Travel reviews by Happy Campers from Perth
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
2
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
9
Excursions taken
0
Our Botswana Safari (June 2024)
Botswana and 1 other country between 14 Jun 2024 and 6 Jul 2024
"We had a great time in Botswana, again!!
Despite us leaving the decision until almost too late (September 2023 for a June 2024 trip), Lucy Copson managed to arrange a wonderful range of camps in the Okavango for us. She managed to book the last available accommodation at the camps despite recovering from a major operation, for which we are immensely grateful.
Lucy has been unfailingly helpful and effective in arranging and communicating with us, despite her illness in the leadup to this 2024 trip. She was equally helpful and effective during the rapidly-changing Covid requirements in the planning and leadup to the 2022 trip.
Our travel documents arrived on time, both times, and had a lot of reassuring details about managing health, travel and other possible difficulties while on safari. We have never needed them, but were very glad to have the details and know that backup plans were in place.
The Expert Africa website is an excellent resource, especially for those of us who like to read about where we are going in great detail. The toll-free number has been a great resource for urgent questions when email is inadequate.
We would recommend Expert Africa and Lucy Copson without hesitation to our friends, and are dreaming already of another safari somewhere in Africa!"
Despite us leaving the decision until almost too late (September 2023 for a June 2024 trip), Lucy Copson managed to arrange a wonderful range of camps in the Okavango for us. She managed to book the last available accommodation at the camps despite recovering from a major operation, for which we are immensely grateful.
Lucy has been unfailingly helpful and effective in arranging and communicating with us, despite her illness in the leadup to this 2024 trip. She was equally helpful and effective during the rapidly-changing Covid requirements in the planning and leadup to the 2022 trip.
Our travel documents arrived on time, both times, and had a lot of reassuring details about managing health, travel and other possible difficulties while on safari. We have never needed them, but were very glad to have the details and know that backup plans were in place.
The Expert Africa website is an excellent resource, especially for those of us who like to read about where we are going in great detail. The toll-free number has been a great resource for urgent questions when email is inadequate.
We would recommend Expert Africa and Lucy Copson without hesitation to our friends, and are dreaming already of another safari somewhere in Africa!"
Arranged By Lucy Copson
Lagoon Camp
"Great camp & heaps of wildlife"
3 nights
Arrived
16 Jun 2024
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
10+ sightings
Cheetah
1 sighting
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
10+ sightings
Roan antelope
1 sighting
Wild dog
7 sightings
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
4 Rivers
"Memorable new riverine camp"
2 nights
Arrived
19 Jun 2024
"We only had two nights (one day) at this camp, but we love the camp and saw a lot of wildlife. The staff are all welcoming and really helpful, and the facilities are great "safari glamping". The camp location is inner-Okavango unique. Our guide Mwamo and tracker big King KT (another camp has a KT also) were just absolutely the best - great company, determined and successful in finding wildlife for us!
The flood was arriving before our eyes, such that one access track flooded overnight. The 4WD bogged in deep mud on the next day. Mwamo and King KT did everything imaginable to get it out, and even the rescue vehicle was unable to help. So, despite our offers to remove shoes and walk through the mud to dry land, they wouldn't hear of it - memorably (and embarrassingly) we were carried to the rescue vehicle! A safari experience we'll never forget.
Aside from this, we saw a surprisingly wide range of animals in our short stay: several large herds of Cape buffalo, pods of hippos, several families of elephants, several herds of giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and many types of antelope. We also saw lions and a leopard, but no cheetah (unsurprisingly, with all that water). There were baboons and cute vervet monkeys, a couple of ostriches, and an enormous variety of birds!
It was a memorable short safari experience!"
The flood was arriving before our eyes, such that one access track flooded overnight. The 4WD bogged in deep mud on the next day. Mwamo and King KT did everything imaginable to get it out, and even the rescue vehicle was unable to help. So, despite our offers to remove shoes and walk through the mud to dry land, they wouldn't hear of it - memorably (and embarrassingly) we were carried to the rescue vehicle! A safari experience we'll never forget.
Aside from this, we saw a surprisingly wide range of animals in our short stay: several large herds of Cape buffalo, pods of hippos, several families of elephants, several herds of giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and many types of antelope. We also saw lions and a leopard, but no cheetah (unsurprisingly, with all that water). There were baboons and cute vervet monkeys, a couple of ostriches, and an enormous variety of birds!
It was a memorable short safari experience!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
10+ sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
3 sightings
Roan antelope
1 sighting
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Mma Dinare
"Excellent camp in every respect"
3 nights
Arrived
21 Jun 2024
"Mma Dinare is one of our favourite safari camps, from the cheerful welcome, to all the friendly staff, and not least the energetic, skilled tracking and guiding. As well as a great vibe in camp, the wildlife experiences are excellent. This was our second visit, and was possibly even better than the first time!
We saw all the big cats, several times, including a coalition of four cheetah brothers...who suddenly stopped sunbaking on a dirt mound and chased after a male impala, with our 4WD in hot pursuit (one against four, the impala had no escape).
There were two leopardesses and a leopard who demonstrated their tree climbing prowess. On a night drive, we saw one leopardess menacingly stalking and then chasing the other leopardess who fled up a tree, with the other circling underneath! Apart from that, there were owls, an African civet and jackals on the night drives.
We watched a den of wild dogs with playful pups. Several elephant families also had little ones, closely supervised (unsurprisingly, given all the big cats and the large Nile crocodiles along the river bank). We saw a large variety of antelope and birds as well, including a gorgeous Secretary bird. Apart from this, there are plenty of baboons, mongoose, and warthogs.
It was an excellent safari experience!"
We saw all the big cats, several times, including a coalition of four cheetah brothers...who suddenly stopped sunbaking on a dirt mound and chased after a male impala, with our 4WD in hot pursuit (one against four, the impala had no escape).
There were two leopardesses and a leopard who demonstrated their tree climbing prowess. On a night drive, we saw one leopardess menacingly stalking and then chasing the other leopardess who fled up a tree, with the other circling underneath! Apart from that, there were owls, an African civet and jackals on the night drives.
We watched a den of wild dogs with playful pups. Several elephant families also had little ones, closely supervised (unsurprisingly, given all the big cats and the large Nile crocodiles along the river bank). We saw a large variety of antelope and birds as well, including a gorgeous Secretary bird. Apart from this, there are plenty of baboons, mongoose, and warthogs.
It was an excellent safari experience!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
1 sighting
Cheetah
4 sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
1 sighting
Hippo
10+ sightings
Leopard
4 sightings
Lion
4 sightings
Wild dog
10+ sightings
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Kwara Camp
"Could be better"
4 nights
Arrived
24 Jun 2024
"Kwara is a new camp, effectively a sister camp to Splash in the same area of the Okavango. The camp facilities are great, the accommodation is excellent, and all the ladies in camp are wonderful. The location has an enormous amount of wildlife, both animals and birds.
It should have been as great an experience as we had at Splash camp, two years ago. Splash was excellent in every respect.
However, Kwara camp has a disturbing vibe: on several occasions they discharged a firearm near camp to scare off wildlife, our guide laughingly drove at speed towards an elephant family with young ones crossing the track (causing a lot of angry trumpeting). A request to stop for bird photos was grudgingly obliged and sometimes ignored. There was little attempt at tracking and guiding, instead substituted with regular visits to carcasses as they were progressively devoured. Another couple also remarked as they left that they were determined to focus on birds in future.
We wish the experience had been more like Splash camp."
It should have been as great an experience as we had at Splash camp, two years ago. Splash was excellent in every respect.
However, Kwara camp has a disturbing vibe: on several occasions they discharged a firearm near camp to scare off wildlife, our guide laughingly drove at speed towards an elephant family with young ones crossing the track (causing a lot of angry trumpeting). A request to stop for bird photos was grudgingly obliged and sometimes ignored. There was little attempt at tracking and guiding, instead substituted with regular visits to carcasses as they were progressively devoured. Another couple also remarked as they left that they were determined to focus on birds in future.
We wish the experience had been more like Splash camp."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
10+ sightings
Cheetah
1 sighting
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Leopard
3 sightings
Lion
10+ sightings
Spotted Hyena
2 sightings
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Chobe Princesses
"Could be better, with improved maintenance"
4 nights
Arrived
1 Jul 2024
"This was our second time on Chobe Princess, which is a great concept for seeing all the wildlife along the Chobe riverbank, especially with their photographic tender (swivel seating with camera mounts).
Unfortunately, the boat was short-staffed, one main engine was not functioning for the duration (4 nights) of our stay and the tender outboard was very temperamental. Eventually some maintenance people arrived, but they were apparently unable to resolve the problems. It would appear that the boat needs some proper maintenance attention.
Due to short-staffing and other couples arriving late (who could not be transferred by separate tender), the boat did not travel as far along the river. This negated the advantage of Chobe Princess over a simple boat cruise as offered by several lodges in Kasane.
Nevertheless, we saw many of the usual megafauna along the river (elephants families, pods of hippos, herds of buffalo, crocodiles, etc), baboons, vervet monkeys, many different types of antelope and heaps of different birds. Our most exciting experiences were: watching elephants crossing the Chobe from Botswana into Namibia with their snorkels raised, and watching some African cape otters playing near the rapids (one almost bounding into the open jaws of a lurking crocodile), and watching beautiful African sunsets over the Chobe River!"
Unfortunately, the boat was short-staffed, one main engine was not functioning for the duration (4 nights) of our stay and the tender outboard was very temperamental. Eventually some maintenance people arrived, but they were apparently unable to resolve the problems. It would appear that the boat needs some proper maintenance attention.
Due to short-staffing and other couples arriving late (who could not be transferred by separate tender), the boat did not travel as far along the river. This negated the advantage of Chobe Princess over a simple boat cruise as offered by several lodges in Kasane.
Nevertheless, we saw many of the usual megafauna along the river (elephants families, pods of hippos, herds of buffalo, crocodiles, etc), baboons, vervet monkeys, many different types of antelope and heaps of different birds. Our most exciting experiences were: watching elephants crossing the Chobe from Botswana into Namibia with their snorkels raised, and watching some African cape otters playing near the rapids (one almost bounding into the open jaws of a lurking crocodile), and watching beautiful African sunsets over the Chobe River!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Average
Sightings report
Buffalo
10+ sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Lion
6 sightings
Roan antelope
3 sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Our June 2022 Okavango Safari
Botswana and 1 other country between 9 Jun 2022 and 3 Jul 2022
"This trip was a legacy of our deferred 2020 trip.
We wish to sincerely thank Kwando Safaris for their understanding, and willingness to reschedule our trip. We also want to commend Lucy Copson for her assistance at the time of deferral (we had arrived in Cape Town just as all the borders closed), and then all her willing and cheerful help subsequently in rescheduling, and replying to many questions about details post-Covid.
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and it was well worth the wait...!
Everything went smoothly (better than we could have hoped for, given all that happened since 2020), and we would strongly recommend Expert Africa, Lucy Copson and Kwando!"
We wish to sincerely thank Kwando Safaris for their understanding, and willingness to reschedule our trip. We also want to commend Lucy Copson for her assistance at the time of deferral (we had arrived in Cape Town just as all the borders closed), and then all her willing and cheerful help subsequently in rescheduling, and replying to many questions about details post-Covid.
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and it was well worth the wait...!
Everything went smoothly (better than we could have hoped for, given all that happened since 2020), and we would strongly recommend Expert Africa, Lucy Copson and Kwando!"
Arranged By Lucy Copson
Mma Dinare
"Marvellous Mma Dinare"
3 nights
Arrived
14 Jun 2022
"The wildlife sightings are great (June 2022) - wide variety, plentiful animals and birds, variety of habitat.
Our tracker "TT" and guide "Grass" worked very well together, did an excellent job of tracking and finding the animals, and explained their habits in detail. The staff as a whole are cheerful and very welcoming. The comfortable accommodation has an amazing outlook over a shallow bend in the Gomoti River - we saw lots of elephants and hippos from our balcony and also from the lounge/dining area.
The hippo grunts provided an early morning wakeup ahead of the delivery of freshly brewed coffee to our safari tent/cabin (much appreciated on cold, early morning starts!).
The highlight was seeing 3 leopards (a female and 2 potential male suitors, we were told) chased up trees by a prowling lioness, with chacma baboons sounding alarm calls."
Our tracker "TT" and guide "Grass" worked very well together, did an excellent job of tracking and finding the animals, and explained their habits in detail. The staff as a whole are cheerful and very welcoming. The comfortable accommodation has an amazing outlook over a shallow bend in the Gomoti River - we saw lots of elephants and hippos from our balcony and also from the lounge/dining area.
The hippo grunts provided an early morning wakeup ahead of the delivery of freshly brewed coffee to our safari tent/cabin (much appreciated on cold, early morning starts!).
The highlight was seeing 3 leopards (a female and 2 potential male suitors, we were told) chased up trees by a prowling lioness, with chacma baboons sounding alarm calls."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Lebala Camp
"Lion-rich Lebala"
3 nights
Arrived
17 Jun 2022
"Lebala was more of a dry plains camp, with waterholes and marshlands. We were told that the cheetahs and wild dogs had been mostly displaced by large prides of lions (June 2022).
There were plenty of plains animals - lions, giraffe, zebra, impala, wildebeest, jackals, ostriches. The night game drive gave sightings of an aardwolf, genet, serval, spotted hyena and spring hares (which reminded us of small wallabies). Hippos, and a lion prowling the camp area, roaring loudly, woke everyone during the night - authentic African safari experience!
The tracker "Akeem" and guide "Mike" worked very well together, enthusiastically tracking and finding game off-road, and explaining the habits of the animals. We were delighted to see small lion cubs practicing their hunting skills on each other, and chasing our vehicle while their mother was absent!
A baby hippo provided a lot of entertainment by riding its mother's back then introducing itself to basking crocodiles on the bank of the waterhole (oops), before mother came to the rescue!"
There were plenty of plains animals - lions, giraffe, zebra, impala, wildebeest, jackals, ostriches. The night game drive gave sightings of an aardwolf, genet, serval, spotted hyena and spring hares (which reminded us of small wallabies). Hippos, and a lion prowling the camp area, roaring loudly, woke everyone during the night - authentic African safari experience!
The tracker "Akeem" and guide "Mike" worked very well together, enthusiastically tracking and finding game off-road, and explaining the habits of the animals. We were delighted to see small lion cubs practicing their hunting skills on each other, and chasing our vehicle while their mother was absent!
A baby hippo provided a lot of entertainment by riding its mother's back then introducing itself to basking crocodiles on the bank of the waterhole (oops), before mother came to the rescue!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
10+ sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
6 sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Lion
10+ sightings
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Splash Camp
"Splendid Splash"
4 nights
Arrived
20 Jun 2022
"This camp was the largest of our three camps, and had very modern facilities. The chef was excellent and the camp was very well organised.
The variety of habitat made it possible to do boat safari trips in addition to the game drives. We saw lots of animals and birds. The tracker "KB" and guide "Mr T" worked well together and did a superb (truely unbelievable) job of tracking and finding animals off-road. In fact, the tracking and guiding was excellent in all three camps we visited (Mma Dinare, Lebala and Splash).
Our highlight was the cheetah "Mr Special" who posed beautifully for us in a range of settings, and demonstrated that he could climb a (fallen) tree almost as well as a leopard. Surprisingly, we saw a leopard hunting along the river in the marshes while on a boat excursion. There was a sitatunga and lots of red lechwe in the marshes.
The wild dogs and especially their new pups (June 2022) were very entertaining."
The variety of habitat made it possible to do boat safari trips in addition to the game drives. We saw lots of animals and birds. The tracker "KB" and guide "Mr T" worked well together and did a superb (truely unbelievable) job of tracking and finding animals off-road. In fact, the tracking and guiding was excellent in all three camps we visited (Mma Dinare, Lebala and Splash).
Our highlight was the cheetah "Mr Special" who posed beautifully for us in a range of settings, and demonstrated that he could climb a (fallen) tree almost as well as a leopard. Surprisingly, we saw a leopard hunting along the river in the marshes while on a boat excursion. There was a sitatunga and lots of red lechwe in the marshes.
The wild dogs and especially their new pups (June 2022) were very entertaining."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
Many sightings
Cheetah
1 sighting
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
Many sightings
Sitatunga
1 sighting
Wild dog
10+ sightings
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
Many sightings
Chobe Princesses
"Charming Chobe Princess III"
4 nights
Arrived
27 Jun 2022
"We enjoyed seeing all the different animals coming down to the Chobe River, and the antics of the hippos and elephants in the river. The river boat provided a different perspective to game viewing in the camps, and the river safari boat with camera mounts was much appreciated.
There was a wide variety of birdlife, from tiny malachite kingfishers to large storks and herons (especially all the storks competing for nesting spaces in the bushes in the middle of the rapids). Large crocodiles were also plentiful.
We saw a leopard lurking in a tree on the banks, then stalking in the bushes behind some small baby elephants, before being spotted and fleeing, with adult elephants in hot pursuit.
Another highlight was watching several troops of baboons, and not least a group of lionesses conducting an extended (unsuccessful) hunt for baboons along the river bank with much alarm barking and acrobatic displays by these baboons in the trees."
There was a wide variety of birdlife, from tiny malachite kingfishers to large storks and herons (especially all the storks competing for nesting spaces in the bushes in the middle of the rapids). Large crocodiles were also plentiful.
We saw a leopard lurking in a tree on the banks, then stalking in the bushes behind some small baby elephants, before being spotted and fleeing, with adult elephants in hot pursuit.
Another highlight was watching several troops of baboons, and not least a group of lionesses conducting an extended (unsuccessful) hunt for baboons along the river bank with much alarm barking and acrobatic displays by these baboons in the trees."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
10+ sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
10+ sightings
There were a lot of different animals and birds, and we had successful night drives! The accommodation and meals were "safari glamping", and the view from the camp is great. The flood hadn't filled the river enough for boat safaris, but enough for a large pod of hippos in the lagoon right below the camp - they party loudly all night (ear plugs required)!
Many animals had young, which was fun to watch. We saw all the big cats - a large male cheetah posed for us at sunset, also coalitions of male lions, lionesses with cubs, and a leopard. There were wild dogs (with pups), several small herds of zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, Cape buffalo, antelope of different types, large herds of elephants and large pods of hippos. We also saw an ostrich, various mongooses (mongeese?), squirrels, and many different types of birds! On the night drives we saw a couple of ardwolves, a civet and a honey badger.
It was a wonderful and exciting safari experience!"