Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Texas

"Excellent stay at Muchenje Lodge. The managers, Joy and Robert, and assistant managers Ditnau and Andy, are accommodating, enthusiastic and joyful. The rooms are nice,and air conditioned, and had a great scenic location. The wifi in the lodge is a nice touch. The food was plentiful, imaginative,and very good.

Our guide Kabela was a good driver and aside from the usual animals he found us sleeping elephants one morning and the rare Puku antelopes. He found Marula fruit (we were curious after drinking Amarula) and indulged my passion for Baobab trees.

One morning we requested a packed breakfast so that we could stay out until lunch and that was no problem for the staff.

We had elephants in camp on several days which was pretty exciting."

"Our road transfer from Muchenje Lodge in Botswana to Ilala Lodge in Zimbabwe was quite an ordeal. Our driver from Chobezi-Hylton Ross Safari Touring was absolutely invaluable in helping us through the chaotic and intimating Zimbabwe border crossing. The driver Luckson on the Zimbabwe side was also excellent

Ilala Lodge was a pleasant step back in time. The colonial pictures and atmosphere of the public rooms was charming. The bed and bath was comfortable and clean. Front desk staff were very helpful.

We walked from the hotel to Victoria Falls, about 10 minutes."

"Our driver Victor from Victoria Falls Tour Link was great in getting us through the Police road blocks between Victoria Falls and Main Camp at Hwange National Park. I can not say the same for the men that picked us up from African Bush Camps Somalisa Camp. We were stuffed into the back seat of an old land rover, windows only partially working, with part of our luggage. The two camp employees had the front seats fully extended backwards so that we had less leg room than on an airplane. The employees proceeded to chat and regale one another for the two hours of the trip. We finally had to interupt and request a stop to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

Upon arriving at Somalisa we were warmly greeted by Shane, Johnny, Sandra, and Nick. We never saw Johnny or Nick again, and Sandra left the next day; so although Shane took excellent care of us they seemed to be short handed. That being said, for two days all the guests in camp toured in one safari vehicle, seven of us, a bit crowded to say the least. Obviously there was not other driver/guide for us in camp.

The safari drives had a limited area to roam in and they tended to be repetitive, the same waterholes morning and evening. Michael was really into tracking lions and wasn't too interested in stopping for us to photograph other animals.

On the morning of our departure, about halfway into our two hour return to Main Camp our safari vehicle broke down. After about a half hour a vehicle from another camp came by and offered to help with repairs. After another half hour a supply truck from our camp came by an took us on to the pick up point. Break downs can happen anywhere. I think the age and run down condition of the vehicles at Somalisa camp was a major contributing factor.

There is a bright spot. On our final evening Shane had organized a lamp-lite dinner on the deck beside the pool and in the full moon elephants came and drank from the pool as we were sitting there, truly magic. Well done Shane!!!"

"Julian and Ashley run a great camp in Hwange National Park. They are on a private concession that is about 5 miles in diameter. Julian is absolutely fearless in tracking lion here in thick brush, with us along for the thrill ride. Every day we explored a different area of the concession or the park. We saw kopies, salt pan dams, hides, crocodile pools, Robbins Camp, and hidden water holes. During night drives we even found owls!

Ashley and Sheema did a fine job with a brand new cook. Washington, a guide trainee is a delight.

We would highly recommend this camp"

"Knowledgeable guide, Vasco, and San bushman tracker, Shoes, made for lively discussions on our drives. Aside from large herds of migrating zebra and springbok, not much game. The staff were helpful and accommodating, especially the manager, Janet. The insulated rooms helped tremously in the hot, hot temperature, and our large bed was very comfortable. The pool was cloudy and questionable for swimming (we chose not to). The evening when the staff entertained us was very special. Due to the weather this turned out to be the only camp that had evening campfires which we thoroughly enjoy.

My one disappointment was my own fault: I had chosen Nxai Pan Camp because of it's proximity to Baines Baobabs. We had been in South Africa for more than one month before our first safari camp in Botswana, and I had not reviewed my notes, and I forgot that this was the camp for the baobabs! No staff at the camp ever mentioned the baobabs or that a day trip there was an option. So, I missed my only opportunity to see Baines Baobabs.

We spent considerable time searching and watching for the pride of 7 lions that resided at the camp. We saw them twice at a new zebra kill.

Although we enjoyed our time here we would not return to this camp. The scenry becomes monotonous and the animals are too few."

"This was the most crowded camp (ie, number of guests), and you had the feeling of being just a body in so and so's jeep to the camp staff. However, that said, our guide/ driver OP was very personable and looked after us and our jeep mates on our drives. Our bed was comfortable, the tent was picturesque, but a somewhat weird layout in the bathroom (you walked thru the wet shower area to get to the open closet, sinks, and toilet areas). Of course it was the rainy season and everything inside the tent, including our clothes, always felt slightly damp. The common areas were nicely decorated and I found a great small book to read in the library.

Our walk and demonstration of skills by a San bushman was intresting and entertaining, although I don't think the nice young man was a bushman. Our guide/driver tried very hard at finding game but there was not much around, and what we saw was usually spoted by another guide and we were called to the spot later. We enjoyed the drive in Deception Valley, having read all of the Owen's books.

The most numerous animals were springbok and the herds of migrating oryx. We spent considerable time searching for the resident cheetahs.

We enjoyed our days here and feel lucky to say we have been to the Kalahari desert. Visiting in the rainy season here was in some ways spectular. You could see storms building up and coming toward you from a long distance. We had several amazing sunsets. Having once been here we would not return to this area; there is little variation in the scenery and not many animals."

"I thought that this would be my favorite camp for it's over-the-top tree-house rooms, but it was not. The rooms are very picturesque, unique, and comfortable. The common areas are well designed; the only improvement would be two restrooms instead of one.

We went through some magnificent thunderstorms and torrential rain here. The safari vehicles had insulated rain ponchos which kept us dry(mostly) and warm; and our guide kept his good humor driving the flooded tracks. Believe it or not this was fun, being out in the downpour watching the animals. Our guide was an excellent driver in these conditions. He also made a good boat captain with a vast knowledge of the fauna in the delta. Although we are not bird watchers it was interesting to hear our guide locate, identify and give us all the particulars on the hundreds of bird species we saw. We saw thousands of red lechwe, and smaller numbers of lion, zebra, wildebeest, bushbuck, and elephant.

We had some aggravations with the staff. On our first night in camp the staff had left on lights in our room when they were there for turndown service, and when we retired 4 hours later the room had thousands(really) of white moths. The next morning we mentioned this to the manager, he apologized, said it would not happen again. For the next two evenings the lights were again left on, the only difference being that we now checked as soon as we returned from the evening game drive and turned them off.

The camp also had some equipment shortages/breakdowns. Due to car problems, we were scheduled one morning to go on a game drive with two professional photographers, who planned on spending 4 hours in one spot filming lechwe jumping over water-submerged roads. We did not do that. We and our fellow jeep mates were also asked to give up our scheduled boat trip for two Wilderness Safari communications employees who were making one night visits to a number of camps (due to afternoon rains, the morning was the only reliable time for a boat trip). After the 4 of us protested another boat was borrowed from Jao camp.

There was also a problem of bugs in the food. All of our camps in Botswana had more or less open dining areas and they all had bugs flying about in the evenings when you're eating by candlelight. We have been on safari before and we expected this. However at Kwetsani when you have 4 drowned moths in your soup every evening, and 4 or 5 insects on your plate eating your food with you every evening, it is time to redesign your dining area.

The junior management team seemed to act in a professional manner, but the temporary managers (filling in for a vacationing manger) seem to be out of their league. They seem to be creating a fraternity house atmosphere, way left of casual or laid back.

After all this is said, these are minor problems and we enjoyed our stay at Kwetsani. Would we come back to this area? Probably not. This is a bird lovers paradise and we would rather watch large mammals. It is also a 'water camp' that becomes quite flooded during rainy season, which is an adventure one time."

"Selinda camp was a little difficult to get to; their airstrip was flooded so we landed at Lebala airstrip. But once we got there, it was a great camp. The tents were a little tired but very nicely decorated with great mosquito nets that had openings marked with sewn in shells (if you have ever tried to find your way out of a mosquito net in the dark you would appreciate this). The indoor/outdoor bathroom is unique and once you realize that the open shower throws water in a wide circle you allow for that. The common areas are well designed and have unique features in the dining tables, and in a sitting area used for tea. The staff seem genuinely interested in you as an individual and are the most efficient that we encountered in the 4 camps. The food was also the best of the 4 camps.

The camp managers, David and Alice, are capable, professional, and a lot of fun. We had the best "social evenings" at this camp mainly due to David and Alice's conversational skill at putting folks at ease. A few camp-wide problems arose during our stay but Alice or David always apprised the guests of the situation, so everyone knew what was going on, and there were few difficulties.

Our guide, Jonah, was the best that we had among all 4 camps. He was a great tracker in very difficult terrain, and he was an excellent driver in very difficult terrain. Jonah was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna in this area. We once again had some downpours during our game drives, but Jonah managed to make this interesting and even enjoyable. He once provided coffee on the vehicle in the rain as we watched over 30 hippos cavorting in a lake.

Our only problem here was the drive to the airstrip at the end of our visit. Selinda and it's neighbor's air strips were flooded so we and another couple would need to be driven to another strip that was usually 40 minutes away but with the recent rains it would take maybe 2 hours. It was decided we would combine this 2-hour trip with a game drive. The plane was due at 12:30 and we were to leave at 8:30. The driver and vehicle got stuck in mud at camp so we had to get another vehicle, so our departure was a little after nine. The only extended stop for photo's was made by the driver who wanted to photograph a lechwe that hung out with bush buck.

About 2 hours into this drive the guide (who had not been our camp guide/driver) said we were behind schedule and he had to drive very fast to make it to the air strip. This was a drive from hell! Sitting right behind him we could see that he was going sometimes 40 miles an hour on this bush track. He would brake suddenly with no warning and throw us out of our seats. If a large animal had stepped into the track, we would have hit it due to our speed. This was the most dangerous aspect of our trip. If someone had driven like this on a game drive we would have refused to drive with them again.

We would return to this area again, there were many animals and the area is diverse and lovely."

"The rooms have no good lighting, not direct sunlight or lamps. It had a dark and gloomy feel. It was also so far from the city center that we felt it was too much of a bother to go into town. Decor needs updating. However, the staff were great at the office, and we had a pleasant meal at the restuarant.

The transportation service from Maun airport to the hotel and back was excellent."