Travel reviews by E & D from New Mexico

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My Jul 2012 trip

On this trip, I visited Malawi, Zambia & Zimbabwe between 11-Jul-2012 and 29-Jul-2012 and I travelled with 1 other person.

Fantastic.

Malawi and Zimbabwe proved to be two great countries to combine on this trip. There were many similarities. We found the staff in the camps and the people we met along the way to be very friendly, helpful and interested in us. The high standards of our guides impressed us, from Chris the manager at Mkulumadzi who personally took us on a walk and on a boat up the Shire River, to Richard Chamwala at Mvuu who delighted in sharing all things big and small with us. In our book you can always tell the best guides when they like finding the little birds and bugs to point out, not just the hippos fighting 30 feet away from the boat, both of which Richard did.

Our guide Nduduzi Ndlovu at Camp Amalinda in Matobo Hills was great at listening to us and discovering our interests, as evidenced by the wonderful day we spent with him driving through the park and the local communal lands, visiting a school, and hiking up to a cave with ancient paintings. He not only knows 7 languages but also knows where to find a zonkey!

Even our drivers that took us from one camp to another (or to an airport) were excellent, like Mike from Wilderness Safaris who stopped the car several times so we could see and talk to people and who also helped me buy a tchenge (those colorful traditional fabrics that woman wear as a wrap) in a roadside market.

We went to both countries in the hope that our visit would encourage and support the conservation of wildlife and wild areas. We also came to really appreciate the people of these two countries, where life has not been easy but there is a great determination to carry on and do better.

Claire at Expert Africa, with assistance from Chris, shared many insightful comments from personal experience so that we came up with this list of places to visit that really suited us. As usual, all details were handled and executed perfectly on the ground. This is really saying something because we gave quite short notice of our desire to travel.

And next time I will really believe you when you say that it gets cold in July at night!

Feedback response

See E & D's Malawi, Zambia & Zimbabwe picturesin their own gallery.

I stayed at and have reviewed:

Place	Overall rating
Mkulumadzi Lodge, Malawi 11-Jul-2012 review: Mkulumadzi Lodge review	Good
Mvuu Wilderness Lodge, Malawi 14-Jul-2012 review: Mvuu Wilderness Lodge review	Excellent
Kawaza Village, Zambia 17-Jul-2012 review: Kawaza Village review	Average
Ruckomechi Camp, Zimbabwe 18-Jul-2012 review: Ruckomechi Camp review	Excellent
Vundu Camp, Zimbabwe 19-Jul-2012 review: Vundu Camp review	Excellent
Ivory Lodge, Zimbabwe 22-Jul-2012 review: Ivory Lodge review	Good
Amalinda, Zimbabwe 24-Jul-2012 review: Amalinda review	Excellent
Bulawayo Club, Zimbabwe 27-Jul-2012 review: Bulawayo Club review	Good

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Everything we hoped for and more

On this trip, I visited Namibia between 27-Apr-2010 and 21-May-2010 and I travelled with 1 other person.

Fabulous and unforgetable

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It would be hard to design a better trip. The only suggestion I could make to do differently would be to select automatic transmission. We spent a fair bit of time driving getting places and after I ground the gears a few times David decided he'd better do all the driving. On the other hand, maybe this might be a strategy for some.

Feedback response

See E & D's Namibia holiday pictures and you can also read about their trip here.

I stayed at and have reviewed:

Place	Overall rating
Olive Grove, Namibia 28-Apr-2010 review: Olive Grove review	Excellent
Okonjima Main Camp, Namibia 1-May-2010 review: Upgraded to Bush Camp	Excellent
Huab Lodge, Namibia 3-May-2010 review: Klipspringer at dawn	Good
Hobatere Lodge, Namibia 5-May-2010 review: Hobatere has lots of birds!	Excellent
Okaukuejo Camp, Namibia 8-May-2010 review: Truly amazing sights at the waterhole	Excellent
Halali Camp, Namibia 10-May-2010 review: Restful camp in the heart of Etosha	Good
Onguma Etosha Aoba, Namibia 11-May-2010 review: Lions, Snakes and Giraffes at Sunset	Excellent
Nhoma Camp, Namibia 13-May-2010 review: A Special Place	Excellent
Mundulea Reserve, Namibia 16-May-2010 review: A hiker's treat	Excellent
Lagoon Lodge, Namibia 19-May-2010 review: Best location in Walvis Bay	Excellent
Olive Grove, Namibia 21-May-2010 review: Olive Grove review	Excellent