Reviews of Chitabe Lediba
(97%) From 37 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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The camp we didn't get to!
Imagine our surprise when, having just landed in Maun after the long flight from London, we were met by Brandon from Wilderness Safaris who advised us we would not be going to Chitabe Lediba as planned but were rather en route to Mombo -a significant upgrade we were told. Still a bit mystified, we went happily with the pilot who took pains to point out Chitabe Lediba as we flew over it. A short while later we were being welcomed by the terrific staff at Mombo as if they had been waiting to see us for months.
Mombo is a top of line camp with all mod cons yet still retains an open, friendly and informal atmosphere. The wildlife viewing opportunities are fantastic and the guides (in our case Lebo and Emang) go out of their way to seek out the uncommon. In our case, this was a chance to observe one of the white rhino recently re-introduced to Botswana and a very exciting sunset drive overland in pursuit of a wild dog who was honing in on a herd of impala. Then there was: the leopard ( in camp and another later in a tree with a fresh kill), the lioness with two new cubs not previously seen by the guides, the hippo who ambled past our tent ....etc.
Top marks, and all the better since we had not intended to be there.
Re Chitabe Lediba: during the course of our trip, we did meet other travellers who had been there, all of whom reported highly favourably on the camp and the quality of the wildlife viewing. The ratings above and below are for Mombo:
Chitabe Lediba review
We had an excellent guide in Oats who made sure we saw much wildlife including lion, leopard and cheetah and much more.
Josie and the camp staff made us very welcome including a special evening romantic dinner. A wonderful experience here.
Flawless
Again, your website description of this camp is precise & accurate. It exceeded our expectations in every respect. The unfailingly helpful, warm and friendly staff were natural & genuine, lead by Josie and Newman as particular examples. The 'tent' left us speechless, the food was exceptional, we stayed 2 nights and would have stayed longer.
Read more about the whole safariLosing our hearts to the Wild Dogs.
Incredibly welcoming lodge with lovely caring and interested staff. It set the tone for the high standards for all the camps. We arrived at late lunchtime, long after the Brunch had been served, yet were thoughtfully provided with a light meal. We can single out Tiny as a wonderful ambassadress for both Botswana and the Camp.
Our guide Newman obviously loves his job and he gave us great insights into the area and his special passion: the Wild Dogs. ( We had a thrilliing time following a pack. For the first 20 minutes I couldn't focus my camera or binoculars: my eyes were filled with tears!) We never felt that any of the species we viewed were 'pushed' or hassled in any way by the drivers.
One thing that might have been helpful in the public area is a prominent large scale map of the area showing the camp's location in the region and then an even larger one where we could plot where we had been on each drive. This would be true for all the camps we visited. Some did have maps but they were faded or too small for elderly eyes!
A great intro to the Okavango
We found the birding experience at this camp excellent. Our guide, Newman, was highly knowledgeable about the terrain, birds and wildlife generally. We learned a great deal from him.
The camp team had a unique spirit setting an atmosphere which could not be matched elsewhere. Food was varied, freshly prepared and maintained at industry-recommended temperatures on the few occasions when our return to camp was delayed.
The main camp was lovely, the bedrooms comfortable. The downside is the slightly 'segrated' bathroom. This leaves a great deal to be desired and nothing whatsoever to the imagination! The management explained that an upgrading is imminent. It cannot be soon enough.
Chitabe Lediba review
Very welcoming. Eebs our ranger was excellent. He was a very good driver and extremely knowledgable.
My husbands bag was a day late in arriving but the staff were all aware of this and most helpful.
Chitabe Lediba review
We loved Chitabe Lediba! The size of the camp was fantastic -- it accomodates 10 guests maximum, and when we were there the total occupancy ranged from 4 to 8 guests, which made the camp very intimate. The staff were very friendly, and we thought our guide, Andy, was great! At the camp, we enjoyed the fresh-baked bread served with every meal, which was particularly delicious!
We saw fantastic game at Chitabe Lediba! We had several excellent viewings of leopard, which seemed particularly abundant. There were lots of elephant (which we got to see extremely up-close, as they often wandered right up to our tent!).
We were very fortunate to get excellent sightings of the resident wild dog pack -- we saw 13 dogs, including 6 pups, on three separate occasions, and were able to observe the pups playing with each other and with a bone they had found! We also saw several interesting nocturnal animals, such as the serval, springhare, and porcupine.
Chitabe Lediba, great staff, lots of leopards
The guide (Newman) I had at this camp was one of the best I have ever had.
More than happy to go into detail of why things happen and how the animals react both on the drives or back at camp.
Chitabe Lediba review
Another warm and friendly welcome from enthusiastic staff. Kenny was charming and informative.
Luke (our guide) was another star.
Camp overall very different to Little Vumbura, which we preferred.
Game everywhere
The drive from the airstrip to the camp set the scene for our stay with an encounter with a herd of elephants, giraffe, more elephants, impala and did I mention the elephants.
The proximity of our vehicle to the animals gave us a taste of life in camp. However nothing prepared us for the cacophany of sounds when we tried to sleep that first night. We recognized the elephants and lions (although the nearness was slightly unnerving) but the sounds of other animals we still needed to identify. We soon became used to it all even when the elephant pulled branches down on top of our tent.
The time spent here was enhanced by our wonderful guide OT. He was incredibly knowledgeable and went to great efforts to ensure that we saw a huge variety of game including lion, cheetah, leopard, wild dogs and birdlife. He also had a wonderful sense of humour and made sure that every day was enjoyable for us.
The rest of the staff and the managers were always on hand to discuss our sightings and tend to our needs. They were very friendly.
We enjoyed the dinners when we were all seated at one long table and were able to meet and discuss the day's activities with guests from all over the world.
The only minute thing that concerned us were the steps going down to the camp fire area. 3 of our party experienced slight problems. These need to be highlighted in some sort of way as they may cause an accident. I think that the staff are already reviewing this problem.
Altogether our stay in Chitabe was a wonderful 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.
