Travel reviews by antennariidae from USA

"We enjoyed four nights at the Constantia.

We were in a family suite (Room #9). It consisted of a main room with a king bed and a child area with large beanbags and some games. Down a short a short hallway and some some steps were a bathroom and another bedroom with twin beds that conected to another bathroom. It was almost perfect for us and our two children. The only negative was the steps down and a furter large step down into the "master" bath. In the dark, this was slippery and difficult to navigate and resulted in one fall. The room had a small fridge with complementary beverages and each evening we were met with chocolates on our pillows.

The rest of the property was very nice. Beautiful gardens and a nice pool, with floats, that our kids enjoyed. We rented a car for a few days and there was secure parking. The managers had helpful suggestions about places we could visit. Breakfast was served each morning and consisted of breads, a cheese/meat/fruit tray, cereals, yogurt, and juice. We also had the option of including food from a menu (meat, eggs, french toast, etc.). We were not left hungry!

Lunch and dinner were left up to us, though there was a bar area with complementary (and premium) beverages and some snacks. One evening when our kids were tired, we were able to order in from the restaurant next door and the Constantia staff handled the entire transaction, from taking order to bringing over the credit card machine to complete payment. The staff were courteous and helpful.

On Christmas Day, they had a Santa and our kids got pictures, as well as small gift bags. I got a gift bag as well, containing a nice bottle of wine.

The only very small hiccup was a misunderstanding about laundry on Christmas Day. We were told we could still get same-day service, which we did not expect, but when we returned in the afternoon, it wasn't done. It was only an issue because we had an early flight to Botswana the next morning. Once alerted to this, the staff managed to get it done for us that evening. Outstanding!

When we did leave very early the next morning (Boxing Day), there was no one to check us out (not that it mattered) and the night guard asked if we could let him out the gate with us. LOL. Other than that, absolutely no complaints.

From the Constantia we were able to easily visit the botanical gardens, table mountain, the V&A harbour and the Cape. We used Uber on our first day to visit Table Mountain and the harbour on our first day and that was a very good choice. Parking would have been challenging with our rental. The rental car was by far the best option to visit the Cape as it gave us flexibility."

"We flew into Shinde Camp from Maun on a Cessena Grand Caravan - about a 20 minute flight. We were met a Shinde's airstrip by our guide America. He would be our guide for our three night stay. After a 5 minute drive to the camp we were met by the staff, who were singing a welcome song. As out flight arrived at 1530, we were advised to quickly get ready for the afternoon game drive at 1600. After a quick reading of the rules, we left with thunderstorms threatening and word that a male lion had been spotted.

After watching some elephant and zebra we followed a male lion for quite a while as he strolled along in a driving rainstorm. We also saw two female lions in the grass. After helping another truck unstick itself from a mudhole, we had a late dinner and returned to our well-appointed family tent, which was a main room with king bed, a large bathroom and shower, and another room with twin beds for our two children. The daily schedule was a game drive at 0530 after a 0500 wake-up and quick breakfast snack, then a brunch, siesta, and another game drive after afternoon "tea". After the afternoon drive, dinner was served at 2000.

On our second day we witnessed two male lions fighting over a kill, presumably stolen from pack of wild dogs, that we were able to see at a distance. A leopard was also in the area and we were able to see it from a distance, along with a spotted hyena that was trying to steal the leopard's kill. Our afternoon game drive was cut short on the second day by a crazy thunderstorm that left us soaked through. Though the guides provide ponchos, the trucks at Shinde do not have side curtains and the thunderstorm winds were intense.

On our third day we did a boat safari in the morning. It was a lot of fun navigating the narrow channels, and the guides (America and BT) helped our son fish. We caught several tilapia, which the staff cooked for our dinner. It was delicious - some of the best fish we've ever eaten. On the boat safari, we saw hippos and many birds. The highlight of that afternoon was seeing two wild dogs near the camp.

On our final morning, we traveled to the far side of the concession as someone had spotted female lions and cubs. We found them, sleeping under some bushes, though it delayed our return causing us to be a bit late "checking out" as the next guests had already arrived. Overall, we stuck to the standard schedule, though other guests arranged for "extra" game drives during "siesta" time. Though Shinde offers walking safaris and night safaris, we did not avail ourselves of those. Shinde also has a nice little pool that our kids enjoyed. As I watched the kids at the pool (kids are NOT allowed to be un-escorted at any time), I was able to take photos of the paradise flycatchers in the trees above.

We really enjoyed our stay at Shinde. The staff was welcoming and friendly. We had many wonderful sightings. The staff paid particular attention to our children, even fretting when our daughter, who doesn't eat much, didn't eat much. They had a kids' menu for her to make sure she had someting if the evening group buffet wasn't for her. When they saw that the kids were tired in the evenings, they arranged for us to eat earlier. The food was good and the common areas and our tent were very nice. Our guide was outstanding and tried very hard to show us as much as possible.

A word about the rain. We had been warned that this was the beginning of rainy season. That being said we were also warned about the luggage limitations of the bush planes. In our case, we erred too far on the side of packing light as our "bush plane" was not super-small. In retrospect, it would have been better to pack a bit more to ensure everyone had quick drying shoes and some warmer clothes for dinner. Two weeks before we left, temperatures were 100F+ in Maun. When we arrived, the rains had started and the daytime temperature was in the low 80sF at Shinde and it was damp and cool in the evenings. Though the rain was scattered, the showers were more intense than we anticipated. On the plus side, we got to see many frogs by flashlight on our rainy evening escorted walks to dinner.

Overall, a fantastic experience."

"The property is very nice with hotel like rooms lined up above the Chobe River.

In the middle, there is a dining area, offices, seating and spa. We were met by a cordinator who handed up our detailed itinerary. The standard activities included truck-based game drives in the morning with breakfast following at 0900. A boat cruise at 1100, followed by lunch at noon, afternoon tea at 1500 and afternoon game drives at 1530.

We were offered a sunset boat cruise as a first activity when we arrived around tea time on the first day and a sunrise cruise before we checked out on the last day. With the knowledge that we could schedule other outings as add-ons, we stuck to the schedule. Coming from a camp on a private reserve, we arrived to a bit of culture shock. The rooms and facilities were very nice, and the aircon was a welcome change, but it had more of a "Cruise ship" atmosphere: Dinner buffets with hit or miss food, customers needing attention, and staff intent on pleasing but in a "process".

Once we went on our first game drive, however, that melted away. Our animal encounters, even according to our wonderful guide, Bella, were "special". We saw leopards on three separate occasions, a mother lion nursing 5 cubs, giraffe, elephants, hippos, and one thing that seemed to impress our guide more than anything else: 6 ground hornbills walking along the river bank.

The river cruises all followed the same route so there was a feeling of sameness there, but we still managed to see at least one new thing on every cruise and were glad we didn't skip a single one. We were fortunate that the rain mostly left us alone, but that is a risk in late December. The lodge is within the park boundary and that is helpful: it allowed us to extend our encounter with the mother lion and cubs longer than we might have otherwise.

The park is public, though, so once a "special" animal is spotted, a lot of trucks can arrive quickly once the guides get on the radios. But without them sharing information, you're more likely to miss out than find something special. Chobe Game Lodge is a very nice, comfortable, place to stay and go on safari w/o making any sacrifices. We saw a lot of families there, and I can see why."

"We stayed at Old Drift Lodge for 2 nights and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The tents sit right on the Zambezi river and are very well appointed and air conditioned. The tents are connected by boardwalks.

In the middle is a very nice tent lodge with seating, dinings area and a bar. The staff went out of their way to help us. Our guide Fanuel took us on nice game drives and was also our guide to Victoria Falls.

Our river cruise was also really nice and our boat driver BD went out of his way to show us as many shore birds as possible.

Our family tent was amazing and the amount and quality of the food was outstanding."