Travel reviews by safari lovers from UK

"Very pleasant and comfortable stay.

Pleasant surroundings and helpful staff."

"Would highly recommend staying here because of its location within the National Park, thus allowing access before and after the gates shut. It really is worth the money. We visited Big Daddy with the guide at sunrise before any other tourists arrived. (It takes about an hour from the lodge, and probably an extra 20 mins approx on top of that if you are coming from the gate). The area of Sossusvlei is absolutely stunning particularly when you can see it before the masses arrive, and they do. It looked very different when we left because of the number of cars, minibuses, buses etc.

The lodge itself is spacious with the lovely individual villas really well spaced along walkways. They are very generous in size and all have magnificent views, and were very comfortable. Small pool which was appreciated in the stifling heat.

Food slightly variable. OK but not a highlight.

Staff mostly lovely."

"Excellent two night stay here. We were upgraded to a seaview room on request which we appreciated. Very comfortable, tastefully decorated and nicely equipped.

Spa was an unexpected surprise. Arranged a treatment at short notice, which was of good quality.

Ate at the seafood restaurant both nights and thoroughly enjoyed both meals. Delicious food and very nice welcoming staff.

Nice location, easy to find."

"This rather unusual looking camp perched on top of a rocky outcrop, has been cleverly designed to make full use of the stunning views. The individual villas/chalets are huge and comfortable and well spaced.
Very welcoming pool set into the rocks.

We were the only people staying so we were wonderfully looked after by the staff who had time to chat to us, which of course gives the tourist a small insight into their lives. We were sung to, both nights by the staff choir who sang beautifully. Actually we were sung to on arrival and departure as well.

On our second night they went to enormous trouble to set up a bush supper for us. We felt like royalty with all the attention.

Our guide was Stephen and we spent three excellent nature drives with him. We spent significant time with a herd of desert elephants who we followed along the riverbed. An absolute highlight for us, so much to learn about them. We then caught up with them again in the later afternoon about 40kms further on. We are interested in birds too so stopped regularly to identify some new ones for us."

"The location of Grootberg Lodge is really magnificent. It must have one of the best views of any lodge we have stayed at anywhere.

The rooms have the same views (being perched on the cliff edge). They are compact but comfortable. No power in room but masses of charging points in a cupboard in the main building.

We had pre-booked the rhino tracking and spent a full bone shaking day with guide Dessie and trackers Joseph & Jacob.

It took serious tracking skills to find a male black rhino. We personally didn't actually have to walk far at all. We also went to the anti-poaching camp and chatted to the policeman which was interesting.
Saw mountain zebra, lots of giraffe, oryx, and large ele herd at end of day.

Good staff all employed from the local community. They sang to us every night which we loved."

"We booked a premium waterhole chalet for its location - being able to watch the floodlit waterhole during the night from our balcony/bed. It is ideal for this, although in fact it was very quiet both nights. The chalet is a large two story building with one bedroom upstairs looking onto balcony and waterhole. Big ensuite shower and loo. Downstairs is second bedroom with ensuite shower. Staircase is totally open and doesn't have a bannister for the first few steps so is not suitable for young children.

It is worth noting that these chalets are not self catering in anyway . They have a fridge, kettle, couple of wine glasses and coffee cups. No utensils. We had mistakingly thought they were so had brought some provisions. The camp shop was very poorly stocked but this may have been more to do with the effects of the impending Covid restrictions.

You can self cater/ braai at the other accommodation types away from the waterhole.

Camp has three nice pools and large restaurant set around it. Meals are all buffet style with good choice and quality. Our chalet booking included breakfast. Staff on the whole were pleasant and helpful. Although they sell WIFI vouchers it rarely worked."

"The highlight of our trip even though we only spent 18 hours there! ( had three nights booked but had to leave after one because of imminent lockdown )

Bruno has huge knowledge and experience of everything Namibian, which he passionately shares. Mundulea is his reserve which he established more than 20 years ago, and has gradually reintroduced native animals and carried out bush restoration.

The camp is a proper bush camp with all food cooked on an open fire by Tommy who is Bruno's right hand man. We plan to return as soon as we can to spend more time walking in the bush with Bruno."

"Delightful camp , feels deep in the delta ! Staff all welcoming and friendly and working well as a team . The cultural evening held on Mondays was a joyous musical memorable time in the boma. They all love singing and dancing . I know they do it every Monday but they really seemed to enjoy doing it .

Tents very comfortable and we enjoyed our walkway to it . Food delicious and again the chefs took pride in their work. Tables all looked so attractive in the evenings with lots of effort put in the the napkin designs which we all loved

Our guide Onks was delightful , patient , knowledge and good fun . We loved our mokoro trips with him and Brendan the poler. We were very lucky with a leopard sighting and also many birds . We knew it was not an area for lots of big mammals.
Re water levels , although we were there in the rainy season the big rains that fall in Angola and take many months to reach the further reaches of the delta had not arrived so water levels were still low . ie the huge lagoon I front of our tent was totally dry .
There was enough for the mokoros but not the boats. We therefore had the majority of the game viewing in the jeeps .
Because Xigera is advertised as a water camp we probably expected more water based activities. Having said that I know water levels /climate can be unpredictable. We chatted lots to the guides about the best times to come for a truly water experience and it's June July time .

Having made the mistake / misunderstanding 2 yrs ago when we stayed at Sandibe and there was no water for mokoros at all then and we were a bit disappointed we had hoped to get it right this time . I think it would be really helpful in your literature if you explained clearly the different seasons and what you can expect in each one . My mistake this time was assuming that the rainy season would mean masses of water, but actually it all fills up later on.
No problem really , we will just have to return later in the season for the really water experience!!"

"Little Kwara is a lovely little camp , well situated and nicely run . Staff welcoming , they don't wear name badges tho ( Kwando policy) which is a shame because it's really not easy to remember everyone's names . I think you can have a better relationship / experience if you know names ( even if you are reading them !!) .

We paid for a private guide and had Duks who was extremely knowledgable on all aspects of flora and fauna of the delta. We learned a huge amount from him . A great sense of humour too. We spent 12 1/2 hrs in the jeep one day tracking a family of cheetah learning to hunt !! . A picnic lunch was brought out to us in the bush which was a real treat while waiting for action from the cheetah. Chester was our tracker and he and Duks made a great team for us. It's the first time in many safaris that we have paid for a private guide and it was absolutely worth it .

My only negative of the camp ( which I said on the Kwando questionnaire) was that there was always a pressure to sit down and get the meal over and done with as quickly as possible . All a bit unrelaxing and unnecessary . We have not experienced this in any other camps. I appreciate the staff want to get finished but actually it was a bit irritating . The pre meal drinks and chat round the bar area really didn't exist and the plates were cleared so quickly from the table. A small point really but I think worth mentioning.

We loved being on the boat and also mokoros , a nice change from the game drives and the opportunity to see other things."

"A magical camp , efficiently run by delightful staff who make the whole experience very personal. Our guide Ezra and his driver Kharida were superb. We had asked for a senior guide and we were not disappointed. Everyday we chose to have our breakfast in the bush so our morning drives were at least 6 hrs. This was obviously a fantastic advantage enabling us to cover large distances to see game and giving us time to sit and watch animal behaviour. We learned a tremendous amount from Ezra and he was a delightful enthusiastic person to spend 8 plus hours a day. We found being on the river a great treat and loved the two boat trips we did. They gave a different perspective and a change from the drives.

The camp staff were so attentive and made such a special effort to help us celebrate our daughters graduations ( reason for trip !) . They arranged surprise sundowners (gave us a bottle of bubbly) at a magical location that we reached by boat. At dinner one evening the waiters sang a traditional Swahili welcome song and brought a cake to the table.

That evening our table location was away from the restaurant down near the water and we were kept company by bush babies and civet cats. It's hard to describe the atmosphere on paper. It was magical."

"We enjoyed 4 very relaxing days here after being in Selous on safari. It is owned and run by the delightful Elise and Ralph who are so welcoming and involved in the day to day running of the lodge. They have a great team who work for them.

There is a dive centre on site which we made good use of - snorkelling , day sailing on a dhow out to a tiny island ( sand spit really !) for lunch and great snorkelling. The visit to the local village was a fascinating insight into real life on Zanzibar ."

"Fabulous place, slightly quirky. Lovely staff, fab accomodation, challenging game viewing because of extremely dry conditions but fantastic guide esp for birding.Geographically a very interesting area of Botswana, well worth a visit."

"Really enjoyed our two nights here, crammed alot in. Well run by Jonothan and Kate.

The time spend with the meerkats was fantatstic as was the Bushman experience. I had thought it might all be a bit touristy but it really is not and infact is so informative.

Being on the Pans was incredible, like nowhere else. Literally miles of nothingness!!"

"A wonderful camping experience in the bush (with a v decent comfy bed !). THe team were excellent in every respect. They clearly work as a team to ensure guest satisfaction. We saw SO much game and Morgan our guide was so patient and knowledgable.

Food was totally delicious considering the oven is a tin box over the camp fire."

"A very special camp on the edge of the Delta. Wondefully knowledgable, attentive staff, nothing was too much trouble. Having elephants pass through the camp within a few feet of your table is v exciting/special.

Only minor disappointment was that because of water levels and v active hippos, mokoros were not possible. Had we understood that this might be an issue , we might have booked a camp deeper in the Delta, where mokoros are always available. We put this down to our lack of knowlwedge of the Delta even though we had done alot of reading. I suggest that ExpertAfrica makes sure potential clients understand this.

Basically Sandibe is not the right camp if you really want mokoro excursions. (which we did!!). We will just have to go back to the Delta one day !!."

"Good recommendation. Excellent location. Actually nicer atmosphere than Vic Falls Hotel which, when we visited for a drink was crammed with bus parties.

Menu also good for two nights dinner"