Travel reviews by TV & Family from Portugal

"This was a great way to start our trip as we were tired after our long journey from London. From the outside, I wasn't impressed initially but once we were ushered inside any lingering doubts I had were swept away. Our breath was taken away by the sheer indulgence of the place which was quirkily decorated but still exuded luxury. Our rooms were also fantastic - from the huge bedroom with it's own sitting area complete with log stove to the incredible bathroom with the his and hers wash basins, the enormous shower and the standalone bath surrounded by roses.

The food was excellent too and the staff couldn't have done more for us. Our driver was also fantastic as he managed to avoid the main crowds that I had been expecting, so we did manage to feel as if were more or less alone in the crater - apart from the obvious picnic areas. Particularly enjoyed seeing the rhinos here albeit from quite a distance.

Yes, it is expensive, but worth it for the experience, which I would love to repeat again one day"

"This was a complete contrast to the Ngorongoro crater where we started our trip. It was the most basic tented camp we stayed in, but a great contrast to the previous luxury as we felt very connected to the bush here. Having said it was the most basic camp, the tents were lovely with huge, comfortable beds which included a hot water bottle each night. The bathrooms were more than adequate and we enjoyed savouring the bucket showers and realised how much water we wasted at home. The only slight downside was that my mother is tiny so couldn't reach the shower on/off handle. This was easily remedied however by doubling up the duckboards in the shower!

The manager at this camp was top end and he definitely had his finger on the pulse - we were very impressed. The food was excellent too.

The game viewing here was fabulous - we saw numerous cheetahs including several mothers with cubs as well as thousands of wildebeest literally pouring into the area to give birth - a very special sight and something we'll never forget."

"The scenery here was absolutely beautiful and the camp was wonderfully situated amongst trees at the bottom of a hill - an incredibly peaceful spot. The tents were enormous and included a large netted sitting area. We discovered later that this was due to the tsetse flies that packed a horrible bite, but still we enjoyed reading in this area in the late afternoon lying on the day bed. As with the other camps, the staff were lovely and very helpful. We didn't think the management was as organised as at the other camps as requests for showers and tea etc. weren't always followed up on and sometime service over dinner was a little slow, but it didn't bother us unduly.

Whilst we were here, one of the guests had a birthday and we were all treated to the staff ushering in a cake with incredible singing and dancing which was just a joy to be part of. It made for a very memorable evening.

This was the camp that we saw a leopard which was a fantastic sight. We also got some good sightings of kingfishers."

"This was a great camp to finish at. Yes, it was a tented camp, but that's putting it mildly. The rooms did have canvas walls and roofs, but the wooden floors oozed class and we loved the sliding walls that made up the bathroom and wardrobe area. We also had the luxury of a bath and 200 litres of water instead of the 20 litre bucket showers! We just loved it here!

The staff here were incredible and special mention must go to Clare, the camp manager who really was an excellent host. We were treated to a memorable lunch set out under a shady tree once day and then had our own private bar for the 3 of us set up by the Mara river on our last night to watch the sun go down whilst listening to the hippos grunting. I'll never forget it as it was very special.

The pool area too was just jaw dropping simply because it was so cleverly landscaped into the surrounding rocks. I'd love one of those at home!

One day we crossed the river to the plains bordering Kenya and that was when we really felt the Serengeti get into our blood. The sheer volume and variety of wildlife was amazing, and we were lucky enough to see cheetah here as well for the last time on this trip. We had some great encounters with elephant here as well, when we had to just stop and wait for them to feed and cross the road. What a hardship!"

"Overall, a fantastic experience.

Our guide, Teko, was really excellent. He went to a lot of trouble to find us a Pels fishing owl, which we were very keen to see. He also took us out on a makoro and tracked down the rare and elusive sitatunga antelope, which was very exciting.

On the game drive, we got our best ever viewing of hyenas which were feeding on a recent buffalo kill and were very sated.

We spent Christmas at this camp, and they went to a lot of trouble to ensure it was memorable by producing handmade Christmas crackers, which enclosed a tradtional local proverb and a small local gift - a very nice touch."

"My parents who went to this camp a day before us, were lucky enough to see lion kill a buffalo right in front of them - they said it's something they'd never forget. We also saw a single male lion take on a buffalo calf, but he was driven off by the main buffalo herd before he could kill it.

Our guide was Carlton, and he was incredibly knowledgeable and seemed to have a natural nose for great sightings. He took us to see a family of bat eared foxes as well as jackal pups playing together - lovely to see something different. We also had great bird sightings here including 2 young giant eagle owls.

The camp manager and his staff were quite simply outstanding as they were so friendly, helpful and welcoming. My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary here, and the staff had gone to so much trouble to make the occasion memorable. They had made a cake which they all brought in dancing, clapping and singing a special song they had composed for my parents - it was very touching and special.

One last point - the vehicles all have sun roofs on them now, which is different to what the information on your web-site says."

"Vumbura Plains is a premier camp, and the rooms were certainly very special - we loved having our own private plunge pool, deck and outdoor lounge. Parts of the rooms were beginning to look a little tired, but we understand that the rooms were about to be refitted and decorated, so I'm sure they'll be fabulous once they're done.

This is my 7th trip to Africa to try and see leopard, and on this occasion, my dream finally came true. We had a great sighting of a female leopard and the icing oin the cake was seeing her 6 week old cub too. I would commment that I think they should limit your viewings of the cub to just one visit (we had 2), as we were concerned about compromsing the saftey of the den. We also felt that we almost spent too much time tracking the mother and they should also limit your time with her (this is why I've rated the activities as good rather than excellent).

We also got to see a large pack of wild dogs, and I've never been that close to them before. Seeing them take on a group of banded mongoose and be chased off by them was an experience I'll never forget.

We spent New Year at this camp, and the staff were very good about providing sparkling wine to celebrate the occasion in our rooms and arranged champagne breakfasts for us on New Years Day, which was much appreciated.

My mother also got sick at this camp on her last day, and the staff were marvellous. Both Roger (the camp manager) and Ban (our really lovely guide, who went to endless trouble to ensure I had a good photograph of kingfishers) were so supportive and kind. They arranged for a nursing sister to meet our plane in Maun to ensure that my mother could be checked over and ensure she was fit enough for the long journey back to the UK. I'd very much appreciate it if you could feedback our grateful thanks for their support and help."

"We loved the location of this hotel, as it had fantastic views and was in the heart of the Constantia wine area, which was one of the main reasons for choosing it. It had a very pleasant ambience with beautifully maintained gardens. However, the rooms were a little disappointing for several reasons:

1. The shower over the bath just didn't work that well, and the shower screen and curtain combo. still didn't prevent a flood each time we showered.

2. All the paths around the hotel for residents passed right in front of each room, so there was no privacy at all unless curtains were drawn (see point below)

3. Although there was a gauze curtain in the bathroom, there wasn't anything like that for the bedwoom windows, so you had to have the heavy curtains completely drawn so the room was in pitch darkness unitl you'd got out of bed.

We tried two of the restaurants here. We liked Constantia Uitsig and had a very nice meal there with good service. On our last night, we ate at La Colombe and had the taster menu. We were very disappointed by the whole experience. When we got to the restaurant well after their opening time, the bar staff weren't ready at all and were still setting up and had run out of basic ingredients for drinks on their cocktail list.

When we were shown to our table, we had been given the worst table in the restaurant, in spite of making the booking several days previously and being hotel residents. We asked to be moved, and were. After that, we ordered a pre-dinner drink at the table which took ages to come and arrived at the same time as our 1st course and accompanying wine. So, we spent 10 minutes tasting that, which put the waiting staff out as we hadn't started the 1st course when they wanted us to - but they didn't offer to take the course away and bring it out again when we were ready.

Apart from one course, the food was very good and we liked the wine pairings too, and thought all in all, the meal was pretty good value for money...but the service sucked."