Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs R from Wimbledon

We regard Pole Pole as a great ‘small island lodge’, which is informal, relaxed and fairly low-key – where luxury and comfort is moderated by a real effort to blend with the nature. Perhaps because of this, we don’t think of Pole Pole in ‘star’ terms. We apologize if we made a mistake sending these travellers here, when a more formal, 4- or 5-star hotel might have suited them better; this might be the root cause of some of their comments above.

We have never regarded Pole Pole as ‘shabby’ - it’s never been so when we have visited in the past - although we were not actually visiting the lodge at the same time as these travellers.

We sent these comments to Massimo, Pole Pole's owner-manager, who was concerned by them. He remembered these travellers, and their warm goodbye to the team on their last day. He was very concerned that they hadn’t been happy – but said, ‘I wish that they had voiced some of their issues whilst they were with us; we would have looked into them immediately’.

Pole Pole has mains electricity, but during Sept/Oct 2008 an exceptional power-cut all over Mafia lasted 3 weeks. Pole Pole’s back-up generator then kicked in immediately. As the evenings windy and relatively cool, it was decided to switch it off at night, and also around lunch-time, to preserve the silence. Again, Massimo commented, “If any guest had wanted it to be kept on all night, all they needed to do was to ask.”

Massimo explained that Pole Pole has recently taken on a new ‘food and beverage manager’ to further boost the lodge’s cuisine. “He changes the menu every day.” In Expert Africa’s experience, Pole Pole has always tried hard to satisfy the dietary requirements of the travellers that we’ve sent there – and we’ve sent vegans, people who need gluten-free meals, amongst others. However, as with any lodge; they need to know about the preferences of their guests in order to act upon them.

Massimo commented, “Most guests just want seafood here, which is fine! But if anyone’s not happy with the choices on the menu, all they need to do is ask and we’ll try to prepare something to suit them. Meat is never a problem!”

Regarding mosquitoes, all Pole Pole’s bungalows have mosquito-screened windows, plus a separate mosquito net protecting the beds. At the start of 2008, Pole Pole’s regular annual maintenance included work by carpenters who stripped down each room, sandpapered all frames, changed every hinge and lock, repainted walls and made sure everything was working well. During this work, they changed all mosquito screens on the windows. Massimo commented that he wasn’t “aware of any holes in the screens, but if we do find any – they’re easy to fix. You must tell your visitors to point out things like this to us when they are here, not after they get home!”

Having said all this – we’re delighted that these travellers found that Pole Pole’s staff were exceedingly kind, courteous and attentive; that everyone tried their best here to please our guests; and that nothing was too much trouble. That’s exactly what we’d expect from a great ‘small island lodge’!