Travel reviews by Mrs & Mr H from California

"Hyena Pan was lovely. Botswana was in the middle of a heatwave that made the tents impossible to be in but thank God for the swimming pool!

Con- Far from game viewing, not sure it was worth it but we got to see wild dogs! All of our drives were outside of the private reserve so quite long to get to and from.

Pro- The staff was amazing and went out of their way to accomodate our requests. We had Russel who was the most amazing guide and really added to our trip. We do hope to keep in touch with him.

Con/ Pro- I think it would have been great if Expert Africa asked if we wanted a private or group safari. This was our first group safari so the time table was dictated to us. That being said we met amazing people, obnoxious people, and hilarious people we otherwise would not have met. Tons of stories to tell :)

Pro- The watering hold at hyena pan bringing the elephants up close and personal.

Pro- We felt away from it all which was nice."

"The managers were present, friendly but not intrusive.

Our guide was not fun at all. Very serious, couldn't joke around, woke us up an hour early for no reason (he forgot we were not going with the others despite telling us our new wake up time).

Absolutely stunningly gorgeous beautiful room! Over the top! Made you want to stay all day!

Again, we were on a shared safari and the folks were very nice but NEVER stopped talking :)

The guides on the boat were awesome, fun and knowledgeable. Very reassuring! Even chased off a hippo!"

"I am not sure how relevant our feedback is as there was someone standing in for the owners/ managers during our stay. She was very unwelcoming, made us stand in the hallway and just stared at us, then walked into the office and got her key and showed us to the room. Told us not to move the bucket while we shower, so we actually had to straddle a bucket right where you would normally stand?

She was not warm at all, and we did not really feel welcome. She did give us some pointers about our drive and a small quip on where to eat, but the minute we got there we just wanted to leave.

During breakfast, we wanted to sit by the pool and enjoy the view (hence the hilltop). However, they said we could not sit there and sat us at a table on the sidewalk right in front of our door."

"WE loved it! Everyone was so helpful, welcoming, full of smiles. The room was delicious and I personally loved the outdoor bathroom.

They badgered Bidvest to hurry with the flat tire (which was very fast) and continued to follow up and make sure everything was taken care of."

"The owner was no nonsense but thought of everything!

He was very helpful and was always around when needed.

Beethoven is a must and added a lot of character."

"We loved this place! The all day activity was great, our guide was good not excellent. We asked for a wake up call and never got one so were running late. The guide told the staff we were lying? Not a big deal but surprising. By the end of the day, the guide started to smile and laugh but it really took some effort.
The folks we shared a vehicle with really made our stay! So glad we did not have a private tour!
The food was good
The lodge was impeccable
The service was attentive and amazing despite no obvious manager around.
Our guide did an AWESOME job finding a white dancing lady spider and scorpion :). He made us a beautiful lunch too."