Travel reviews by rullesteg from Switzerland
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
4
Excursions taken
0
Great safari.
Botswana between 17 Oct 2010 and 27 Oct 2010
"Overall, our expectations were exceeded on most fronts. There are 2 minor issues, which bothered us:
1. Tipping. It seemed odd to us to pay between 400-700 dollars pp and day and then be expected to pay another 5-15$ pp and day for the guide and something for the staff.
Of course, everybody emphasizes one does not HAVE to tip, but that does not really make all that much sense. Either tipping is common and therefore expected, i.e. part of a guide's salary - in which case those 5-15$ should simply be added to the bill as a matter of course, and from the outset - or it is not, in which case the practice should be rather discouraged.
2. The song & dance routine upon arrival at the Ker & Downey camps. This is obviously not a serious issue, but rather by the by.
We cringed a little each time we were welcomed by the camp's staff with a welcoming sond and dance routine . Not because the singing and dancing was bad (it wasn't bad at all), but it was a bit too much for us. And we were far from the only one guests who felt that way.
Something for the camps to think about maybe."
1. Tipping. It seemed odd to us to pay between 400-700 dollars pp and day and then be expected to pay another 5-15$ pp and day for the guide and something for the staff.
Of course, everybody emphasizes one does not HAVE to tip, but that does not really make all that much sense. Either tipping is common and therefore expected, i.e. part of a guide's salary - in which case those 5-15$ should simply be added to the bill as a matter of course, and from the outset - or it is not, in which case the practice should be rather discouraged.
2. The song & dance routine upon arrival at the Ker & Downey camps. This is obviously not a serious issue, but rather by the by.
We cringed a little each time we were welcomed by the camp's staff with a welcoming sond and dance routine . Not because the singing and dancing was bad (it wasn't bad at all), but it was a bit too much for us. And we were far from the only one guests who felt that way.
Something for the camps to think about maybe."
Arranged By Lucy Copson
Kanana
"Staying with elephants in Kanana"
2 nights
Arrived
17 Oct 2010
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Shinde Footsteps
"With Dougie Wright at Footsteps"
2 nights
Arrived
19 Oct 2010
"Having Dougie Wright as our guide, and having him to ourselves (we were the only guests) was the highlight of our trip - he knows the bush and the wildlife better than most, and his enthusiasm about it is very infectious.
Accomodation and facilities are simple, which is part of the point (and the charm) of Footsteps. The meals at Footsteps are prepared over a glorified fireplace - but the food was still every bit as sophisticated and tasty as at the luxury lodges we stayed at before and after.
It was exciting for us (and for Dougie) that we managed to spot a Pel's Fishing Owl family, including a chick, not to mention 100-odd other kinds of birds, lots & lots of elephants, antelopes, warthogs and a couple of lions."
Accomodation and facilities are simple, which is part of the point (and the charm) of Footsteps. The meals at Footsteps are prepared over a glorified fireplace - but the food was still every bit as sophisticated and tasty as at the luxury lodges we stayed at before and after.
It was exciting for us (and for Dougie) that we managed to spot a Pel's Fishing Owl family, including a chick, not to mention 100-odd other kinds of birds, lots & lots of elephants, antelopes, warthogs and a couple of lions."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Shinde Camp
"Shinde"
3 nights
Arrived
21 Oct 2010
"Beautiful camp, especially the main area with its several levels surrounded by trees. Very friendly staff. We thought the quality of the food was generally very good, but there were a few dips.
We had a wonderful guide, Relax, mostly to ourselves, thanks to the manager who figured that sending out birders (us) together with non-birders (all the other guests) was probably less than ideal.
The boat trip to the heronry was a bit disappointing, which probably had a lot to do with our trip to the Kanana heronry a few days earlier (which is a lot bigger).
Those motor boats seem to have technical issues worryingly often (not just at Shinde, apparently: it seemed every traveller we talked to had his own war story to tell). On this particular trip, we only ran out of gas, and there was an extra canister on board, so it wasn't particularly dramatic. It still meant that our boat was drifting for 5-10 minutes, in a stretch of water with hippos and the occasional elephant crossing.
The following day a boat ride had to be aborted because the engine caught fire. We restricted ourselves to game drives after that, and they were great throughout."
We had a wonderful guide, Relax, mostly to ourselves, thanks to the manager who figured that sending out birders (us) together with non-birders (all the other guests) was probably less than ideal.
The boat trip to the heronry was a bit disappointing, which probably had a lot to do with our trip to the Kanana heronry a few days earlier (which is a lot bigger).
Those motor boats seem to have technical issues worryingly often (not just at Shinde, apparently: it seemed every traveller we talked to had his own war story to tell). On this particular trip, we only ran out of gas, and there was an extra canister on board, so it wasn't particularly dramatic. It still meant that our boat was drifting for 5-10 minutes, in a stretch of water with hippos and the occasional elephant crossing.
The following day a boat ride had to be aborted because the engine caught fire. We restricted ourselves to game drives after that, and they were great throughout."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Meno A Kwena
"Mixed impression at Meno A Kwena"
3 nights
Arrived
24 Oct 2010
"The camp is beautiful, everything feels like it has been lovingly and minutely designed - which I suppose it has.
The location struck us as both great and less than ideal. Great, because the camp sits 30m above a river used by lots of animals, allowing for superb game viewing while sitting in the shade with a cold beer. Less than ideal because it takes half an hour by car to get to the start of the actual game drives - not a particularly exciting half hour on the highway, that is.
David Dugmore, the owner and manager of the camp, struck us as rather more interested in his friends than in his guests. While we didn't really expect him to hold our hand all the time we stayed at his camp, it did bother us that we weren't asked what we would like to do, but simply presented with the program - which amounted to one game drive per day. This meant we were back at the camp at around 2.30 one day and around 3.30 the other - and that was it for that day.
We had a little discussion with David about walks. While we agreed that a guide with a gun, but without the proper training, is worse than a guide without a gun, we weren't happy with the idea of going on a walking safari with an unarmed guide. David then told us that, no matter what, the following day the program would be a drive anyway, no walk. And that was that.
Our guide, Max, was superb and equipped with a quirky sense of humor - and apparently the only guide the camp has at the moment. The first day, we drove off at 6am, with the idea of having breakfast in the bush. Which was fine, except for some reason we only had breakfast at 10.45 (our own fault to some degree: we should have piped up, I suppose, instead of just waiting for Max to finally stop for the food).
The second day, we had breakfast in the camp and started the drive at 7.30 - presumably, because it was supposed to be an all-day drive. In retrospect, we don't think this is a good way to organized the day - it's too late to start, and visibly exhausting both for the guide and for us."
The location struck us as both great and less than ideal. Great, because the camp sits 30m above a river used by lots of animals, allowing for superb game viewing while sitting in the shade with a cold beer. Less than ideal because it takes half an hour by car to get to the start of the actual game drives - not a particularly exciting half hour on the highway, that is.
David Dugmore, the owner and manager of the camp, struck us as rather more interested in his friends than in his guests. While we didn't really expect him to hold our hand all the time we stayed at his camp, it did bother us that we weren't asked what we would like to do, but simply presented with the program - which amounted to one game drive per day. This meant we were back at the camp at around 2.30 one day and around 3.30 the other - and that was it for that day.
We had a little discussion with David about walks. While we agreed that a guide with a gun, but without the proper training, is worse than a guide without a gun, we weren't happy with the idea of going on a walking safari with an unarmed guide. David then told us that, no matter what, the following day the program would be a drive anyway, no walk. And that was that.
Our guide, Max, was superb and equipped with a quirky sense of humor - and apparently the only guide the camp has at the moment. The first day, we drove off at 6am, with the idea of having breakfast in the bush. Which was fine, except for some reason we only had breakfast at 10.45 (our own fault to some degree: we should have piped up, I suppose, instead of just waiting for Max to finally stop for the food).
The second day, we had breakfast in the camp and started the drive at 7.30 - presumably, because it was supposed to be an all-day drive. In retrospect, we don't think this is a good way to organized the day - it's too late to start, and visibly exhausting both for the guide and for us."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
The only thing that made the experience less than perfect was that our guide seemed on edge a lot of the time. Maybe the chemistry between us, maybe that's just how the guy is. Which was a pity because we never had any doubts about his competence in the bush: he most certainly knew his wildlife, and we never felt less than safe but it did detract from enjoying the trips with him occasionally.
Having said that, we had a great time in Kanana, with 2 activities standing out in particular:
First, the boat trip to the heronry, which is simply astounding (seeing the one at Shinde after this one was rather disappointing).
And second, a mokoro trip in the morning, something Kanana came recommended for - and rightfully so."