Travel reviews by A&L from Qatar

"Yes, Tafika was indeed “rustic” (I think that was the word you used when we discussed options when planning our holiday). Nevertheless, it was extremely comfortable - and we really enjoyed our stay. This was our first ever safari – so we had nothing to judge Tafika against. We felt very comfortable, safe and the game viewing was exceptional. We have a few minor critical comments that we hope are seen as constructive and are based upon our perceptions and feelings rather than anything concrete:

Whilst on one hand, we rather like the family business feel of the enterprise, it was sometimes a little overpowering. Each evening when we returned from a drive, the 4 members of the family plus one of the guides (who was an original founder along with John) would be stood drinking at the bar whilst others were working. This gave us a somewhat uncomfortable perception. Whilst the family were always kind, engaging and inclusive, it sometimes felt like we were intruding in a family gathering.

The village and school visit was the one time we felt uncomfortable. It all seemed rather staged and unnatural. Whilst we enjoyed seeing the school and hearing the church choir sing (and see them dance), we felt rather too controlled by our guide. I don’t think this was about our safety – as we never felt anything other than completely safe.

Finally, we felt that the management’s focus on us dropped off during our last day as we were by that time, the only guests in the Camp. It felt as if we were being steered towards activities that suited the lodge rather than what we desired – and breakfast on the last day when there was only us was a shadow of what it had been on other days when the camp was full.

To reiterate, we hope our comments are seen as constructive - and that they are based upon our perceptions/feelings."

"Chiawa was exceptional. We had a fabulous time from the moment we landed in the Cessna light aircraft at Jeki Airstrip to the time we climbed into the helicopter to take us from Jeki back to Lusaka (for our onward flight to Livingstone).

The short drive from Jeki to the river was packed with excitement. The guide heard and then found a lion which we tracked and watched for over an hour before he took us to the river for our boat trip up the Zambezi to the camp. What a wonderful way to travel and arrive – a safari in its own right.

The accommodation was spectacular in every sense. The food was excellent and the service exceptional. Chaiwa had a real touch of class/style beyond the other 2 camps. Simple things like the table, white tablecloth, candle etc for sundowners when on a drive (and/or on canoe and river cruises) were such a nice touch. Likewise, our surprise lunch banquet floating down the river on our arrival day with a bottle of bubbly. This made it all feel so special. The communal BBQ in the bush was another nice touch and gave us the opportunity to meet other guests.

The guides at Chiawa were exceptional – and were especially good company. Their judgement about what, where, when, how etc was terrific. We were – and remain – in awe at their knowledge and skills, their gentle and kind hospitality and the way they built relationships with us.

We saw the most amazing game whilst at Chiawa – we don’t know if that was the norm or if we were particularly lucky – especially cats. The canoe safari was great fun and was concluded in great style with a transfer to a boat for smart G&Ts on the river at sunset. Very cool.

We really liked the feel of Chiawa. There was far more of a truly local feel to the camp and there was a clear and obvious happy and professional atmosphere.

Our one critical comment relates to the General Manager. Whilst he clearly ran an extremely efficient business and a professional and happy team, we felt that his own people skills were rather lacking. His interaction with us seemed mechanical rather than empathetic. Again, we stress that this was our perception and how we felt - rather than anything concrete."

"Toka Leya was also exceptional. Very different from both Tafika and Chiawa, our initial thoughts were that it had a feel of a hotel rather than a lodge. It was extremely comfortable, the food was excellent, the wines in particular were delicious and the service was perfect.

We particularly liked the fact that 100% of the team at Toka Leya were true locals. That felt really good. The team were incredibly accommodating – not just in coordinating our game drives, boat safaris and trips to the Falls, Museum and the market – but also in timing these so that we could maximise our time (for example, going direct on a game drive after picking us up from our helicopter trip over the Falls and even squeezing in an early morning second river cruise the morning we left.

We had one guide for all our activities at Toka Leya – game drives, river cruises, Falls, Museum etc. He was utterly fantastic; very gentle style and incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful and kind. This worked really well for us (and we hope for him also !).

Again, we saw amazing game on the drives and the best birdlife in particular on the 2 river cruises/safaris. We were soaked on our trip to the Falls the day we arrived – which was great fun. We had imagined the “spray” you described as exactly that – so being caught in the equivalent of a tropical storm was a great surprise. We loved it ! We did a 30 minute helicopter flight over the falls, down the gorge and over the park on Day 2 which was worth every cent and allowed us to get a perspective from both Zambia and Zimbabwe sides. The Livingstone Museum was excellent and our trip to the market (not the tourist curio market – bit the local produce etc market in Livingstone) was fascinating and humbling.

We have no critical comments in relation to Toka Leya."