Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Norwich

"We really enjoyed this camp, our first camp on our first visit to South Luangwa. All of the staff were exceptionally helpful & friendly and Tigga is an excellent host. We had 2 fantastic guides but would particularly single out Kanga as exceptional. The game viewing was excellent. For example, we saw giraffe & elephant on our journey from the airport & we saw leopard & lions on our first night drive.

We also liked the fact that we covered different areas on each game drive & used different methods of crossing the river. We will always remember the suprise bush brunch barbacue that was organised for after our last morning game drive, we thought we had said goodbye to the staff at camp 3 hours earlier.

We thought the location of the camp was stunning . Our chalet had an enormous bed & very comfortable armchairs on the veranda facing the river where it was great to just relax.

The only area for a little criticism would be the food. We would have liked more fruit & more salad vegetables at lunch time & would have preferred the evening meals to be ready plated.

We would certainly return to Nkwali."

"Chindeni has just had a makeover which we felt had focused on style to the detriment of practicality. We would have preferred comfortable chairs on the veranda, a lot of the guests must be too old for hammocks. In the public area, there were just 4 comfortable chairs, the rest of the new furniture consisting of low chairs & very low stools, difficult to get out of. Given that many guests are over 50, we thought this impractical.

We enjoyed the morning walks at Chindeni but we were not impressed with the evening game drives. We covered the same ground every evening until well after 8pm & were unlucky in that we saw little game. Consequently, dinner was quite late & could not be really appreciated. We were also suprised that there were 7 guests in camp when we had expected a maximum of 6. This was too many for a walk, we were at the back & could not hear the guide & there were too many in the Land Rover.

On a positive note, Chindeni is in a stunning location & James, the manager, did an excellent job with hospitality. The food was the best of all the camps that we visited and we had plenty of fresh fruit, salads & vegetables."

"We had planned our itinerary in order to save the best until last and we were not disappointed.

The location of this camp is excellent, deep in the bush and very authentic. There was a buffalo herd right next to the camp whilst we were there and elephants very close. The camp is small, intimate & Babette hosted it as if we were guests in her home with lots of attention to the small details.

We were guided by both Phil Berry & Gilbert, both excellent. The morning walks were informative, scenic, enjoyable & just the right length. We saw some good game on the night drives including leopard & 3 lions with a kill. The food was excellent and the dinners memorable with time to enjoy the food and the conversation.

We would highly recommend this camp & would love to return to it one day."

"We arrived in Pumulani after a 2 hour flight on a private plane from Mfuwe with a brief stop to clear customs in Lilongwe. Our villa, number 5, was huge and had breathtaking views of the lake from the living room, bathroom & bedroom. However, we did notice that many villas had much more obscured views so we counted ourselves particularly lucky to be in number 5. Our villa was quite close to the restaurant & reception but a good way from the beach. We therefore used the golf buggy to get back from the beach and avoid the steep climb, no problem.

What makes Pumulani so special is the views & the staff. There are views over the lake to 3 nearby villages where there is always lots of activity. We saw fishermen on the lake in their dugout canoes & heard them singing as they worked. This created a wonderful atmosphere.

The staff at Pumulani are mostly from the nearby villages. Unlike the camps in Zambia, we felt that we were really able to get to know many of them. We were keen to learn about their lives and they were keen to hear about life in the UK. Malawi is a desperately poor country and it was good to see what Robin Pope are doing to help just a little.

The activities offered at Pumulani are good, we particularly enjoyed swimming in the lake, the sunset cruise on the dhow and the early morning nature walk. We did have one and half overcast & windy days during our stay & this did limit our activities. The camp was no more than a third occupied during our stay & one evening we were the only couple there. The atmosphere would have been better with more guests.

Luke & Betty were excellent hosts, nothing was too much trouble for them. Our only criticism would be the food. We did enjoy the local dishes on the menu & the lake caught fish. However, we found that there was too much food on the ready plated meals & it was quite heavy food with not enough fruit & vegetables. It is embarassing to leave food in a country as poor as Malawi but we had no option but to do this.

Pumulani was a great place to relax & unwind after 9 nights on safari & we did thoroughly enjoy it."

"We hadn't really been looking forward to Lusaka but actually quite enjoyed it. The Taj Pamodzi was a good base, an easy 30 minute drive from the airport with very efficient transfers by Ndola Voyagers. The room was a typical business hotel room but was quiet for an early night with an early start the next day.

We ate lunch, dinner & breakfast in the Jacarunda coffee shop & all were quite good particulary the Indian buffet. Being in Lusaka, we were able to do some last minute shopping in the Kabwata cultural village, a good way to spend a couple of hours."