Travel reviews by Salopian Spotters from UK

"One surprise after another, and we just can't reveal some of them or they won't be surprises for any other travellers to this fantastic area. We have never had such a great start to a holiday - and after plane delays, takiing 30 hours to arrive, minus one lost bag, this is not said lightly.

The remoteness of the location, the stars at night, the sightings of some unusual creatures, very close encounters with meercats and the equally unusual activities meant that we had a wonderful time at San Camp.

We had an excellent guide, aptly named Super, whose depth of knowledge was matched by the care he took in finding what we were interested in and making sure he gave plenty of time to those interests. Brilliant food, the most sophisticated of all bucket showers and walking with a bushman named Cobra...it far exceeded our expectations."

"A beautiful camp with the best food of all the camps. Cliff's favourite terrain, mainly because it is so exciting driving through water so deep the engine needs a snorkel. Joseph was another first class guide who simply would not give up tracking until he had found that lion!

It was fascinating to see the processes he used to narrow down the search, even if we had to drive over a dead buffalo. We both like birdwatching and this was a particularly good area, especially as the dense vegetation meant clear sightings of larger animals could be difficult.

A real highlight was meeting Graham and Stacey, the researchers into elephant communication. They were young, enthusiastic and generous with their time."

"From the warm and friendly welcome from Lizzie, who had just the right approach to guests, to the great accommodation and excellent sightings we really enjoyed our four days at Little Kwara. The location was very interesting and we were aware of lion, elephants and hyenas in the camp at night.

Every game drive, mokoro and boat trip had highlights and the guide John was outstanding. He knew everything, in detail, had a great sense of humour and even used to give us 'homework'. He took time to find out our interests and made sure we were never rushed. We therefore had superb views of three lions setting up an ambush, fantastic sightings of honey badgers, secretary birds, and antelope.

He was also aware that we wanted to find out more about the small stuff and we were very fortunate to go on a walking safari where we learnt about the plants and insects. The tracker called Name found us a solitary wasp in its cocoon, and it was this attention to detail which really made us appreciate how skilled these people are."

"Yet another excellent guide, Joseph, made our experience unforgettable. We watched a cheetah and her cub for a long time at very close quarters, because Joseph was so patient in getting close to animals without disturbing them or altering their behaviour.

The landscape is more open, and the views of antelope, zebra, giraffe, warthog,wildebeest and cape buffalo were among the best of the whole trip. We could watch elephants and lions just going about their life too. Seeing -and hearing- a pair of hippos fighting was a first.

Perhaps the most incredible experience of all occurred whilst we were watching herds of elephant, giraffe, zebra etc. on a plain in the twilight. We saw a hyena running full speed across the plain, and at the same time heard baboons screaming just over the hill. Joseph suspected a leopard may have been stalking the baboons and when we got closer we could see a tree full of outraged baboons.

However, cowering at the top of the tree was a leopard and the baboons were throwing branches and shaking the tree to try to cause the leopard to fall. Even Joseph had not seen this before and we really felt that we were caught up in a dramatic episode of a wildlife documentary. As twilighrt darkened the tables turned and most of the baboons slipped away, leaving one or two young macho males in the tree. They suddenly realised their mates had deserted them and so they bolted, leaving a very relieved leopard to make its way down the tree to safety. Really this experience summed up the whole trip, in that no-one could anticipate just what we were going to see and things could change so quickly.

The camp was very luxurious, with stunning bathrooms, and again such warm and friendly staff."

"As we expected it was a bit of a shock coming from the camps in Botswana to the brash, busy hotel that is the Zambezi Sun. We chose it solely on the location and we were happy with our choice, We could walk to the Falls in a few moments and did so at different times of the day, avoiding the crowds and seeing the Falls in different lights, and they really were superb.

We were less than impressed with the buffet style dinner at the Sun, and ate at The Royal Livingstone (next door and easily reached by shuttle bus), where the food was gorgeous and the atmosphere quite different. We also treated ourselves to spa treatments in tents overlooking the Zambezi at The Royal Livingstone, and felt they were worth it for the view alone.

We canoed for a full day on the Upper Zambezi with wonderful islands, wildlife and rapids in the morning, but after lunch the going was not so interesting, and as we had a strong headwind all day turned into a bit of a struggle. On a calm day where one could occasionally float with the current this would not be a problem.

We also went micolighting and that was brilliant, giving us spectacular views of the Falls and the most enormous grins when we got back. We both highly recommend this even if you don't like heights."