Travel reviews by Trish & Peter from Nairn

"The overall condition of the camp was excellent. Our room was spacious, comfortable and spotless. It was maintained this way throughout our stay. Despite being worried about laundering silk, the staff took on board what I told them about it’s care (treat like cotton) and it was all perfect.

The food was excellent. A great selection and all very tasty. I loved the fresh made hot porridge cooked on the fire each morning. I was introduced to African Blue cheese and think it is better than Stilton.

The staff were lovely, friendly and helpful. It was like meeting and being with old friends. It’s very impressive how they remember everyone’s name when they have guests moving in and out every few days.

Our guide was Stanley and our Tracker was KT. They were amazing in their ability and efforts to find the wildlife. It took a little while to get across that we (and the other guests in our vehicle) were interested in stopping to photograph birds but we got there in the end. We have these two to thank for our only sighting of a Cheetah. I will forever see Stanley at the end of the airstrip runway tying to ensure that the Elephant crossing the runway, causing our aircraft to execute a missed approach, was alone.

Leaving this camp was like leaving family and home. We all hugged at the airstrip. A truly wonderful start to our holiday.

The Little Extras that were appreciated at this camp:
Cold towels and a welcoming drink on all arrivals at camp.
The personalised bottle for water which KT regularly filled for us without us asking.
Good sanitation care from our guides.
Four public toilets at centre camp with separate male/female.
The decorative towels on the bed on arrival.
The bedtime stories about animals, left on our bed for two nights.
The pretty beaded animals left on our pillows on the last night. These will adorn our Christmas tree as a memento of our visit."

"The overall condition of the camp was excellent. Our room was spacious, comfortable and spotless. It was maintained this way throughout our stay. It was quite wasn’t quite a plush as Kwara but there wasn’t much in it.

The location on the Kwando River was spectacular. I thought the view from central camp was breathtaking with Elephants regularly wading in the water on the bend of the river. Sitting on the river boat, with drinks and snacks laid out on the front and the sun going down felt totally unreal.

Once again there was a worry about laundering silk, once again I explained how to care for it (treat like cotton) but although they washed it, it came back un-ironed. I found this worry about silk a little odd as all the travel books suggest that along with cotton and linen, silk is a recommended material to wear to keep cool and I chose it, not for any fashion reason, but because it is a natural fibre and the one that I find the coolest to wear.

The food was excellent. A great selection and all very tasty. Once again, I loved the fresh made hot porridge cooked on the fire each morning and of course, that African blue cheese, plus another that has dried Cranberries. Totally delicious.

Once again, the staff were lovely, friendly and helpful and remembered all our needs.
I was encourage to have my first outdoor shower here and this became a ‘must’ thereafter.

Our guide was Ricco and our Tracker was James. Another amazing pair in their ability and efforts to find the wildlife. We quickly built up a great rapport with them and had many jokes passing back and forth.

After sneezing and joking that he was allergic to Lions……..we were parked by several at this point, this became the ‘saying’ between the four of us anytime anyone sneezed. It will remain as an ‘in joke’ with Peter and I. I will forever see the pair of them disappearing off into the bush following Pangolin tracks. We had a brief thought about hiding behind the vehicle so that it looked empty when they came back but safety took the lead here. However, we told them we had thought of this and all had a good laugh. Another departure from camp that was like leaving family and home. We all hugged at the airstrip again.
A great place.

The Little Extras that were appreciated at this camp:
Cold towels and a welcoming drink on all arrivals at camp.
The personalised bottle for water.
Good sanitation care from our guides.
The decorative towels on the bed on arrival.
The pretty beaded animals left on our pillows on the last night. These will be also be added to our Christmas tree as a memento of our visit.

The down side:
This may seem a little picky given we were in the Botswana bush but the pathway to and from central camp was a nightmare to walk. At all the other camps the pathways had been ‘flattened’ or covered. Here at Lagoon it was soft loose sand. By the time I had gone one way, anything on my feet and lower legs was black and the irritation on my feet was unpleasant. As we were in a room at the far end, this walk became quite a trial especially in the afternoon heat.

The rooms here are closer together than Kwara and other camps. It was possible to overlook each other’s bed area and although we talked in hushed voices so as not to be heard, other guests did not and this disturbed the overall peace of the place. Only two public loos here for both male and female and there was often a queue when it was time to depart on an activity. Perhaps this was because of the discomfort of walking back to a room on soft sand."

"The overall condition of the camp was excellent. Our room was spacious, comfortable and spotless. It was maintained this way throughout our stay. A beautifully plush camp on a different scale to the Kwando camps but without any disrespect to those camps which were excellent. The location was spectacular. I thought the view from central camp was beautiful and we were treated to a special brunch table for two overlooking this view on our arrival. What a lovely treat. We felt totally spoilt.

The food was excellent. A great selection and all very tasty. No porridge at the fire but the breakfasts were just lovely anyway and we have no complaints.

Once again, the staff were lovely, friendly and helpful and remembered all our needs. There is a full laundry service here. No need to wash anything at all ourselves unless we wanted to. No problems with silk either, it was washed and returned ironed perfectly.

Our guide was Kenny. He was very good and made great efforts to find the wildlife, being the first from the camp to find Wild Dogs, which was an amazing experience. I think, however, we both felt that having a tracker at the other camps was a bonus. We had a good rapport with Kenny. He had an interest in photography and I spent one to one time with him trying to help him understand the intricacies of Macro.

Our Mokoro guide was very patient and understanding in trying to help me accomplish photographing a Painted Reed Frog……almost an impossibility on a moving boat 😊

However, I have his patience (and my husband’s) to thank for a great image. Once again we had a little difficulty persuading our guide that we were happy watching the bird life around the Lagoon and other water areas, but we got there.

There was only one ‘public’ loo…….but what a loo this is. The outdoor experience will never be forgotten. There was rarely a wait but this may have been because of easier pathway access to our accommodations. The pathways here were more compacted for easier walking. The whole camp was very lush and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. We came away happy and relaxed.

The Little Extras that were appreciated at this camp:
A pot of tea each at wake up time. Lovely. I got up slightly earlier to shower and dress so that I could enjoy this treat and set myself for a relaxed day.
I was very well looked after with great care and consideration after being stung by a bee on a game drive. The staff’s concern was very touching and very considerate. On return to camp a full medical kit was ready had it been needed.

We were offered use of the Enclave for wildlife watching as there were no other guests using it.

The down side:
I think our major item in this list, was reading the company literature on gratuities. This was in very stark contrast to Expert Africa’s own guidance on the subject. To say we were left in a state of shock to see how much more they recommended, is an understatement. When I told some other guests about this, they were as shocked as we were. I will await your company’s comments.

There were no water bottles handed out here. We used the ones we had been given by Kwando but there wasn’t quite the check on making sure the guests had water. There were less hot towel and cold drink arrival greetings but there was plenty available in central camp."

"The overall condition of the camp was above excellent. Our room was spacious, comfortable and spotless. It was maintained this way throughout our short stay. There is a raised walkway between central camp and the accommodations making it easy to move from one to the other. A beautifully plush camp like none of the others. I never wanted to put my camera down as there was always something to see.

The location was amazing with the borehole in the middle of all that dry bush land bringing in so many animals.

The food was excellent. A great selection and all very tasty.

We immediately built up a great rapport with the staff who were all so lovely and we hope that they remained safe during the nearby bush fire as we realise that some of them would have been deployed to fight that fire. It was a surprise kindness when we were told that, given the short acquaintance, the staff there had sent an enquiry to Kanana as to how we were after the evacuation.

There is a full laundry service here. No need to wash anything at all ourselves unless we wanted to but we never got to use this service.

I could wax lyrical about this amazing place for pages and pages. We could have spent several days camped out in just the hide. We will never forget the Lions entering camp and talking up residence under our room and each of the rooms next door to ours or the manoeuvres that BT had to make to get us close enough to scramble into our room whilst the Lion underneath slept on.

Our guide was BT. He was very good and made great efforts to find the wildlife. We are both sure that we would have enjoyed his company more had we had our full stay there. Another guide with a great sense of humour that had us laughing.

There was only one ‘public’ loo but in the short time we were there, there were no waits, although I did have to be escorted when the Lion was in camp.

The whole camp was very lush and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. We were very sad to leave whilst totally understanding the necessity. We are hoping that we might be able to save enough money to go back but it will take a while.

Our recommendation for this camp is a minimum of four nights as there is so much to see and do here. It is the only camp we visited where we felt that a bush walk was a ‘must’ as it is conducted by a Sen bushman. Sadly, again, we didn’t get to do this.

The Little Extras that were appreciated at this camp:
A pot of tea (with a TEA COSY) each at wake up time. Once again, I got up slightly earlier to shower and dress so that I could enjoy this treat and set myself for a relaxed day.
A set of glasses with a decanter of Sherry left in our room for pre dinner drinks….WOW..
Wi-Fi"

"Firstly, we fully understand the decision by Ker & Downey to move us from Dinaka Camp based on their assessment of the risk from the bush fires. We were moved to Kanana, which we felt was a significantly inferior experience to that we would have had at Dinaka. Of the three groups of guests who were evacuated (two couples and one group of three), the other couple had arrived from Kanana and told us that Dinaka was a much better camp. It appears that the decision as to which camp to move us to was based on the view that as we had already been to Shinde we would not wish to return, and that the other couple would not wish to return to Kanana. Although it was necessary to move us out as soon as possible, the situation could have been handled better if we had been given some choice of camp and given an idea of what facilities were on offer at each option. We would certainly have preferred to return to Shinde.

Camp Facilities
The opportunity to view wildlife from within the camp was very limited, in contrast to the other camps we stayed at, and particularly Dinaka where the camp facilities overlook a water hole which was frequented by many species almost constantly during our short time there. As you already know, there is no bunker available at Kanana to view wildlife - it appears to be an exclusive facility at Dinaka which was one of the reasons for selecting it for our vacation. We were given no detailed information about the activities available at Kanana - we only found out about the heronry excursion from other guests at breakfast on our final morning.

The two game drives we undertook both followed a very similar route, almost as if the guide had set locations he checked on rather than following any specific new tracks. Previous guides had taken us to many varied locations based on what they observed, both from tracks and animal behaviour. We were fortunate to see a Leopard during the morning activity, but were surprised when we joined a group of four other vehicles from a different tour company; at every other location only the camp operator’s vehicles might be present. There was no hand sanitiser available in the passenger areas of the vehicle, and this was the only camp where one of us suffered numerous insect bites despite using the provided insect repellent.

There were no books/library facilities in the communal area as there were at all other camps we stayed at.
On arrival our dietary requirements were not requested; fortunately we do not have any food allergies, although I do not eat fish with the exception of tuna/salmon. It was therefore disappointing that, although the staff went to a great deal of effort to make our last evening meal a special occasion, the main course was Bream, which I did not have. The choice of food available at breakfast was also limited.

Our flight on the final day was scheduled to depart at 1130. As our return journey would take 24 hours, involving 4 flights, we elected to forgo a morning game drive to give us time to relax and prepare. We were not offered any food or drink after breakfast prior to our flight to Maun - the coffee machine had been unplugged so we were unable to make our own - and there were no staff around to ask. We had observed at other camps that guests who departed before lunch had been provided with packed meals and this had also been done for other guests evacuated from Dinaka; we did meet up at Maun with the group of three guests who confirmed that they had been provided with a packed meal that morning by the camp they had been moved to. Our first food after breakfast was that served by Air Link on the flight to Johannesburg at around 1500.

We sat in the communal area from 10.45 whilst awaiting transport to the airstrip and it was only after asking about the transport departure time that the staff went looking for a driver. At times it felt almost as if we were an afterthought at the camp and that they were not really prepared for us in terms of arrangements and facilities.

We would also note that because of the evacuation we did miss an evening activity on the 19th, our first night at Kanana, as a result of the time of the evacuation, although we do understand that this could not have necessarily been avoided. However it would have been appreciated to have been offered a short ‘sundowner’ trip.

At all previous camps, pre-dinner snacks were served by the staff around the open fire; at Kanana this comprised a bowl of dip with chips which was left in the central area. This seemed somewhat unhygienic as there was no indication of which other guests had ‘dipped’.

Whilst we did appreciate the offer of a sleep-out whilst at Kanana, we had viewed both the Dinaka and Kanana facilities whilst out on game drives. As a result of the general appearance of the facility at Kanana, coupled with our disappointment with the tented chalet, we decided not to take up the offer as we both felt that the experience would not have lived up to our expectations and we preferred to keep this as an option should we be fortunate to return to Dinaka on a future vacation.

Room Facilities
The tented chalet at Kanana was the lowest standard of all five camps we stayed in. I think it was the only chalet we stayed in during our vacation with a canvas roof; thatched or tiled roofs being used at the other camps. There was no outside shower facility and the general quality of the chalet was poor; for example the bathroom fittings were corroded, the toilet bowl was stained and less than half of the water nozzles on the shower were working. There were areas of the canvas roof that were stained, and part of the wiring to the lamp had been joined or repaired with insulating tape.

Room preparation was disappointing - the toilet waste bin had not been emptied before our arrival and only one bath/hand towel had been provided (we did request a second one of each). In contrast to Dinaka, the room safe was much smaller. We were not provided with an in-room pre-dinner drink although there were two glasses available (at Dinaka a small bottle of sherry was placed in our room in the evening when the beds were made up), and for the morning wake-up cup of tea only one small teapot was provided, in contrast to the two we received at Dinaka and Shinde.

Although these are minor points, they contributed to the overall sense of disappointment we felt with the camp."