Reviews of Lebala Camp
(94%) From 85 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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We loved Lebala
This was the best run camp we stayed in due to the superb management of Charles.
From our point of view the Night Drives went on about an hour too long( our age??)
The vehicles had seen better days, but we think they were getting new ones
Lebala Camp review
Lebala was a perfect place to start our Botswana experience. Staff met us at the entry bridge with a refreshing drink, described how each day would flow, and escorted us to our tent for a several-hour siesta -- much welcomed after 2 nights on an airplane.
Their food was delicious and drinks were self-serve whenever we wanted. The gift shop features very nice motswana-made items. Game driver and outrider (perched on a seat just over the front left tire) made a superb team. These guys must be part eagle; their eyesight is quite amazing. Each tent includes bug spray both for body and for room space, and the outdoor shower was a delight. All the staff deserve a good review. They even invited me to radio them from our next camp so they could sing Happy Birthday to me over the radio!
Nights were full of animal noises, notably hippo grazing our lawn, glistening in the moonlight. For this I am happy to wake up and then look up to be awed by the vast richness of the African night sky.
We found the afternoon game drive lasting up to about 8pm followed by supper at 8:15/8:30 was a bit late and unproductive in terms of game spotting or viewing though being out in the fresh delta air is a wonderful thing. While our fellow camp guests provided very free and stimulating conversation during and after meals, we found ourselves heading down the path to bed right after eating because we were tired, thus going to bed with full tummies instead of having time for food to digest a bit. However, I understand that sometimes we had to be out late just to return from the far-flung corners of the Lebala concession where the guys had spotted big cats.
If it were up to Jim and me, we'd be heading out on game drives by 3:30, back in camp by 7 pm, eating by 7:30, and having time around the 'bush TV' (fire pit) for an hour before going off to tents. Other than this small schedule suggestion we absolutely loved Lebala and would certainly go back.
Nice camp
We enjoyed our 4 nights at Lebala. Game wasn't always very plentiful - the guide (Hector) explained that movement of game has been different in the last couple of years since the Selinda Spillway has started flowing again. We had a similar experience in 2009 at Selinda. The good news at Lebala was that although the game was at times sparse, the individual sightings helped make up for that. We saw a coalition of 3 cheetah brothers who were wonderful, baby jackals, young lion cubs, hyena with a kill and a beautiful male leopard.
The rooms and public areas at the camp are nice but nowhere near as smart or polished as the WIlderness Camps that we stayed at. The tents are large but a little too close to each other for our liking. If your neighbours talked at even normal volume, you could hear them! We would have preferred a mosquito net around the bed as at other camps, especially as Lebala has a lot of mosquitos. The tents were not quite as clean and well maintained at other camps - small points but wobbly sinks, sticking sliding doors etc.
The staff were very good - friendly, helpful and willing to chat. They seem to be keen to keep vehicles as full as possible - we had 6 in our vehicle for much of our stay. This was a squeeze because the vehicles only have 2 rows of 3 spaces. Given that the camp was not full when we had a car of 6, we weren't sure why they didn't spread us out a bit as has happened at other camps.
Food was good, mostly quite simple but filling. Catering staff were lovely and always keen to chat which was nice.
Overall, we enjoyed Lebala - being outside in a lovely setting and seeing birds and animals was what we were there for and we weren't disappointed. Given the choice, we would probably choose to go to Selinda if we were in the area again because (though more expensive) it was a much nicer camp in our opinion. We've been a bit spoilt by our experiences at Wilderness Camps I think. Other guests who were only visiting Kwando Safari camps thought Lebala was fantastic and luxurious in comparison to what they'd experienced.
Lebala Camp review
We did not find this camp as friendly as the other two.
The driver and tracker were very good and we had good game viewing. The food and drink were excellent considering this is a bush camp.
The tent should have been the best since it was newer and more spacious that at other camps and more luxuriously furnished. However, from the outset there was a strong smell of the gas used to heat the immersion heater pervading the tent and outside on the veranda as well. This was rather a worry and not very pleasant to wake up to in the night.
The immersion heater did not work properly and so it was never possible to have a shower during our stay which thankfully was only 2 days. We did report the gas and heater problems twice to the manageress but although she said she would get someone to look at them nothing seemed to change. While we were ther another tent had continual problems with their electricity as the batteries kept failing.
While we had a good time here the shortcomings rather spoiled our stay.
Lebala Camp review
Good that we did this one first. We spent hours scouring burnt wasteland seeing nothing, I heard one estimate that 60% of the concession was burnt like this. 3 days was too long here and it would have been better to know this up front and reconfigure the holiday.
Guiding was good and camp very pleasant.
Rooms excellent. Wonderful lying in bed watching hippos munching their way past.
Central area and dining arrangements very convivial.
Good for birding and elephants but very quiet overall, even guides admitted.
Lebala Camp review
Lebala was an outstanding camp in terms of its warm and helpful staff, the game viewing, the guiding & tracking (really superior!) and physical accommodations. The only drawback at Lebala was the food, which we would rate as OK.
Meanwhile, Dux (our guide) and Bowman (sp?) (our tracker) made every game drive fun—there's no other way to say it—bottom line, they were outstanding! It was most apparent the entire staff wanted us to enjoy the experience and we would recommend this camp to anyone in spite of what we would call marginal food.
Honeymoon at Lebala
Our first safari camp was an experience to remember with Lebala's amazing location and wildlife.
Thabo & Bowman were excellent guides and we highly recommend them.
You will be well looked after at Lebala and would recommend it as part of a camp-hopping journey. The balance of (relative) creature comforts in the rooms with the communal eating led to a relaxed and friendly experience.
Mind blowing experiences we will not forget
This was our first proper safari camp. Our guide - Dux, and tracker - Mopame were so passionate about the animals and wild life. Nothing was too much trouble for them. If there was something to be seen they would take us there no matter how long it took. We saw wild dogs, lions, cheetahs, etc, etc the list could go on. The only one to elude us was leopard (not for wont of trying).
I will never forget our tent being surrounded by about 7 or 8 elephants one night just the other side of the mosquito net - unbelievable!
Lovely Lebala
We would recommend Lebala for a luxury safari and a different range of animals than at our other location, Kwara.
Both are part of Kwando safaris who are a top, top safari outift.
Lebala Camp review
Guides Hector and Mapone were excellent, knowledgable, the best communicators of our trip and were great fun to be with. They worked very well together as a team. Our only reservation is that 6 guests to a vehicle looks cramped - we were lucky and only had 4, which was fine.
This was certainly a smart camp but we found the brown tap water, with the distinctive iron smell, here and at Kwara, off-putting - this didn't happen at Xakanaxa.
We enjoyed taking our meals with the guides, campfire stories, etc. It quickly produced a friendly and inclusive atmosphere which added to our experience.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
