Reviews of Nxai Pan Camp

"Partner was a great guide, very knowledgeable." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana

"Wonderful Camp with excellent guides and staff. I was traveling on my own and I loved the relaxed atmosphere and friendliness of the whole staff and fellow guests.

The game drives were wonderful. Great food as well." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana

"Our introduction to what we came to Africa for in the first place. Staff overachievers at all levels! Not Groot Bos, but not supposed to be either!

If you can handle the roads here, you can handle the roads at the other three camps we visited." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana; 5n in South Africa; 2n in Zimbabwe

"Again the Kwando staff were exceptionally welcoming and friendly. They even arranged a meal in our room on our last night when we were the only guests - much appreciated.

The guide (Alex) was a temporary assignment from Tau Pan but was very helpful and knowledgeable, especially on the different bird species. He enabled us to have great photo opportunities of two cheetahs at the water hole.. We also saw lions and elephants in confrontation at the nearby waterhole before nearly being joined by two warthogs! The guide was always happy to stop and point out bird-life.

Again the safari vehicles were very comfortable but suffered from being six people in two tiers. This situation was made worse by the roof cover which was necessary to protect the occupants from the strong sun. We were lucky in only having a six person situation for one safari, but the people sitting in the middle had a difficult time. If you are serious about bird watching and/or have a big camera lens the vehicle set up is potentially very problematic. Again the guide tried his best to ensure everyone got a reasonable view whenever possible.

The camp is in a very open setting overlooking an artifical water hole. The rooms are excellent and very spacious and the swimming pool presented a welcome break at midday. The food and drink were plentiful and good quality. Well worth another visit for the friendly staff, knowledgeable guides and a different perspective on wildlife viewing but not for the prospect of being six people cramped into a two tier vehicle." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"in a word - Fabulous.

Clean, airy ,spacious and laid back and spacious, just what we needed to reflect on our trip, whilst continuing to keep us occuupied. The Bushman's walk was really interesting taken as it was by a one-eyed old bushman (must have been about 70! Really interesting. A lovely touch was a bottle of bubbly in our room which they gave us to celebrate outr wedding anniversary." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"Very friendly informal camp. Glad a started here would have been disappointed if I had ended here.

Game was scarse bu great guide who did invest to track down what was there." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"For our three night stay we were the only two guests and were looked after like royalty.Janet was a great hostess , very warm,chatty and welcoming.Our guide was Pax and our tracker was a Bushman called Shoes and both were excellent. with good knowledge and able to answer all that we asked. We had great sightings of the local pride of Lions every day, sometimes at very close quarters . We also saw Cheetah ,Ellies,Giraffes,Antelope [Springbok,Steenbok] and had a great trip to Baines Baobabs with lunch alfresco.All the meals were excellent and the food was plentiful.

From our room we had a great view of the Elephants at the nearby waterhole. Sitting around the camp fire at night we had wonderful views of the stars and milky way.Pax used his laser pointer to show us all the constellations.The beds were very comfy and we slept extremely well.The early mornings and evenings were cool but otherwise it was brilliant blue cloudless skies all the time." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"Mid-January is probably the perfect time to visit Nxai Pan, catching the remarkable zebra migration and (our main aim) hitting the peak of the migrant bird season. Given our principal interest, we opted for a private guide and we have nothing but praise for Donald and Kayser, expert guides and great company.

With their help we identified over 115 bird species in four days (the majority of them different to the species we had identified at Motswiri, bringing our total for the eight-day trip to just over 200), with the large and varied raptor population a particular highlight. The drive to Baines' Baobobs was well worth the effort, the bonus being a large flock of lesser flamingo in Kudiakam Pan.

As for the mammals, even in just four days the ebb and flow of the population was clearly visible across the pan in search of fresh grass, bringing sightings of lion and cheetah; and close encounters with elephants were frequent.

The camp is very well run by Janet Shamukuni (whom we had first met two years previously at Tau Pan) and her team and we were very well looked after throughout." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana

"At Nxai Pan I think we were still a little early for the bigger zebra (and giraffe?) migration: it was very nice to see that literally every game drive we saw more zebras; but I understand that at prime time the field in front of the camp (for example) is filled with zebra. That would have been really special; probably impossible to plan from far away (staff was saying mid-January). But Nxai Pan was by no means 'low' on wildlife. We saw cheetahs on our very first game drive (and also on subsequent drives); ran into elephants 1 minute after we were picked up from the airstrip, saw active lions with playing cubs, best sightings of Kori Bustard and Secretary Bird (alongside Etosha). Moreover, the trip to the Baines Baobabs was really good, with many sightings and a special landscape. In general the landscape was so much more open than in the Okavango; this really set Nxai Pan apart.

We did hear some people complain that the wildlife is further away in Nxai Pan. While this is true, this is not purely bad (at least if you can combine it with the closer sightings in the Okavango): for example it was great to see the cheetahs 'roaming' through the field and observe their behaviour (less aware of our safari jeep coasting in the distance).

Vasko in Nxai Pan was the very best guide/driver; with Keso a really proficient tracker. Janet and Carlos were fantastic at hosting, and really created a good atmosphere (with Janet being very outgoing and sharing great stories). Highly recommended." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana

"Knowledgeable guide, Vasco, and San bushman tracker, Shoes, made for lively discussions on our drives. Aside from large herds of migrating zebra and springbok, not much game. The staff were helpful and accommodating, especially the manager, Janet. The insulated rooms helped tremously in the hot, hot temperature, and our large bed was very comfortable. The pool was cloudy and questionable for swimming (we chose not to). The evening when the staff entertained us was very special. Due to the weather this turned out to be the only camp that had evening campfires which we thoroughly enjoy.

My one disappointment was my own fault: I had chosen Nxai Pan Camp because of it's proximity to Baines Baobabs. We had been in South Africa for more than one month before our first safari camp in Botswana, and I had not reviewed my notes, and I forgot that this was the camp for the baobabs! No staff at the camp ever mentioned the baobabs or that a day trip there was an option. So, I missed my only opportunity to see Baines Baobabs.

We spent considerable time searching and watching for the pride of 7 lions that resided at the camp. We saw them twice at a new zebra kill.

Although we enjoyed our time here we would not return to this camp. The scenry becomes monotonous and the animals are too few." See all these reviews: 13n in Botswana