Travel reviews by Mr H. from Salt Lake City

"Lovely, comfortable, clean, quiet, and friendly. Wonderful meal in the lobby restaurant. A wonderful rest after a long flight. The staff were delightful, the lobby airy, the garden courtyard relaxing.

We did have a little trouble finding our room -- the signs in the halls are a bit vague. But the only serious problem is finding the lodge. Despite the very careful instructions EA included in our travel document, JNB is such a complex, extended airport with multiple routes and dead ends that we kept getting lost.

Happily, a nice policeman going off duty helped guide us all the way to their elevator -- a long mysterious trail that I wouldn't have found following directions or signage. The fact that EA gave us GPS coordinates for the hotel should have been a clue.

Perhaps a Google Maps location link (or something similar) would help."

"An amazing experience just a short drive out of Maun, which on first sight is a bit dusty and cinder-block. Though it is a game farm, it is in a lovely real forest, near a real river, with real wild animals, yet you can safely take several well-marked walks. This makes it wonderful coming off a long journey by air, and it might be nice after a week or two in the actual bush, where walking out on your own is usually impossible.

The facilities are gorgeous, recently renovated, (it is now called Thamo Telele Lodge, after their giraffes as I understand), and extremely comfortable. Though the platform tents looked lovely, all new, and very secure, we slept in a huge walled, thatched chalet, a bit of psychologic comfort on the first night among actual game. A subtle fence kept the elands and giraffes visible from our doorway and windows, but out of the immediate lodge grounds for our well-lit trail back to the lovely deck and dining room. Though they offer other activities, we got in late, so went for a short walk and then sat on the deck watching amazing monkeys and birds with Jobe, a friendly and superbly informed guide.

I could go on and on about the wonderful room, comforts, food, staff, and facilities. But let me just say staying here, for a night or two, is a wonderful way to beat jet lag (or come off 'roughing it' on safari) and must be infinitely more fun than a lodge in town. And they perfectly coordinated our arrival and departure to the airport at odd hours.

Highly recommended, without reservation."

"Astonishingly good. This was our first actual stop in the bush, thanks to EA, and was perfect. I simply can't say enough good things about the camp, from the airstrip to superlative "tents" (nicest hotel rooms I've ever been in) to the open-air stilt-perched lounges and dining room, the deck above the ponds where hippos chuckle at night, the game drives, makoro, boat trips, and amenities. Truly 5-star, with personal, warm, friendly, constantly attentive staff, amazing food, fabulous hospitality, in perfect comfort and safety.

A subtle electric fence keeps elephants out of the camp, and the beautiful walkways through a forest garden lead to nicely spaced tent chalets (staff walk with you at night in case you turn up other animals -- we met a startled, beautiful little bushbuck just outside our tent on the first evening).

The game drives in particular are world class. With only the very few Land Cruisers from the lodge on the roads, you are going to see everything (no "you saw a leopard? I wish we had" at dinner) but never in a crowd. Our truck would pull up next to another, or call in another, and then gracefully move off so everyone gets a great view. And the guides are superb -- intelligent, cordial, and vastly experienced. They know their patch superbly, and they know the animals -- where to look, where to turn, where to stop, and the backstory of each mother leopard or lion pride.

The habitats here are a perfect and varied microcosm and introduction to the delta, with grassland savanna, isolated and clustered stands of beautiful marula and kigelia (sausage) trees, open bush, beautiful pond and hillock pans, and lots of varieties of swamp, river, marsh, pool, papyrus, and reeds. This leads to amazing views of birds and beasts, with huge variety.

Again, I could go on and on, but let me distill it to this: If I had only a few days to spend in Botswana, I would spend them here."

"Put simply, this was the most amazing and satisfying part of our whole trip to Botswana. To qualify our point of view, we are experienced campers and off-road travelers who've spent hundreds of nights sleeping outdoors, running wild rivers, and camping in remote and difficult environments. *But* we never do this with African game all about, and we never enjoy privation, hard accommodation, or bad-to-average food. You might not want this safari if you need a fence around your camp, a semi-permanent tent/chalet on a stilted platform with indoor plumbing, and a choice of motorboat, makoro, walking, and driving safaris (this is an overland safari). You might like it a great deal, though, if you want to experience what a real safari was like for Teddy Roosevelt or Ernest Hemingway. In fact, replace the trucks with horses and oxcarts, and you're traveling like Stanley and Livingstone. But you may be eating far far better, and your guide will certainly be among the very best there's ever been.

Andrew, our guide, and his wonderful staff made our 9-day, three-camp trip through the Moremi, Khwai, and Chobe/Savuti areas absolutely astonishing. Andrew is remarkable for his superb tact, kindness, and knowledge of the bush (he's been guiding for 20 years, has walked across the entire delta five times, and seems to know each and every copse, grove, pool, and dirt-track intersection in the northern half of Botswana). He would smell the wind, glance at a paw-track beside the truck, and turn off into the bush to carefully find a lounging lactating lioness; the next day he would circle into the area from another direction and find her four cubs superbly hidden in a dense acacia bush, then happily sit with us as we laughed at their kitten-dreaming yawns and paw-wiggles until they finally came out to play.

He knew the country in such detail that we were the only people at a remote forest watering hole where 60 or 70b thirsty elephants continued to materialize all afternoon (you siesta on the road during 'move days' from camp to camp). We had a superb view of delighted, frolicking elephant babies and rambunctious big males diving and rolling in the mud. And the whole time Andrew was serving lunch and snacks, tea and beverages, and keeping a constant eye on the bush behind the truck that shielded our 'director chairs' from thirsty elephants who materialize, always soundlessly, as if weightless, and file down for their turn to drink and spray and mud-bathe. There is no guarantee you'd see the same things we did, but his knowledge and skill got us *separate* sightings of all four phases of a wild dog hunt -- the sunset 'geeing up' of the pack, excited puppies, lounging grinning adults; the next afternoon the long loose excitedly-loping pack on the search for game; the next morning the galloping, flowing, splitting, pincer-ing flow of dogs streaking rapidly across the veld, and finally the mercifully brief flurry of the kill, this last from about 3 m away, where we could see the grins, the tail-wags, the sharing and reassuring and puppy-calling.

Andrew would stop and point, and we would see anything from a tiny jewel-like bee-eater to a camouflaged kudu to the luggage-like imprint a croc made resting in the road. Or a hovering kingfisher, balancing bateleur, a soaring kite. or scolding hornbills around a hidden civet, serval, or hawk-eagle. A tiny Slender Mongoose proudly holding his snake prey -- and then comically dragging it off as birds dive-bombed him into the bush. Andrew knew every call, song, smell, paw print, bush, bug, and sound. He knew what was safe (a huge herd of bucolic buffalo) and what was not (a moody, malignant solitary bull). He could tell us everything from the African history to the plate tectonics that have shaped the delta and desert and their inhabitants.

Let's talk frankly about two phrases that might put you off this experience *but shouldn't* (for most people): "bucket shower" and "long-drop toilet." We have experienced every variety of camp life; this is camp living at its most discreet and comfortable. The overhanging back verandah beyond the zippered canvas rear door of your big Meru tent (Google some images) is walled round with canvas to make an en-suite bathroom. The 'bucket' is a big canvas/ironframe tank hanging from a sturdy rope over a comfortable mat on a porous fabric floor; the bucket has a lovely standard shower head underneath, with a quarter-turn valve, and the water that comes out is the perfect fire-warmed (but not hot) temp for a soothing post-siesta shower. The "long-drop toilet"? Picture a tall, clean, comfortable, warmly-varnished wood box above a perfectly square-dug deep hole in the earth, with a tidy bucket of clean-smelling campfire ash and sand standing by. The least odorous, least embarrassing, least uncomfortable toilet system in the world.

Safety in the day? Andrew is 100% vigilant and calmly shares safety tips and pointers. We never had the least concern. What about at night? The staff hang out paraffin (clean kerosene) lamps all about. You are given torches (flashlights) and asked to stay in your tent after bedtime washing up, which is easily and comfortably done. The first night we were apprehensive at all the noises (hippos laughing, zebras whistling, lions roaring, elephants trumpeting, jackals shrieking, and a million crazy birds), but after two nights my wife was asking to sleep next to the screened front door to better see anything that might go by in the moonlight.

Discomforts? No air con? But each day, Andrew and staff arranged chairs in deep shade but open breeze for siesta time, and a camp divan in the shady lounge near the ice chest, open to passing breezes. No running water? But each time you wake up or come back to camp, they fill the canvas washbasins standing on your verandah with clean, fire-warmed water. There's an endless supply of cold, bottled drinking water; the bar and other beverages are copious and varied. The laundry service is hand-washed, line-dried, and ironed -- with an ember-heated flatiron. For discomforts, honestly, the only possible note might be that the camp stretcher-beds (cots to us Yanks) have only about a 3-inch foam mattress -- but crisp clean sheets, a lovely cozy duvet, and a wooly blanket made sleeping a pleasure for us.

And the food? You will never believe it is all cooked over a wood fire, even after they show you. If you ate this well in a restaurant, you would be amazed. Varied, beautifully baked cakes, tarts, chocolate confections and savory tartlets. Heavenly mains, wonderfully-paired and sauced veg, fresh-baked artisanal loaves, and superb desserts (frozen panna cotta in vanilla custard on our 9th night out)! The breakfast toast, porridge, cereal, juice, eggs, bacon, and flapjack/pancake/bush scones are amazing, and the teatime treats and sundowner snacks are as delicious and varied as at our 5-star fixed lodge.

As I say, this safari was our favorite. Was nine days too much? No. We could easily have enjoyed twelve -- but others might like just three or six. No, it is not for everyone. But if it's right for you, it may be the best and most real experience of Africa you can possibly have."

"Thanks to good advice from EA, we did this last on our two-week trip to the bush, and it was the perfect way to relax and unwind. No LandCruiser 'free massage.' No rush. No big crowds -- there were 7 of us total on board.

The wide waters and open plains along the river kept the middays cooler and the nights milder, and made a breeze almost always available to help. The staff were kind, genuine, friendly, and knowledgeable. The motorboat 'game cruises' gave us a totally different view of many animals we'd seen on our overland safaris -- often wonderfully different, closer, at eye level, with rich and varied behaviors. The rooms are comfortable, clean, quiet, and cozy, with a lovely shower and thoughtful appointments. And the food was superb, diverse, delicious, and beautifully presented.

We were concerned that two nights would be too little, but it was just right. Though the boat-cruise game viewing is amazing, it has a less diverse palette of habitats to view. The shady steep wooded banks were especially rich in birds and lounging crocs; the open savannas and pans along the river bank gave wonderful views of elephants, ungulates, and baboons coming down to drink, or (for the elephants, ford and swim snorkel-style across). The hippo viewing is superior.

But the boat necessarily covers a limited stretch of the banks, and several nearby channels -- this is not a long boat journey down a wild river through jungle, papyrus marsh, and dusty veld, but a rich, small microcosm near a convenient town with lovely coffee-shops and a usefully-sized and efficient airport. This was the perfect wind-down and reprise for our trip; it might be a useful introduction before heading out overland to 'rough it' in the wild."