Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Warks

"We spent the first 3 nights of our 10 day trip at Nkwali. The short transfer time from Mfuwe airport appealed to us and any reservations we may have had about Nkwali not being within the National Park were soon dispelled. On our first night we were woken by an elephant passing by our room and we had great game sightings on both sides of the river throughout our stay. Most memorably we found ourselves at the start of a morning walk in the middle of a wild dog hunt - fortunately it was not us they were chasing! We also saw a herd of 29 giraffe on one game drive - amazing.

We had reason to visit a local village and Project Luangwa and Robin Pope Safaris could not have been more helpful in facilitating this, for which we are extremely grateful. Many thanks to Karen Beattie, Fwilane and Fred.

The accommodation and catering were very good and the guiding excellent. A great start to our holiday."

"Although we have stayed at nearly all the Bushcamp Company camps on previous safaris, we had not been to Kapamba before. It was a shame that the main river road was still too wet to drive, as the alternative route from Mfuwe Lodge was more or less game free. When we eventually arrived we were welcomed by Julius, who we had met before at Zungulila, and he showed us to our chalet, which was superb. We were very lucky to have a lovely raised day bed area overlooking the river.

We enjoyed great walks and game drives, including sightings of two very bloated male lions. All credit to Fanuel, Elijah and Bottle for finding the lions and the remains of their buffalo carcass in the thick, tall grass.

Julius and his team looked after us really well at Kapamba and without wishing to go into too much detail (spoiler alert!!) they sprang a couple of lovely surprises on us. Very enjoyable 3 nights."

"We ended our holiday with 4 nights at Old Mondoro where we spent 2 magical nights in 2005. We were not disappointed by our return trip. Although it does not feel quite as 'remote' as before (because of updated facilities) the location remains stunning. The rooms and catering are excellent.

Our game viewing started in spectacular style on the transfer in from the airstrip when James spotted a female leopard lounging on a branch. When we thought she was going to leave she simply turned around and presented us with her other side. Later during our visit we were treated to a similar sighting of a very relaxed male leopard.

As well as walks and game drives we took a river trip and had great views of elephants crossing and playing in the water. There is much to be seen while in the camp with animals and birds passing through and enjoying the lagoon.

Old Mondoro is still a very special place to stay."

"We had booked an overnight stop at Mfuwe Lodge en route to Zungulila. Having already travelled for 24 hours from UK we were ready for a rest before continuing on for our main safari.

Mfuwe Lodge fitted the bill exactly - we had a very nice dinner followed by an early night and a game drive next morning before departing for Zungulila after brunch."

"We started our 9 night safari with The Bushcamp Company at Zungulila after a 3.5 hour transfer/game drive from Mfuwe Lodge. What a wonderful location and a very warm welcome from Julius and the staff.

We were shown to our accommodation, which was excellent, including a plunge pool for each 'chalet'. Although Julius made it very clear that this would be filled on request, I feel it would go down much better with guests if it was already filled. Other than that, you couldn't ask for much better accommodation.

We were woken at 5.45am every morning for a walk. Kelvin was our guide, Mike was our ranger and Moffat brought up the rear with water, tea, coffee and snacks. The walks were fabulous - it is just wonderful being part of the bush and taking in everything around you. Kelvin was very knowledgeable and pointed out all sorts of interesting things.

Back to camp at about 10.30am for brunch at 11.00am, then siesta until tea at 4.00pm followed by a game drive, sundowners and a night drive before returning to camp for dinner at 8.00pm.

Game viewing was amazing - we saw everything we expected to and then some besides.

About the only downside was the tsetse flies which are very active in this area and they welcomed us with bites galore!

The highlight (?) of our stay was when returning to the Land Rover after a walk one day there was a large bull elephant grazing next to the vehicle who saw us and started making his way inquisitively towards us. We tried hiding behind a bush, hoping he would move away, but that didn't work! Then we all got into a gully and 'hid' but that didn't work either! He wasn't being aggressive, just curious, but he was getting too close for comfort. In the end, ranger Mike became Rambo and fired a warning shot in the air, which stopped the elephant. Mike then followed up by leaping out of the gully and shouting and clapping at the elephant, who beat a swift retreat enabling us to get in the Land Rover in safety. Wow!

On our last full day, instead of driving after tea, we were to take a short walk directly from the camp, then return to camp for sundowners before going on a night drive. When we were getting near the camp at the end of our walk, however, we found that Julius and the staff had set up tables and chairs actually in the Kapamba river for us to enjoy our sundowners. A lovely touch which just served to reinforce our delight at a fabulous stay at Zungulila."

"This was the 2nd camp on our safari at The Bushcamp Company camps and we were bowled over when we arrived to see the fabulous location and layout. The 'chalets' are sited around 3 water holes and you don't really need to go out of camp to see a whole fabulous range of animals and birds. Just amazing! We were lucky to be staying in 'chalet' number 4, which I would suggest is the best location as it overlooks all 3 water holes. Other 'chalets' do not have such a comprehensive outlook, although they are all huge and very luxurious and overlook at least one water hole.

There was a similar regime - wake up at 5.30am for breakfast and a walk, returning at about 10.30am for brunch at 11.00am. Then siesta until game drive at 4.00pm, sundowners, then return for dinner and early night! The evening drives tended to last somewhat longer than at other camps, mainly due we think to Manda (our guide) wanting to find absolutely everything possible for us to see.

There was a temporary manager Ian, as Katie was having a well deserved break, so it probably was not reasonable to expect everything to run as efficiently as normal. Whilst everyone looked after us perfectly well, there were a couple of small glitches (like laundry not being done one day) that probably wouldn't usually happen. Having said that, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and would not hesitate to return to this fabulous camp.

As well as being visited quite often by a variety of wildlife, the camp enjoys (?) the very close attention of a group of 3 elephants, who regularly get very close to feed on 'biscuits' from the winterthorn tree. At brunch one day, they were so close that they were picking up 'biscuits' from no more than 1 metre away from one of the guests (Roland) whilst he was sitting at the table! Consequently, walking around camp during the day can be challenging, interesting and exhilarating at the same time!

Unlike the other camps we visited, Bilimungwe actually took chairs on the game drive after tea so that we could sip our gin and tonics in total comfort at sundown - a very nice touch we thought even though we don't expect that level of pampering.

One of the highlights of our stay was enjoying our sundowner drinks (in the chairs!) whilst watching 31 elephants, ncluding one very tiny baby, crossing the river.

When we left camp for the last time, all the staff came out to say goodbye and they treated us to a wonderful song about Bili - fantastic!

All in all, a fabulous camp with fabulous game viewing that we will remember for a long time."

"Our last 3 nights on this safari were spent at Chamilandu. Sue and I had stayed here before, 9 years ago, and we were hoping that our 3 friends would like it as much as we did. We needn't have worried - it was as good as ever.

Akim and his staff gave us a warm welcome and it says something about the camp that at least two of the staff (Doc and George the chef) were here last time we came. Indeed, I believe they have been at Chamilandu for over 20 years!

James guided us on some lovely walks each morning, accompanied by rangers xxxxx or xxxxx and Mulenga carrying the supplies. James deserves special mention as arguably being the most knowledgeable guide we have ever spent time with. This, together with his good humour and sympathetic approach to the wildlife made the walks and drives an absolute pleasure. The only flaw that James has is that he supports the wrong rugby playing nation!!

The food was delicious, the accommodation fantastic and the water hole at the camp is well worth spending siesta time at - too much going on to waste time napping!

However, it may not be a bad idea to try to provide some sort of cover for the bathroom area of the 'chalet' we stayed in, as a night time visit to the loo risked being spattered by baboons also 'visiting the loo'!

Our highlight was probably our last evening drive, where we watched a pride of 9 lions, including a large male, at the start of a hunt. We didn't stay to watch the almost inevitable kill (unlike lots of people, this is not our top priority) but it was a really special time. Add to that the fact that we had seen 5 other lions earlier in the day, including two small cubs, and it wasn't a bad last day at all.

Will we be back for a 3rd time? Well we certainly would not hesitate to visit again if the finances support it!"

"We had 3 nights at Mapula Lodge in November 2009 - our first camp of 3 on this trip - and from the moment that Josiah and John picked us up at the airstrip we had a fabulous time. The camp and guiding staff were all very friendly, the manager (Dudu) was charming and we very much liked the fact that it is very much a 'local' enterprise. There is no doubt that this is a very happy camp - we felt very much at home and thoroughly enjoyed a very relaxed atmosphere.

The camp facilities (lounge and dining areas, plunge pool, bush bar) were excellent and our 'cabin' (Number 4) was spacious, clean and well appointed. It came with king size bed with mosquito net, easy chairs/settee with coffee table, tin bath, two tin wash basins, WC and outdoor shower. On the deck outside were two large wooden chairs where we could relax and enjoy the lagoon and its resident hippos. One small issue with the chairs on the deck - you had to move them around to keep in the shade during siesta time and eventually you ran out of shade!

We have seen other comments about the 'variable' quality of the food at Mapula - we thought the food was absolutely fine. I wouldn't go so far as to say gourmet quality, but very, very nice, plenty of it and no problems whatsoever.

The guiding/tracking was excellent - Josiah and John were very knowledgable and good company. We enjoyed game drives, a guided walk and a mokoro trip with them and enjoyed every minute. Game viewing was excellent - including lion, elephant, impala, kudu, black backed jackal, giraffe, hippo, leopard, zebra, ostrich, buffalo, tsessebe, red lechwe, warthog, waterbuck, wildebeest, civet, steenbok, vervet monkey, water monitor and slender mongoose. Birds too were fabulous - far too may to list, but we were very happy to see such a variety.

Game drives at Mapula come with the added bonus (??) of the infamous bridge! The first time or two going over the bridge is a very interesting, enjoyable and quirky experience - then it becomes a sheer necessity and by the end of your stay it is a bit of a pain to be honest. Hopefully it won't be too long before it is improved?

Overall though, we very much enjoyed Mapula Lodge and we would not hesitate to return."

"We had 3 nights at Khwai Tented Camp in November 2009 - our second camp of 3 on this trip. We were picked up from the airstrip by our guide Pilot and driven 10 minutes to the camp, where we were greeted in song by the camp staff - a lovely welcome!

The camp is quite small (only 4 tents) and is quite different to the more typical permanent cabin type structures in other camps. It is, however, exactly what we were hoping for in that it is more basic and you feel closer to the animals and your surroundings. The tents are perfectly large enough for two substantial beds, bedside tables, storage chests etc. with a wash basin and flush WC in the adjoining 'room'. The outdoor bucket shower was perfectly adequate and provided plenty of water for the two of us to shower comfortably and the very willing staff would fill it up with hot water on request. A shaded area with chairs at the front of the tent was much appreciated during siesta.

The communal dining tent had 24 hour bar and tea and coffee areas, together with comfortable settee/chairs with coffee table and supply of books and magazines. Outside the dining tent was a fire area with seating and a hammock. The camp overlooked the River Khwai with a wooded area on the far side.

The camp staff were very efficient and friendly and could not have looked after us better. Nothing was too much trouble and we couldn't have asked for more. The food was absolutely magnificent - cooked by Thaelo and served by Joe. Without doubt the best food of our stay in Botswana - and the other camps were pretty good! Salvation and the other staff were pleasant, cheerful and very efficient. We wrote some very favourable comments in the guest book but were surprised to be told that the staff were discouraged from reading the book! I can't help thinking this is a bit short sighted.

The guiding was excellent - Pilot was very knowledgable and good company. We enjoyed game drives and a guided walk with him - game viewing was excellent - including lion, elephant, impala, kudu, leopard tortoise, giraffe, cheetah, hippo, leopard, zebra, side striped jackal, wildcat, baboon, buffalo, tsessebe, red lechwe, warthog, waterbuck, dwarf mongoose, spring hare, honey badger, vervet monkey, crocodile. Birds too were fabulous - far too may to list, but we were very happy to see such a variety.

We very much enjoyed Khwai Tented Camp and we would not hesitate to return."

"We had 3 nights at Lebala Camp in November 2009 - our last camp of 3 on this trip. The communal camp facilities (lounge and dining areas, plunge pool, bar) were excellent and our 'cabin' was enormous and luxurious. It came with a super large king size bed, easy chairs/settee with coffee tables, desk and stools, free standing bath, two wash basins, WC and 2 outdoor showers. On the deck outside were two deckchairs where we could relax and enjoy the view.

The camp was the largest of the 3 we visited and felt a little less 'personal' than the others, although everyone was very friendly and helpful. The food was good without being outstanding but attention to detail in the catering department was sometimes a little lax, with items running out and not being replaced. There was a somewhat inflexible attitude as well, for example we were told that we could only do a walk if the other people in our 'group' (this was a group that was imposed on us!) agreed to walk. Luckily they agreed, as we had specifically asked for guided walks when booking and would have been unhappy not to be able to do so.

The guiding/tracking was excellent - Spencer and Simon were very knowledgable and good company. We had game drives and a guided walk with them and enjoyed every minute. Game viewing was excellent - including elephant, wild dogs, impala, kudu, reedbuck, giraffe, hyena, hippo, zebra, ostrich, red lechwe, warthog, waterbuck, wildebeest, steenbok, water monitor and slender mongoose. Birds too were fabulous - far too may to list, but we were very happy to see such a variety.

I would echo other peoples' comments on the vehicles - we would have preferred a roof (especially in 38 degrees and/or torrential rain) and can see no advantage in not having one, also if there are 6 people in one vehicle (most we had is 5) it would be pretty cramped.

We enjoyed Lebala Camp, but not as much as the other camps we visited in Botswana."