Travel reviews by Mrs K. from Middlesex

"This was our first trip to Kafue and it may well not be our last. The open expanses were wonderful to behold, whether it be from your deck, the jeep or a balloon. The variety of animals seen in our 4 nights was hugely impressive - 42 species of birds, 22 species of mammals and, most exciting of all for both guests and staff, a pangolin that wandered into camp after we had our dinner. Some animals are more cautious around jeeps than in some other parks but we had some fabulous lion sightings, in particular Queen and her cub.

The room was a good size with a comfortable bed, plenty of hot water and a charging station. The public area was always a welcoming space with staff available to provide a drink or just a smile. All the staff were delightful and we had many long chats on topics as diverse as climate change, sustainable farming, and politicians. You immediately felt like you were joining a big family reunion. Coming back from a game drive to a glass of sherry or Amarula was delightful.

We were fortunate enough to have our guide Pyben almost entirely to ourselves for the duration of our stay. He was a mine of information as well as great company. Rather unusually in our experience he acted as his own spotter on the night drives but somehow he was able to navigate the roads, wave the light around and still find us animals in the dark. On the last night, a bar was set up in the bush for all the guests and we all sat around the fire whilst Evidence told stories as the sun went down.

The food was delicious, be it the brunch after the morning drive, the afternoon cakes and savoury bakes, or the evening meals - there was no chance of going hungry.

All in all, we had the best time in Kafue."

"It's been five years since we last stayed and Nkwali and it was as great as ever. The camp suffered from power cuts during our 2 night stay, exacerbated by the backup generator being out of action but the camp looked lovely with all the lanterns and solar lights.

This trip we were given a huge room with an enormous sofa so we had plenty of room for the tree frogs that shared the bathroom with us. The steps down to the river have been upgraded to concrete which makes it much easier to get to and from the boat. The pool was a welcome respite from the heat and it was lovely watching Humphrey the hippo enjoying the waterhole. This trip the elephants weren't coming to the waterhole as often, but we had many close encounters with them in the park.

Pias was our guide for our short stay. During the transfer to Tena Tena, we were fortunate enough to encounter a pack of 11 wild dogs. One of the dogs had found a discarded plastic bottle (slapped wrist for whoever was so thoughtless) and refused to share with the others. Unlike watching lions during the day when you are waiting for one of them to even roll over, the dogs are so much more active. We loved watching them and actually got to see a second pack that evening - fortunate indeed! If the number of sighting of giraffes we had are anything to go by, the population in the park is healthy.

Kiki was a marvellous host for our all too short stay. Despite the brevity of our stay, we still saw 56 different species of animals which is pretty amazing."

"This was our first visit to Tena Tena and we loved it. The only thing that we could possibly mark it down on is the size of the bedroom. When the nets are round the bed, it is a little difficult to have two adults moving around the room. But the bed is comfortable and there is plenty of hot water. You can charge your batteries in the room.

Camp manager Bertram doubled up as our guide and he did a brilliant job. He was great company as well as a great spotter. We got a second sighting of wild dogs - this time at night. Lions were pretty scarce - just one sighting - but we had four great leopard sightings. In total we saw 75 different species over the 3 night stay including loads of good elephant and giraffe encounters.

Time spent in camp was great fun. The other guests were a real hoot and mealtimes were full of laughter. During one evening game drive there was lots of lightning in the distance and by the time dinner started, it was chucking it down. The dining area isn't large and the dining table ended up wedged up against a huge pile of cushions from the sofas so as to keep everyone dry. Halfway through the meal the power went out, the solar lamps were switched on and everything just carried on.

The power was restored by bedtime except for a couple of tents, including ours. We were given some solar lamps and the rain meant that the night was cool enough not to worry about the fact that we had no working fan. Although the camp is set back a bit from the river, we had plenty of sightings including giraffes, and pukus that favoured the grass right in front of the dining room.

We'd like to thank the camp for giving us a private dinner for our 30th wedding anniversary which fortunately was the evening before the heavy rain. A big thumbs up to the cooks - the food was always delicious, and the baking was phenomenal."

"Our first impression of the camp was "wow" - the main camp is open and overlooks the river and attracts a welcome breeze. We were given room 1 - probably the best room - as it overlooks the confluence of the Shire and Mkulumadzi rivers. The room is huge with comfortable sofas, a great outdoor shower and a much appreciated cold air system over the comfortable bed. The only downside to getting room 1 is that, due to the very high temperatures in October, it is a 5min walk to get to it. We were making full use of the shower and the swimming pool!

Our second impression of the camp was "where are the staff?". Having trudged down from the room for afternoon tea, there was no-one to take our order for tea and coffee. There isn't much time before heading out on a game drive and you don't expect to have to go and find someone to take your order. Our guide Mustafa would turn up, ready to go, before our tea! This happened on several occasions which rather aggravated my husband. We spoke several times to Nienke and she explained how they were indeed short of staff at very short notice. Once she realised how upset we were, she and Teun went all out to rectify matters. They were keen to listen to any suggestions for improvements such as allowing guests to make their own tea in the afternoon to leave the staff to concentrate on other things. They also made every effort to be available when guests were in camp.

But once we got over that little bump, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Majete. It isn't the kind of park to get the close up encounters that you can get in other parks - there is a lot of undergrowth that can get in the way (we saw the bottom half of a giraffe) and there isn't a high density of game. But we knew that when we booked. Sadly the rhino and cats remained elusive but we had a fab encounter with two elephants having a great time crossing the river. Oh, and there was the rock climbing hippo! If you love bird watching, you'll love Majete. In total we saw 85 different species - 53 of those were birds - in our 5 nights which is just 8 less than in South Luangwa.

The Shire river was deep enough to allow boat trips which were a welcome break from game drives. They allowed you the opportunity to see the fantastic scenery beyond the trees as well as have great views of the sunsets. We also had a short walk along the river one afternoon. The plan was to get closer to the rapids but we got side tracked by sightings of an elephant and a buffalo. We got to sleep on the star bed which is on a raised platform overlooking the trees, about 10mins away from the camp. The scariest part of it was the drive there (Nienke's driving is pretty full on!). The stars and moon were so bright and there was a lovely breeze - we slept really well. The following morning, we had about an hour's walk through the bush which was followed by a full English breakfast cooked over an open fire overlooking the river.

Talking of food, Mkulumadzi manages to squeeze in one more meal than any other camp we've stayed in. Lunch and dinner were always excellent and I'm guessing that the menu rotates over 4 days. We were there for 5 nights and dinner on nights 1 and 5 was the same. The size of the camp means that you have a choice of places to eat including down on the sand below the dining area. On our last night, Nienke arranged for us to eat by the pool.

And finally, a big thank you to our guide Mustafa who was a great spotter and enjoyable company."