Travel reviews by Prof & Mrs S from Scotland

"Excellent management team who worked hard to keep all the guests happy.

Food was OK although not always hot. We had Donald as our guide - top class. Transfer from Maun took longer than expected as we stopped on the way at Duba Plains. We did a drive on the way from the airstrip which meant it was dark when we got to our tent; we woiuld have liked the option of brighter lighting in the tent. Heard but never saw the hippos.

No "big" game (no leopards, cheetahs, buffalo, rhino) but interesting "small" encounters - a troupe of baboons sharing the waterhole with a warthog; two male warthogs fighting (REALLY fighting); roan antelope; brief encounter with 4 wild dogs (disappointing not to see more given reports from Selinda earlier in the year); close encounter with a herd of about 50 eles."

"Transfer from Selinda, via Maun, to Jack's was fairly gruelling. We stopped at Chobe then at Jao, arriving at Maun only after 90 mins. Efficient transfer at Maun, then nearly an hour to Jack's. (If we had known this was likely we might have booked private transfers.) This meant we were about 2 hours later at Jack's than expected. Welcome tea and cakes were ready for us.

Again, an excellent management team. Our guide was Chabba - very experienced, although could have consulted us more about our preferences. He gave an excellent introductory talk about Makgadikgadi. I celebrated a big birthday while here, and got my wish for a meerkat sitting on my head (plus 8 others on various other parts of my anatomy). The staff put on a wonderful "cabaret" for my birthday dinner, plus a chocolate cake. The Bushmen took A on a very interesting walk.

An enjoyable stay although very little "game" - porcupines, jackals, a few wildebeest, ostriches, korhaan. The quad bike drive was interesting. Sundowners were wonderful under the clear, enormous, sky alight with stars. Worthwhile visiting Jack's for a very different aspect of Botswana. However, like Selinda, I would have much appreciated better lighting in the tent."

"There was not a lot of game in total - possibly because of the time of year. However, we had a wonderful first afternoon, with 4 leopards - we got 3 in one photograph.

Tea/coffee would have been welcome on the morning drives.

Organisation a bit lackadaisical; we waited for over 30 minutes past the agreed time one night to be collected from our room."

"It's a long way (app. 400 metres) from the "base" to the furthest room - information which didn't seem to appear in anything we read before we went; we had to ask to be moved. Also, with a lot of wildlife in camp it could have been difficult to move between room and base.

Impressive use of solar panels.

Our guide, Onx, went out of his way to find us not one, but two, Pel's fishing owls. Wildlife was good - saw leopards again.

There seemed to be a lot of "managers" - all friendly and helpful.

Unfortunately we were not able to book a private vehicle here - this restricted our activities. A lot of the drives were very bumpy and the drive to the boat ride was horrible, with a long part of it through close trees; it turned out there was a much quicker and easier route."

"Nice to meet Tuso again (Lebala 2008). Good staff, who sang and danced beautifully on the Friday night.. Best room of the trip, although again it was a long way to the furthest room. Lovely, brand-new, Landcruiser, with very good guide and spotter (Bale and PD).

Wonderful wildlife, with the same pack of wild dogs that we saw 4 years ago. We even saw a sable (in the distance at the airstrip).

Lighting in the dining room better than in previous 2 camps - we could see what we were having for dinner."

"Again a long way to the furthest room - with no indication of this in brochures. Our room was pleasant and spacious, right on the channel, with elephants in front and crossing at all times of day.

A lot of wildlife, including a cheetah, wild dogs hunting and killing eland, and ground hornbills.

The boat ride was a bit nerve-racking - very close to a herd of elephants crossing the channel with a big, rampant, bull in charge, but followed by a good sundowner with a pod of hippos.

Very enjoyable last couple of drives with private vehicle and guide Ace.

Very nice souvenir shop."

"Long drive from the airport. The rooms are very open to the outside - a bit daunting to anyone of a nervous disposition, especially when hippos visit during the night and are only inches away from the pillows. Good walk-in mosquito nets.

Lack of electricity (so no fans) means it's difficult to keep cool - damp kikois are the answer. The microlight flight with John is well worth doing.

Bryan guided us on a wonderful morning when we "hunted" (and killed a puku) with a pack of 16 wild dogs - thrilling.

There were still lots of carmine bee-eaters at the hide - lovely."

"Comfortable room, and nice communal areas. Efficient management by Irene.

We don't like long drives in the dark and Irene made alternative arrangements for us so that we returned quickly after sundowners."

"Poor housekeeping, food, service."

"We arrived off the early morning flight, knowing our room would not be available until later in the day; it was ready at 1.30.

After 20 hours of travel we would have appreciated a warmer welcome, with quickly-served tea/coffee, and an indication of where the loos were/where we could wash."

"I had a bad fall on our first night; the staff looked after me beautifully. My bruises were much helped by the magic hands of Ermelinde (massage therapist). A big thrill was the ostrich family with 17 chicks walking past our room.

The dunes were everything we hoped and then some. "A" earned bragging points by climbing Big Daddy. Our guide, Edward, was very good but somewhat hampered by a sprained ankle."

"Franco is the best guide we have ever had in Africa; his breadth of knowledge is exceptional for a young man - he made our stay a pleasure. Michael was an extremely attentive host. His wine list is worth investigating. The portions at both lunch and dinner were enormous (that's Namibia, we were told).

We made two visits to the waterhole at Okaukuejo and were stunned by the number and variety of animals and birds - hundreds of zebra etc in the morning, and around 50 elephants later on."

"We made a mistake booking a tent at Mushara Outpost - it was cramped and uncomfortable with no outlook. We contacted the owner, Marc Pampe, who quickly relocated us to one of the two villas at Mushara Lodge. This was wonderful and worth the extra cost.

Highlight here was an eland coming to drink at "our" garden waterhole. We found the drive from the Lodge to the main park long and uninteresting. Our guide here was a driver rather than a guide compared with other camps.

The ratings relate to the Villa, not to Outpost."

"The fun started soon after we left Mfuwe with an elephant very close. However, the highlight of our stay at Kaingo was the epic struggle between two young lions and a buffalo, which we watched for most of the day until too dark to see. Very gory but very exciting (the buffalo lost). The proximity of elephants in camp also made for excitement - "meals on wheels" at dinnertime one night because the elephants were between the kitchen and the dining-room. Unfortunately we were among the 5% who didn't see a leopard (but we don't do long night drives).

Patrick is an excellent guide, both driving and walking, ably assisted by Labin and Ben, and Alison did an excellent drive with Anne. The hippo hide is a wonderful photo opportunity.

Meals were a bit on the "heavy" side. The 3 hour drive from Mfuwe to camp would have been improved if we'd had more than cold drinks and a biscuit half-way - we'd all had a very early start (2 of us from London) with little or no breakfast.

A stop at Tribal Textiles on the way to or from Mfuwe is a "must"."

"Josh, all on his own and in his first season, was doing an excellent job. Meyam and Gideon are knowledgeable and informative, and took 3 of the guests on a walk with excellent, close, views of lions.

The camp really gives a feeling of living in the bush. We nearly shared our bathroom with an elephant; the ladies in the next chalet experienced the demolition of their bathroom one night - so they extended their stay.

We had excellent sun-downer locations."

"Lana and John made us very welcome. Levy and Morat showed the level of expertise we had by now come to expect.

This was more relaxed - no middle-of-the-day activities, and later starts in the morning.

The boat transfer between Old Mondoro and Chiawa was "made" when we came across a family of elephants swimming across from Zimbabwe; hearts were in mouths while we willed the baby to make it to dry land - it did."

"Grant & Linsey were in charge, and did a terrific job. Linsey organised a (surprise) private dinner for us on a boat on the Zambezi, which was delightful. They organised a "bush" dinner for the whole camp the next night as a surprise - wonderful.

The birding, both on land and on the river, with Rory as a guide, was excellent - definitely to be recommended to serious birders.

Chiawa cannot be compared to the previous 3 camps as it is operated on a different level. It lived up to everything we had expected."

"The small size of little Kwara gives it a friendly and 'family' atmosphere. We were particularly impressed when the staff sang and danced for us one evening. (Although the guides did not seem to be very good dancers).

Lizzie, Kia and Onni were excellent hosts and ensured that everything ran like clockwork. The general relaxed and informal feeling was a great introduction to Botswana.

Our guide Steve and tracker Vasco were first class. They were professional and knowledgeable but also had a great sense of fun which meant you always had to be on your toes. Anne has a particular interest in birds and Steve ensured that nothing with wings was overlooked. Alex walked at each of the four camps; in common with all four guides, Steve inspired complete confidence even in proximity to elephants, which can be a bit daunting to the inexperienced.

The sightings were excellent, both in terms of animals and birds. The evening boat trip to the lagoon was a highlight. We saw lions, leopards and cheetahs frequently.

Tent 1, with its direct view over the hippo pool, was very comfortable and seemed to be on the main route for many visiting animals."

"Willy and the others were efficient and responsive (see below). The staff were rightly proud of their basketry display and were keen to explain what the designs meant.

The tent was comfortable although we had difficulty regulating the shower (as in the next two camps). The provision of bed tea in the morning was a real benefit; this was the only camp that provided it.

Although we were told that our guide was Shaku the first drive was conducted by Johnson. Unfortunately he did not have the bird knowledge required and seemed to have difficulty in parking so that we could see. Our companions in the car were on their honeymoon and had little interest in wildlife other than big cats and were clearly unhappy with the notion of searching for game rather than driving straight to a sighting. We reported this to Willy who ensured that we were guided by Shaku thereafter.

The high spot was the boat trip to the heronry travelling through the reed beds. Again we had plenty of wildlife sightings on the drives.

Alex took a long walk with Shaku - who demonstrated a great deal of enthusiasm."

"The first we knew about the Lebala airstrip being flooded was when we arrived at the departure point from Kanana - we went to Selinda airstrip and then had a two hour drive to get to camp, which we were not prepared for. This was annoying to us because the Lebala airstrip has been under water for quite some time but we had not been told about the problem.

The new accommodation is very smart and spacious. Again the shower was impossible to regulate, and the additional moveable showers don't work at all because of lack of pressure.

Sepo and Tuso were friendly and helpful. We had some reservations about the housekeeping, for example arriving back after a drive to find ashtrays still full and dirty plates around the fire. A major concern was the vehicle reliability; the one we were picked up in stalled repeatedly and required something to be done under the bonnet each time to get it started. A different car was provided after we complained. The radio system was poor - we were out of communication with the camp at times.

Our guide Bundi and tracker James were highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We had one or two problems: it is important that a guide gives the timing accurately - we were told we were 20 minutes from the camp but ended up driving 70 minutes in the dark - which we did not want to do. Bundi seemed to have some difficulty driving in the sand and we were totally stuck twice, the second time on the way to the airstrip for departure. We do not know if this was due to his (lack of) skill or the poor vehicle. But Bundi did make a huge effort to ensure that we had sightings and was particularly good at birds.

Alex had a very good walk and followed an elephant.

The high spot was the visit to the wild dog den. We saw the adults and nine puppies. But visitors should be aware that it is a long and difficult drive to the den and there is no guarantee of seeing them once you arrive; so we count ourselves lucky.

We also saw a herd of about 2000 buffalo charging across the water; again, that may be quite rare.

Finally, we saw two secretary bird males fighting for territory; even Bundi had never seen this.

So we had some niggling criticisms of Lebala but overall it was a superb wildlife experience."

"Noreen is an excellent hostess and ensured that the guests interacted - for example by asking everyone for their sighting of the day around the camp fire. The atmosphere is relaxed and easy going and, as in Little Kwara, there is a 'family' feeling.

The tent is well furnished although again the shower was frustrating.

Our guide Tati took to heart our statement that we were interested in birds. Given that we had seen so much wildlife and big game at the other three camps he focused on driving us very slowly through the areas where he pointed out everything, including birds so small we didn't know they were there. He seemed to memorise Anne's sightings list and made a big effort to fill in the gaps. It was, for us, the perfect way to end the series of camps.

The mopane woodland is a different environment and we saw few big animals - but that was because of what we did and the other guests had a number of good sightings.

The walk was interesting - there were five guests and Tati led with Pilot as backup . Pilot discovered that there were lions nearby but they went away before we could see them. Anything can happen on a walk.

There were various routes here which could not be accessed because of the high water levels."