Reviews of Toka Leya Camp
(89%) From 16 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Toka Leya Camp review
A very luxurious camp. Our tent had air conditioning and there was a spa offering treatments.
The staff were very friendly. We bought souvenirs from the camp shop because they were reasonably priced. We enjoyed the activities on offer, like fishing, a game drive and a boat trip.
Our highlight was the visit to the Victoria Falls, even though the volume of water was low.
Godfrey and Histon were our guides. Histon gave us a tour of the environmental site that the camp is nurturing; a water re-cycling plant, solar panels and growing indigenous trees from seed and planting them in the area.
Toka Leya and the Victoria Falls
Plane, car and boat from Old Mondoro, small bush camp, to Toka Leya, a large, more sophisticated style of camp with the houses having glass windows and air-conditioning: no doubt necessary as this was our first contact with mosquitoes since arriving in Zambia!
Lovely setting on the Zambezi but the river was busy with tourist steamers. Beautifully laid out sitting and dining areas and first class meals, even breakfast was more leisurely as we didn't have to get up at 5 a.m. but we missed the camp-fire of the more remote camps.
Our visit to the Victoria Falls was an interesting experience as we decided to start on the Zimbawean side which entailed crossing the borders with extra visa costs and form filling in both directions. We were well escorted throughout and had an excellent Wilderness guide to visit the Falls. Even though the water is at its lowest in October the Falls were impressive and we were glad to have viewed them from the Zimbawean side in spite of the extra cost.
We also went to see the rare White Rhino in a protected park near Toka Leya: a family of one male, 2 females and two young calves. We also chose to visit the town of Livingstone and its museum (the best part being at the end of the visit: the political history of Zambia through photos and newspaper cuttings).
The managers were very helpful and the staff and guides excellent.
Toka Leya and Vic Falls
Toka Leya is a great camp from which to visit Vic Falls (which was why I went to this camp). I tremendously enjoyed the visit to the Falls.
Toka Leya was also very good at arranging different activities organized by the camp, as well as outside activities. I was very impressed by this. They have tremendous knowledge of different activities that tourists can do in Livingstone and around Vic Falls and were very good at organizing days to make sure that guests get the most of their time there. It was a very nice stay.
Great stay at Toka Leya
The main reason for our stay here was to see Victoria Falls which was magnificent but we also enjoyed the other activites which the camp provided. I feel I have to mention the drivers who collected us and returned us to the airport as they were so informative, we learnt so much about their country, it was very interesting.
The camp seemed a bit more like a hotel than our previous bush camps and guests ate at separate tables rather than all together. However we met up with a couple we knew from a previous camp so the staff were quite happy to seat us together for meals.
Returning to civilisation at Toka Leya
At our final camp, we felt this had more of a 'hotel' feel. After 10 days without WiFi, telecoms, shops it was nice to arrive back into civilisation and get ready for the return home. Toka Leya had slick organisation of their activities and we added on a Bridge Tour to the Victoria Falls trip - which was well worth the extra so would recommend that.,
The dining room was very cold at night when we were there. The shop missed a trick by not stocking the butter dishes and salt and pepper bowls which were on the restaurant tables. Everyone admired them but the shop didn't sell them. They could do a roaring trade if they did as the items in the shop weren't really things we wanted to buy.
Spa was nice and we had a hippo outside our balcony for quite a while - great photo opportunity.
I took a slice of lemon and ginger from restaurant tea service area to my room one evening and was very pleasantly surprised the next day to see that the room boy had noticed my preference and replaced this with a whole lemon and piece of ginger for me. Nice touch - also presents on bed each evening.
tracked a white rhino on foot
Good start to our holiday. Evening boat trip. Following day Victoria falls and the white rhino. The lodge even organised a fishing trip as well.
Not much game but that was not our aim at this lodge. Sound of the river and the hippo's at night sent us to sleep.
Two nights was about right.
Toka Leya Camp review
Food was excellent and the bedrooms and facilities first rate.
Staff were very friendly and very attentive and really made us feel welcome and that they could not do enough to make our stay as special and pleasureable as possible.
Very flexible, great meals and our only rhino
We didn't stay at Siankaba. They were flooded - and Expert Africa changed the booking about a week before our departure (and the change was well-handled). We stayed at Toka Leya instead.
Toka Leya was a very pleasant camp, with an up-market feel (that can be both a good and a bad thing). The food was excellent, with a choice of menus and timings to suit. The rhinoceros sighting was a game highlight - but our Land Rover herding baboons and warthogs was also amusing. Victoria Falls is the headline attraction - and well worth it. But the highlight was the local village and children - your heart will melt.
Expert Africa comments
This traveller has put some great pictures taken in and (mostly) around Toka Leya on Flickr – click here to see them. Many include people from the local community.
Different - not quite our style
Our least favourite camp and quite different to the other camps in Botswana.
The camp was geared to a different style of visitor - mainly coming to see the Victoria Falls with many from North America. The game viewing was rather tame after the other camps but the birding was good and the river trips were interesting.
The dining arrangements were more those of a good hotel rather than a safari camp although service at lunch was pretty slow.
Airconditioned rooms came as a bit of a surprise.
The perfect start to a safari
Toka Leya s location inside the mosi o tunya np is the ideal first camp for a southern african safari.The stunning Zamezi riverside location gives you the feeling of being immersed in the bush yet you are close to livingstone and the falls. There is plenty of local wildlife ( both elephant and rhino were around and in camp during our stay) Plenty of worthwhile activities with good equipment and equally good guides ( we had Amon ) for those that want activity - yet comfortable tents and camp facilities for those that just want to rest.
The river and game drives are ideal introductions to what the bush has to offer and the three wild dog that seem to have made mosi o tunya their home for the moment add a bit of spice to game drives.
The camp is well run and friendly. The food was excellent.The staff went out of their way to make what ever you wanted happen.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
