Travel reviews by Michelle & Peter from LDN

"Very relaxed and comfortable lodge with really nice food.

The only downside is the slight distance from town, although it was possible to walk back from the Falls, which we did."

"Camp Hwange is a lovely authentic lodge in the north of Hwange National Park, with a focus on walking and vehicle safaris. The service at the lodge was excellent, both food within the lodge and the guiding and tracking on safari.

We were lucky to visit the lodge when it was quiet and had a professional guide, a learner guide and a tracker looking after us, often with us as the only guests in the vehicle.

Walking safaris were excellent with Moses, we always felt very safe even when approaching lions and a lion kill on foot! For us the best thing about Camp Hwange was the lack of other lodges or vehicles nearby - we would frequently be at sightings on our own. Whilst this meant it was slightly harder to tick off the wildlife (as so few other guides were searching for them and sharing information), it felt more wild than many other places and rewarding when we did find the animals. I would definitely recommend this lodge, particularly to those experienced in safari holidays who are looking for a slightly different experience.

Note there is no phone signal at all in the lodge or this area of the national park. If you ask, the team will let you check staff WiFi occasionally. We were told WiFi may be brought in for guests soon."

"We had a great time at Nymatusi Camp - from arrival the staff make a real effort to welcome you and make sure you are looked after throughout your stay. The food was great and the facilities lovely. This is a very stylish lodge where the focus is on both comfort and great guiding.

Food is served on communal tables for most of the time, which we really enjoyed as other guests in the lodge were good fun and like minded. The camp will facilitate private tables if you prefer.

We took advantage of the chance to go on a canoe trip as well as several walking safaris and the vehicle safaris. Again, for us the walking safaris were the real highlight and the head guide Michael was excellent. Some of the other guides appeared less confident and to still be learning.

The scenery in Mana Pools is stunning and we had beautiful sundowners each night by the river. We were perhaps a little unlucky with our larger wildlife sightings in Mana Pools overall. There are animals everywhere, particularly elephants, hippo, baboon and various antelope but we did struggle to find the big cats and painted dogs.

We managed to approach a lioness quite closely on foot which was incredible and saw some male lions at a distance but went several long drives without seeing the cats. We did not find the painted dogs and heard from the guides and conservationists that the population of dogs is struggling in the park.

Overall we had a brilliant time at Nyamatusi Camp and loved the scenery in Mana Pools - for us it is a great option for a relaxed and comfortable safari."