Travel reviews by Bertie from UK

"Based in Maun, the lodge was a perfect place to overnight after our flights.

Set next to the Thamalakane river there are excellent opportunities to sit with a G&T whilst bird watching.

Even spotted a huge monitor lizard on the lawn!"

"Our private mobile safari was based at the Khwai Community concession. Our guide was Andrew Harkness, an English guy who has adopted Botswana as his home. Andrew runs his own company, Harkness Safaris with his wife Pippa. They both have huge experience of working in the lodges prior to setting up this mobile business.

We were delighted at the level of accommodation provided and amazing food, all cooked on a bush oven. Andrew's knowledge of the area was outstanding. He is really happy to listen to his guests so that he can tailor the activity to what you are really interested in. Andrew picked us up from Maun and drove us to Khwai, which gave us amazing insights in to how the local people live as we spotted various villages along the way.

Andrew only provides safaris to private groups, so that he can tailor the holiday. No juggling what everyone wants to see. We were particularly interested in birds (we saw 61) but also saw big game including leopard with cubs and wild dogs.
We would highly recommend Andrew and his lovely team. Nothing is too much trouble. We have visited Botswana before and stayed on lodges so were a little apprehensive. However the camping experience is amazing being so close to the wildlife. We are tempted to go back again, this would make it our third visit to Botswana!

Only note of caution. One of us got a tick, which also happened to a previous guest."

"Kanana is a very well appointed lodge set on a lagoon with Hippos and frogs serenading at night.

The staff here are outstanding and will accommodate groups so that there is no conflict of interest amongst viewing priorities. All the guides are extremely knowledgeable and professional.

Tents are very comfortable with electricity and very nice showers. The game viewing was superb we stalked a 4 lions hunting and a leopard.

Simon, our guide, was happy to just sit and observe the animals so that we could really soak up the atmosphere. Amazing. We loved Kanana and would love to go back.

We have been to Botswana before but this lodge was far and above our favourite."

"This camp was so disappointing. We knew it was going to be 'rustic' but the tents were quite tatty with the zips broken along the bottom. This made securing the tent against creepy crawlies and snakes quite tricky.

Rather than a safari experience this felt much more like a tourist trip. Not much flexibility in itinerary. We were told each day what were doing rather than ask what we wanted to do. We were reeled round the tourist sights; meerkats, brown hyena, bushmen, Chapmans tree. The result was that each drive felt like we were on a mission to get to the next destination.

The camp was cold at night, we asked for fleeces to put over our knees during dinner but this was declined. The forgot to put hot water bottles in our beds the first night. The lodge was not busy when we were there (4 guests) so there was really no excuse.

Our overall impression was that the staff, although very nice indeed, were just doing their job. There seemed to be no passion. This has to come from the top, the owners of the concession. I would avoid any other concession owned by these people. We came away disappointed.

On a more positive note, our first sundowner was set up in advance by the staff. A full bar set up by a water hole complete with fire. This was truly amazing. If only they had kept up that level of service, this camp could be fantastic."