Travel reviews by Mr S & Mrs K from UK

"We stayed at the Southern Sun before and after our safari.

The room was comfortable and we were particularly grateful that they allowed us to keep the room until our 8pm journey to the airport.

Breakfast was good, including bacon, sausage and eggs. We also had a couple of meals in the restaurant, which were also fine.

The hotel is next to the Botanical Gardens, which we thought would be good, but the gardens were a huge disappointment - a few interesting trees, but very little else."

"We visited Stanley's Kopje for two nights before travelling on to Selous. We found our accommodation very comfortable with good views over the park.

The dining room is a steep climb up from the tents and the climb is not something we'd want to do on a regular basis. The food was fine, main courses being provided on a buffet basis.

We do feel that some improvements could be made for visitors going into the reserve. Breakfast was not available until 7am and there was no facility for coffee and biscuits for those wishing to leave earlier. There would seem to be no reason why these could not be provided in the reception area from (say) 6am. On the plus side, we were provided with coffee in our tent at 6.30am on the day we were leaving.

The Mikumi reserve seems to us to be very underrated. We saw lots of mammals and birds, including the only leopard we saw on the entire trip."

"This camp really lived up to its billing as one that concentrated on the safari experience without any unnecessary extras.

Shawn and Milli are excellent hosts, friendly and well organised. Game drives and boat trips on Lake Manze were always available. You just had to decide the evening before what you wanted to do. A short walk (largely based on botany and dung identification!) was also worth doing.

The location is very good for wildlife with elephants walking through the camp and regular sightings of genets from the dinner table. The guiding and driving were good. The tents were comfortable and food good and plentiful."

"The setting for Sand Rivers camp above the Rufiji river is very picturesque. The accommodation is luxurious.

The food was good, although we actually preferred the rather more rustic approach to dining at Lake Manze.

The guiding was good, but we did feel that there could have been more discussion with us regarding the activities available. We had booked one night at the fly camp and had a river trip up to Stiegler's Gorge, both of which were excellent; otherwise, it was just assumed that we'd go on game drives. On the last evening we did ask for a short river trip, which was arranged and was very pleasant.

The range of wildlife is good, although not as good as at Lake Manze."

"We came to our lakeside fly camp after an early evening game drive. The fire was already going and chairs and a bar set out for us.

We had a net to sleep under and (reasonably) comfortable beds to sleep in. There was also a tent to get changed in, which can serve as alternative sleeping accommodation, if the whole experience is too scary (it wasn't). Our guide had his own tent, although he stayed awake all night to watch out for danger and to escort us to the toilet. A bucket shower was also available.

There was a team of about half a dozen other camp employees to prepare the food and to carry out the other necessary duties. They provided an excellent dinner and breakfast.

The only nighttime disturbance came from a few noisy impala, although we did hear lion and hyena some distance away.

A very worthwhile experience."

"See our earlier review. [Ed: see below]"

"Comfortable accommodation.

Friendly and helpful owner.

Game drive OK as a first day drive, but wouldn't have been worth it after seeing wildlife in more productive areas.

Good place to spend first night."

"Fantastic location.

Very friendly and helpful staff. The only place to offer a packed lunch on the day of our departure.

More wildlife than you'd expect.

Can't fault it."

"Good central location. Very helpful owners.

A good place for a break in between long drives.

From Swakopmund, Expert Africa organised a day-trip to Sandwich Harbour for these travellers. They commented:

This is an excellent trip, particularly for someone keen on birds, but also for anyone interested in extraordinary scenery and wildlife.
Ernst was a very informative and friendly driver/guide. As well as the birds we saw lots of jackal and learned a lot about the issues facing the area..

Driving over the dunes was quite an experience.

A very nice lunch was provided, although it didn't quite match the sumptuous feast which I'd imagined, having read previous reviews.
Highly recommended."

"Felt it is an opportunity missed.

The main building feels quite soulless. The organisation doesn't seem up to the standard of other similarly priced lodges.
Star gazing from the roof is advertised, but actually you can see little, due to the lights. Star viewing is much better from one's own hut.

Would be nice to have coffee in the room and for an early morning flask of hot water to be provided. It's a bit of a climb to get a pre-breakfast cuppa otherwise. Activities are ludicrously overpriced.

On the plus side the rooms are very nice, the food fine and the staff friendly."

"Great setting.

Very knowledgable owner/guide.

Plenty of wildlife."

"Accommodation much better than it used to be, although waterside chalet quite small.

Would benefit from facilities for preparing one's own food. You're pretty well obliged to take breakfast (which is surprisingly good and included in the price) and dinner in the dining room.

It is nice that, at least when we were there, breakfast was half an hour before the gates opened. This meant that you could get into the park before the crowds.

The range of stock in the shop is abysmal. Good for water and beer, but that's about it - no coffee!

Waterhole excellent for evening viewing of elephant and rhino in particular."

"Lovely setting. Nice place to relax after driving round Etosha.
Staff very friendly and food excellent.

Guide knowledgable, but not good at judging his audience. In drive round the private reserve, there were too many stops and his explanations were far too detailed.

A few doubts about the operation of the reserve. They've bought in some black wildebeeste, but they haven't thrived. We were told later that they also had problems with a rhino, which had to be sold on."

"The best place we visited. Bruno is a fantastic extremely knowledgable host/guide.

We've been to Southern Africa on quite a few occasions, but still learned a lot.

Walks are very good and (mostly) were adapted to our very low fitnes levels!

Couldn't recommend it more highly."

"Very nice place to end tour.

Wonderful setting among huge boulders. Very good for birds difficult to see elsewhere (Hartlaub's Francolin, Rockrunner, Monteiro's Hornbill, Black Eagle etc.).

Also good views of Porcupine and lots of Rock Dassie.

Staff changed a flat tyre for us."