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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by W Party from Chorleywood

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

3

Countries visited

3

Lodges stayed in

12

Excursions taken

0

June visit to the Kalahari

South Africa between 4 Jun 2018 and 13 Jun 2018

Trip rating: Excellent
"A stunning safari - expensive but worth every penny.

Seeing pangolin and aardvark in the day was incredible and the quality of our guide, Kyle with his extensive knowledge and infectious enthusiasm made this safari particularly special."

Arranged By Tracy Lederer


The Motse at Tswalu

The Motse at Tswalu

"Wonderful, in depth safari"

7 nights Arrived 5 Jun 2018
"The Oppenheimers have created a very special place. Every element is outstanding and made our whole experience unforgettable.

This is probably not for a first time safari goer, as the animals are not as easy to find as in some other parts of Africa but for the aficionados, tracking and then ,seeing animals is the way it should be. Also, the way things are organised so that vehicles do not go to the same areas and if there is an amazing sighting only two vehicles can view at the same time.

We stayed for seven nights and had not covered a fraction of the area."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent

Excellent Tanzanian trip

Tanzania between 14 Oct 2017 and 1 Nov 2017

Trip rating: Excellent
"It was a wonderful trip from start to finish. We enjoyed all the camps, which were all different in excellent locations and would happily go back to any of them."

Arranged By Lyndsey Marris


Rivertrees Country Inn

Rivertrees Country Inn

"Good place for first night"

1 night Arrived 15 Oct 2017
"Enjoyed birdwatching round the gardens"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Greystoke Mahale

Greystoke Mahale

"wonderful lodge in beautiful location"

3 nights Arrived 16 Oct 2017
"Can't praise highly enough. The camp is in a beautiful, remote location and has a welcoming, friendly feel, which is made possible by the excellent staff from the management down.

The guides, Butati and Mateus were both superb. Knowledgeable and helpful, spoke very good English and had great sense of humour.

The chimp viewing was unbelievable and exceeded all our expectations! It was enhanced by the detailed information of the family history of the chimps and the enthusiasm of the staff.

We would have liked to stay longer as three nights are not enough to enjoy all the facilities of the camp."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Jongomero Camp

Jongomero Camp

"Lovely remote camp."

3 nights Arrived 19 Oct 2017
"An extremely well run camp; friendly and professional. Emiel, the manager, was extremely efficient and tailor made our safaris for us so that we set off early and came back for brunch. Our waiter, Christian couldn't have been more helpful but was never intrusive.

The location of the camp in Ruaha is fantastic: remote with beautiful scenery and plenty of water.

Our guide, Lambert, was a very good all-round naturalist, who took us to many different spots and was sensitive to when we wanted to stop for birds but managed to show us many animals as well.

The transfer to Kigelia was a great success with good viewing all the way and timed perfectly by Lambert."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Kigelia Camp

Kigelia Camp

"A proper bush camp"

4 nights Arrived 22 Oct 2017
"A real bush camp which blended perfectly with its surroundings. The forests of baobabs in this part of Ruaha are spectacular and we were impressed by the variety of habitats in the park.

Our preferred routine of early start and back for brunch was again organised for us.

Our guide, Husain, had very good eyes and was a good birder but had a tendency to ask us where we wanted to go, which wasn't really what we needed. He only had one speed of driving, which was slow so we didn't get as far in the park as some other guests but this is nit-picking as he was a good guide but I suspect he lacked confidence.

Our last night was somewhat spoilt by the arrival of a French VIP group, who rather took over the camp."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Impala Camp

Impala Camp

"Well-designed camp in good location"

5 nights Arrived 26 Oct 2017
"Would have given excellent but the camp was let down by the management. We had to tell Crystal that the towels had not been changed for three days, which normally I would not mind but in humid weather they don't dry. She thanked us profusely but we felt she wasn't quite on top of things and her responses to most things were formulaic. Our waiter, Victor was very helpful but, again he behaved in a formulaic way, which was obviously how he had been trained. In the other camps, we had been able to see the real person behind the training.

Our guide, Gerard was exceptional - very knowledgeable, wonderful eyes and an excellent sense of humour. We enjoyed every moment we spent with him and our last drive was especially memorable. He knew we wanted to see wild dogs and had been searching really hard all over the park and at the last moment, he had the message that they'd been found. We sat looking at eight gorgeous dogs and he said I'm sorry we're not having coca cola tonight I thought you might like this and he produced a bottle of champagne and three flutes. What could be better than drinking champagne and watching dogs!

The bush breakfasts were the best we've ever had - straight out of 'Out of Africa' and despite our minor critisms we would be very happy to go back to Impala.









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Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

My Oct 2015 trip

Namibia between 13 Oct 2015 and 28 Oct 2015

Trip rating: Excellent
"Marvellous!

Our comments derive from our considerable experience of travel in many parts of Africa and we rate this trip as one of the best we have ever done. The Schoeman safari, in particular, was awe-inspiring."

Arranged By Tracy Lederer


Olive Grove

Olive Grove

"Olive Grove review"

1 night Arrived 13 Oct 2015
"Good food. Very helpful staff.

I had to 'phone BA in South Africa on their landline and they didn't charge me."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Schoeman's Skeleton Coast Safaris

Schoeman's Skeleton Coast Safaris

"Schoeman's Skeleton Coast Safaris review"

3 nights Arrived 14 Oct 2015
"Mind blowing!

Andre Schoeman was knowledgeable and fun to be with. After the first day we told him he couldn't possibly surpass it but each day was every bit as good. We can't praise it highly enough and wish that we'd done the longer safari. We would happily have spent two days at each camp.

I don't think comments on rooms or facilities in aspects form below have any relevance for this safari."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Desert Rhino Camp

Desert Rhino Camp

"Desert Rhino Camp review"

3 nights Arrived 17 Oct 2015
"Wonderfully happy camp.

We thought everything might be downhill after the Skeleton Coast but no, desert rhino camp ticked all the right boxes. The singing by the staff was a real joy and the rhino tracking was wonderful. Our guide Johann was excellent - knowledgeable and sensitive to our needs.

He quickly picked up that we were quite experienced safari travellers and didn't point out the obvious but enjoyed finding things that we wanted to see, particularly birds."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Damaraland Camp

Damaraland Camp

"Damaraland Camp review"

3 nights Arrived 20 Oct 2015
"There was a feeling that everything was done on auto pilot and it was easy to find fault with relatively little things. The staff were friendly but were allowed to coast and it seemed that this was because there was no overall management.

Our guide, Teak, started by trotting out the conventional patter for the average guest and was at first resistant to our clear objectives as to what we wanted to see. Eventually he cottoned on and he worked very hard for us, going the extra mile so that we had some wonderful sightings of elephants.

At our last dinner at the camp, I sat next to Vanessa, a young manager, who had only been at the camp for three weeks. I told her about some of the little things that we had observed and she responded positively. She was obviously intelligent and sensitive to how delicately things had to be handled with some staff who had been there for years but realised the necessity for change. The next morning, things dramatically improved. Staff were attentive, nets were placed over the breakfast things and starlings were shooed off the butter."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Ongava Tented Camp

Ongava Tented Camp

"Ongava Tented Camp review"

4 nights Arrived 23 Oct 2015
"On arrival,we were somewhat dismayed that we had to share a vehicle with other people as being birders and a photographer we are not everybody's cup of tea. The couple we shared with were first timers but luckily for us, they enjoyed our way of doing things and became converted birdwatchers!

We were very impressed with the way Chrisma, a manager handled the situation as for the last three days she gave us the vehicle to ourselves with the same guide, Rio, who was excellent. He had very good eyes and we felt that we were all part of the same team, enjoying it together.

Our only criticism was that we were given a room near to the car park. As we were staying for four nights, unlike most people, we felt that we should have been put nearer to the mess tent and the waterhole. However, again Chrisma dealt with this quickly and after two nights we were put into another room."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Olive Grove

Olive Grove

"Olive Grove review"

1 night Arrived 27 Oct 2015
"Comments as before"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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