicle with the sun going down listening to the guide alternately negotiating with Selinda, gossiping with the tracker, and complaining to us that they should let us get in there before the sun went down and we lost the light. Eventually we did get to see the lions - for about 10 minutes just as the sun went down. Then the guide said we must leave because we were off the concession. From there we skipped sun downers and headed back to camp.
I was fuming. Why not just say the lions were gone and move on? Why not go have sun downers until a spot opened up? Why would you involve guests in the politics of concession rights?? This was so unprofessional and disappointing. It seems that the demand for guides is so high now that they don't receive the training necessary and the schools are turning out lower quality guides. (The tracking skills were fine - it was the inter-personal stuff that needs work)
I found this to be true overall of both the guides at Kwando. That said, I must tell you that the guides were delightful people and did work hard for us. They were very friendly and warm, but they lacked that polish. Again - perhaps this is nit-picky, and perhaps it was only apparent to me because I knew what it could be like (and still is down in the Sabi-Sand reserves...) Two of the people of my group most enjoyed Lebala and our guide there.
The camp itself is stunning - highest class accommodations and comfort. Food was incredible, staff was amazing. Tents are WAY too close together and we heard literally every single word coming from the tents on either side."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Feedback response
We passed on this feedback to Kwando Safaris and this was their response:
Offering flexibility with regard to activities is still absolutely a key part of Kwando’s ethos and we are disappointed and so sorry to hear that this was not reflected in the guest's recent experience with us. During orientation the managers will outline a typical stay’s activities, but they should also have explained that the programme is flexible according to the group’s needs. As part of our follow up with the camp it would be extremely helpful to know if these guests suggested any alternative arrangements during their stay.
With regard to the walking, we did receive specific instructions on the booking from Expert Africa that these guests “Do not want to walk”. It is true that the grass at Lebala is long at the moment following the extremely heavy rains that occurred between January and April. As the guests observed, there is plentiful general game and we are sure that the grazers will soon reduce the length of the grasses. That said, if the guests had changed their minds about wanting to walk we could have organised a shorter activity near to the camp, or around some of the pans. Usually this would be explained during orientation, but perhaps it was not given the usual amount of attention given the instructions that the camp received on the booking form about no walking.
The Kwando concession on which Lebala is situated is approximately half a million acres which is split roughly in half for Lagoon and Lebala game drives. It is therefore an extremely large area and it should be possible for guests to enjoy their activities without bumping into other vehicles. Of course, in order to maximise wildlife viewing, guides do radio sightings into each other so that all guests have equal chance to see the animals and perhaps this is what caused the other vehicles to be sighted? Sundowner spots should always be private and we will speak to the guides about ensuring that this is the case. With regard to the elephants, it is very hard to generalise. Many of the elephants in the concession at the moment have moved up from the south and are very relaxed with the vehicles.
Kwando does specialise in photographic safaris and our guides always try to be thoughtful with their positioning with this in mind. Photographers will often complain if this is not the case. It is a shame that in their efforts to get better light the animals were startled and I have asked our guide coordinator to reassess the guides in question to ensure that they are striking the correct balance in this regard. It is good that the guest spoke to the guide so that he could better understand the specific needs of the group; it would be useful to know if this aspect of the drives improved afterwards. The guide should always check that the guests are happy to move on from the sighting and we apologise that this was not consistently the case. The guests were guided by Balemetse (Bale) who has been with Kwando since 2009 so is an experienced guide who generally receives very good comments however the guide coordinator, who happened to be in the same camp as him today, has already discussed with him the issues raised so that he can learn from the feedback.
We were very concerned to hear the feedback on the lion incident, and would like to thank this guest for making us aware of this highly unusual incident. First of all, with regard to the previous night’s sighting, the guests should have been allowed all the time that they wanted with the lions. It is usually regarded as a strength of Kwando that we are flexible with our mealtimes in order to maximise sightings and we apologise that this did not seem to happen in this instance. It would be useful for our follow up if the guests actually asked the guide if they could continue at the sighting rather than head back for dinner, although we acknowledge that this should ideally have been proactively offered as an option.
Although the whole region is unfenced, we do strictly observe the boundaries with our neighbours; this is a good practice which means that animals are not overly disturbed. Furthermore, we have a legal obligation to stay within our borders, so breaking this rule is treated as a serious misconduct, subject to disciplinary action for the guides and trackers involved. Therefore when the lions moved across the boundary the guide should have explained that the sighting was no longer possible and left it at that. We agree with the guests comments that this situation could have been handled much better and apologise that the situation even occurred. We have already made a full follow up with the guide Bale who admits that he made a big mistake by trying to continue with the sighting, although he genuinely wanted to be able to show the lions to the guests.
We are very pleased to hear that despite the earlier observations these guests found many positive aspects regarding their guide and tracker at Lebala and that for some of the group they were the favourite guides of their trip. We have passed this on as encouragement to Bale.
We are pleased to hear that your clients enjoyed Lebala camp itself and that they were able to rate many aspects of their stay as “Excellent”. This is consistent with their guest comment book entries.
Offering flexibility with regard to activities is still absolutely a key part of Kwando’s ethos and we are disappointed and so sorry to hear that this was not reflected in the guest's recent experience with us. During orientation the managers will outline a typical stay’s activities, but they should also have explained that the programme is flexible according to the group’s needs. As part of our follow up with the camp it would be extremely helpful to know if these guests suggested any alternative arrangements during their stay.
With regard to the walking, we did receive specific instructions on the booking from Expert Africa that these guests “Do not want to walk”. It is true that the grass at Lebala is long at the moment following the extremely heavy rains that occurred between January and April. As the guests observed, there is plentiful general game and we are sure that the grazers will soon reduce the length of the grasses. That said, if the guests had changed their minds about wanting to walk we could have organised a shorter activity near to the camp, or around some of the pans. Usually this would be explained during orientation, but perhaps it was not given the usual amount of attention given the instructions that the camp received on the booking form about no walking.
The Kwando concession on which Lebala is situated is approximately half a million acres which is split roughly in half for Lagoon and Lebala game drives. It is therefore an extremely large area and it should be possible for guests to enjoy their activities without bumping into other vehicles. Of course, in order to maximise wildlife viewing, guides do radio sightings into each other so that all guests have equal chance to see the animals and perhaps this is what caused the other vehicles to be sighted? Sundowner spots should always be private and we will speak to the guides about ensuring that this is the case. With regard to the elephants, it is very hard to generalise. Many of the elephants in the concession at the moment have moved up from the south and are very relaxed with the vehicles.
Kwando does specialise in photographic safaris and our guides always try to be thoughtful with their positioning with this in mind. Photographers will often complain if this is not the case. It is a shame that in their efforts to get better light the animals were startled and I have asked our guide coordinator to reassess the guides in question to ensure that they are striking the correct balance in this regard. It is good that the guest spoke to the guide so that he could better understand the specific needs of the group; it would be useful to know if this aspect of the drives improved afterwards. The guide should always check that the guests are happy to move on from the sighting and we apologise that this was not consistently the case. The guests were guided by Balemetse (Bale) who has been with Kwando since 2009 so is an experienced guide who generally receives very good comments however the guide coordinator, who happened to be in the same camp as him today, has already discussed with him the issues raised so that he can learn from the feedback.
We were very concerned to hear the feedback on the lion incident, and would like to thank this guest for making us aware of this highly unusual incident. First of all, with regard to the previous night’s sighting, the guests should have been allowed all the time that they wanted with the lions. It is usually regarded as a strength of Kwando that we are flexible with our mealtimes in order to maximise sightings and we apologise that this did not seem to happen in this instance. It would be useful for our follow up if the guests actually asked the guide if they could continue at the sighting rather than head back for dinner, although we acknowledge that this should ideally have been proactively offered as an option.
Although the whole region is unfenced, we do strictly observe the boundaries with our neighbours; this is a good practice which means that animals are not overly disturbed. Furthermore, we have a legal obligation to stay within our borders, so breaking this rule is treated as a serious misconduct, subject to disciplinary action for the guides and trackers involved. Therefore when the lions moved across the boundary the guide should have explained that the sighting was no longer possible and left it at that. We agree with the guests comments that this situation could have been handled much better and apologise that the situation even occurred. We have already made a full follow up with the guide Bale who admits that he made a big mistake by trying to continue with the sighting, although he genuinely wanted to be able to show the lions to the guests.
We are very pleased to hear that despite the earlier observations these guests found many positive aspects regarding their guide and tracker at Lebala and that for some of the group they were the favourite guides of their trip. We have passed this on as encouragement to Bale.
We are pleased to hear that your clients enjoyed Lebala camp itself and that they were able to rate many aspects of their stay as “Excellent”. This is consistent with their guest comment book entries.
Senior Africa Specialist | Southern Africa & Seychelles
Kwara Camp
"good variety of activities"
3 nights
Arrived
1 Jun 2017
"Kwara has the best location - land and water all the time. I had been warned that the camp needed updating, but I found it just fine. The tents were spaced better than at Lebala, so there was some privacy. The camp staff here were above and beyond - just as they were at Lebala. Warm, friendly, welcoming and considerate beyond expectation. Could not imagine a better camp staff.
I had similar activity observations here - guides were slightly unprofessional and the activities seemed so structured and left no room for flexibility. We were not asked if we wanted to mokoro - we were told which morning it would be done. We weren't asked about the sunset cruise to the rookery - we were just taken to the boat. It just wasn't the flexible, "what should we do today" attitude I was used to - and valued most - from Kwando.
During our stay at Kwara we came across a large male cheetah warming up and getting moving for the day. We had a lovely time with him as he rolled on the grass and got up to start the day. He marked a couple of spots and then climbed a tree to watch a herd of impala nearby. As he was climbing down and starting a stalk, we were told we needed to move along to make room for another vehicle. I was gobsmacked. I've never left an active cheetah hunt before and I never expect to do so again. In the end he was unsuccessful, but that hardly matters.
Another time we were notified by another vehicle of some mating lions. We arrived late in the morning to find them snoozing, and the other vehicle left when we arrived. The guide asked if we were ready to leave after just a few moments. I asked him how often they mate, and the guide said about every hour. I asked how long it had been since they last mated, and the guide said, "about an hour." I asked for 10 more minutes and sure enough we had a spectacular sighting. He seemed very anxious to get back to the lodge, and indeed the others were finishing up brunch when we arrived, but we didn't come to Botswana for brunch. It was just another example of misplaced priorities in my opinion.
On the boat ride, we were told that we needed to be off the water by dark since it was inside the national park - and thats completely fine. (No reason guests need to know that - just do it.) But then the "night drive" was 20 minutes from the dock to camp with no detours. The whole point of a private concession is driving at night, and I found overall - at both Kwando camps, that the night drives were essentially just the trip back to camp from sun downers. So much so that all the vehicles were all on the same road again, 70 meters apart, and arrived at camp at the same time. We had so little time driving at night at Kwando camps that we didn't see any nocturnal wildlife (saving the 2 big cat sightings we had at sundown.) We never saw genet, civet, bush baby, small cats, bat eared fox or porcupine with Kwando. Try to imagine how little time you must spend in a private concession in Botswana at night without seeing at least ONE of the above. It was shocking.
One other incident that I noticed to illustrate the point - and I don't know which of the Kwando camps this was - may have been Lebala - was that after we left a leopard sighting and were on our way to a sun downer spot 30 minutes away, the tracker and guide essentially gave up. The tracker stayed in the front seat chatting with the driver and didn't return to the jump seat for a 30 minute drive to a dam. Not a big thing if it was an isolated incident, but this was definitely a pattern."
I had similar activity observations here - guides were slightly unprofessional and the activities seemed so structured and left no room for flexibility. We were not asked if we wanted to mokoro - we were told which morning it would be done. We weren't asked about the sunset cruise to the rookery - we were just taken to the boat. It just wasn't the flexible, "what should we do today" attitude I was used to - and valued most - from Kwando.
During our stay at Kwara we came across a large male cheetah warming up and getting moving for the day. We had a lovely time with him as he rolled on the grass and got up to start the day. He marked a couple of spots and then climbed a tree to watch a herd of impala nearby. As he was climbing down and starting a stalk, we were told we needed to move along to make room for another vehicle. I was gobsmacked. I've never left an active cheetah hunt before and I never expect to do so again. In the end he was unsuccessful, but that hardly matters.
Another time we were notified by another vehicle of some mating lions. We arrived late in the morning to find them snoozing, and the other vehicle left when we arrived. The guide asked if we were ready to leave after just a few moments. I asked him how often they mate, and the guide said about every hour. I asked how long it had been since they last mated, and the guide said, "about an hour." I asked for 10 more minutes and sure enough we had a spectacular sighting. He seemed very anxious to get back to the lodge, and indeed the others were finishing up brunch when we arrived, but we didn't come to Botswana for brunch. It was just another example of misplaced priorities in my opinion.
On the boat ride, we were told that we needed to be off the water by dark since it was inside the national park - and thats completely fine. (No reason guests need to know that - just do it.) But then the "night drive" was 20 minutes from the dock to camp with no detours. The whole point of a private concession is driving at night, and I found overall - at both Kwando camps, that the night drives were essentially just the trip back to camp from sun downers. So much so that all the vehicles were all on the same road again, 70 meters apart, and arrived at camp at the same time. We had so little time driving at night at Kwando camps that we didn't see any nocturnal wildlife (saving the 2 big cat sightings we had at sundown.) We never saw genet, civet, bush baby, small cats, bat eared fox or porcupine with Kwando. Try to imagine how little time you must spend in a private concession in Botswana at night without seeing at least ONE of the above. It was shocking.
One other incident that I noticed to illustrate the point - and I don't know which of the Kwando camps this was - may have been Lebala - was that after we left a leopard sighting and were on our way to a sun downer spot 30 minutes away, the tracker and guide essentially gave up. The tracker stayed in the front seat chatting with the driver and didn't return to the jump seat for a 30 minute drive to a dam. Not a big thing if it was an isolated incident, but this was definitely a pattern."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Feedback response
We passed on this feedback to Kwando Safaris and this was their response:
We would like to thank this guest for her very positive comments regarding the camp staff at Kwara and will certainly pass on her appreciation to the team.
Again, we are sorry to hear that Kwando’s usual flexibility was not made obvious and will definitely follow up with the team at Kwara about this that they should consult the guests more as to which activities that they want to do on a given day. We have spoken to the guide at Kwara and he could not recall the guests preferring a different arrangement to the plan that he suggested. It would be useful to know if this concern was raised at all with the camp management at the time, or if the guests requested alternative activities/itinerary at any stage.
We have spoken to the guide, Chester and he did recall the male cheetah sighting. We are sorry that your client felt frustrated at being asked to leave. Chester said that they stayed with the cheetah for approximately 30 minutes and at the time, it was the only cheetah located in the concession. We do operate a three vehicle rule to ensure that the wildlife is not harassed and the only way to manage this in a fair way so that all guests have equal opportunity to see the key predator species is for guides to give way to one another after allowing a reasonable amount of time at the sighting. On this occasion, Chester has already informed the other guide that he could come into the sighting when the cheetah started to move; it was unfortunate timing, but to have stayed would have prevented other guests having their chance to see the animal which would equally have frustrated them. (Lucy, as an aside, there were 8 vehicles operating in the concession at the time, so the guides did need to be mindful of the time spent so that all guests could enjoy the sighting)
With regards to the mating lions, Chester said that he did remember checking with the guests if they wanted to leave since not all guests have the patience to wait for snoozing lions to spring into action. We are pleased that in this instance the guests were happy to wait, the guide accommodated their wishes and that ultimately they were rewarded with an excellent sighting. Although the guests were late back for brunch, it seems that in this situation we did offer the flexibility that this guest was looking for.
Chester agreed that the drive back from the boat activity was not a true night drive. The route back includes some deep water crossings and thus the vehicles do go together to ensure that all vehicles are safely through before it gets dark. However what he should have done after the crossings is to check whether these guests wanted to then extend their night drive and continue to look for smaller nocturnal mammals. He sincerely apologises that he did not do this and that they found the night drives in general to be lacking.
Feedback about the guide and tracker essentially giving up after a leopard sighting and heading to the sun downer spot is unusual – usually the tracker only stays in the front seat during a sighting with a potentially dangerous animal and then reverts back to the tracker seat. We need to do some further follow up with the guides further to ask why this happened, but are very sorry that the guests felt that the team were not committed to finding game during that period of the drive.
Again, it is pleasing to see that the overall experience at Kwara was rated as good and that many aspects of the guest’s stay were rated as “Excellent”
Lucy, we are very sorry that your client had concerns regarding some aspects of our activities and would ask you to please pass on our sincere apologies that she did not feel that the overall guiding service was of the same standard that she enjoyed on her previous stay. We would like to thank her for her valued feedback and have already spoken to our guide coordinator to ensure that the points that she has raised are addressed with the specific guides in question, but also at a broader level across all camps to ensure that Kwando continues to consistently deliver a high quality of guiding and flexible approach.
We would like to thank this guest for her very positive comments regarding the camp staff at Kwara and will certainly pass on her appreciation to the team.
Again, we are sorry to hear that Kwando’s usual flexibility was not made obvious and will definitely follow up with the team at Kwara about this that they should consult the guests more as to which activities that they want to do on a given day. We have spoken to the guide at Kwara and he could not recall the guests preferring a different arrangement to the plan that he suggested. It would be useful to know if this concern was raised at all with the camp management at the time, or if the guests requested alternative activities/itinerary at any stage.
We have spoken to the guide, Chester and he did recall the male cheetah sighting. We are sorry that your client felt frustrated at being asked to leave. Chester said that they stayed with the cheetah for approximately 30 minutes and at the time, it was the only cheetah located in the concession. We do operate a three vehicle rule to ensure that the wildlife is not harassed and the only way to manage this in a fair way so that all guests have equal opportunity to see the key predator species is for guides to give way to one another after allowing a reasonable amount of time at the sighting. On this occasion, Chester has already informed the other guide that he could come into the sighting when the cheetah started to move; it was unfortunate timing, but to have stayed would have prevented other guests having their chance to see the animal which would equally have frustrated them. (Lucy, as an aside, there were 8 vehicles operating in the concession at the time, so the guides did need to be mindful of the time spent so that all guests could enjoy the sighting)
With regards to the mating lions, Chester said that he did remember checking with the guests if they wanted to leave since not all guests have the patience to wait for snoozing lions to spring into action. We are pleased that in this instance the guests were happy to wait, the guide accommodated their wishes and that ultimately they were rewarded with an excellent sighting. Although the guests were late back for brunch, it seems that in this situation we did offer the flexibility that this guest was looking for.
Chester agreed that the drive back from the boat activity was not a true night drive. The route back includes some deep water crossings and thus the vehicles do go together to ensure that all vehicles are safely through before it gets dark. However what he should have done after the crossings is to check whether these guests wanted to then extend their night drive and continue to look for smaller nocturnal mammals. He sincerely apologises that he did not do this and that they found the night drives in general to be lacking.
Feedback about the guide and tracker essentially giving up after a leopard sighting and heading to the sun downer spot is unusual – usually the tracker only stays in the front seat during a sighting with a potentially dangerous animal and then reverts back to the tracker seat. We need to do some further follow up with the guides further to ask why this happened, but are very sorry that the guests felt that the team were not committed to finding game during that period of the drive.
Again, it is pleasing to see that the overall experience at Kwara was rated as good and that many aspects of the guest’s stay were rated as “Excellent”
Lucy, we are very sorry that your client had concerns regarding some aspects of our activities and would ask you to please pass on our sincere apologies that she did not feel that the overall guiding service was of the same standard that she enjoyed on her previous stay. We would like to thank her for her valued feedback and have already spoken to our guide coordinator to ensure that the points that she has raised are addressed with the specific guides in question, but also at a broader level across all camps to ensure that Kwando continues to consistently deliver a high quality of guiding and flexible approach.
Senior Africa Specialist | Southern Africa & Seychelles
Camp Kalahari
"Best by far - highlight of the trip"
3 nights
Arrived
4 Jun 2017
"I cannot say enough about Camp Kalahari. Accommodations, staff, food, wildlife, guide, activities were all top notch. Our guide not only was one of the best I've ever had, but had an obvious rapport with other guides in the area. Sightings were never shared and there was seamless cooperation - which didn't involve the guests - at interesting spots. Walking with the meerkats was a bucket list item, and can be done no where else. Guides worked very hard, and listened to our interests.
Camp staff was wonderful - managers here are great. Food was very good as well.
This camp should be selectively booked - people (Americans) only interested in seeing lots and lots of animals should perhaps not come here. This is about the culture of the people and seeing some unique species in a very beautiful landscape, not about quantity - at least not in June."
Camp staff was wonderful - managers here are great. Food was very good as well.
This camp should be selectively booked - people (Americans) only interested in seeing lots and lots of animals should perhaps not come here. This is about the culture of the people and seeing some unique species in a very beautiful landscape, not about quantity - at least not in June."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Acorn House
"Good location, wonderful staff"
5 nights
Arrived
7 Jun 2017
"Great guesthouse - rooms were comfortable and upgraded.
Staff was awesome, and even made a birthday cupcake from scratch on 20 minutes notice for a member of our group!
Amazing - helpful with dinner reservations and other logistics. We were very happy here."
Staff was awesome, and even made a birthday cupcake from scratch on 20 minutes notice for a member of our group!
Amazing - helpful with dinner reservations and other logistics. We were very happy here."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
The service in both the restaurant and the bar was great, and the food was good if not great. The rooms are not luxurious, but they are certainly more than adequate and a good fit for this budget minded group. The grounds were lovely, and we saw elephant, bushbuck, baboon, warthog and mongoose on the lawn. The one minor complaint was that the pool was not perfectly cleaned, but it was still refreshing and a nice amenity."