Travel reviews by Mrs K. from Dakabin

"It isn't easy to give a review as I arrived fairly late, and left reasonably early the next morning, plus I was tired.

That said the staff were delightful, couldn't have been more helpful. Breakfast was delicious, and the vast choice amazing. I even had one waitress help me, and she kept plying me with food, from muffins to waffles and pancakes, and that was after the cooked breakfast.

I should add I didn't eat all she offered, it would have been impossible!!!"

"Giraffe Manor is an experience which could not be equalled. I had a ball. A visit though that I am glad I did at the beginning of my holiday as although they say the giraffe are wild, you really can't call it wild if you can feed it pellets from your mouth (kissing it), not as repulsive as it sounds!!! Again all the staff were wonderful, and nothing was too much trouble.

They surprised me at breakfast my first morning by having baked me a birthday cake in the shape of part of the giraffe's neck, and lots of the staff came out and sung happy birthday to me. The cake was delicious, as was all the food there, I took photos of it and sent home to make the family jealous!!!

Tony the manager also organised for me go firstly go to the elephant orphanage, where I adopted an elephant, and later to a children's home, where I took some teddies, colouring books tennis balls etc . I was humbled by their living conditions, there were youngsters and 18 months -2 yrs, and they didn't know what a teddy was. The colouring books were a great hit, as were the balls."

"My first camp, and I was so excited. Peter the "leader", was great fun, and was very informative, the bush safaris were magnificent, we had two drivers, and both were heaps of fun, teasing us at dusk that we were lost, while we listened to lions soaring!!!! And their knowledge is phenomenal, of both the wildlife and the bush. And the animals, well.........the only one I didn't see was a leopard, and they were so upset they couldn't find one. I still can't remember the guides names, but they called other guides on the phone to find different animals, we saw a cheetah with 1 cub, she had recently made a kill of a Thompson's gazelle and taken it back for the cub as well, but all the cub did was swat it's ears, it was cute to watch.

We saw a herd of elephants with several juvenile of various ages, there were two young bulls who had a play fight, don't know so much about the playing, there was lots of trumpeting and clashing of tusks. There was also a baby that the guide said was only a week old, he could still walk under his mum's belly he was so small. When the herd saw us they immediately formed a circle round the baby to protect it. Once they realised we were no threat they allowed him out, if you can imagine this little creature, with a trunk he really hadn't mastered, he put his ears out, trumpeted, and ran toward us in a little charge, then he suddenly realised what he was doing and turned and ran back to mum, we just sat and laughed.

We went to the rhinos sanctuary where we saw the last two southern (I think) white rhinos in the world. Those two, although are of breeding age cannot hold pregnancies, for different reasons, so apparently they have retrieved their eggs, and already had seen from an unrelated male, and they are going to do if using a northern white rhinos as a surrogate. This will happen apparently in January.

We went and stood on the equator for the necessary photo shoot!!!

We had a black rhinos charge at the car, fortunately the guide saw him coming ànd went really fast away from him!!!!

The tent was cosy, with WiFi and good internet connection, and the bed was so comfy, I had to laugh the first night, I put My foot into the bed and put it on something warm, I got out of bed rather quickly to discover a hot water bottle, they were also provided on the early morning drives. The mornings were very cold and indeed I needed a good coat or you would freeze.

Breakfast out in the bush was great........a little un-nerving in case the odd buffalo or lion may be about, despite being told it was ok, I ate with one eye peering out. The food was good, different because it was sometimes native, but that was an interesting experience, I even ate crocodile!!!!! Yes it does taste like chicken!! My first night there chef baked a huge birthday cake for me with candles as well !!! Which was very thoughtful, and they all came out singing in Swahili which was awesome.

The boundary of the camp on one side was a river, the banks were too steep to see the animals drink, but buffalo walked past, a hippo, well he more plunked and shuffled than walked, Giselle, earth on,
We saw giraffe and I was able to see the difference in the markings between the Rothschild at giraffe manor and these guys who were common giraffe. I saw zebra, there were two types, which on a couple of occasions has interbred and gave birth to hybred, who are apparently sterile. The guides were great, if I mentioned I would like to....see, or do anything, they just went off road and did it, I wanted to see the river where the animals drank from, so he took me, The whole camp was amazing, such an incredible experience, you can't put into words the feeling of the place, it's so friendly, run very efficiently, and extremely eco friendly. Well worth coming.

I could go on for hours about the animals, and what it felt like to actually see them do things you've read about or seen on documentaries. I said to the guys I wanted to see a chase, but not the kill, and to see the animals after the kill, and I did, they seemed to go out of their way to please, and nothing was too much trouble."

"What can I say about Alison and Tom and the elephant pepper camp, well I did tell them that I would tell everyone it was awful, dirty, lousy food, terrible accommodation. It isn't. I had the best time. I was fortunate because I was the only guest in the camp, but my fun began the minute i was picked up at the " airport " James met me and he would be my guide throughout my stay. His thoughtfulness started as I tried to get in the vehicle, ( have you seen the size of those things?!!!) Well my legs aren't good and one doesn't bend well, and James just gently helped me, all the time asking me what I wanted to see most, well it had to be a leopard, I hadn't seen one, so he promptly veered off the road ( a term used lightly) drove fast for about 5 mins and there was a leopard sitting on a branch of a tree, how on earth he knew where to go , he hadn't been on the radio or phone, and he did this the whole time i was there.

He found a pride of lions. 3 lioness and 8 cubs of different ages, one of the lionesses was watching a warthog, so James moved the car so we could see and she stalked and then chased, only to be helped by a cub who got in the way , so they missed the warthog that time. One evening we were late back to camp after the afternoon drive and James saw a lion, full mane in all his glory just sitting under a tree, well he was 50 meters away and he roared, well, James just said he's calling his brothers so we will wait, fine says me! As long as they realise Australian blood doesn't taste good, Kenyan blood, that's ok, just not Aussie, well he just laughed, as two more lions came up, then all three got up, sauntered over to the truck looked at us, and laid down right next to me. I kid you not I was a little concerned, so then came brother no. 4 to join them, so by this time, with no moon out it was pitch black, and then you hear this 1 little rumble , then a second answered, and then one let rip, I swear that roar came from his boots, the car shook from the vibrations, and I nearly.............. James just sat and laughed. So we stayed a few more minutes and then went back to camp. Every day I was at either bush camp I went back excited over something that I had encountered that day.

We had one very sad occurrence, when we went out one day we saw a male lion playing with a litter of 4 cubs, we sat and watched them for at least half an hour, crying, looking for milk, but crawling all over him, he moved his massive paws out of the way so they could move,,,,he was just so gentle with them. We went back to camp for lunch and another guide came in and said he saw the male squash one kittens head with his paw, and one of he managers went out to the spot and saw definate signs that he had killed and eaten all of them, which apparently happens when they are not his cubs.

I saw everything , I saw 2 cheetahs do a chase, I saw a leopard meal just hanging from a tree, I learnt the way they tell the lions apart ( by their whisker holes and notches out of ears) . There was a market day in the village while I was there, definitely a must see, the beautiful necklaces, the enormous holes in some of the men's ears, the lovely women, but all they want to do is touch you, which is a bit daunting. They love having their picture taken though.

Sadly it came to my last day. I goaded James, I told him I hadn't seen a vulture. Would you believe he found a nest with a pair in, then found the male of another breed, I couldn't believe either him or my luck. For someone who doesn't take photos, my camera needed 4 new sets of batteries because of the number of pics taken just in the camps.

I can honestly say that I cannot think of an animal that I haven't seen, from bustards to vultures and the delightfully brilliant startling, to the wildebeest and the big cats. It was so educational, from habitats to mannerisms and identification. I go home a tired but extremely happy lady."

"This stay I wasn't happy.

The room was still clean and comfortable, but I was put into a connecting room and he people in the other room decided to be up playing music and drinking until 12.30am, and I had to get up at 1.30am for my flight. The night staff were not prepared to assist so by the time I left I was unhappy to say the least"

"This hotel does not have the capabilities of dealing with people with mobility problems, and only one member of staff had compassion.

The first room I was given was delightful until I entered he bathroom, the bath was an old fashioned one which was lovely, but it had very high sides, and the shower was in the bath, for me it would have been impossible to get in. I went to reception where a RUDE manager informed me the only other rooms that had a separate shower had a small step to get into the room, but I would have to go the long way round, and she wasn't kidding, to avoid a staircase. Then there were two large steps to get into the room. Both she and the man who moved my suitcases had a very bad attitude.

On another occasion I was feeling particularly sore and the nice receptionist (either Rebecca, or Melissa) got a wheelchair and a porter to take me back to my room, well he didn't want to go the long way, he stopped at the staircases and told me to get out and go down the stairs, and he carried the wheelchair down and told me to sit down again. I had no option as my walking frame was in reception.

The restaurant was a long way from all the rooms as well as the staff being sullen until contacted by Expert Africa, then their whole demeanour changed.

The attitude of the staff and the layout of the hotel spoilt Victoria falls for me."