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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Ms V from Medford

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

1

Countries visited

1

Lodges stayed in

1

Excursions taken

0

My Apr 2014 trip

Zimbabwe between 9 Apr 2014 and 12 Apr 2014

Trip rating: Average
"see other comment section"

Camp Hwange

Camp Hwange

"camp hwange feedback"

3 nights Arrived 10 Apr 2014
"I think a great mistake has been made re our reservations at Camp Hwange for 3 nights. This was to be our last safari before leaving Southern Africa perhaps for the last visit we will ever make. You originally had offered us something for $500/nite/person and we said it was too much . You then said you would find a more reasonable rate but came up with the same price but a different camp. We never paid this much but thought it would be like the top lodge in Sabi Sands so we decided to treat ourselves. Now here we are and I tell you at the most this is a $200/nite/person. It has wonderful food, very nice staff and knowledgeable guides. But…..the camp itself is pretty average. For instance no tub, , no pool, they Said they would do laundry but not underwear!!! There is a waterhole but it is not lighted and there is no glass on the windows facing the hole just screen so you cant look out at night. The tent room and bathroom were average. We stayed at a top lodge in Nambiti a private game park just outside of Ladysmith and it cost $200 per night per room! It was top notch. 4 star, called Nambiti Plains. I could name others as well.
Now let us get to the game. ….We took two 5 hour drives and saw 3 impala and 2 jackels and some nice birds. When asked about lions they said the pride left almost a year ago and they have one male and two female somewhere. We did a walking tracking for 2 hours which was wonderful but no lion. When asked about Rhino they told us the Rhino are off limits to visitors. When asked about elephants they told us there is a bull elephant that we spent hours trying to find to no avail. When asked about Wildebeasts we were told they are at the other end of the park. An on and on and on. We were told it is hard to spot game because of the tall grass but in the last three weeks we have been to three game parks and all had tall grass and we saw many animals.
The worst part was it was cold and rainy. Everyone had to eat in three layers of clothes and a fleece. The firepit was outside but it was raining.there was no source of heat inside the boma so we couldn't sit in the lounge and relax and talk. There was no source of heat in our room so the only way we could get warm was to go to bed! Finally on the last night we suggested to the staff that they pull down the canvas to close off the open spaces. That cut the wind and cold a bit but meant we couldn't look out.
We do want to say the staff was wonderful, the food excellent and the guides great! Also, I understand we can't control the weather or the animals.I just went on in the above paragraphs to tell you how it was. I guess the big issue here is how much we paid for average accommodations. Everything I said above was just to tell you how it was. Even if weather etc was perfect the rate is way too high. It is possible that Zimbabwe is more expensive that South Africa or Kenya or Tanzania but not this much. Hopefully, it was an honest mistake and there will be a refund.
I do want to reiterate that staff, food, guides were all outstanding. On the last night the manager even gave us hot water bottles for our bed. also, the walking trips were great.
I do hope we can settle this to everyone's satisfaction We will be back in the US in 2 days.
One other thing. When in vic Falls we met several people who stayed at Little Mokoro (sp?) and because it was off season they were given 1/2 price !! Plus they saw huge prides of lion, Wildebeast, elephant etc."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Average

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