Travel reviews by bazjogone from UK

"We had a great time, were very impressed with the area and it was one of the best safaris we have been on. A lot of this was down to our guide, Elliot, who seemed to have real tracking skills and a lot of savvy about whether to wait for an animal to do something else, or move on. (On one occasion another vehicle moved off after watching a leopard but we followed it through the bush (amazing driving skills!) and saw it climb into a tree) . We saw leopards twice and on the second occasion there were cubs and a juvenile offspring from the previous year. We also saw both male and female lions and one of the latter grabbing and killing, then eating a warthog. It was a new experience for me to see a kill.

This is not really a criticism but I got the impression that these four lions and the leopards were the only ones in our area so we were basically seeing the same ones on different occasions. There was different lighting etc so each time was exciting, but in some other areas you can see more of the same species.

There were also many, many elephants including a lot in the camp and around our tent!, hippos, water buffalo, and all the game that predators feed on. The camp is in a great position on the river and the views from the eating area were enchanting. We also loved the mokoro ride (wouldn't do it more than once) and the cruise down the river. We found several of the staff to be very good, others less cheerful or lacking initiative. It was a shame we didn't see cheetah, although I perfectly understand that they are rare in this area. Likewise hyena and wild dogs.

As I say, we enjoyed our stay a lot and the room was comfortable although we have had more luxurious accommodation in other camps. A big plus is that there are power points in the tents for charging phones etc.

As you know, Megan, by extraordinary coincidence we were in the same vehicle as Josh and Rich so some of our views will have been passed on to them. I would say we were lucky to have a tent near the main building because some of the others, including where Josh and Rich were staying, were a bit of a hike. I also have some concern about whether there could be a dangerous situation involving guests trying to get to the main building past elephants (and lions came into the camp one night). I am not sure all guests knew, or were made aware, of how dangerous elephants can be and they were frequently around the main path on our side of the camp. An unfenced camp seems something of a mixed blessing.

We thought the food was not the greatest aspect. There were a lot of bones in an ossobuco dish and nothing really stood out although it was perfectly adequate, as were the wines etc--it is great not to have to bother about buying drinks. The special gala evening with dancing and singing in a location outside the camp was lovely and everybody enjoyed it.

One thing that we had severe doubts about was the ritual of the cook and bar person telling us what was on the menu. Apart from the fact that it was sometimes a bit hard to hear them, it smacked of paternalism to us and most people seemed a bit embarrassed. It was also ridiculous to be told that a merlot had hints of blackberry or whatever! Some of the wait staff were either miserable or a bit incompetent but others were excellent and Chris and Ofiro (sp?) , who took part in the dinners were excellent company. It was great to see the more junior staff taking part with Andrew and Rhona. Frankly we weren't sure about the latter. Andrew is good value in many ways but a bit full-on and Rhona overdoes the chatting you up constantly, especially since she seems to ask the same questions on more than one occasion! I wouldn't want this to get back to them however.

Maintenance is not great, frankly. There was a broken standard lamp in our tent when we arrived and it was still broken when we left, despite mentioning it on a couple of occasions. On the last day the swimming pool was full of leaves and an umbrella was broken. I raised this and Andrew told me it was the wind. However, it would have made a better impression to put up a note saying that or fix the problem! They could do with a second public toilet because there was always a stressful queue before the morning safaris! (This is a common problem I think)

Elliot had a very bad eye problem for the last couple of days which was giving him a great deal of pain. I gave him some ibuprofen which seemed to help, but Andrew kept telling us it was nothing, right up to the last day when he said he would try to free him up to go to a doctor in Maun. Elliot's performance did not suffer however.

This is probably far more than you need and I trust it will not be quoted back to the camp in my name.

Summary--great game drives, excellent alternative events but some problems with organisation, maintenance and food."