Reviews of Chitabe Lediba
(97%) From 71 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Lediba
After a short flight we landed at the Chitabe airstrip where our guide, OD, greeted us and drove us to the lodge. OD was a very congenial person with a huge in depth knowledge of the animals and fauna of the area. He was constantly on the look out for tracks on the trails and always scanning the surroundings for signs of animals. The manager, a heavy-set jovial Botwanian with an ever-present grin, greeted us at the camp.
Our 'tents' looked into the brush and were large and very confortable. We spent most of our drives looking for the Cheetah that had been spotted the morning we arrived. During our drives we saw tsessebe, impala, jackal, a variety of birds and a large baboon tribe feeding on the palm nuts and the amarula fruit. During the night time drives Ode spotted a bush baby, a small monkey with huge eyes, and a genet, a cat like mammal with a small head, a catlike body, and a large puffy tail. He also spotted a couple of mongoose.
The animal life at Lediba appeared to be less dense than that a Lebala and Lagoon. The staff at Lediba bent over backwards to make our stay memorable. The wind curtains were all drawn during the day and replaced for the night and all equipment worked. The food was simple but very tasty & the cook had an excellent way with the condiments. At the end of the last dinner, the jovial manager brought out a bottle of South African bubbly and toasted us on our 45th anniversary - a nice touch.
Lediba will be remembered as the place where the Cheetah was not found, the excellent guide Ode, the jovial manager, and the 'over the top'friendly professional staff.
Wonderful wildlife a surprise at every turn.
A busy camp with a fast pace and the concession which had more big animals and numerous sightings than our other two camps. However this does not mean it was the best as our guide Gordon, although very experienced and knowledgeable, seemed a little jaded to the whole process and didn't seem as wrapped up in our enthusiasm.
The staff were all excellent and the evening of traditional food, dancing and singing was a real highlight.
Chitabe Lediba - Visit Two
After our last visit to Chitabe Lediba we commented that it seemed more like a reserve for the main camp than a lodge in its own right. This time there was no hint of little brother and we absolutely loved our time there.
All the staff, from the managers to housekeepers were always smiling, friendly and clearly bent on making our stay completely memorable. They succeeded. The game drives were first rate largely due to the skills and hard work of our guide OD. If it was there to be seen we saw it. The highlights were a feast of birds, 2 pairs of mating lions, leopard writ large and no less than 5 cheetah.
To top it off we had the most amazing sighting of a family of dwarf mongoose that posed like professionals. The food was good and the rooms huge and well equipped. This is a camp to keep going back to. All credit to the managers Kay and Six. Marvellous.
Completely fabulous. Very high standard
Lovely staff and superb lodge. Great game viewing and local knowledge
Read more about the whole safari
Chitabe Lediba review
The rooms were excellent, best of the three camps which we visited. The food was cheap and poor - chicken, lamb shank and pulled beef. The staff were enthusiastic, but the Manager displayed certain sub-optimal characteristics. I specifically told him "no chicken please" but got it for dinner that evening.
The Guide "Oats" was first class
Amazing place. A must in the Okavango Delta
Very friendly personnel, excelent rooms, great game-viewing activities.
Read more about the whole safariChitabe Lidaba, not chitabe
We were NOT at Chitabe, but at Chitabe Lidaba, where I'd wanted to go, but had been told we couldn't. So we were pleasantly surprised.
Liked this much smaller camp and had an excellent guide with BB. His wife was the manager at Chitabe. BB was very knowledgeable in both the area of finding game and his expertise in photography...what a bonus!! He had had many courses in photography and had an overall supreme level of education.
He gave my daughter, the photographer, for our trip, many tips, and when she was too tired to go out one morning, he took just me, with him taking pictures (my poor close up eye site, prevented me from seeing camera dials) for the morning safari. What a treat to have both his skill as a photographer and knowledge of not only the area, but all the info about the wildlife.
While at Chitabe Lidaba, my daughter and I had the family sweet with separate rooms and adjoining pass way; great to have some separate space, which we shared with the baboons, but who cared. Really loved the small camp after the large one at Duma Tau.
unforgettable experience
Wildfife was great with predators sightings being the highlight: leopards, cheetahs, lions and hyenas in 2 days only....plus the resident elephant bull wandering around the camp at any time. But what make Chitabe Lediba unique are the people who work and run this camp. Kay and Mo were great hosts and BB, our guide, was simply outstanding: Spotting a leopard using monkeys alert calls...this is just beyond words...
The famlily tent was fantastic and the roar of a lion as wake-up call was unforgettable.
Chitabe Lediba - many sightings
This very good camp gave us probably the most sightings of our trip, leopards, hyaenas a (very small) lion pride, a very old male lion and the usual antelopes, etc.
Our guide, Paul, was very good and tried really hard. That he is also a photographer helped
The only flaws appeared at the very end of our stay, due very obviously to some problems in camp management/communications, which, together with problems in Wilderness Air left us for 3 hours+ in the noon heat at the air strip and nearly cost us the p.m. drive at Duma Tau.
The camp manager, Mr. Mooal....? (large, used to be at Duba Plains, very important in his own mind) spends most of his time driving friends around; asst. mgr., M.s Charity (very educated, in camp for 3 monyhs, her first amin. job) is mostly in charge; *very* assertive. Arranged for us to finish a.m. drive at the airstrip (against recommendation by our guide). In the meantime Wilderness Air, after the usual time changes had problems with two planes. There was no timely communication from camp; our guide tried repeatedly to get some answers - a plane was supposedly fly to Maun and then pick us up. It never happened. Two planes landed (with space), no luck. Camp manager drove by, said hello & left. Our guide tried to contact camp general manager, was told to "take message & stand by" - nothing for an hour. No contact, no info for 3 hours.
Eventually a plane came, we got to Duma Tau; no time for lunch, but we got to p.m. drive.
Home of the Leopard
In three days we were fortunate enough to see three leopards, all wonderfully positioned for great photography. Chitabe seems to have the best game densities of the three camps that we visited.
The staff is incredible, the food outstanding. One night they served dinner in the "boma" and the following night it was dinner around the pool. We loved the fact that it is a small camp.
Our guide, Gordon was great fun and "Flame", who was doing his guide training, added another set of eyes and a sunny personality. The only negative, and not a huge one, was the afternoon helicopter sightseeing flights from the nearly soccer field. No one in camp, not the guests nor the guides nor the staff, was happy with this as it was beyond their control. It wouldn't preclude us from returning but it takes away the tranquility of the area, it makes resting in the afternoon next to impossible and certainly must affect the wildlife.
