Travel reviews by Ms AA from NZ

"A better introduction for me to Zambia than a big hotel. The grounds are lovely and the service very friendly.

The food would probably be considered average and the access to the step in bath in the chalet was, in my opinion, a bit of a hazard for older guests. The step down was deep and there was no handhold to help balance. The lights went out during the night and could not be turned on again. Otherwise the room was spacious and comfortable and clean.

Staff were helpful in acquiring the right adaptor for my power plugs as I had brought the wrong kind (doh)."

"Beautiful gardens and a very warm, polished welcome. The general service and helpfulness of staff was outstanding with care given to requests. Colourful, comfortable chalets with especially grand showers.

Location of my chalet right on the high flowing Zambesi River added to the experience. Excellent boat safari and guiding where I was allocated my own guide on 2 occasions (and I don't think that was because they were concerned about my behaviour with the other guests). Food was delicious and fresh and it was easy to meet other guests.

Livingstone is a clean, vibrant town with the Falls nearby. Waterberry was at just the right distance from the hustle with trips to the Falls about 40 minutes away. Its location gives a real feel of the might and power of the River above the Falls."

"Kutali was an absolute delight. The game drive with Walton from the airstrip to the camp lasted 3 hours due to the detour he took through amazing forest and wildlife. I felt very privileged to be given such an introduction.

The tents were very comfortable and spacious with a delightful open shower attached. I do love showering under the stars and having to order your hot water for the bucket shower felt like adventure. So did using lanterns, firelight and torches as there was no electricity. The tents were spaced a distance apart right on the banks of the Lower Zambesi among beautiful woodland. This meant frequent hippo and elephant visits, requiring night time and early morning walks from the tent to the dining/bar shelter to be escorted by a staff member.

The staff were very helpful and great fun. The chefs produced phenomenal food using a hole in the ground as an oven. The guiding was amazing, as was the amount and variety of wildlife in the area. The woodlands were magical and interspersed with water channels ensuring large numbers of waterbuck, hippo and water birds. The driving was challenging at times but never too much for our guides. Would very definitely recommend Kutali for the intrepid with a sense of adventure. I met some fun folk there.

There was a charging table where devices could be charged, but no wifi. Bliss."

"Chula is the sister camp to Kutali and therefore similar in layout and facilities. It is however situated on an island on the Zambesi and so each game drive began with a 15 minute boat ride to where the game vehicles were parked.

If possible, I enjoyed Chula even more than Kutali despite the similarity in food, service and facilities all of which were excellent. The bird life was amazing, but this may have been due to the birders also staying at the camp.

The drives were adrenalin-fuelled. Here we saw leopard and a huge pack (24) of wild dogs attempting to make 2 kills. Our guide Josh was a super guide. He handled the boat and game vehicle superbly and was a gun in spotting and following game. The hours flew by even though the days (from 5.30am to 7.30pm) were long.

I would definitely return to Chula for both the outdoor camping and rich game viewing experience."

"Flatdogs is a large camp not too far from Mfuwe and there is more vehicular activity there than I had expected. Having said that, the camp has left its backpacker status behind, closed its camping ground and looks very smart with a welcoming bar and pool area.

The welcomes back from game drives and friendly staff made for a happy atmosphere. It was easy to meet people and enjoy company (or not) as desired. Accommodation was chalets, very comfortable, clean and spacious. The game drives were somewhat compromised for me by the number of vehicles using the park and, for me, the night spotlight drives went on a bit long.

Otherwise I think the camp is great value for money. I really enjoyed the 4.5 hour game drive to transfer me to Tafika. The vehicles gradually disappeared and the game was varied. Most people I know would be happy at Flatdogs with the comfort electricity, wifi and a pool provides. It is a great starting point for those on safari for the first time."

"Tafika has to be one of the loveliest camps I have stayed at. It is owner run and I believe that may be the secret. The guiding was also superb with guides really tuned into the bush language which gave them clues as to where the game was. With hardly another vehicle in sight, the viewing was unhurried and very rich and varied.

The chalets with their delightful open roofed bathrooms are a creation in local materials built by local craftsmen. They are very spacious and located in a parklike area on the banks of the beautiful Luangwa River among large shade trees. The hippo keep the grass short. The food is especially planned by a nutritionist in camp, cooked by trained chefs and benefits from fresh produce grown in the extensive camp gardens. The end result cannot be faulted.

The days are long (from 5.15am to 8pm with a siesta after lunch) but so interesting that they fly by. There are game highlights such as the stork colony and a hippo and crocodile invested river. There is also the local village to visit and I can heartily recommend this experience as great fun.

My first introduction to Tafika was the river crossing to the camp in a mokoro (canoe) past hippo and crocs. A very African experience and from there it only got better. One of the best safari experiences I have had and I have travelled around quite a bit of Southern Africa staying at lodges and camps. I would definitely go back to Tafika again and I understand many guests do just that."

"A delightful, comfortable accommodation choice. Service was friendly and the breakfast excellent."

"As our first venue in the wild on this safari Desert Quiver blew us away with the location and facilities. The huts felt luxurious and the bar/pool area under the kopje overlooking the desert was exotic Africa.

Service was good and we found to our surprise that dinner and breakfast were both catered for at nearby Sossusvlei Lodge. We had expected breakfast only and are not sure whether we had a free meal by mistake or the error was ours. The food at the Lodge was outstanding, while the bbq we held ourselves on night two was great fun, with jackals and oryx entertaining us under an amazing night sky.

We felt this camp was real value for money.

the hot air balloon safari is a real must. This was an outstanding experience.

These travellers enjoyed a morning balloon flight over the desert during their stay. Here's what they said about it:
The whole hot air ballooning activity was a superb experience from the drive through the dark in the desert to the launching pad to the exciting landing on the rim of Sesriem Canyon. It was professionally run and had all our group buzzing for days afterwards. The champagne breakfast was delightful overlooking the Canyon and Sossusvlei plains. The pilots were professional, informative and passionate about the flight. Those who started the flight in some trepidation soon felt comfortable and everyone enjoyed the flight to the utmost. The stunning desert scenery added immensely to the whole experience. Cannot be recommended highly enough ."

"Sam is a friendly host and pays attention to his guests and their comfort. The general ambience was Germanic which is appropriate in Swakop.

Breakfast was excellent. We opted to eat in town but found the location just a tad far too far to walk into town on a cold night. Fine during the day for walks around the town.

Sam's quaint and easy to recommend as convenient accommodation in Swakop.

These travellers enjoyed a morning kayaking excursion to Pelican Point seal colony during their stay. Here's what they said about it:
Jeanne Meintjes was the perfect hostess for this activity with her infectious good humour and obvious enjoyment of the whole experience. We had expected to just go kayaking, but instead spent a couple of delicious hours sitting on the water and playing with (mainly young) seals which surrounded us on every quarter. The seals were not shy in interacting with us and the whole experience (despite the mist and fog) was delightful. Definitely to be recommended. Jeanne even fed us rolls and coffee afterwards. The drive around the lagoon with its wonderful bird life and route past the large saltworks was, in itself, special."

"The rooms at the Lodge were being renovated which detracted slightly but service was good if less personal. The buffet food was average but the setting superb.

The safari to see the desert elephants was excellent but did involve a very long drive back to the Lodge in the dark. Having said that seeing the elephants was definitely worthwhile and the search up the dry river and back past the local village fascinating. We note the elephants now share the new community water supply and no longer have to dig for their water.

All in all happy with the accommodation and activities."

"We loved the feel of luxury accommodation surrounded by bush. The rooms were big and very comfortable.

The camp gives easy access to Etosha, staff were friendly and the food was wonderful.

We were served a wide variety of game meat to sample."

"We loved the tented luxury accommodation and the beautiful main reception/dining area at Mushara. With warthogs grazing on the lawn in front of the open sided main building, the first impression of this camp was magical.

The staff were exceptionally helpful and friendly and entertained us both nights with a celebration birthday song (the second night for Kieran). The food was excellent and a birthday cake presented on request to make it a special occasion.

Very comfortable with a delightful bush setting. All the group commented on how varied and delightful the accommodation had been so far."

"Roy's Restcamp does not aspire to being more than the stopover it is. The facilities were comfortable and the main area had character. Some of the architecture is quite quirky in a rather heavy Germanic fashion.

The dinner was fine and we enjoyed using the hide overlooking the waterhole which attracted ostriches and eland. The compound included a swimming pool and good camping area and the birdlife was varied.

As we had a long drive the next day we ordered packed breakfasts to eat en route. Unfortunately these were terrible, consisting of one soggy ham and cheese toast and lots of sweet things (lollies etc) which we were unable to eat."

"We all loved Nxamaseri where we were treated like royalty by Christiane and Geraldine. Our guides Adam and Fish also deserve a special mention. Being the only guests there did help, but at Nxamaseri they went out of their way to make the experience very special.

The accommodation was comfortable and fun, being open to the bush and water and accessed by boardwalk. It felt exotic. Our bar tab was generously picked up by the Lodge in recognition of the support over the years from Expert Africa's Maruska and Saskia. The water based activities were wonderful mokoro and fishing trips through a bird rich environment. The isolation of the Lodge on an island adds to the magic and feeling of having left the world behind.

Food was good. It was the only place we all felt we could have easily spent longer."

"We enjoyed the open sided accommodation overlooking the Okavango River. It was comfortable, if a little cramped. We also felt that a low railing around the cabin deck would have added to the safety, especially when dark.

The setting along the River is lovely and the grounds around reception are well laid out with quirky, fun touches in the form of statues and signs. Where Ngepi fell down was in the service and food. The latter was okay but the systems around its delivery were awkward, especially at breakfast. Guests were requested to order breakfast at the bar but were then not directed to the tea and coffee or told that they should await their order at the kitchen counter. It would have helped to have the tea/coffee in the dining area and some direction from staff.

We had an incident involving an overflow pipe which soaked the bed of Stuart and Joy's cabin just as they were going to bed. When we tried to get assistance there was no one available at reception and it took some time before our calls were heard and responded to. The young manager eventually arrived to transfer Stuart and Joy to another cabin, by which time they were pretty cold and unhappy. We felt also that the manager could, at the very least, have appeared the following morning to see if Stuart and Joy had had a comfortable night, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Finally, when we wanted to pay the bill the electronic payment system was unavailable and we were advised the exchange rate for our US$ was 12.5 rand when it should have been almost 16 rand. We felt that this was unacceptable."

"A beautiful lodge with attention to detail and great evening meals where everyone was involved in discussion over great food out on the open deck. Very comfortable with excellent service.

Roger, the manager, was attentive and was supported by friendly and very competent staff. Great systems in place here. The wildlife was a little disappointing however this is not something one can control. We enjoyed an informative walking safari.

Transfers from and to the Lodge from the village where we parked the car were seamless."

"Muchenji impressed us from the start with the welcome, the setting, the attention to detail, the food, the entertainment and the friendly and very competent staff.

Robert and Joy were conscientious and very capable in their role as hosts, providing us with detailed information over a welcoming snack and drinks as soon as we arrived. They were excellently supported by their assistant managers Natasha and Paul. The attention to detail was further evidenced by the provision of hot water bottles and ponchos to wear during cold morning and evening game drives.

The game and boat drives were excellent with knowledgeable guides and Chobe providing great variety in game viewing."

"The ambience and service at Ilala were in keeping with the historical nature of the Falls and township and provided the perfect setting for our stay there. While not quite the Victorial Falls Hotel, it came very close to providing the same feeling.

The food was very good and the location close to the Falls (easily walkable) and township a bonus.

All in all a delightful experience."