Travel reviews by Mr A. from United Kingdom

"Room was spacious.

The surroundings are relaxing after a long flight, the building has character and both breakfast and dinner menus were good.

An easy drive to and from the airport at the time of day we travelled."

"The renovations made since we visited last year have transformed the accommodation whilst maintaining the rustic feel about it that we prefer.

There is now a fully tiled bathroom floor and a much larger front viewing window in the room. Food faultless with imaginative high quality vegetarian food.

Saw less of the larger game this year than last year in part as the lion pride had split and moved elsewhere but we hardly saw any other vehicle on any of the drives.

The walking was excellent and there was plenty of interest."

"Tafika continues to impress with the care and attentiveness of both family members and other staff, mainly employed from the local village.

It was great to see some staff members had progressed from lower level tasks through to eventually becoming qualified guides and some to the next stage of being an accredited walking guide.

The ethos generally accords with our preferences."

"This camp in the North Luangwa was a revelation with excellent facilities.

It is so peaceful, with Alex acting as camp manager and our guide, doing a tremendous job so enthusiastically throughout.

We had amazing wildlife sightings, which were somewhat unexpected as the animals are more skittish with far less humans around. These included lions at a buffalo kill, hyenas and vultures dealing the remains the following day, all on foot. We also saw a pack of seven wild dogs at rest, as well as a superb view of a Pell's fishing owl flying up into a nearby tree with a catfish in its talons then watching it for some time. Both these were on our walk to Takwela.

The food was of the same very high standard as at Tafika."

"Another superb safari experience with only one other vehicle seen during three days of morning walking and afternoon drives.

Moffat, our guide, managed to find a wide range of most interesting birds and animals including the wild dogs again, this time watching the social and behavioural aspects for a couple of hours as they gradually roused, ultimately setting off on a hunt.

We were able to follow them for a couple of kms.

The camp is extremely comfortable and the food excellent."

"Really enjoyed the game drives.

Fantastic base from which to see leopards, which have been more elusive on other safaris we have done in Zambia."

"Great ambience at the camp.

Emma is the perfect host. She is extremely personable, so hard working and determined to do all she can to make the stay as good as possible. A total delight to meet."

"There is an air of tranquility about Tafika.

Carol and John regularly joined us for lunch and the guides and others took it in turns to join us at dinner, all of which made for interesting conversations.

Everything is done to a very high standard and was faultless."

"We were hugely impressed by Tafika. The generous welcoming of us by all members of the family and their involvement in the running the camp made this a most enjoyable experience. There is a very collegiate atmosphere and the camp manager Vel was brilliant too. We took the combination of morning walks and evening drives with excellent sightings and hardly any other vehicles creating a truly memorable experience. The lodges were delightful and the food was excellent."

"A lovely camp with very comfortable lodges set on two levels. The bread and cakes in particular able to be prepared in the bush were superb. The walks gave us an excellent opportunity to get to understand more of the entire ecosystem within the bush."

"Crocodile Camp has now closed, replaced for 2022 by a new camp at Big Lagoon which is about 1km away. It has an attractive setting with good views across the large watering hole and a mixture of animals visiting all easily viewed from the lodge. We took the opportunity to visit the kitchen to see the chef at work. The food was exceptional and the whole experience inspirational. We were unlucky to get troubled on our last morning by a nest of army ants which appeared in the bathroom area overnight. We understand that some further development has been done at Big Lagoon since our visit to put down at least one concrete floor which would significantly reduce the risk of this for future travellers. Getting good views of lions on our walking safari was enthralling.

We had arranged in advance to walk from Big Lagoon direct to Mwamba as mentioned in the information on the Expert Africa website. We are grateful to Nick at Tafika for managing the logistics of this. Our excellent guide, tracker and tea carrier were all enthusiastic about this; none had done this walk previously so this was an adventure for each of them too. It was about 12.5km. We were lucky to get an excellent sighting for several minutes of a honey badger on this walk."

"An excellent camp in all respects with a lot of attention to detail. The host manager was particularly empathic in understanding any requirements we had and making sure they were delivered. The food was excellent.

The sightings were among the best we have ever had, including picking up a pack of 9 wild dogs on a morning drive and following them as they tracked their prey and then ate. There was a lot of opportunity for us to influence where we spent our time so we returned to where we knew the dogs had been resting during the day to watch them gradually gather themselves and head off for a further hunt. Many good lion and leopard sightings including a leopard with an impala up a tree and two lions taking down a warthog.

The camp has a hide which is interesting to visit as you get so close to the animals. Whilst we were there, a buffalo, zebra and impala came to drink with visits by a variety of birds."

"We enjoyed our stay here. It is 40-50 mins from the airport so a bit longe to get there than the nearest other quality hotels but not by much. The reward is a very comfortable and relaxed hotel with excellent decor and attention to detail. Our lunch on arrival was right at the end of the serving period so was rather slow and disjointed but the dinner and breakfast were superb. The room was quiet and very spacious."