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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Nevada

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

3

Countries visited

3

Lodges stayed in

15

Excursions taken

0

November 2014 trip

Botswana and 1 other country between 7 Nov 2014 and 20 Nov 2014

Trip rating: Excellent
"Our trip was amazing, as usual! Maruska is always on top of our itinerary.

Nick was very helpful as our trip approached."

Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe


City Lodge OR Tambo

City Lodge OR Tambo

"City Lodge OR Tambo review"

1 night Arrived 7 Nov 2014
"Great location. They allowed us to check in early after our plane arrive by 9am. The rooms are nice and clean.

The breakfasts were quite good, especially the croissants."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Jack's Camp

Jack's Camp

"Loved the meerkats"

3 nights Arrived 8 Nov 2014
"We chose this camp to see the habituated meerkats. Happily, we were successful with one even crawling onto my husband's head. The group contained 9 members.
The camp is lovely. There is a waterhole just in front of the camp where many zebra, wildebeest, and birds frequently came to drink. There was also a large bull elephant and a brown hyena.

I found the quad bikes fun. The pans were amazing. As many others have said, the scenery is quite different.
The game is quite sparse in November. We were lucky enough to see 2 lionesses and 2 cubs.
It was a little disturbing to see cattle mingling with the wildlife.
I would recommend the day with the bushman--very interesting.

I think 2 nights is probably enough. The night under the stars was not an option--I suspect too much potential for rain. We had a great time, but I am not sure it is worth the cost compared to the other camps if we hadn't wanted to see the meerkats, at least during the off season."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Savuti Camp

Savuti Camp

"Our favorite camp!"

4 nights Arrived 11 Nov 2014
"We had an amazing time at Savuti camp--my opinion of the Wilderness camps has really increased.

The staff and managers were accommodating and friendly. We had an awesome guide named Willy. We were really lucky and saw more elephants than anywhere else we have been. I saw my first lion roar up close.

Despite the early rains, there was a fair amount of wildlife diversity. Overall, our best experience at a camp so far."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Shinde Footsteps

Shinde Footsteps

"Fun for a change"

2 nights Arrived 15 Nov 2014
"Footsteps was quite a bit different than any of the other camps we have stayed at in the past. It was a different feeling looking at elephants and lions on the ground than in a car--obviously, from a long distance. The food was outstanding--I think it was better than any of the other camps.

The wildlife was very plentiful. If they heard of a popular animal, ie lion, wild dogs, etc, we would walk to a waiting car and they would drive us to it. It appeared the wildlife was more plentiful in the delta than the Linyanti areas with the early rains. I was a little disappointed that our guide commented on how Botswana had too many elephants and did not comment on the poaching crisis which is more prevalent in other countries. It was a missed opportunity to educated others on the illegal ivory trade.

The rooms were very comfortable. The bucket showers worked really well and were just the right temperature."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Lagoon Camp

Lagoon Camp

"Great way to end our trip"

3 nights Arrived 17 Nov 2014
"We ended our trip at Lagoon Camp. The rains had come early---good for the animals, but the wildlife was a little less plentiful. It was nice to see such a green landscape.

We were very lucky and still able to see a number of predators. We had the most amazing experience with 8 lions all drinking simultaneously. Our guide and tracker, Sugar and James, were excellent!

We were placed in an amazing room--great view and very spacious."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Facilities
Excellent
City Lodge OR Tambo

City Lodge OR Tambo

"City Lodge OR Tambo review"

1 night Arrived 20 Nov 2014
"Great location!"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good

My Aug 2012 trip

Botswana and 1 other country between 19 Aug 2012 and 29 Aug 2012

Trip rating: Excellent
"Overall the trip was incredible!! We will definitely be back. T

he only thing we will change next time is to do private vehicles. It is more expensive, but it gives you much more freedom to stay and watch more animal behavior. The other thing I noticed, which could just be variation, is that there appeared to be more game in Oct than August. This may be because it was drier and hotter in Oct. However, we actually saw many more cats the August trip, than the previous trip in October.

Maruska with Expert Africa was excellent in communicating with us about a flight cancellation at the end of our trip. She was able to change our reservation and cover the cost until we arrived home."

Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe


City Lodge OR Tambo

City Lodge OR Tambo

"City Lodge OR Tambo review"

1 night Arrived 19 Aug 2012
"Excellent location. Nice staff."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Lagoon Camp

Lagoon Camp

"Lagoon Camp review"

3 nights Arrived 20 Aug 2012
"Beautiful, comfortable camp. The management and staff were very accommodating.

The game drives were spectacular! We were there in August and were lucky to see many predators and other game. Spencer and James were our guides/ driver. They were amazing. They successfully tracked cheetah, leopard, and lion. We had the most incredible experience with a pride of lions--I will never forget it. We were also able to see the wild dogs and their puppies!

We love the open trucks that Kwando has, even the Yuri!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Savuti Camp

Savuti Camp

"Savuti Camp review"

3 nights Arrived 23 Aug 2012
"Beautiful camp. Excellent staff.

Carlton was our guide and he was amazing. He is truly passionate about wildlife and will go the extra mile to get the best picture and make sure you get the most out of your time. We were very lucky to see many leopards at this camp. We saw 4 in one day!

We were also lucky enough to see a wild dog on a kill. It was interesting to contrast the different behaviors of the wild dog pack here and the pack at Lagoon."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Kwara Camp

Kwara Camp

"Kwara Camp review"

3 nights Arrived 26 Aug 2012
"This was our second trip to Kwara. As before, the staff was excellent.

We were with George and Buruti again, an awesome driver/ tracker pair. They really know the animals and the area well. We were very fortunate to see lions, cheetah, and lots of other game. The bird life is amazing. The landscape in the delta is beautiful."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

Botswana safari

Botswana and 2 other countries between 13 Oct 2011 and 27 Oct 2011

Trip rating: Excellent
"Excellent. We plan on returning as soon as possible.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

none at this time."

Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe


Ilala Lodge

Ilala Lodge

"Ilala lodge"

2 nights Arrived 14 Oct 2011
"There was miscommunication about our transfers to and from the airport that caused some stress. Otherwise, our stay was excellent.

The activity staff was very nice and helpful."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Selinda Camp

Selinda Camp

"Selinda camp"

3 nights Arrived 16 Oct 2011
"Our stay here was great. Our guide, KB, was very personable. We were only in the car with one other couple.

They tried hard to find the animals we were most interested in seeing. Unfortunately, the dogs were denning up near Lagoon and the large pride of lions was down in Savuti.

We did see glimpses of leopard and lion. We saw lots of other game as well. The camp is in a beautiful location. The managers David and Alice were exceptionally nice. David even loaned me his monopod for my camera."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Lebala Camp

Lebala Camp

"Lebala camp"

3 nights Arrived 19 Oct 2011
"Lebala camp was also very nice. We had a max of 4 people in our car and occasionally just the 2 of us. Our guide and tracker, Alex and Shooze, were excellent. The tracker and guide system seemed to work really well. We were lucky enough to see the wild dogs and their 9 puppies on a kill. We also saw a leopard very close up. They definitely tried their best to do whatever they could to make us happy.

I liked the open trucks much better than the covered trucks, despite getting mildly wet and a little bit hotter. The trucks at Lebala are pretty old, but I probably would not have noticed, if we had not gone to Kwara next. They apparently will be replaced at some time in the future. The camp is in a beautiful location.

The only problem at Lebala was that a trophy hunter stayed in the camp the first night we were there. He had chartered a helicopter to hunt in Zimbabwe. We are in a current battle in the states with trophy hunters, so the last thing I wanted to hear on my vacation were hunting stories about animlas I would love to see in the wild. I understand that Botswana and the other African countries probably still need hunting revenue to help with consevervation (kill to conserve, the lesser of two evils) and there are concessions in Botswana which allow hunting, but it really ruined my first night there and would have ruined the rest, if he had not left.

I preferred the open trucks with Kwando and really enjoyed our drivers and trackers at both camps, but I don't think I can return to Kwando camps if there is even a small chance hunters will be in the camps. I do not agree with multipurpose camps. It is way too depressing."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Kwara Camp

Kwara Camp

"Kwara camp"

4 nights Arrived 22 Oct 2011
"Our time here was exceptional. George and Beruti were great. The trucks here are very nice. Again, max of 4 in the car. The amount of game was incredible - lots of lions.

The lanscapes here were amazing as well. Our favorite camp overal!!!!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Safari Club SA

Safari Club SA

"safari club"

1 night Arrived 26 Oct 2011
"See initial comments [Ed: See below.]"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

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