Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs H-K from England

"We had a fantastic experience in our 3 nights at Camp Kalahari. We arrived in a bit of a state as our airline transfer caused a bag to go missing, however, through some magic the Natural Selection team and the camp managed to get it to us... from Jo'burg airport to our TENT (!) in about 48 hours. Amazing service.

Our tent was well-appointed and set well away from the other tents, it felt very private and we weren't really aware of any neighbouring guests. The coffee and tea service with the wake-up call was a very nice touch also, as it was cold at night when we were there. The fluffy dressing gowns and hot water bottles in the bed were much appreciated. Meals were excellent - particularly high tea - and it was nice to eat in a communal setting with other guests and share stories and sightings. The dinner served out on the salt pans was also magical, with hot coals under the chairs keeping us warm and exceptional food, particularly incredible work by the chefs given how remote the setting was. The camp staff gave us a honeymoon send-off on our last night as well, with a bottle of bubbles chilling in the room when we got back from dinner.

Our guide, KG, was absolutely brilliant... very passionate and knowledgable and good chat throughout.

The activities like quad-biking in the salt pans and meeting the meerkats were also great fun, highly recommend the quad bikes purely to see 'The Great Nothing' that is the middle of a big salt pan... it's like landing on the moon.

The camp has a very informal vibe among the staff, no uniforms etc..., so one suggestion (not really a criticism) is that name tags would be helpful, as trying to remember the names of so many of the lovely staff was a challenge, particularly after 20+ hours of flights."

"Beautiful camp with seriously high-spec tents and a modern vibe. The outdoor shower was really nice. There is wifi in the tents and the common parts, which some guests will no doubt love, but we were hoping to disconnect during our trip, and having to log on to register on arrival meant that unwanted emails and notifications popped up on our devices. Niche criticism, we know (!)

Little Sable is unfenced, so we had elephants and hippos coming right up to the boardwalk and the campfire in the evenings, which was incredible to watch. The food was outrageous and we got to sample some delicious Botswana fare like Seswaa, which was great as most of the food is tailored to European/American palates so it was good to eat a bit of local grub.

Our guide was Johnson, who was quietly passionate and extremely knowledgeable... it was like riding in a jeep with a nature encyclopaedia. It was lovely having someone who so obviously has such huge love for the wildlife and the environment. We had fantastic wildlife sightings - the pack of wild dogs on a kill was a particular highlight, as was the bull elephant who joined us for a sundowner - and the tea and coffee with biscuits on the morning game drive was a great little touch too.

There was no tea & coffee on wake-up, which we had in all our other camps on the trip. The tents are also perhaps a touch too close together as we could hear neighbouring guests on both sides quite clearly in the quiet hours.

Only slight issue was our transfer to Skybeds, which seemed like the camp staff were confused about or didn't communicate very well. We were given our helicopter take-off time, which other guests - who were not even told their take-off time - ended up grabbing, which meant they took our heli and we got theirs an hour later. Not a big deal and we all got there in the end but it was all a bit scatty."

"The good bits - setting is amazing, magical, spectacular, insert other superlatives here. Watching the sun go down over the watering hole with a drink and seeing the families of elephants come and go, stargazing and shooting stars over the bed, feeling like you're the only humans on the planet... all as advertised. The platforms are well-spaced and feel very private and safe (just try not to think about leopards' tree-climbing abilities!) The sunken hide on the way in was a great stop too, where we got very, very up close and personal with some elephants.

The dinner was a participatory affair with potjie pots and a DIY fondue sort of vibe over an open fire. There's a maximum of 6 guests so it's luck of the draw who you get stuck with, but our group was a lovely bunch and we had some great chat and laughs over drinks and meals. Breakfast heating up cinnamon buns over the fire with coffees was great also. Chef Bonno was a superstar, we couldn't work out how he does such great food in such a remote setting, but he does. 11/10 for him.

The bad bits - lighting. There are floodlights off the top of the bar/dining platform pointing down onto the table and firepit area, which are bright enough to wreck the vibe and stop you stargazing but not bright enough to actually let you see your food or the other guests very well. Candles or paraffin lamps on the table would have been much better.

Unfortunately when we were there one of the staff left a walkie-talkie or radio on in the kitchen/dining area, which decided to start beeping loudly at 1:30AM to announce that it was running low on batteries. This woke everyone up and went on for hours until the battery finally died and we all went back to sleep for just long enough to be woken up for breakfast. Bit of a buzzkill.

Travel arrangements vary, but we were shipped out straight after breakfast for a connection at 08:00AM whilst the other guests got to go with the wonderful guide KK on a walking safari that we missed out on. It all felt a bit rushed."

"This was our favourite camp on our whole trip. The tent and the bathroom were huge and beautifully set up, with loads of space to unpack and spread out, and the details inside were really well thought through - they provide big binoculars, a torch (flashlight) for night drives, a walkie-talkie to reach staff, two proper wardrobes, fluffy dressing gowns, a coffee/tea station in the room, and the best camera/device charging set-up that we saw. Our tent was the one on the end (#4) so we were miles from the other guests and it felt really private; we also had our own private hammock for siesta time, which just caught a bit (but not too much) of the early afternoon sun and was absolute bliss. The firepit and dining area is gorgeous and having our dinner under the chandelier hung off the big tree was magical. Also a special mention of Olly the housekeeper and her telepathic laundry abilities, what a star.

We were brought tea and coffee at the wake-up call, and also given travel mugs with hot drinks at the start of the morning drive, which went a long way to keeping the early chill at bay. Breakfast we usually had in the Land Cruiser in the field, and was a very civilised affair with fried eggs, pastries, yoghurt, fruit, and the lovely smoothies (or 'smooth' as our guide called them). The food at Selinda Explorers was generally to the highest standard on our trip - a trip of very high standards (!) - and generally the lightest also, with lots of salads and fresh fruit and veg - a welcome change after stuffing our faces at the previous two camps. They also featured some Botswana food like seswaa and papa, which was all absolutely delicious and it was nice to try the local stuff. Chef Mike - a special thank you.

It's a small camp so there aren't many guests and it feels very special indeed. The camp is unfenced and we had 7 hyenas visit us at the firepit one evening, including one curious one that came right up to the seating area... totally amazing. Elephants paid our tent a visit also.

We were just the two of us in our jeep for the whole stay, and our guide Stanley (Dr Livingstone, I presume?) was fantastic. He has 24 years experience and it really showed. We had sundowners with hippos and elephants, followed a leopard as she hunted, saw a pair of big male lions, the list is endless. Stanley took us on a walking safari one morning also, where we followed hyena tracks and found their den. We returned in the evening - armed with gin and tonics - and waited for the sun to go down, our patience rewarded with a sighting of two adult hyena and two pups no more than a month old. It was our final game drive of the trip and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect send-off."

"We stayed 2 nights at the end of our honeymoon after 2 weeks on safari in Botswana. The overall standard is fantastic, as you would expect in any 5* hotel. The semi-tame giraffe, zebra, impala, and monkeys are all fab. You can walk easily to Victoria Falls and there's no entry charge if you're a guest of the hotel, so you can drop in and out at different times of the day to see the falls in different light.

The hotel gave us a honeymoon welcome with champagne and cake in the room, which was totally unexpected and extremely sweet of them. Their spa is also lovely, we had massages at sunset overlooking the Zambezi. The staff are all wonderful (Juliet, Rogers, Alfred in particular), and the food and drink is fantastic and surprisingly well-priced given the quality and quantity.

The only slight drawback - and there is nothing for it except to be warned and ready to put up with it - is the noise of the helicopters doing sightseeing flights to the falls. They start at 08:00 and go all. day. long. There's obviously nothing the hotel can do about this and its not a criticism, but be prepared."