Travel reviews by Steph from UK

"I had a fantastic time at Machabe camp- it was a really great introduction to safari. The camp itself was very nice and comfortable, the food was great and the staff were extremely welcoming. They organised bush picnics and campfire dinners outside, they sang for us, and we even had dinner with campers from Little Machabe. For the tents, I was disappointed there were no mosquito nets around the bed- the tent has gaps where it closes, and there were A LOT of bugs inside the tent, including on the bed. This is an easy fix. For a couple of days I was the only guest, so I had my own safari vehicle. I went during the off season, so it wasn't too busy- having said that, they do allow self-drivers and share the concession with other camps, so sometimes there were 4 or 5 vehicles around the more "interesting" sightings. At one point, the vehicles were blocking a lion's path and it got a bit distressed. I would not want to come here in high season for this reason, although the area was very rich in game. One thing I will say about the guiding- it definitely wasn't as good as the next camp I went to, and often we would drive around aimlessly for hours without seeing anything- my guide said his technique was to try and cover as much ground as possible. I was able to see leopard twice on my last day, although both times we were radioed over by other vehicles that had found them. Overall a pleasant experience, and if you want to buy souvenirs do it at this camp- the options were much nicer and cheaper than Rra Dinare."

"Rra Dinare was a very nice camp; a lovely setting with great view from the tents. The guiding was superb- Rasta and Ona really knew their stuff, although I saw less at this camp as the area was not as game rich as other areas. We were able to see both leopard and cheetah- very impressive considering how tall the grass was. Camp manager Lex was also very pleasant, and often ate meals with us. I don't know if it was because there were only 2 of us in camp, but the atmosphere was not as good as at Machabe- there were no bush dinners, no singing, and serving staff would stand around awkwardly watching us eat. I preferred the family atmosphere at Machabe. The tent itself was very comfortable and had mosquito nets, however, there was no indoor shower. The camp report on Expert Africa mentioned a bathtub, but there wasn't one. Unfortunately this meant I wasn't able to shower the whole 3 days I was here, as I didn't feel comfortable showering outside during malaria high season. There is wifi in the rooms, but not in the common areas. Tents do not have international charging ports in the room, so whenever I needed to charge I had to do it in the main areas. They really had to search to find me an adaptor (there is no "international charging station" as Expert Africa said) so this would be a problem if more than one person needed to charge. The plugs in the room are very close to the desk, so don't accommodate Apple power bank chargers, even if you have the right plug. Overall a good stay, perhaps more suited to people who want to relax and not interact with others much."