Reviews of Botswana Private Mobile Safari
(100%) From 28 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
This was an amazing experience. Our guide, Andrew, was very personable and knowledgeable. We were collected from Khwai airstrip and taken to our remote camp which was set up and waiting for us. The tents were light and airy with comfortable beds. The camp team made sure that everything was just right, they were all friendly and keen to make our safari special. We all agreed that the food produced by Alec was superb, especially since it was cooked over a fire. My unusual diet was well catered for. The drives were full of anticipation and Andrew found us many animals and birds. Our bird recognition improved as the time went on.
Next we drove to Savuti. The camp team expertly packed up camp and managed to get ahead of us and set up the new site. We, meanwhile, meandered through different landscapes on our route which meant that we saw a variety of wildlife. For the first time we saw hills. The camp site was in a beautiful, quiet position. The channel was dry but there were still many animals to see.
We enjoyed sitting by two cheetahs as they rested and seeing three male lion brothers laying out together early in the morning. But most unusual for us was to see several Carmine bee eaters escort our vehicle across the grasslands so that they could catch the insects we disturbed. One night whilst drinking by the camp fire we had a visit from two lionesses. We followed Andrew’s instructions and sat still. Eventually they skirted around us and exited the camp, it was the closest we had been to lions when not in a vehicle.
We all considered this to be the best way to experience a safari, we felt close to nature and enjoyed a wonderful guide. We thoroughly recommend this safari.
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
A huge thank you from all five of us for a fabulous trip, which went so well.
Your recommendation of Andrew was brilliant: he was a great guide and we loved his approach with his mobile safari, the staff and the meals, and particularly the campsites he took us to, their remoteness and beauty. We had amazing luck seeing most of the bigger mammals in the first couple of days - the great sightings carried on through to the very end of the trip with Andrew.
He was also great at birding, my recent passion, so we had funwith that too.
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
The private mobile safari with Andrew was SUPER and definitely the best experience of our holiday in Botswana!
Everything was top! The tents, the location, the service, the food, the safari....etc...
We had a very authentic feeling. With Andrew we had a very real safari experience, alone in the middle of Moreni NP.
When we go back to Botswana we will certainly do it again!
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
Beautiful area and well advised / chosen as just what we wanted , wonderfully isolated .
Game viewing was a bit disappointing but that is always a risk and Andrew was a great guide and host and tried very hard to find game in such a vast area
Camping as expected, staff lovely and food very good.
A great change from the loges and a wonderful experience , game so relaxed that we had great views of everything and lots of time to watch animal behaviours. Lovely to be the only vehicle around for most of the time.
We are hoping the visit the Kalahari with the team in the future!
Simply the best
Although we have been on lodge safari's before they cannot compare to doing a mobile safari. Andrew and his staff are exceptional and the food cooked by Patrick the chef was outstanding, more so as it is all cooked on a bushfire!
I am not someone who likes camping so I was a little apprehensive before we got there, although I wanted to have this experience. The tent was spacious with hangers and shelving and the beds were comfortable. The attached bathroom is also spacious and the long drop loo has a comfortable enclosed seat. I would definitely say its glamping not camping!
The guys would usually top up the water canister for the shower before we had our afternoon snack. They always checked you were not using the bathroom before they went in and they kept everywhere looking neat and tidy. We even had various towel sculptures each day on our beds. All of the staff were friendly and polite and Andrew was a great host.
Andrew knew both the Savuti Marsh area and Moremi Kwai Concessions. He is very respectful of the animals and is relaxed and patient. He doesn't race around rushing from A to B like many of the other guides seemed to do. It was therefore much more comfortable in the truck as we tracked the animals. It was also nice that he did not use the radio, so it was very quiet and felt like there was nobody else around.
My husband enjoys bird watching and Andrew was very knowledgeable about them as well as the animals. We saw 113 species of birds during our stay as well as leopards, lions, wild dogs and more.
We decided on a private safari after reading some blogs and reviews and it did not disappoint. We felt very well looked after by Andrew and his team. We found we had flexibility to do what we wanted, although Andrew would make suggestions in relation to what we wanted to see, he is very easy going. Our mid morning tea break and sun downer stops were always accompanied by one of Patrick's creations, amazing. These breaks were usually taken in a hidden spot where we could view the animals and birds.
If you want to do something out of the ordinary, even if you don’t like camping, I would recommend doing this. It’s a fantastic experience.
Thank you Andrew and your team we had a fantastic time and loved every minute of it.
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
Andrew and his team are world class.
We had an amazing 3 nights with them - can't believe the number of animals we saw and also the incredibly high standard of food all cooked on an open fire and in a Dutch oven. Very impressive indeed!
Huge thanks to Andrew, Patrick, Alec, LB and P.
Mobile safari, moremi, khwai, savute
I took a long time to be persuaded to go to Botswana, not because I didn’t expect the wild life to be excellent (it was) or the environment to be pristine ( it was), but because I wasn’t interested in high end lodges. I like to feel close to the wild life. I don’t want wifi, phone signal, fridges or air con in my room. This is where Andrew came in.
Harkness safari, doesn’t have wifi or room fridges, it has drop loos and bucket showers. You eat under the stars, fabulous food cooked by Patrick, who miraculously provides you with fresh bread, breakfast buns, luxurious salads and three course meals every day, in the middle of the bush. The wine flows , the chat flows, and is only halted by the nightly visitors coming through camp.
Lions roaring, wild dogs hunting impala by the kitchen tent, hyena giggling and cackling while jogging through the camp to a kill, jackals looking for wild dog scraps. We have never seen so many honey badgers in daylight, some times in pairs, some times alone, always trotting off on their business, little stripy tanks! If you go to Botswana just for the wild life you won’t be disappointed, Andrew has a trackers eye, and a guides knowledge, and a brits sense of humour. He knows where to look so your experience is always intimate and memorable.
If like me you come for the environment, the drive from Khwai to Savute is spectacular. The long drive is broken up as the vista changing from rivers, to open plains, to desert. Moremi, Khwai and Savute are different from each other, all worth visiting. You don’t have to be adventurous for a private mobile safari, Andrew and his team will look after every little detail, but you do have to love wildlife, its everywhere and its close!
Harkness Mobile Safaris
Our experience met and surpassed all of our expectations. We found our guide/outfitter Andrew to be delightful fellow. He was at once casual, informative, enthusiastic, sharp eyed, a fount of info. His experience level was obviously high for a youngish man.
We easily agreed on our priorities and objectives, and spent little wasted time achieving them. That said, we did not wish to hurry our observations of various details of landscape, birds, and animals. He was willing to linger or give more info on many identifications or behavior questions. We had superb spotting of birds and mammals, thanks in part to his knowledge of places or time of day.
The daily schedule we agreed on suited us well, early out of camp and time mid day to write, identify and journal our findings. He put us close to the cats but always showed respect for the animals space. We never felt overly intrusive. It does take a minute to sit calmly near a huge lion and learn to contain your excitement!
The variety of habitats and landscape views in our itinerary brought a constant feel of eminent discovery. On our slowest day, we probably still saw hundreds of mammals and dozens of new bird and plant species. The tree species alone were a wonder, very different for us in their adaptations.
Although we had several travel days, they were great for us in terms of extended discovery. We had some of our best game spotting on these days, wild dogs and Buffalo eg. We also saw some rarer raptors like a gymkhana attacking a starling nest.
On camp change days, the crew was flawless. We always arrived in a well ordered camp. The cooking and baking was a wonder in itself, with fresh breads and confections daily. Fresh veggies and fruits were a treat, and the exotic game meats were tender and well spiced. Safari guest fared in older days could not possibly have been pampered like this!
Our favorite daily break was the morning tea and sundowner breaks. It felt traditional and gave a moment for the grandeur to sink in, often watching Elephants bathe or Zebra grazing. The sounds of the forest are like none other in the world!
Expert Africa comments
These travellers wanted a really in-depth wildlife experience with a great guide, and were not keen to visit smart fixed camps, so we arranged for our private guide, Andrew, to take them on an extensive and exclusive mobile safari which spent:
3 nights in the Savuti Marsh region of Chobe National Park;
4 nights in the Khwai River area of Moremi;
4 nights in the Moremi Game Reserve.
We're absolutely delighted that they so enjoyed the experience and the different areas.
Moremi and Savuti
I can't speak highly enough of Andrew's safari. Suffice to say I've started to save for the next trip! Andrew runs a very tight ship with great attention to detail. The camp set up is fantastic. His staff are great and the meals were outstanding. The safaris were amazing- I don't think there was one question about an animal or Botswana that Andrew couldn't answer!
The camp at Moremi was in a great location - felt that we were the only people around. Loved listening to the hippos and elephants in the nearby river at night.
Savuti was also great although there were other mobile camps nearby so you could hear other people. Loved the place for the wildlife though.
The only suggestion I would have for Andrew is to have additional blankets in the tents as the nights were freezing - or recommend that guests who feel the cold bring thermals to sleep in 😊
Was very sad saying goodbye to Andrew and the team.
Kalahari mobile Harkness Safari
The Kalahari is a safari lover’s paradise. You share the Kalahari with virtually no-one, occasionally you may see another truck, but if you’re lucky like we were, you have a pride of 12 lions to yourself. We followed the lions for three days morning and evening, watching the adolescents play and stalk. Their curiosity in the truck means they come up to sniff the tyres and flop into the shadow of the truck for shade. It’s a photographers dream, to photograph a big black mained lion as the sun raises will change your photography expectations for ever.
You don’t see wildlife around every corner, so come for the vistas. In April, the grass is long, and shimmering gold, pink, purple and white, the wild flowers are everywhere, and regularly you will see a cheeky black backed jackal trotting through the grass. You make your way slowly from pan to pan, you come out of a corridor of grass, to an open pan, where hundreds of antelope are grazing, the grass is cropped close, there is not another human in sight. The sun is shining, the antelope may look up, snakes basking on the road slide away (best ever safari for snakes), turn the engineer off.. Paradise.
The beauty of the Kalahari was shown to us by Andrew and his team, who are wonderful, we couldn’t have done it without them. Andrew is a great guide with encyclopaedic knowledge and stories, happy to share, but equally happy to just let the view wash over you. Nothing is too much trouble, no idea for the day is too hard…..after 4 days trying we even had a brief glimpse of the elusive Brown Hyena. The distances are huge , we went on 4 all day activities, lunch is provided by the talented Patrick, and the day just rolls by, you have tea and lunch, and chat, and debate, mainly about the animal shaped logs!!
Finally, at the end of the day you are back in camp, the tent is comfortable and welcoming, the water hot and plentiful. After scrubbing up, we sat by the camp fire with our wine and beer, going over the day’s events, waiting for the miraculous food Patrick produces. You are never hungry, and always amazed at what can be produced in the middle of nowhere. If you’re lucky the resident male lion may visit the camp to check you out.
We were sad to leave and Andrew and his team. This is our 13th safari, when you get hooked you get properly hooked, and this was by far our best experience, am I allowed to give 11 out of 10.? I’d like to keep the Kalahari and Andrew and his team secret.
If you want an authentic safari experience, April in the Kalahari, with Harkness Safaris is for you. We will definitely be returning.
