Travel reviews by The K family from London
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
3
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
8
Excursions taken
0
My August/September safari to Zambia
Zambia between 29 Aug 2014 and 6 Sep 2014
"There were more administrative errors than in previous years Including send the final information and tickets to the wrong address.
Luckily they were passed onto us as the person you sent them to knew where we lived."
Luckily they were passed onto us as the person you sent them to knew where we lived."
Arranged By Claire Scott
Tafika
"Tafika is one of our most favourite camps"
3 nights
Arrived
30 Aug 2014
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Chinzombo
"Chinzombo"
2 nights
Arrived
2 Sep 2014
"It was highly luxuries and rather too modern for our needs.
Guiding was excellent but our guides effectiveness was handicapped by the sheer number of other vehicles, especially at night. Traffic is something we normally avoid."
Guiding was excellent but our guides effectiveness was handicapped by the sheer number of other vehicles, especially at night. Traffic is something we normally avoid."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Average
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Chiawa Camp
"Chiawa another nice camp"
2 nights
Arrived
4 Sep 2014
"Both managers and staff of Chiawa are friendly and the food was excellent.
Guiding was good though we did not see much on our night drives as we did at Tafika and the red light used does mean that taking photographs was tricky, though we do understand why it was used.
The canoe trip was excellent and I highly recommend taking the longer canoe trip. Having a meal on the boat as it travelled down the river was also a lovely surprise, though I wish we had known a little in advance as we would have taken our binoculars and cameras with us."
Guiding was good though we did not see much on our night drives as we did at Tafika and the red light used does mean that taking photographs was tricky, though we do understand why it was used.
The canoe trip was excellent and I highly recommend taking the longer canoe trip. Having a meal on the boat as it travelled down the river was also a lovely surprise, though I wish we had known a little in advance as we would have taken our binoculars and cameras with us."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
My Sep 2012 trip
Mozambique between 1 Sep 2012 and 10 Sep 2012
"Enjoyable"
Explore Gorongosa, Mozambique (this camp has since closed)
"Explore Gorongosa review"
4 nights
Arrived
2 Sep 2012
"Food was good and guiding was good and although we did not see any lions or other large mammal predators this was more than made up for my the shear number of different antelope so of which we had never seen before.
My only complaint was that in our tent, when it rained in the night, you could not go to the toilet without getting soaking wet, this does not appy to the girls tent since their toilet was undercover."
My only complaint was that in our tent, when it rained in the night, you could not go to the toilet without getting soaking wet, this does not appy to the girls tent since their toilet was undercover."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Average
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
Nuarro Mozambique
"Nuarro Mozambique review"
4 nights
Arrived
6 Sep 2012
"A lovely place to stay.
My only complaint which may have been a miss understanding was that when we wanted to go whale watching we were told that we were the only people who had requested the boat so we were to wait until we saw a whale then go to the boat. What happened was that when we saw a whale we did go the boat but someone else whose room was nearer to the boats than ours go to them first and they had taken the boat which meant that we had to wait until it came back and them go out the heat of the day."
My only complaint which may have been a miss understanding was that when we wanted to go whale watching we were told that we were the only people who had requested the boat so we were to wait until we saw a whale then go to the boat. What happened was that when we saw a whale we did go the boat but someone else whose room was nearer to the boats than ours go to them first and they had taken the boat which meant that we had to wait until it came back and them go out the heat of the day."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Zambia trip
Zambia between 7 Jul 2008 and 19 Jul 2008
"See individual comments for each of the camps"
Tafika
"Tafika review"
4 nights
Arrived
8 Jul 2008
"A wonderful camp with excellent guides fantastic wildlife, lovely hospitality and very attentive service.
However, why did we have to drive back to Mafue when Tafika has an air strip?
We lost 1.5 hours + 20 minutes from our holiday and had to pay airport tax. The driver spent 3 hours driving us to Mafue and then driving himself back (1.5 hours each way) and The pilot had to fly an extra 40 minutes since he had flown over Tafika to get to Mafue and then flew us back over it on our way out.
Niether we,Tafika and the pilot to understand why."
However, why did we have to drive back to Mafue when Tafika has an air strip?
We lost 1.5 hours + 20 minutes from our holiday and had to pay airport tax. The driver spent 3 hours driving us to Mafue and then driving himself back (1.5 hours each way) and The pilot had to fly an extra 40 minutes since he had flown over Tafika to get to Mafue and then flew us back over it on our way out.
Niether we,Tafika and the pilot to understand why."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Feedback response
We’re very pleased that these travellers enjoyed their time so much at Tafika – and particularly to hear that they actually witnessed a kill, which is a very rare occurrence! The guiding at Tafika is really superb!
With regards to the flight, sometimes the way we charter light aircraft may not appear to make any sense at all! Rest assured it usually does, but there are a lot of factors to take into account.
However, taking this traveller’s comments on board, we have implemented systems to ensure that where logistics work, we use an easier route for this flight in the future.
With regards to the flight, sometimes the way we charter light aircraft may not appear to make any sense at all! Rest assured it usually does, but there are a lot of factors to take into account.
However, taking this traveller’s comments on board, we have implemented systems to ensure that where logistics work, we use an easier route for this flight in the future.
Shiwa Ng'andu
"Shiwa Ng'andu review"
3 nights
Arrived
12 Jul 2008
"Jo and Charlie made us feel at home and we would love to hear how their plans are progressing and visit again in a few years time.
The house, garden, farm etc and its history were fascinating and it made a lovely and unusual break from safari lodges. The girls loved the horses and loved riding twice a day everyday."
The house, garden, farm etc and its history were fascinating and it made a lovely and unusual break from safari lodges. The girls loved the horses and loved riding twice a day everyday."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sausage Tree Camp
"Sausage Tree Camp review"
4 nights
Arrived
15 Jul 2008
"Rather OTT and I feel rather over priced and over rated. The guides were not as good as they were in Tafika and we saw nowhere near as much wildlife.The food was nowhere near as good as at Tfika we always had cheese and biscuits for lunch dessert and soup for evening starter. Mostly coleslaw salads with everything else.
We had to have safety talks before every activity. This may well change when Nikki and her husband take over and were given an indemnity card to fill in. Reading the back of the cards tells us that once we have signed them we cannot claim any damages to our person or property as a result of the camps negligent acts or omissions. For example I assume that if the driver of the boat didn't check for leaks, it sunk and we were eaten by crocodiles this is not the camps responsibilty? I think it is.
We did not sign these forms and did not give them in. We have never before been asked to fill in forms like this before and I would advice anyone else visiting the camp not to fill them in."
We had to have safety talks before every activity. This may well change when Nikki and her husband take over and were given an indemnity card to fill in. Reading the back of the cards tells us that once we have signed them we cannot claim any damages to our person or property as a result of the camps negligent acts or omissions. For example I assume that if the driver of the boat didn't check for leaks, it sunk and we were eaten by crocodiles this is not the camps responsibilty? I think it is.
We did not sign these forms and did not give them in. We have never before been asked to fill in forms like this before and I would advice anyone else visiting the camp not to fill them in."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Facilities
Good
Feedback response
We’re very sorry that these travellers felt that Sausage Tree was over-priced and over-rated, and that the food wasn’t up to standard. We’ve passed these comments to the camp.
Meanwhile, several interesting points are raised here…
Firstly, we’re delighted that this camp has a clear policy of safety talks before every activity – even though to our regular travellers, it’ll seem a bit superfluous.
Secondly, it is becoming more commonplace for lodges and camps to ask their guests to sign indemnity forms. We address this in our brochure’s General Information section, which says:
WILD ANIMALS
In taking a trip to Africa, you acknowledge that it involves risk. Amongst other problems, wild animals can present threats to your safety and your health. These risks are your responsibility. We will do everything we can to ensure that you are well-informed of the risks and, where necessary, have you guided by some of the best guides in the business. You can minimize the risks by following the instructions and advice of your guides, and never walking out on your own. In camps where animals wander freely, make sure that you have a guide to escort you when you walk around the camp. Do not touch any plants, animals or insects, however harmless they seem. Any could be hazardous. Please note that many safari lodges will require you to sign personal indemnity forms, or in some places equivalent indemnities are incorporated by law into the guest register that you sign. If you do not accept such risks, then do not book a trip with us to Africa.
Whilst our travellers are at liberty not to sign such forms … they must accept that there may be a few camps where this will result in them missing out on some activities.
We would always encourage lodges which remind travellers of the inherent risks in any African safari – using a form to read and sign, or briefing of any sort. If a traveller isn’t willing to accept these, then we recommend that they don’t travel with us.
However, we do not encourage lodges to ask travellers to sign disclaimer forms waiving liability for their acts of negligence. There’s simply no point: these are useless!
The good news is that our travellers can rest easy and sign such forms without concern. If any of our travellers tried to claim damages for a (hypothetical) sinking boat, as outlined above, then they would claim directly against Expert Africa, not the camp. So if the (hypothetical) boat driver was guilty of the gross negligence which caused an injury or death from sinking … then no waiver form on the planet would absolve us from liability for this in the British courts!
In the light of this traveller’s comments … we’ll be pointing this out to Sausage Tree camp, so that they can re-consider their form, and their policy.
Meanwhile, several interesting points are raised here…
Firstly, we’re delighted that this camp has a clear policy of safety talks before every activity – even though to our regular travellers, it’ll seem a bit superfluous.
Secondly, it is becoming more commonplace for lodges and camps to ask their guests to sign indemnity forms. We address this in our brochure’s General Information section, which says:
WILD ANIMALS
In taking a trip to Africa, you acknowledge that it involves risk. Amongst other problems, wild animals can present threats to your safety and your health. These risks are your responsibility. We will do everything we can to ensure that you are well-informed of the risks and, where necessary, have you guided by some of the best guides in the business. You can minimize the risks by following the instructions and advice of your guides, and never walking out on your own. In camps where animals wander freely, make sure that you have a guide to escort you when you walk around the camp. Do not touch any plants, animals or insects, however harmless they seem. Any could be hazardous. Please note that many safari lodges will require you to sign personal indemnity forms, or in some places equivalent indemnities are incorporated by law into the guest register that you sign. If you do not accept such risks, then do not book a trip with us to Africa.
Whilst our travellers are at liberty not to sign such forms … they must accept that there may be a few camps where this will result in them missing out on some activities.
We would always encourage lodges which remind travellers of the inherent risks in any African safari – using a form to read and sign, or briefing of any sort. If a traveller isn’t willing to accept these, then we recommend that they don’t travel with us.
However, we do not encourage lodges to ask travellers to sign disclaimer forms waiving liability for their acts of negligence. There’s simply no point: these are useless!
The good news is that our travellers can rest easy and sign such forms without concern. If any of our travellers tried to claim damages for a (hypothetical) sinking boat, as outlined above, then they would claim directly against Expert Africa, not the camp. So if the (hypothetical) boat driver was guilty of the gross negligence which caused an injury or death from sinking … then no waiver form on the planet would absolve us from liability for this in the British courts!
In the light of this traveller’s comments … we’ll be pointing this out to Sausage Tree camp, so that they can re-consider their form, and their policy.
It is the only camp we have now stayed at twice and it is still our favourite. The owners are very friendly and love talking to all the guests as are all the rest of the staff. The food is wonderful and the guides are one of the best we have ever had in all the African countries we have visited.
I always do and still will highly recommend Tafika."