Travel reviews by Mrs & Mr N from Australia

"Loved our 4 nights at this camp. Beautiful view from the lounge area over the lily filled channel. Exploring by Mokoro was such a peaceful way to enjoy this and gave a different perspective than from the higher boats. T man was a great boat guide & fishing companion for my husband. On the game drives we went out with Owner who was a very knowledgable and catered to guests particular interests. A leopard was number 1 on our list. Happily Owner found 1 on our last afternoon game drive. She was sleeping on a very visible branch. We & the other couple in the jeep wanted to hang around to see whether she would wake up. Owner happily obliged and we had our sundowners sitting below in the jeep. The leopard woke about half an hour in, came down & walked right past our jeep before stalking a nearby goose. A perfect encounter with no other cars around. We also enjoy birds and Owner was always helpful in spotting & naming them. There is such a good variety of activities & game at Kanana. As well as leopard, we saw lion, elephant, hippo, rhino, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, many antelope including Red Lechwe and many birds. The heronry is unique and the walking safari fun. Being a private reserve there were only 2 or 3 vehicles at major game sightings. Often it was just 1.

Tent was spacious & comfortable with an old school safari feel. Lovely outlook over the water from the front verandah. No shortage of hot water. Housekeeping did a great job.

Staff at Kanana were warm & attentive. They really did seem to enjoy welcoming guests with song. There was a wonderful sense of camaradarie among them. This atmosphere made dining at the shared table even more convivial. Independence Day happened while we were there which was another occasion for dancing & singing & a cake bake off. Food was good & plentiful. Included wines were of a good standard.

A couple of things to note:
There is 1 computer in the lounge that guests can use. Speed and connection was adequate. There isn't WiFi or any mobile phone connectivity. So a local SIM is of no use. I mention this because like us, there are probably many potential guests who need to attend to some work while away. If that is the case you need to know the extent of internet availability. The computer served our purpose well and it wasn't heavily used.

If you are wanting imported wine or champagne for a special occasion, you will need to order & pay for this in advance. I misunderstood and thought that there was a (small) stock of premium wine & champagne which we could order & purchase onsite if the mood took us. This wan't a big deal for us but it might be for others with a special celebration happening.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Kanana stay. It was as we imagined the Okavango delta to be. Highly recommended."

"A comfortable & attractive camp. The game drives certainly delivered. Multiple leopard sightings on 3 days as well as lion, hyena, mongoose, giraffe, buffalo. Plenty of elephant & hippo right near the camp. The elephants even walked through the camp a couple of times. We were woken 1 afternoon by a female foraging outside our tent. Some good birding too. Our guide Kitso had a good sense of humour and so made for fun game drives. Other guides we encountered were also good. Keep in mind this is a public reserve and there can be as many as a dozen vehicles at a game sighting. The upside of so many guides is they communicate with each other so the chance of seeing hard to find game is increased. As well as the drives, relaxing mokoro trips are available. This is nice change of pace and a lovely way to enjoy the waterways of the Okavango Delta.

Meals were tasty and offered good variety. Good selection of South African wines on offer. The lounge & dining area was nicely fitted out. Service was generally good. Perhaps some of the elephant dung mulch that we saw at a previous camp could have been put over the dirt in the outdoor area to help settle the fine dust. Nice outlook over the river - mostly with elephants or hippo in view.

Tent decor was quite minimalist which we liked. Very comfortable bed. Also enjoyed a 1st rate massage. Note - massage is in your room. There isn't a spa. This wasn't spelt out when I booked and caused a minor confusion.

We did have some issues with the internet. As we had a little work to do online throughout our African holiday I had checked the internet situation at all accomodation before booking. I understood that Machaba had WiFi in the public area. This sounded like we would have no issues getting a short job done & then return to enjoying our holiday. The reality was a little different. The outdoor Wifi hot spot is away from the lounge, near to the camp office. No problem except that we discovered the connectivity was very poor. We really appreciate that the camp manager Richard went the extra mile to ensure we could deliver a job to a client. He allowed us to work in their office at a time when internet was performing better. So drama averted. The take away from this is, if you do need reliable internet, check exactly what is meant by Wifi. We understand Machaba is getting a new service soon which could change things completely.

We certainly enjoyed our 3 nights at Machaba Camp - especially the abundant game."