Reviews of Old Mondoro Bushcamp

"The high light of our visit. Every bit of our stay at Old Mondoro was excellent. Again the food was wonderful,
the organisation was slick, but not intrusive. Fantastic guiding, informative and at no time did you feel you
were being given a lecture.

The safety aspect was good, but not over the top.

This camp is for visitors who want to enjoy "real Zambia", not to be wrapped in glossy packaging.

I certainly intend to return!" See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia

"Chalet 4 was great. Beautiful view over watering hole with elephants seen everyday from our room. All rooms seemed to have a good view. Small, intimate and very private. Had bush camp feel but with very high standards without being too extravagant.


Staff all lovely, went the extra mile for our honeymoon. We hadn't seen any honey badgers or leopards so was thrilled to see these regularly on the night drive. With so few chalets and lots of staff often had a drive to yourself. Food really was excellent." See all these reviews: 5n in Zambia

"Loved the rustic accommodation and the beautiful setting next to the Zambezi.

The canoe safari is a bit scary - but a definite must do! With boat trips, canoe safaris, walking safari and night and day safaris in the 4x4 there's a great range of activities. However, while we saw lions, leopard and some great bull elephant action, the range and quantity of wildlife was quite restricted relative to our earlier camps in South Luangwa. I guess this is partly an early season issue.

Guiding was generally good - great canoe and walking safari with James - but we would have preferred to have a single guide for our stay and the stronger relationship this permits." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia

"We visited after Amanzi and found ourselves now more in the traditional bushcamp of earlier years but nevertheless with excellent comfort and facilities.
A high level of service and attention to needs and they created an activity program to meet specific client needs.
Like Amanzi (see previous) being a small camp of 4 tents this enables a very personalised safari experience to be achieved.
The camp is located more centrally in their traversing area and this enables different terrains to be experienced and the animals which locate in these different environments are more varied.
Game viewing was good and we achieved excellent photographs. There were large numbers of elephants, buffalo, waterbuck and impala, but we would have liked to see a greater variety of animals - we were told some had dispersed to the hills and further areas away from the river areas. Good leopard sightings but lions are a bit scarce at current times due to a higher proportion of males present and this has led to the females keeping a low profile to try to keep their cubs safe." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia; 1n in South Africa

"The transfer to Old Mondoro was by boat and luckily the river was fairly quiet so we had good views of the birds and other wildlife along the banks. The camp itself was a delight and the position of our 'bungalow' (No3) was ideal for watching everything come down to drink each day. We had never seen so many elephants together and Judy was in heaven! Some shook the trees right beside No 3 and then hoovered up all the seed pods that fell down, including those in our outdoor bath and on the roof - coming right up to our veranda to get at them all!

The game drives were less spectacular than elsewhere but we did see lions, hundreds of elephants, buffalo and hyena but very few leopard. The camp has a policy of using red lights only for the majority of its night drives with a weak white light when animals are close by.

Even with very capable modern cameras this limits the opportunities for photographs, which was disappointing to say the least as this was a prime reason for the trip. Perhaps I missed it in the brochure because it would definitely have influenced my choice of camp.

The manager, Michelle, and her staff Reon, Sebastien and Marshall were excellent and good company during our time in camp." See all these reviews: 16n in Zambia

"Wonderful camp----very remote and just what we love

Staff were wonderful, as were the guides

Room 4 was wonderful---thank you, Freddie for suggesting that we request this room----the best, and superb for photography---it was like our own personal Watering Hole!

Michel and Roen were great hosts, and gave us a private dinner on our own verandah on one night----such a wonderful surprise

All meals were great and the food was very good

We loved the camp fire at breakfast, + at pre dinner for drinks and after dinner for drinks---if one wanted to stay up a bit: this was great for chatting to fellow guests and getting to know them and to experience activities of the day

We loved the very smart "dinner party" table, beautifully laid and completely outside----magical

Cannot think of anything to improve this camp----except for one very small thing---could they please provide tea and coffee in the rooms at wake-up time---as Chiawa did, and many other camps do

ONE BIG REQUEST: please do not let them get any larger----small is very definitely beautiful!!!" See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia

"This was our 13th safari to Southern Africa, but our first camp after a 10 year break. Our hopes were high, but our expectations for Old Mondoro were surpassed.
The rooms were rustic in look but showed a great attention to detail in the layout and contents. Plus the bath with a view was the icing on the cake.
The location is excellent with the main area looking out onto the Zambezi and the rooms on to a creek off the main river. This creek is full of activity. One day we counted 34 elephants drinking, having mud baths or just socialising. There were also visits from baboons, warthogs, impala and waterbuck. It was much too interesting to have a siesta.
We arrived by plane at Jeki airport and the game drive started there - we were immediately greeted by 3 rollers performing and our drive to camp included a lioness and a leopard in a tree. During our stay we had 3 more daylight sightings of leopards. the activities are varied and we particularly enjoyed our walk with James and a spot of fishing on the Zambezi. A small downside on the drives is that some of the roads are corrugated and can be a bit uncomfortable if driving fast.
We loved our stay and if we go on another safari this would be on the list to visit again" See all these reviews: 15n in Zambia

"Our room was not particularly spacious and maybe looking a little 'tired' in its furnishings but generally it was on a par with ones we have stayed in within the South Luangwa and still luxurious considering its location in the bush. The spacious and well equipped veranda overlooked a lagoon rather than the river and provided a constant panorama of wildlife. Elephants walked past daily within touching distance (although obviously we stepped well back for safety reasons!) The provision of an exterior stone bath as well as a shower seemed superfluous initially - until we returned from an evening game drive on our last night to find it lit by candles and filled with hot water and bubbles as part of a surprise 45th wedding anniversary celebration provided by the camp! A truly magical and thoughtful experience which made us feel very pampered.

Meals were eaten communally, including a traditional breakfast and pre-evening drinks around the campfire. There was a degree of inflexibility over meal times such that freshening up after activities was sometimes very rushed. Meals were of a very high standard, even by 'normal luxury camp standards. On our last night a table was set up on our veranda and the meal served privately as part of the surprise anniversary celebration.

We were able to do 4 morning walks with the same guide (James) who was excellent and instructional as well as having a good sense of humour. Evening game drives were provided using a number of different guides but always with a spotter and using red headlights to avoid upsetting the wildlife, which seemed like a good improvement. Game viewing was very good, including watching a leopard stalk and pounce (unsuccessfully) on a warthog! There was never any problem in providing a scout to accompany us and the guide on walks, as had been the case at Amanzi, and neither were we crowded into vehicles with other guests. Being further away from any other camp meant we only met another vehicle once over our 5 day stay, which made it feel more remote.

The canoe trip down the Discovery Channel was excellent, with a high adrenalin level due to the proximity of hippos! We also did a river cruise." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia

"In Mondoro you really feel to be a part of the "Bush".

The atmosphere is overwhelming.

The guides were excellent.

We liked very much the flexible organizitation of the game drives." See all these reviews: 5n in Zambia

"More animals wander through here than most bush camps. I had an elephant come to breakfast one morning.

However, the rooms are permanent tents, that they leave open. (For some reason the Baboons don't go inside and destroy the place.) I find this somewhat disturbing, but there was no problem with any wildlife.

The canoe trip on a channel of the Zambezi is especially memorable." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia