Travel reviews by Mrs J. from Cookstown

"This small camp set on the edge of a lagoon was everything we had hoped for. With only 4 tents, it is an intimate location where nothing is too much trouble.

On arrival at Shinde airstrip, we were met by our guide for the next 5 days (and a lone tsessebe) and the news that a leopard had been found very close by and so we made our way there. This was to set the tone for our stay as the abundance of wildlife and birds meant that we saw everything we could possibly wish for including leopards, lions (in trees and on the ground), wild dogs, elephants, hyena, secretary bird, Pel's fishing owl, etc.

On arrival at the camp we received a very warm welcome from Priscilla and were made to feel instantly at home. Our tent was spacious and had a large deck from which we would sit and watch any passing wildlife during those times between game drives. The camp also had a plunge pool which we found to be a great way of cooling off during the middle of the day.

Our guide, Innocent, was a great enthusiast with a superb knowledge which he was very willing to share, teaching us how to identify different animals tracks and trying to enable us (without much success!) to identify the different types of egrets we came across. He was also a keen photographer and again was willing to share what he knew with us.

The food, along with the service, was excellent and everyone was involved including the chef and waiter who would introduce the evening meal and wine selection each night. Overall, out stay at Shinde footsteps was everything we could have hoped for and more."

"From the moment we arrived at the Linyanti airstrip this location exceeded our expectations, delivering the first of many highlights in the form of an unexpected, 15 minute helicopter transfer to the Expeditions camp.

On arrival we were welcomed by the Obie and her staff singing a song of welcome before sitting down to a lovely buffet lunch. The food throughout our stay was excellent and varied and the atmosphere in camp was very relaxed and friendly. The facilities at this camp were less luxurious than at our previous one but provided an authentic, bush experience which included sleeping in the gazebo style, star suite extension to our tent on 3 of the 4 nights we were here. As we were not looking for a spa experience in the bush this was right up our street!

The abundance of wildlife here was astonishing. It seemed like the lions had an all you can eat buffet every day! There was so much prey about that they would abandon their meal without finishing and move on to the next. The result was that there were a large number of partially eaten carcasses throughout the area, which we would often smell before seeing! We were lucky enough to see a large male lion and 2 lionesses hunt successfully (two separate hunts), any number of elephants and numerous very small babies and, on one very lucky occasion came across a cheetah (which transit through the area) who watched a lioness pass close by.

As experienced safari goers, we were also privileged to see 2 new types of cat - a serval and a civet."