Reviews of DumaTau

"Duma Tau provided a contrasting experience to our previous 2 Kwando camps. The camp had been rebuilt and resited in the last year and really was quite beautiful.

The staff again were incredibly friendly and helpful, the food was first class and the rooms were beautifully done (although a little smaller than the previous 2 camps). We had a great time here and it was a great camp to finish the trip.

Highlights here were going on the water on the last morning up to the Savute Channel and the elephant grazing by the verandah of our tent." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana

"This is a very special camp with luxurious tents set on the water's edge. Immediately on arrival we watched a herd of elephants swim across the channel.

Our guide was excellent and took us to see a hyenas den. We also saw a leopard, lions, elephants, buffalo, warthogs, hippos and several species of birds.

On our last night we had a private candlelit dinner for two on a pontoon out in the channel. It was very special." See all these reviews: 14n in Botswana

"The new Duma Tau is a delight. The tents are lovely and the main building is magical at night.

We saw a huge range of animals and birds.

Excellent guide, Mocks, seemed to be able to find things to order. We even saw a cheetah, the only sighting in our last two visits to Botswana (they used to be a lot easier to find). Difficult to pick out highlights. We saw the wild dogs returning to their den and the puppies all coming out to suckle. Lunch on the boat while watching an enormous herd of elephants swimming across the Linyanti River was also something very special. We saw a leopard lounging in a tree then making a rapid descent to make an attempt at passing impala. Huge variety of birds and animals in the beautiful scenery along the Savute Channel.

'Roads' in this area are deep sand making for very bumpy drives, may not be an ideal area for anyone with back problems." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 5n in South Africa

"As our first ever Safari Camp we sure struck it lucky at Duma Tau. Not only were the tents at the new camp absolutely beautiful, the lounge area open and sunny but Johann, Anya, and all the staff were marvelous. Sitting at either the bar chatting to Mr. B or at the dining table, looking over the river was Idyllic. With such a setting we did not object at all to being woken early, given a variety of yummy breakfast options, and put in a Safari vehicle with hot water bottles to head off on Safari. Our guide Tank with his wonderful knowledge, great driving skills and wonderful sense of humour made our stay there hard to beat. Our sunset fishing trip on the big boat was also a lot of fun.

Being next to the river and having a variety of animals wandering between the tents at any time day or night, does add to the experience. Although despite insisting she was fine on her own, our adult daughter did get a fright and I would recommend nervous people, especially children sharing tents." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe

"When we left Chitabe we gave the feedback that is repeated in the overall trip comments. By the time we reached Duma Tau 2 hours later they had received that feedback and went to great lengths to make up for our concerns.

The camp is amazing - indeed its probably a bit too slick for my tastes - and the service was truly outstanding. There was also more wildlife in camp than in any of the others - including dozens of elephants plus a black Mamba!

The drives were good and in particular there were fantastic different lion sightings every day including very young cubs and also wild dogs." See all these reviews: 16n in Botswana

"Upon arrival here we trekked on the way to the camp along the Linyati River and saw a great variety of animals and beautiful scenery. We were able to observe several prides of lions and again a good variety of animals. One morning we found a pride breakfasting on a juvenile elephant between bouts of resting/sleeping.

Animal viewing was very good here and social activities such as having lunch on a barge in a Linyati channel was fun. The staff was fun to be with and very proud of the camp and allowed us to tour the facility behind scenes which was incredibly interesting. Our guide, Moses, was excellent. The food was also very good.

The manager of training guides even arranged for us to see a guide we had had on our safari the previous year when we were at Savute." See all these reviews: 15n in Botswana

"Food (especially breakfast and brunch) was suprisingly good.

Personally not keen on the habit of 'introducing' each dinner/wines - it is very unnatural. A note on the table would be perfectly OK.

Very much liked the style and atmosphere of the camp/rooms. During the day the rooms got very hot and the overhead fan could definitely be more effective.

Excellent guide (Moses) who took plenty of opportunities to highlight smaller/less noticeable plants/animlas which gave a much more varied understanding of the area and ecosystem.

There seems to be a ring around the camp where it is unlikely to see anything - each game drive we had to travel 15-20mins beofre we saw anything of interest. Having said that, a pride of lions were all in and around the camp the day before we arrived.

One evening we had an influx of mosquito/bugs but fortunately the following 2 nights the wind blew them away.

General landscape of hte concession very attractive down by Linyanti River + Savuti Chanel.

The promotional material indicated there was a swimming pool - there is not." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana

"The new Duma Tau camp is only a couple of months old and had a slightly different feel to the 3 other camps i stayed at. It felt slightly new in places. Some people will love that but i felt it was just lacking the rustic feel of the other camps.

All the staff were great and the the food was of the same high standard as the other camps.

My guide was Bobby and he was great throughout the trip. He spent a lot more time than other guides explaining the ecology and history of the Delta, though he knew how to put his foot down when there was action we needed to see. He also took us out on a boat one afternoon (between drives) to watch the Elephants crossing the lagoon, and took me fishing the other afternoon i had in camp.

Game viewing was spectacular with numerous Lion Sightings which included watching a pride of Lions steal a Leopards kill. We also saw plenty of Leopards and lots of other game.

The Elephants regularly cross the lagoon near camp and this is a truly amazing sight to watch." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana

"We visited Duma Tua the first week in October 2012 shortly after they re-opened in their new location. The camp is a classic camp but in my opinion should be a Premier camp for their decor alone. I was amazed at how well decorated the tents were.

If you are from the US, the decor is very Restoration Hardware and the rooms are gorgeous. Amazingly, I did not see one bug in our room the entire time. The Linyanti area was extremely hot and dry during our stay and supposedly were having a bit of a heat wave as one of the days reach 44C. This area this time of year is very dry so you may not see much greenery. The camp is located right on the water (surprisingly hardly any mosquitoes) and at night, we would constantly hear the hippos and the elephants swimming across the water. Noises that I will miss forever and that I found quite comforting.

We saw all the Big 5 except the Rhino as the do not have any in this area. Many hippos, giraffes, hyenas, wild dogs, many african eagles and owls, impalas, kudus, baboons, vultures, ostrichs, etc. A couple of the highlights were watching the elephants swim across the chanel. It was done so elegantly with their snorkels out of the water. Another highlight was taking their pontoon boat and watching a mother elephant tyring to teach her baby how to swim across the channel. The baby was so naughty that he was going in the opposite direction but quite a sight to see as the mother would swim half way and have to come back because her baby was not following.

Another highlight was watching the wild dogs chase a rabbit. The entire scene was so fast that it was like a cartoon. Wild dogs were also chasing the impalas. The impalas won. Another major highlight was tracking a leopard and watch it stalk an injured impala. The other impalas sent out a warning and the leopard lost its element of surprise. Another highlight was seeing a hippo graze while out of the water which I guess is not very common. Because there is more water in this area, the animals were easier to spot by the water. We did also see a couple of shy male lions but they were new to the area so were in hiding most of the time. Overall, it was a great area. We spent 3 nights at this camp but I feel that 2 would have been sufficient. Two nights per camp is enough as you will have plenty of drives and it is great to see other areas.

Our Guide was very good and the service was excellent. I would highly recommend this camp" See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 2n in South Africa

"Fabulous. Excellent friendly staff who were very attentive and helpful.

The small nature of the camp and the limitations of numbers in the land rovers and the rule of no more than three land rovers around game at any one time made this a great game viewing experience. Our guide, Ron, was an outstanding tracker and found us leopard on three days!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana