Travel reviews by Dr and Mrs P from Greece

"Unfortunately we missed our stay at the Galton House - due to a strike by the Lufthansa pilots we made to Namimbia a day later than our planned arrival date.

As such we went to the House for a quick shower, change of clothes and a short breakfast before heading the road to Etosha. Thus our comments below may be treated as superfluous...."

"I wished we had the chance to experience the activities of the Fort and roam through Onguma.

However, as we had our own private guide we didn’t. Some sightings of fellow travellers seemed to be better in Onguma than in this part ( eastern) part of Etosha.

Regardless, I would strongly recommend a stay of 2-3 nights in the Fort!!"

"Comfortable lodge with very friendly staff in a beaytiful and very scenic setting. Its hideout by the water hole is a great experience.

It will be a very memorable place for us as after 6 safaris in Africa we saw so many rhinos ( mostly white ) in the Ongava reserve. Also the western part of Etosha seemed to have more animals than the eastern part.

It is difficult to settle from the Fort to the Ongava Lodge and thus we may be biased in our review of it. Yet, undoubtedly we would recommend it. Don’t bother visiting the nearby ‘research centre’ unless you are totally bored with everything else and keep in mind that the air-strip is very near the lodge should you decide to fly in or out from there."

"We are so happy that this lodge was proposed to us by Sabina (Expert Africa)! One of the best decorated lobbies of lodges and hotels that we have been and with a very nice dining area ( pity that the food didn’t match it but you cant have it all 😊…).

Extremely friendly and service-orientated staff, including the ‘bubbly’ owner – grateful for pointing out a very nice sauvignon to us and sharing some of his scotch with me. Gorgeous setting, albeit windy, with great activities and very experienced guide with perfect narration style. The sun-downer, one of the best!

A must experience in this area of Namibia – tow nights will suffice to our view."

"Nice small hotel with friendly staff. Huge bed it takes up most of the room. Well located to take a stroll in this part of Kigali.
Breakfast and dinner are a few steps away. Food is ok, wine is quite expensive.
A nice place to hang around for a day or two."

"Great location with superb views.
The lodge needs refurbishments here and there. Nice, huge room. Very friendly, great service by the staff.
Food just ok; no ice for mixed drinks :(. It gets quite cold - in the mornings and evenings. A joy having the fireplace in the room."

"I am glad that I decided to visit lake Kivu. Very interesting area, but more important to my view the fact that I had to drive through a large part of this beautiful country; indeed Rwanda is very beautiful.
The lodge itself is nothing memorable about other than the view from your balcony.

My kayaking trip with Kingfisher was at another location ( Rizwa). I enjoyed very much this excursion, I recommend it."

"I just wanted to stay there because of the hotel rwanda movie :) and I did it.
They were busy with construction work, so there was some noise till late in the evening. The service was also a bit off...
It was my choice to stay there and against the soft advice by Expert Africa. I'm glad that I did, but if I were to return for a short stay at Kigali I would choose Haven Residences ( or the Marriott)."

"Great camp, wished had stayed more than 2 nights...Excellent service, thanks Marco and guiding, thanks Pius. I saw my loved ones - wild dogs, more than once!!!!! And first time I held a wooden banana and smelled a wild jasmine. Africa is both fauna and flora.

I liked the 'AC' during the night. Visitors this time of the year in S. Luangwa should be prepared about the heat - we hadn't a single drop of rain. As a Greek I don't mind it but still it can be be very hot, especially during the midday break.

So be prepared...on the other hand the payoff is that it is a quieter season, had the pleasure sharing the camp with one more guest and taking the drives on my own."

"I rate it excellent but I would like to say that is notch below Nsefu. Thanks to the staff, Nicola, Bertram and my guide Nyambee ( it means God?) for a very pleasant stay.

S. Luangwa is a leopard country, so look for excellent sightings of this beautiful cat. However, I started missing already my dogs from Nsefu.

It got pretty hot during midday in the tent - so be prepared for this time of the year. Again I was only with one more guest. It got lively when a group of travel agents visited us. Excellent Chenin Blanc wine and food."

"The camp is in the other side of the reserve but you can still cross with the jeep the mighty Luangwa this time of the year. Still no signs of clouds and rains to come, but pretty hot.

Finally, I manage to convince the other guest to have a morning walk. It was lovely, actually I felt being welcomed by the animals, approaching some zebras much closer than in previous safaris. But it got hot by 8am. As the camp is near the park gate it gets busy with other cars - nothing like Ngorongoro - but still you get bothered after Nsefu and Tena-Tena.

Very happy with the service, thx Catherine, and in particular my guide Chris - so knowledgeable about bird life. Comfortable tent, a bit too much for my taste. I enjoyed the pool but I paid off my taking the siesta next to it with numerous bites.."

"Conveniently located near both airports, the international and the local one. Nice room, modern, tastefully decorated, a bit on the small size yet very comfortable.

Very good service, dining across the park and able to have a quick breakfast before 6 am. Certainly an ideal place for a night's stay upon arrival for a safari."

"A lovely bushcamp. Beautiful location by the river with good views across the bank with enough tree shade. Very comfortable tents, the only bit missing is some storage space for your clothes. Very friendly staff, tasty food, excellent service, yet not stuffy but relaxed so that you feel really at home. Of course Alex the owner/manager is key to this.

We enjoyed our guide's companion, knowledge and dedication to conservation - many thanks Duma ( hope the spelling is right, it's cheetah in Swahili) . Speaking of cheetahs, yes we saw it twice, the only cat that evaded us was leopard. However, the aim for visiting Laikipia was the rhino, which we enjoyed plenty of. Certainly the bonus was the wild dogs - a pack of 10. Our second encounter with them was during an afternoon walk. What a sight! The Ol Pejeta conservancy offers plenty of wildlife, beautiful terrain, other activities to fill in your afternoon if you're tired from game drives - visits to northern white rhino sanctuary ( you can learn more by watching 'The last chance to see' with Stephen Fry) and the chimps camp- and plenty of awareness for conservation and sense for reconciliation between livestock and wildlife. The grass was just high enough during our visit, but it was really cold in the morning and the night. We survived, thankfully, with the loan of two extra layers by Alex topping our own 3 during the morning and night drives. Of course we ventured to showering only during the midday break. Be prepared!

Certainly this camp found its place in my heart - my son enjoyed also very much. After 4 trips in Africa and a dozen or so camps is surely up there with a few others. Small, comfortable, relaxed, enthusiastic and experienced hosts, great wildlife are some of its assets. Pity for those that like it fancy or luxurious as it may stay off their tracks."

"A small, very nice camp with great view of the plains from our tent - that could be a bit larger. Great and plenty of food and drinks leading to enjoyable late evenings. A spirited camp reflecting the age of its young and very accommodating managers.

There is plenty of wildlife in the rolling plains of the Mara North Conservancy, the camp was literally next to a pride of lions. Although the migration was yet to start there were a lots of wildebeest, zebras and of course topi. Our award has been the lack to see every single a leopard, one walking just in front of our vehicle. And certainly a mother cheetah with her two youngsters stalking gazelles. The drive to the migration crossing(s) at the Mara river, is a long drive from the Conservancy but worth it. The views and smells of the Mara are special enough to compensate the scarcity of wildlife at places during the long drive.

Walking has been also a great experience, among others in realising the critical balance of co-existence between the Masai and their livestock with wildlife. The grass is definitely very high this time of the year, temperatures are cool to cold during the early and evening hours, but quite hot during the day. Most important is that in the Conservancy during this time you are sparred from the masses that come about in the Reserve the coming weeks.

We did enjoy this camp and we certainly recommend for a visit to the greater Mara."

"It is what you would expect from a Holiday Inn! We were lucky as we were put in an executive suite both days at a high floor with a view of the city.

TV and showers worked great but there was no wi-fi. Breakfast was average. Friendly staff, you needed to be patient with them. Seemed to be a bit far from the airport, but this gave us the opportunity to get a glimpse of the city driving to and from it."

"Excellent camp, we really enjoyed our stay there. I would advise anyone who wants to go to Ruaha to consider this camp. Similarly Ruaha is a great park with beautiful and varied scenery and great game. This was our 4th safari and Ruaha certainly tops the parks and reserves that we have visited.

Kwihala, is a not pretentious, simple, very comfortable and sort of secluded camp. Its tent are spacious, they tend to be hot during the midday but cool in the night. We were often visited by a jackal whilst enjoying the stars sitting at our veranda.

The staff and the guiding is probably what makes Kwihala special. We are thankful to all for making our stay enjoyable and in particular, Marc, Festo and Tony. Breakfast in the bush and sun-down drinks made our days.

Great game watching - one day topped it all when we witnessed a zebra kill by lions, a leopard attack on a mongoose, in the middle of the dry river to be immediately attacked by baboons, a lioness going leisurely after a giraffe all happening within an hour's span.

Experienced also a night's rain that went on through the early morning hours bringing out the best smells of the park.

We had read about the tsetse flies, these do exist especially around the springs, but are not a problem to fuss about.

Our visit was nearly at the end of the dry season and my son and I look forward to visiting Ruaha again at the end of the wet season. Without any doubt we will lodge again at Kwihala."

"Its not fair that we visited this camp after Kwihala at Ruaha. Selous is a great reserve but our heart seems to have fallen for Ruaha and hence, our comments should be considered with this in mind.

The location of the camp by the lake, where our tent had a great view of, it is very nice. The first night we were visited by elephants that they really came very close to our tent. Lake Manze is a simple camp that offers a variety of short activities, walking, boat and drive safaris. We did enjoy the rides with the boat in the lake, its rather far to venture to the Rufiji river, giving us the opportunity to enjoy bird-life, hippos, crocs and various insects. The staff and the guides are doing their best, we are thankful to Viktor and Abou for enjoyable breakfasts in the bush and by the river and Rashid for the boat rides.

There seems to be less game than Ruaha and harder to see it through the woods. Certainly the leopard watching under a bush that got annoyed circled by 7 vehicles and fled in no time at the top of a tree, 20m +, and then harassed by a male baboon was a memorable moment. Being in the 3rd jeep coming into the scene I definitely feel guilty than those in the 7th - game-watching has to become more sustainable and sensible for all!"