Travel reviews by C & J from Washington DC

"We spent one night at Thamalakane River Lodge, coming in from Jo'burg to Maun in the afternoon and then leaving again early the following morning.

The setting right on the river is lovely, with excellent birding, and the bungalows are spacious and charming, very much in safari style. The staff were fantastically accommodating and helpful - I wasn't feeling well and wanted to check in with a doctor, and the woman who greeted us at the airport immediately arranged for the driver to take us back into town after we had checked in, and made sure I was seen straight away at a private clinic.

The only negative from our stay was that the sole dinner option available at the hotel restaurant was a buffet - the food was tasty with decent variety, but expensive, and it was not clearly explained why à la carte options were not available (despite being on the menu)."

"We had the most fantastic time with Andrew Harkness on our August mobile safari in Botswana - it's hard to know even where to begin. The mobile experience itself was superb - an incredible way to get up close to the animals and feel immersed in the landscape. The tents were comfortable, the staff were courteous, professional, and extremely helpful, and the food was out of this world - I still can't quite believe some of the dishes that the chef was able to pull together in a bush stove over an open fire, including souffles (true story) and perfectly baked breads, scones, and cakes. Genius.

Andrew himself was the paragon of what a guide should be - knowledgable, excellent company, and also respectful of when we might need time to ourselves. He also went out of his way to provide the very best service he could (including DHL-ing a Kindle we left behind in the tent!) and overall was an incredible ambassador for Botswana and the Okavango.

In terms of the safari, we spent three nights in the Khwai concession and three nights in Moremi Game Reserve - both were great, though for different reasons. The density of wildlife in Khwai was amazing, with hordes of elephants all over the place and up close and personal encounters with lions on several of the days we were there. We also had a chance to do a mokoni ride, courtesy of a company run by some of the Khwai villagers, which was a unique addition to the experience and very relaxing (even though we did need to do a bit of walking on land to avoid an aggrieved hippo!). However, the aggregation of animals along the narrow strip of the Khwai river also meant we saw quite a few other tourists - nothing like the traffic jams of the East African parks, but that was where Moremi shone through. On one of the days we were there, I don't think we saw more than three other vehicles - it was as if we had the park to ourselves. The landscape was also extraordinary, with "islands" of trees marking the areas that are saturated during the height of the floods, and many different water sources meandering through.

I would definitely recommend visiting both sites if possible, in order to get this balance of intense wildlife viewing and an appreciation of the variety and complexity of the Okavango ecosystem. For those keen on checklists, we saw four out of the big five (didn't really expect to see a rhino as they are rare in the Delta, and only really found deeper in) and over 120 species of birds - the only mammal we missed that we had really wanted to see was a cheetah, and Andrew has promised us one if (when!) we go back. Overall, our six nights of mobile safari were a dream come true, and exceeded even our wildest expectations, largely down to the professionalism and exceptional level of service offered by Andrew and his team."