Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs H from Bucks

"We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Sandibe. All the staff are very friendly and helpful. Our guide Tshabo and tracker Bring were excellent and found us all the sightings we were hoping for.

They also provided us with interesting facts about the animals we were seeing and gave us an overview of their tracking skills, helping us to see what they were seeing (although we were still unable to interpret the information as accurately as they did). All the staff at the lodge made sure our stay was luxurious and spoiled us rotten. We can honestly say that we couldn't fault Sandibe or its staff in any way.

Thank you for a wonderful time and we hope to see you again in the near future."

"Xaranna Lodge was a wonder to behold. We had a wonderful stay at Xaranna and had some superb sightings of Leopard. Our guide TJ and tracker Elicious were amazing at spotting leopards in trees. We had two excellent sightings in one drive! Again, TJ had excellent knowledge of the animals and also gave us some very interesting information on Bushman practices and traditions.

We had two very small criticisms of Xaranna, one that we saw very little of the manager Johan at this camp (but possibly influenced by seeing the management at Sandibe regularly) and the second was that Xaranna felt to us a bit too much like a Boutique hotel in the bush. Although most people would find this wonderful (and don't get us wrong, it was), but it somehow lost the 'soul' of what we understand Africa to be about.

Overall, we had a wonderful stay here and all the staff were very professional and friendly. We thoroughly enjoyed our last evening when all the staff came out and sang and danced. We hope they did well at the &Beyond Choir Contest."

"We had a lovely stay at Little Kwara. It felt very intimate as it is such a small lodge and gave us a chance to get to know all the staff well. They were all excellent and very friendly and helpful.

We have a few observations, one that the lack of power in the rooms was a bit inconvenient as cannot charge ones own batteries, this had to be done by the staff in their office. Also, our guide, Piet, who had only just started that week in the area, had a tendency to follow the other vehicles rather than driving and tracking to see what we could find.

As time went on, however, he did seem to get a bit more confidence, however, when other vehicles were around tended to follow them rather than taking the lead, even when we were first on the scene. This meant that photographing became impossible as the only view was the rear view of the animals, in this case, lions. A final point to mention is that the vehicle we were in was of poor quality and the seats were hard and uncomfortable.

Overall though, we had a lovely time, really enjoyed our time with the staff and had some great sightings of lion and cheetahs."

"Lebala is a great camp. We had a good time here, the staff were excellent.

Our guide Tshabo was very good and a wonderful driver. He definitely earned the best driver award for his gentle and consistent driving. He had excellent knowledge about the animals we were seeing and took us to some great spots for good photographic opportunities. We also had one drive with Dutch, who again was very good and knowledgeable about all we were seeing.

The lack of power to the rooms for charging batteries could prove inconvenient, as they need to be charged in the office. The rooms were wonderful, the only downside to the location was the mosquitoes, but despite the discomfort, it is a wonderful camp to stay at with great staff."