Travel reviews by Ms G from Lincolnshire

"Unpretentious camp which delivers a cost-effective way of seeing the salt pans and in particular spend time with the meercats. The staff and guide were very good despite having to deal with somewhat erratic plumbing.

The tent accommodation was fine and the position of the camp was fairly ideal.

The time spent with the meercats will long live in the memory while coming across the aardwoff on a night drive was a very welcome bonus.

Going to the area in February had the bonus of seeing thousands of zebra on what is said to be the second biggest migration in Africa but it did mean you could not go on the salt pans themselves and had to skirt around them (no quad bikes excusions)."

"Nxabega is a luxury camp set in the delta but it is not as game-rich as other lodges. The guide and tracker had to work really hard to find much game at all on some of the drives although we did have a great time with a lone lioness.

The service at the camp was very good although I did not really appreciate the 20 minute "orientation talk" which was fundamentally a commecial for &Beyond.

There was a good mixture of activities both land and water-based. Many people would really love it here but somehow it was not my kind of camp."

"Xakanaxa was my favourite lodge on this trip.

It is set within Moremi National Park which means some restrictions such as no night drives and officially no off-road but this is more than compensated by the abundance of game and the general level of service.

The accommodation was very carefully thought-out and provided all that you needed without being too over the top. A good variety of activities were provided and nothing was too much trouble.

For those looking for a game-rich experience and a very comfortable hospitable lodge this may well be what you are looking for!"

"Great game area with knowledgeable guide/tracker helping to give you great mind-blowing episodes which will long live in the memory eg a cheetah mum with 5 6-week old cubs, a coalition of 7 adult male lions setting out on a hunting trip through the grass, and on the last morning three adult male cheetahs dining on an adult impala stag.

Slight reservations include the tent accommodation which was fine but lacked things like a chair inside, and the fact that sometimes all the seats on the jeep were filled giving little room for camera equipment etc.

However a good lodge with excellent staff so a few quibbles should not detract from an overall very good stay."

"Wonderful camp for the serious photographer with well sited hides and dust covers etc. Accommodation was a little rustic but all the better for this.

Excellent guides and 3 activities during the day keeping you busy. My only monor complaint is that they seriously over-feed you - there seemed to be food coming from all directions all the time.

Great position on the river. All in all an excellent experience"

"Mwamba was all that a bush camp should be and it exceeded my already high expectations at all levels except for one slight reservation.

The camp is well laid out and the rooms were of a high standard. The camp had a well situated photographic hide which provided a good lunchtime activity while again food seemed to come from all directions all the time although they did tailor this once I had made it clear that I did not want extra biscuits and cakes between meals.

The manager was extremely good and did everything to make it as great a stay as possible.

My only slight negative comment would be that the guide was only average. Due to personal bereavements the normal guides were not available so they brought in another guide for my stay. He was okay but clearly not of the same standard as other guides on the trip."

"Tena Tena provided the best wildlife experiences of the trip including 30 minutes with a pack of wild dogs, being surrounded by well over 200 crown cranes, 20 minutes with a male leopard just metres away and over 60 elephants of all sizes and ages taking it in turns wallowing in mud about 20 metres from a walkway.

While the staff were great and the guide (Jacob) was excellent I did not get the same feeling about the camp as with Kaingo/Mwamba. Maybe it was a matter of scale - Tena is obviously a luxury camp and part of a bigger organisation. I would take nothing away from Tena but I personally just prefer the smaller, more rustic and family run camps."

"Nkwali was a good camp run very professionally and there were many very good things about it. From its point of view it did suffer a little in comparison with the camps further north away from the busy main gate and it may have been better to do the camps in reverse order.

The guiding was good but some drives were extremely quiet and with the luck of the draw we saw no cats at all in the area. The time it took to get to the park could be a drawback but they did try and vary the routes as much as possible. In the event the drive to the main gate was the best wildlife option as the game was much more plentiful there than taking the nearer routes via the boat and the river crossing.

The guiding was good but not outstanding. I would also praise their willingness to allow us to make a particularly early start on two occasions so as to be on the bridge at the main gate before sunrise."

"Unfortunately as I did not arrive at the Taj Pamodzi until 22:00 and was leaving the hotel at 06:00 the next morning I am not really in the position to comment on the hotel properly.

I did feel that it was a long drive to the airport and that given the BA flight time was known some provision should have been made to provide some form of breakfast on the day of departure."