Travel reviews by B & G from California

"We were very happy we chose the Royal Livingstone Hotel for our third trip to the Victoria Falls area. It’s a lovely hotel with very comfortable rooms and excellent service.

We particularly enjoyed the location which has allowed us to stroll over to view the falls and which meant we had a lovely view of the Zambezi river from our room. Another highlight for us was the outdoor bar down near the river where we could see the “smoke“ from the falls in the distance and hippos across the way. The activities desk was very helpful in booking several activities for us (Sunset cruise, Livingston’s island/Devils Pool, and elephant café).

The complementary ride on the Royal Livingston Express train that was included in our booking was lots of fun."

"We loved staying at Kaingo camp! We thought everything about it was wonderful – – the room, the food, the extremely friendly and helpful staff, our great guide, Sandy. The game drives were great and we saw lots of lions and some leopards in addition to the usual suspects—giraffes, kudu, zebra, elephant, etc. The hippo hide and the bird hide were both amazing and a real addition to our experience. We found the scenery in South Luangwa to be particularly beautiful in a haunting African way. We would recommend this camp to anyone."

"After four nights at Kaingo camp, we transferred for four nights at the smaller, more intimate Mwamba Bushcamp. We were glad that we did both camps as each one has its own personality. Again, the staff here went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful time. We enjoyed the rustic feel of the camp and having breakfast and lunch out in the open, feeling very much like having meals out in the bush. Our guide here, Shane, was great and in addition to finding lots and lots of game for us, also gave us valuable suggestions for taking photos and managing our camera settings.

Incidentally, we spent a night at the Mwamba Star Bed and loved it. It was pretty much a moonless night and we spent a long time just lying in bed looking up through the mosquito netting and the silhouette of the tree branches above to a spectacularly starry sky. Would do this again in a heartbeat."

"Kaya Mawa Has a beautiful setting on a lovely beach and we spent many enjoyable, relaxing hours here, not the least of which were our nightly lounges on the beach with gin and tonics in hand watching the gorgeous sunsets. Our room was huge, original, and very private. The food was exceptional and the staff was friendly and eager to please.

We chose Likoma island because we wanted to get a glimpse of Malawian life and we were able to do this by taking the long and thoroughly enjoyable slow boat ride around the island, with a stop in town to see the cathedral, and by taking a short hike through the countryside to the craft shop that is associated with the hotel.

Our main reservation about the hotel was that the steps leading up, up, up and then down, down to our room were uneven and often very high. Without railings, we thought that many older folks would find these potentially dangerous and hard to negotiate. The toilet in our particular room was outside and up some of those very same steep steps (beautiful view from there) and it was a bit of a challenge to struggle up there at night."

"We had a great time here. Enjoyed the water hole from our room and friends m the restaurant.

The shuttle made going into town or to the falls a snap. We thought the vulture experience was fantastic--did it twice.

Had dinner at the Boma, which was touristy but fun. Who knew we could do drumming? The activities desk person was friendly, helpful, and efficient."

"Have only good things to say about the Khulu Ivory Lodge.

Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. The room looking out to the waterhole was wonderful--loved the herds of elephants and buffalo that rambled in.

A special thanks to our guide, Dudley, who was not only a great guide but funny and upbeat and a pleasure to be around. Our stay here was too short!"

"We can see why The Hide has such a wonderful reputation. Great waterhole enhanced by the underground hide that allows you to get an up close and personal view of the animals. Friendly, relaxed, and personable staff.

One night the security guard knocked on our door to tell us to come out and get a glimpse of three honey badgers that were drinking from a water bowl next-door. We thought that was extremely thoughtful of him and seeing those honey badgers was a highlight.

We liked our guide, Fortune, who, among other things, got us the best cheetah sighting we have had in five trips to Africa."