Reviews of Sandibe Safari Lodge
Wildlife sightings and reviews
76 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Sandibe Safari Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
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"Sandibe Safari Lodge review"
Service standards nowhere near as good as Nx (washrooms always out of towels, doors warped etc).
Central area layout was poor, mixed levels only serve to segregate and disharmonise, no focal "bush TV" area.
Rooms full of bugs, not a problem in other camps.
However, game viewing was excellent and our guide and tracker team, Tsavo and Gomm, were the best we encountered (difficult call, but they just win over George + Michael, and Bee + System)." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia
"Sandibe Safari Lodge review"
Our guide and tracker (Gif-T & Steve respectively) were top notch. They were not as experienced as our previous guides when we had a private vehicle, but they were fun and it was obvious they wanted us to enjoy ourselves. Their joking added a dimension to the experience and I wouldn't hesitate to go out with either again. Virginia and Kelly (staff members) were also great and could not do enough for us. We thoroughly enjoyed the staff, the setting, the accommodations and the food—good choice." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
Sandibe also tells us that Hayden is a Motswana (a citizen of Botswana) who is fluent in Setswana and who has worked in the lodge industry in Botswana for many years. In his short time at Sandibe they feel that he generally did a fantastic job looking after guests and staff which makes this feedback disappointing for them to hear. Hayden was a temporary relief manager that was asked to assist at Sandibe whilst awaiting the arrival of their full time manager, Kate. Sandibe assure us that they have learnt from and worked on the issues raised to ensure that they don’t happen again.
"Sandibe Safari Lodge review"
"Sandibe Safari Lodge review"
There was a very cold wind, especially early mornings, which might be the reason for spotting less 'cats'. However, we enjoyed seeing lots of other game and many different beautiful birds.
All staff was very friendly and did their utmost to please us. Without doubt, they're all working very hard, especially when elephants, hippo's, baboons and hyena's are disturbing the daily routines!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
"Great Safari"
Having said that our guide did take us out for a short walk and showed us how to tel the difference in tracks. Perhaps this feature should be removed from the brochure." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia
"Sandibe Safari Lodge review"
An excessive number of staff (personal butler, masseuse and a legion of waiters, supervisors etc) created a stifling/stuffy atmosphere in stark contrast to the two Kwando Safari camps visited. Once you had broken through the formal service regime, the staff turned out to be pleasant and natural, they just needed to be released from the absurd 'house style' imposed on them. The menus were overelaborate but the actual result was disappointing. Worst of all guests were seated at separate tables which inhibited social interchange. More Bournemouth than Okavango!.
The guide was excellent but the tracker was a trainee, who while pleasant enough, did'nt contribute much." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana
"Sandibe Safari Lodge feedback"
They also provided us with interesting facts about the animals we were seeing and gave us an overview of their tracking skills, helping us to see what they were seeing (although we were still unable to interpret the information as accurately as they did). All the staff at the lodge made sure our stay was luxurious and spoiled us rotten. We can honestly say that we couldn't fault Sandibe or its staff in any way.
Thank you for a wonderful time and we hope to see you again in the near future." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana
"Sandibe Safari Lodge review"
Dining arrangements were different to the other camps we visited in that tables were allocated to each group (as in a restaurant) which made it more difficult to meet and mix with other guests. We feel that this is a missed opportunity to enhance the holiday." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
"Thank you so much for sending us your comments on your stay at Sandibe. We're delighted you had such a good stay and particularly that the staff took such great care of you - I'll be sure to pass your comments onto the team.
Dining arrangements can sometimes be tricky to get right as some guests are looking for romantic getaways or privacy, while others (like yourselves) want to meet other guests. We try to judge it at the lodge, and am sorry that we didn't make the right call on this occasion.
I hope you are still savouring the stories you have to tell of your trip through Botswana."
"Sandibe Safari Lodge review"
Electric boat for breakfast was a great touch, but the mokoro was pretty disappointing - very short trip on a small lagoon. It was about an hour's drive from the camp. This is probably due to the water conditions at the time, but it would have beeen better to tell us before that this was the case and give us the choice of whether to do it or not.
This was our first lodge and on a couple of drives we spent some time 'tracking' a lion which we never found as it had crossed out of the reserve. As this was the start of our trip we were happy to see anything so felt that this a bit of a waste of time. We did tell our guide this on other drives and he was perfectly heppy to do as we asked." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana
"Birthday at Sandibe Lodge."
Our lodge was just great and we even had a visit from an elephant one morning - it was about 3 mtres form the door! Our guide and tracker at this lodge was BT and Bring who again were brilliant (BT had a great sense of humour). Again for much of our stay here we had the vehicle to ourselves so we could concentrate on birdwatching. We did however see more wild dogs, lions and leopards as well as a host of birds.
The fruit bats in the roof of the main building were quite cute although each night a genet came in to try his luck for one we also had a visit from an owl (Pearl spotted I think) which was after the flying insects attracted by the lights.
Again you couldn't fault the food and many thanks go to Bruce, Sasha and Ollie for putting on a birthday treat in our lodge a most memorable experience. Bruce I hope the hippo problem has gone away!!" See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia
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