Reviews of Sable Alley
(95%) From 17 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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superb safari and accommodation
Excellent service and accommodation in camp.
Safari was high quality seeing animals we didn't expect to.
Atmosphere very good.
Wonderful Camp
We travelled as a party of 8 and had a great time at Sable Alley. The camp and rooms were above our expectations after just having spent 2 days / nights at Hyena Pan. We thoroughly enjoyed the camp, food, game drives and friendly staff. We would definitely recommend this camp to other travellers. The games drives, Mokoro boats and abundance of game and bird life made for a really enjoyable experience.
We struggled with food at Hyena Pan in terms of availability and quality and by comparison, Sable Alley was substantially improved. The food was table services rather than buffet and the food was of a really good standard. Well prepared, well presented and a joy to eat. We would honestly recommend that Hyena Pan follows a similar approach to serving food to their quests.
As a pure safety note, we would say that our last day was more exciting but could have ended in tragedy. Our truck followed 2 lionesses with 3 cubs and in trying to get as close as possible became stuck in the boggy mud. Luckily a second safari truck was close by to assist but when it arrived neither safari truck had any tow ropes???
Our tourist group was then asked to transfer to the second safari ruck to lighten the load to see whether this would help but unfortunately the safari truck was stuck deep in the mud.
A third safari truck after some 30 minutes arrived with a tow rope and proceed to hand the tow rope over to their colleagues and then drive off??? All of the safari tourists were then asked to stand in the open field unattended in pretty close proximity (circa 30 metres) to the 2 lionesses and their cubs. The safari truck was eventually towed out (circa 20 minutes later) and we then managed to all get back into the trucks and proceed with the safari tours.
In hindsight, we should never had agreed to leave the safari truck and stand in the open fields. This is incredibly dangerous especially with 2 lionesses that could have attacked us at any stage.
We would honestly recommend that all safari trucks carry tow ropes, the staff are trained in how to tow vehicles our of deep mud or perhaps avoid the mud in the first place and that tourists are never allowed to leave the safari trucks and stand in open fields unattended within such close proximity to wild dangerous animals. We would also recommend that the third safari truck should have stayed around to help and not leave tourists vulnerable.
Despite the above adventure – we really did enjoy the camp and our experiences and would recommend this camp.
Expert Africa comments
Although it is clear that these travellers had a wonderful time at Sable Alley overall, we were concerned about their feedback on their game drive - safety is paramount when out on safari. We know the owners of Sable Alley (Natural Selection) and also know that they take feedback like this very seriously, as do we.
They have replied with a sincere apology for the way the guide handled the situation on the ground and completely understand why these travellers would have felt vulnerable and unsafe. Their philosophy is that it is a requirement of guides to not only be educators and entertainers but to be safety conscious at all times too.
Sable Alley has a team of mechanics in camp with recovery kits on hand and it is the norm for a guide who has trouble with their vehicle to immediately radio for help. This did not happen on this occasion and this incident has been addressed by management, with the guides, to ensure that this does not happen again.
Natural Selection commented that guest safety is their number one priority and an area of their service that should never be compromised. They have sent their sincere apology to our travellers for any unpleasant feelings they may have experienced during this incident.
Lovely surroundings & safari at 1st rate camp
We (mother and I) enjoyed everything about our stay and safari at Sable Alley.
We found the camp itself luxurious, staff attentive, the meals superb and our guide 'Shakes' excellent. We did not want for anything.
We especially loved the outdoor shower!
Sable Alley review
Very comfortable camp and great after 4 hot days on a mobile safari.
Tony was a superb guide and made this an excellent experience overall
This was the only camp where the service was mixed. Of the 3 managers Molly and Mrs P were great but in general some of the staff were a bit aloof, keen to get your evening meal finished with a sense that if they didn't offer you much wine you might go to bed sooner. Variable , always polite but did not give the impression they were all that interested and left guest to themselves more than happened in other camps.
This was the only time one of us was ill with what we think was food poisoning and the managers couldn't have been more helpful but also raises the issue over how Hygiene- it was likely just an unfortunate event but worth seeing if you get other incidents reported
However excellent guiding , great game viewing and would still highly recommend the camp but with just a few small adjustments it could be excellent all round . Mocorro not really worth doing at this time of year as water levels very low , guides not that knowledgeable and talked about shooting wild dogs to stop them getting farm animals so can see the need to for on going education!
Sable Alley
Lovely accommodations. Great walking safaris with Russell
Read more about the whole safariSable Alley
A spectacular experience and beautiful location with top class rooms and service. Has recently been renovated and everything in the camp from the entrance to the general areas and the rooms themselves were wonderfully done. The staff were friendly, helpful and made us feel extremely welcome and comfortable. They often would good 'above and beyond', such as laying on a special celebration for our anniversary.
The scout we were assigned was very knowledgeable and experienced. He made sure we saw a variety of wildlife as well as educating and informing us of specific details related to it. The concession around this camp had a large quantity of wildlife and there was very little we did not see. The 'stand-out' feature for this camp is the water hole right in front of the camp that hosts a large (and noisy) hippo pod as well as attracting many other mammals, birds and a reptile. One day a herd of elephant wandered through the camp passing us just feet away.
Sable Alley review
The staff were very friendly and welcoming.
We liked the lodge, it was clean and the rooms were lovely situated around the waterhole. The guide was very informative.
We spent one night at Skybeds which I am glad we did but would not revisit. As the waterhole there is not lit is was difficult to see the animals although I did have a magical hour watching the elephants move through the camp at 2am.
We also had an excellent game drive back from Skybeds
Amazing staff and service
Sable Alley was wonderful.
The staff are particularly good, led by the exceptional Mrs P. The tents are very stylish and comfortable.
Sable Alley review
Not sure why we needed a tracker as well as a guide - it was somewhat annoying when they were in conversation between themselves, quite clearly on matters not affecting us.
ie we didn't have the whole attention of the guide
Sable Alley feed back
We have always traveled to Botswana with Wilderness Safaris (Xigera; Jacana; Kalahari Plains; Vumbura Plains; Kings Pool). We decided to try someone else. Obviously from the noted camps it can be seen that we love Botswana as we would not be returning so frequently. We had a few concerns however it must be understood that this has not changed our minds to do another trip with your organisation.
1) Not sufficient vehicles for travelling in the bush. Having to share with people who have no clue about what is going on in the bush and who totally lack simple understanding of what a privilege it is to actually be out in the wilds is so disappointing. The reason why I say this is because we were constantly having to drop and pick up people resulting in the vehicle hanging around close to the camp when in fact we should be out on a game drives (Is that no what we have paid for). And as we all know it is timing that finds something around the next corner. If you are not exploring the next corner then you will definitely miss out.
2) No camera facilities for mounting your camera on. It is such a simple requirement that would enable your camera to remain stable when using a long lens (Mounted bean bag)
3) Guides need to understand that when on a drive they should be clear in what they say as only the absolute tourist can be told anything and they will believe it. I have had the privilege to have grown up in the bush and I find it disappointing to sometimes listen to absolute nonsense been spoken by the guides. I am sure you would think that I am a know it all but I have lived and grown up in central Africa (Zambia) for some time however i am based in Cape Town for the last 25 years.
4) Guides need to ask what your preference of drinks are for the day and not to simply assume that what you requested at the beginning is what you will have all the way along. i say this because we are not the normal tourist who are in the camp for 2 days and one could get away with this. We always stay for 4 days
5) Small things if you are flying home and you must leave at a certain time in the morning one should provide a lunch packet. This small gesture shows that you have your clients interest at heart. The question could be asked, and it would be your clients decision if they wanted lunch or not. (Wilderness Safaris does this and this goes a long way)
6) Breakfast needs to be sorted out as some people like to have scrambled eggs/or any other type of eggs with bacon, sausage etc. (Again i say this because Wilderness Safaris does this)
7) Your person running the camp was a wonderful host Johann van den Heever whom i had a similar discussion with telling him what makes a massive difference to ones stay. The rest of the stay was was made a pleasure with your staff that ensured that we were well looked after.
8) Comments such as activities to be graded we do understand that they are all seasonally driven and activities such as Boating etc are restricted by the water levels. That is why one can only note Good.
9) For others to read my comments is something that your organisation should rather take and ensure that the items noted above are addressed as this will make your camp even more special.
AGAIN I MUST SAY THAT WE WILL MOST DEFINITELY LOOK TO DOING ANOTHER ADVENTURE WITH YOUR ORGANISATION
