Travel reviews by Rowena from London

"Mfuwe Lodge was superb. Warm smiles greeted us and we felt at home immediately. The chalet with its direct outlook onto the bush was thrilling, sighting elephants each morning at 5.30am from the room, as well as impala and cheeky baboons. There were warthogs with piglets, vervet monkeys and baboons everywhere but the sight of whole elephant families with their babies in the Lodge eating all the fruit and walking through Reception each day was truly magical.

Mabel and Ornacious, our safari guides, were expert and we learned so much from their detailed commentary, explaining about the bush, trees, plants and birds as well as all the animals. I liked it that they sat with us for lunch and dinner so we could chat about what we had seen, especially the pride of 9 lions with 2 cubs who were feeding on a buffalo they had killed the day before. To see them so close up was stunning. It was thrilling sighting giraffe, zebra, hippos and we also saw many Kudu, Puku and Bushback Antelope, as well as Waterbuck (4), crocodiles, the mongoose, genet, civet, monitor lizard and a chameleon.

All the staff were kind and helpful, full of laughter and smiles. Our brief visit to Tribal Textiles and Mulberry Mongoose in the village with Jeremiah was worthwhile and I would highly recommend these 2 shops. I found everyone at Mfuwe Lodge gracious, kind and charming.

A truly exciting and wonderful stay."

"Kapamba is exceptional. We were driven there expertly in under 3 hours by Jeremiah, a brilliant driver and guide. It is deep in the bush with no wifi so one is truly cut off from the outside world.

It is a small camp (4 chalets) with a small team of very special people, led by Jacob, who treated us like family and who care so much for their camp, the environment and the animals they know so well. Wendy was warm and welcoming and we were treated to exquisite homemade meals cooked by Dixon and his team, all served with great courtesy and refinement by Jones who formally announced the dinner menu each evening - such a lovely detail.

The chalet is gorgeous, with its open aspect shower and luxurious outside daybeds on which to rest each afternoon and watch the elephants pass by and listen to the glorious sounds of the bush.

Francis, our wonderful guide, Gilbert, the mighty Ranger and Elac, the Night spotter, took us out twice a day on stunning drives. Their knowledge and expertise were impressive and again they taught us a great deal about the bush and its inhabitants. We laughed a lot as we enjoyed sundowners by and in the river, during heavy rain and dramatic electric storms.

We saw a leopard close up and followed a lion and lioness as they wandered across the dry riverbed to relocate under a tree on the other bank. We sighted many Kudu, Puku, impala and even a few days old baby impala hidden in the long grass with Mum standing some distance away on guard. Also there were many giraffe, noisy hippos, crocodiles, baboons, vervets, warthogs, mongoose, genet, an elephant shrew and leopard tortoise, not forgetting the gorgeous bird life and birdsong. We even spotted 2 hyena cubs next to the camp who came in one night and chewed on the cushions!

It was a great privilege to be with such special, warm-hearted people and to experience a once in a lifetime adventure with these amazing creatures in their own environment so close up and personal."