Travel reviews by Wiljo from Norfolk

"We only had 2 nights and one full day based at Little Vundu at the beginning of our stay in Mana Pools, but it was our favourite accommodation of the options we experienced (main Vundu camp and a mobile camp).

It has a spectacular setting on the banks of the Zambezi, looking directly out onto the mountains in Zambia on the other side of the valley. It is small and intimate and the accommodation, catering and guiding were excellent. The camp is open for wildlife to wander through which provided some unique encounters in addition to the sightings on the game drives and walking safari. Our one full day included a couple of game drives as well as a walk and night drive. We saw a good range of wildlife, including birds.

It was a good introduction to our Zimbabwe safari."

"This feedback has been dealt with separately in an email to Tracy Lederer. I have allocated "activities" no comment for this questionnaire but Tracy will have the full report. I have ticked the box below about "concerns" which have already been discussed with Tracy, so, we do not need to be contacted again by Expert Africa.

The categories graded below are presumably for the mobile camp which was set up at Chessa and which was excellent all round."

"The accommodation, catering and guiding were all excellent.

We had morning and afternoon game drives and the latter incorporated night drives in the final hour driving back to camp after dark. There is an elevated hide overlooking a waterhole behind the Camp which afforded some great animal and bird sightings in between game drives.

Being able to walk from the vehicle provided a unique perspective and we were privileged to see a couple of "tree climbing" elephants "performing" and the local wild dog pack with their pups. The area was parched and at least 2 of the 4 Pools were long since dry. The wildlife was clearly struggling which made for some interesting interactions."

"As claimed, Ilala was indeed the nearest accommodation to the Victoria Falls Rainforest Park, making it an ideal location for viewing the Falls themselves and accessing the Bridge.

Both of these activities we undertook unguided but supervised activities could easily have been arranged by the Lodge, if wanted. Ilala was also very convenient for the facilities in town, although we found the street vendors to be too attentive to permit us to venture far! Despite this, within the confines of the Lodge, the ambience was peaceful, the staff welcoming and helpful and the facilities (including swimming pool) and catering excellent.

We did book a helicopter viewing of the Falls and a Zambezi sunset cruise through the Lodge, both of which are highly recommended and provided additional perspectives of the natural phenomena."

"Friendly and efficient staff with hands on input from the owners. A spectacular and peaceful setting on an escarpment overlooking the Chobe river and across into Namibia. The river itself was dry at this location during our stay which is almost unprecedented although a few miles "downstream" in the Park itself, there was flowing water which obviously attracted the game. The game was possibly more concentrated than normal along the river because of the drought.

We opted for vehicle and boat safari full day combos for our 2 full days at the Lodge which gave us the opportunity for early morning game drive or walking safari, returning for breakfast before setting off for Kasane to pick up the boat for game viewing on the river and lunch on board and then, a game drive back to the Lodge through the afternoon and early evening. Additional optional night drives were also on offer after dinner each day in the vicinity of the Lodge.

The accommodation, catering, guiding and ambience were all excellent."

"Excellent all round. Staff at Camp were especially warm and welcoming, creating a very pleasing ambience and the Kwando formula of driver guide and tracker, working as a team on the game drives worked very well and made for some very interesting sightings.

We subsequently stayed at the sister camp in this concession (Lagoon) which was equally as impressive but quite different in character with its waterside setting. Lebala is set in an area of more open grassland and the opportunity to experience both locations back to back made for an interesting and varied programme and we felt it maximised the wildlife viewing opportunities."

"Excellent all round and spectacular setting overlooking the lagoon, fed by the Kwando river.

Staff at Camp were especially warm and welcoming, creating a very pleasing ambience and the Kwando formula of driver guide and tracker, working as a team on the game drives worked very well and made for some very interesting sightings. In particular, on one drive, the team tracked wild dogs for 3 hours before finally locating the pack resting by the river. Their patience and persistence was truly impressive. On another occasion, similar teamwork resulted in an encounter with 2 male cheetahs. The guides in different vehicles communicated well with each other, alerting and directing their colleagues to interesting sightings.

The daily formula consisted of morning and afternoon game drives. The latter merged with a night drive for the last hour or so on the way back to camp after dark. There were opportunities to fish from the lagoon directly from the deck in Camp as well as from the Camp's boat. Because of the unprecedented dry conditions, the boat was moored some distance from Camp but we were given the opportunity to undertake a boat safari which provided some wonderful bird sightings and a fresh perspective on the location.

We also stayed at the sister camp in this concession (Lebala) which was equally as impressive but quite different in character with its setting within open grassland. The opportunity to experience both locations back to back made for an interesting and varied programme and we felt it maximised the wildlife viewing opportunities in the concession, although of course, nothing is guaranteed."

"Excellent all round - accommodation, catering (too much food!) and guiding. Staff at Camp were especially hospitable.

Unfortunately, a wildfire which swept through the area earlier in the season has destroyed many of the trees (although regeneration is evident) and the lagoon in front of Camp had long since dried up as a result of the unprecedented dry conditions. This possibly affected the amount of wildlife activity directly around the Camp itself although quiet observation with binoculars revealed a fair bit of game passing through, including a family of kudu coming to the swimming pool to drink! The Gomoti river, although low was still flowing and inevitably, there was much more of interest around the water, both plains game and birds. It was still possible to experience the river by mokoro and we would highly recommend this activity to experience the different perspective offered.

The daily formula consisted of morning and afternoon game drives. The latter merged with a night drive for the last hour or so on the way back to camp after dark. Guides in different vehicles were in constant communication with one another to alert colleagues to interesting sightings. One one occasion, this enabled us to locate a pair of cheetahs and later on, we watched them hunting impala (unsuccessfully)."

"Excellent all round - accommodation, catering (too much food though) and guiding. Staff at Camp were very hospitable. The Kwando formula of off roading and a driver guide and tracker, working as a team on the game drives, worked very well and made for some very interesting encounters and interactions, especially of predators.

Our team seemed to go the extra mile to follow wild dogs and lions hunting. The guides in different vehicles communicated well with each other, alerting and directing their colleagues to interesting sightings. On our last game drive, on the way to the airstrip, we located a lone male lion, a leopard and a cheetah in separate sightings.

The daily formula consisted of morning and afternoon game drives. The latter merged with a night drive for the last hour or so on the way back to camp after dark. We were given the opportunity to undertake a boat safari as far as the Godikwe Lagoon one morning which provided some wonderful bird sightings and a fresh perspective on the location. We were also offered a short mokoro session."

"Excellent all round - accommodation, catering (too much food!) and guiding. The Camp staff were extremely hospitable and our guide highly entertaining but knowledgeable too. The Camp swimming pool provided welcome respite in the heat of the day and was a great birding spot!

The activities were varied so, in addition to wildlife viewing, there were opportunities to drive out on to the salt pans by quad bike (an experience in itself) and we were privileged to spend some time with San bushmen.

There was much more wildlife than was anticipated, especially around the waterholes and the habituated wild meerkats were a real highlight."