Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs M from Chelmsford

"Lagoon is set in the dry sandy mopane woodlands by a river full of hippos with Namibia on the other bank. The camp itself was quiet, intimate and relaxing, and the staff were all exceptionally welcoming and helpful. The food was excellent, varied, and all freshly prepared. The hippos in the river by our tent formed the soundtrack for the night.

Large herds of elephants, zebras, Cape buffalos, giraffes, roan, sable, kudu and tsessabe antelopes were regularly seen. Our guide Ike and tracker Tefu were experts but the predators they were tracking unfortunately did not materialise so despite following many tracks we saw no leopards, cheetahs or hyenas and only one sighting of 4 lions. Birdlife was similarly relatively sparse.

Had our BA flight delay not forced us to miss our first day we would have seen an aardvark and an aardwolf, which were seen by other guests who shared our car. We did see a pack of 6 resting wild dogs on the drive from airstrip to camp.

As with all the Kwando Safari camps we visited the exclusivity is wonderful - the only other game trucks we met were the other two from our camp."

"The wildlife sightings at Mma Dinare were amazing. Just on the journey from the airstrip to the camp we found a leopard in a tree by a riverbank, which was staring across the river where a pride of 15 lions appeared and about 10 minutes after leaving the lions we came across a female cheetah with 4 cubs eating an impala for lunch! And that was just the start of the lions – in the following days we saw a pride of 17 with cubs of various ages, a female suckling 4 1-week old cubs, another pride of 5.

The cheetah family was seen again, and also a coalition of 4 brothers. We saw 3 honey badgers and 2 porcupines at the camp. The elephant population was vast, including a band of 4 that spent most of their time knocking down and eating the trees around our tent. The antelope herds were extensive, enough to feed all the cats!

Although the landscape was mostly dry sand and mopane woodland the terrain was quite varied, with bigger trees and more water than to the north.

The camp was in a beautiful setting on raised boarding overlooking the river and wetlands. The majority of the staff either were friends or relations from one village and worked together to be the perfect hosts. Lots of traditional singing made for a welcome at mealtimes or on return from game drives. The food was excellent, varied, and all freshly prepared. Our guide Edwin and tracker Sam were excellent at finding the game and looked after us perfectly, and found lions for us on every game drive.

Walking and night safaris, and a makoro river trip added greatly to the safari experience. Being able to drive after dark is essential so you don't have to stop watching something late afternoon if you are a distance from the camp.

As with the other Kwando Safari camps we visited the exclusivity is wonderful - the only other game trucks we met were the other two from our camp, and they all worked together to make sure no-one missed anything."

"Splash camp was superb in every aspect - accommodation, staff, food and the game experiences. As with the other Kwando camps, Splash had exclusive access to the concession so we felt privileged to experience the exclusivity and privacy that we have not seen in other safari regions. The only other cars we saw were those from our camp, and the guides worked together to make sure no-one missed anything.

The landscape was the most varied of the camps we visited, being set on the edge of the flood plains. There was mopane woodland, dry grasslands, flooded plains that the game trucks had to pass though and the Okavango river system with papyrus beds where we viewed the abundant birdlife from a boat with an elevated platform.

And the game experiences - wow! The first highlight was a lion pride (4 adult females and 4 huge sub-adult males) that took a large adult male giraffe on our first day. For the next 2 days we watched as the pride gradually consumed their kill while protecting it from two other huge male lions; it was amazing to follow that level of lion behaviour. We had several leopard sightings, mostly in trees, and we followed a pair of cheetahs at various times over our stay. We saw several lions on every game drive. An aardwolf peeking out from its den was something we had hoped but not expected to see, along with honey badger and African wild cat.

A boat trip, a makoro ride and night safaris added greatly to the safari experience. Being able to drive after dark is essential so you don't have to stop watching something late afternoon when you are a distance from the camp.

But the highlight of the trip, and the most exciting experience of all our safaris was hunting with a pack of wild dogs. The pack had been sighted on the other side of the reserve, so 3 cars set of from Splash mid-afternoon to find them. We gradually tracked them to an open area where they were resting. After watching them for a short time they suddenly got up and began socialising loudly, the 11 pups asking the 16 adults for food. They set off on the hunt and we followed them in the cars. When they found herds of tsessebi, reedbuck and impala the pace suddenly quickened. The pack split between the herds and accelerated, the cars split and followed them at breakneck speed through the flooded plains.

An incredible experience followed as we rushed to chase the successful hunt and watched as the adults gorged on the impala and ran back to regurgitate the food for the pups. An altogether unbelievable experienced that we haven’t seen before even on film. I am sure it could not have been witnessed at any other safari destination, because of the size of pack, ability to drive after dark, the coordination of brilliant guides and the landscape that made it possible to follow.

Splash was altogether a special camp in a wonderful environment staffed by special people. We loved it."

"Pioneer Camp is like a bush camp but on the outskirts of Lusaka. A good overnight stop-off on route from the airport to a safari holiday.

Bird life at dawn was fantastic."

"The camp has a lovely setting on the Luangwa river. Spacious and comfortable "tents", friendly, enthusiastic and welcoming staff, good food (how do they provide fresh produce and cook it so well in such a remote place?) good guides and abundant wildlife. This goes for all the Norman Carr camps we stayed at.

Our nighttime visit from Dixon the elephant was quite memorable. The only minor negative was the appearance of mosquitos at night."

"A very small luxury camp on the banks of the dry Luwi river. We loved the walk from Kakuli Camp to Nsolo, but it was very hot (40+) in early October. Spacious and comfortable cabins, friendly, enthusiastic and welcoming staff, good food (how do they provide fresh produce and cook it so well in such a remote place?) and good guides.

Wild life was less abundant than other sites as the place was so dry and tsetse flies were a nuisance. We would return, but earlier in the dry season when the location could be fabulous.."

"Spacious and comfortable tents, friendly, enthusiastic and welcoming staff, good food (how do they provide fresh produce and cook it so well in such a remote place?) good guides and abundant wildlife.

Unbelievable game sightings - on the first night a pride of 12 lions killed a bull buffalo within 200 metres of the camp and 2 Pels fishing owls live in the trees by the camp, Hippos honk their songs and lions call all night long."

"We stayed in the Albida suite for 4 nights, and it is the best accommodation we have ever experienced in all our years of travelling.

Michael was the perfect butler, Flossie the wonderfully exuberant host and Patrick Cryvet (littlebrownjobs1) the best birding and all-round guide we have ever had.

Waking up to watch, from our bed, the sun rise across the Zambezi while the hippos splashed and grunted their laughter in the river was a wonderfully moving experience. We absolutely loved it."

"A peaceful friendly guest house with comfortable well-equipped rooms; a great place to start and finish a trip to Namibia. We had dinner in the hotel on both nights we stayed; the food was very good and other guests who went in to the city to eat were disappointed, so we made the right choice."

"We were uncertain what to expect at Erongo, but like everywhere we visited in Namibia it surpassed our expectations. The setting is stunning, surrounded by wonderful mountain scenery which can be explored with an expert and friendly (no surprise here, every single Namibian we met was friendly!) guide. The "tents" are large and well equipped, all individually and privately sited. The birdlife is superb and we met small antelopes and a large troop of baboons on our walks. We also heard a leopard a few hundred metres from the site but didn't see one. We also found black rhino tracks but again no other signs. It's worth visiting for the sunsets alone."

"We stayed at the premium accomodation by the waterhole and it was superb. Animals visited the waterhole all day and night and being accomodated so close we spent a lot of time sitting there watching them. We saw countless black rhino (yes, we lost count one of them one evening), zebras, giraffes, jackals, springboks and kudu, and two male lions that we had heard roaring all night visited while we watched. Unfortunately we could not see the waterhole from our balcony due to trees. The food was very good if you like lots of game, but as we don't it was average. The location is good for exploring the central area of Etosha by car; it is easy to find lots of game by the waterholes and birds in the trees, particulalry raptors. We didn't try the game drives as they use the same roads as we could drive on, and the game vehicles were packed full."

"We stayed in a pleasant, large, well fitted double room set at the back of the camp. The waterhole was a disappointment after Okaukuejo and we hardly spent any time there. The fort was a great place to eat and drink, and the food was very good if you like lots of game, but as we don't it was average. The location is good for exploring the eastern area of Etosha by car; it is easy to find lots of game by the waterholes and birds in the trees, particulalry raptors. We didn't try the game drives as they use the same roads as we could drive on, and the game vehicles were packed full."

"Our time at Mundulea was the best we have experienced in Africa, and possibly anywhere we have visited worldwide. Don't visit if you want hotel accomodation, but if you want to learn about and experience African game, birds, trees, plants, insects, predators, politics, conservation, Namibian history with the best guide you will ever meet then this is for you. Bruno Nebe has bought 4 old cattle farms and is turing them back into their pre-farming state, stocking them with all the native antelopes, game and cats except (to date) lion, elephants or white rhino. It is a massive task, and must be one of the world's best unsung conservation efforts.

Bruno has built a superbly secluded camp site, fitted it out with furniture he has made by hand. He cooks excellent food over an open fire. He takes you on walks to suit your level of activity, and the knowledge he imparts on the walks is breathtaking in its depth and breadth. Ask any question about anything Namibian and you get a detailed answer. Unfortunately we didn't see his leopards and cheetahs on foot, but we saw plenty of signs, including a duiker freshly killed and hidden under cover by a leopard.

Tracking the Black Rhinos was fascinating - he knows the individuals by their footprints. His most amazing conservation effort is to take the last male animal in the most endangered black rhino sub-species and breed it with females with the right genetic make-up borrowed from Etosha in an attempt to re-generate the sub-species. The camp is beside a waterhole and we spent all daylight hours watching the game come down to drink while we were not walking. But the most exciting part of the visit was when we stroked the puff adder he caught by hand!"

"We left Okonjima until last on our trip to Namibia so that if we didn't see leopards or cheetahs anywhere else we could be sure to see them at Africats. We were not disappointed, although it is not the same seeing them wearing tracking collars or in fenced enclosures as finding them truely in the wild.

It was very quiet and seemed only half full, so were lucky enough to get upgraded from the main camp to the bush camp, where the accomodation was large, comfortable, well-fitted and totally secluded. Seed was provided to temp the birds and we spent hours on our open veranda watching and photographing numerous beautiful species.

The main reception area was excellent and the food was very good, if limited to one option only. Dave Houghton, the owner who we knew from the TV series about Africats, was eating there with his guests. All the staff were very friendly and helpful, as we found everywhere in Namibia.

Activities were included morning, afternoon and after dinner and our guide Chris was very knowledgable, entertaining and chatty. The activies included tracking leopard by vehicle - we found the male leopard and watched him eating a young zebra he had killed. We tracked and found spotted hyaena on foot, and had close encounters with 5 cheetahs in their large encosure. The porcupine feeding after dark was fun, but the honey badger didn't turn up (not that he was expected, just hoped for). The final morning was spent learning bushman crafts and hunting techniques, and we found fresh leaopard tracks about 200 metres for the camp - maybe made the one that woke me by roaring at 4am."

"A peaceful friendly guest house with comfortable well-equipped rooms; a great place to start and finish a trip to Namibia. We had dinner in the hotel on both nights we stayed; the food was very good and other guests who went in to the city to eat were disappointed, so we made the right choice."