Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs L from Sweden

"Nice hotel and hotel room.
Excellent food.
Pool not cleaned.
Breakfast bag preordered was not ready at departure."

"Excellent guide (Berthram) and helpful scout (Esaias)
Fascinating boat trips into the lagoons
Yellow build stork breeding colony the highlight
Food experience average - well presented yet somewhat flat in taste
Walking safaris not easy due to areas being flooded, moody
Upfront information on how bar, coffee, water would be managed when staff was not around lacking"

"3 nights in the Nkwali camp (all this as Pumulani Malawi was cancelled due to Coronavirus)
Best room/house during our entire stay in Zambia
Food very well presented - mostly also very tasty

Guiding excellent (Nyambi) both walking and by road
Total 7 nights too many, seen the same roads and game too many times (not intended though due to Malawi cancelling)
Excellent support with rebooking trip
Night guard not always present (walked in the camp during evenings alone)"

"As this was a transfer solution - arriving late from overseas and needed one night before the domestic flight early next morning, nothing special to mention, We have used this hotel before and meet and greet is very good, rooms are spacious and breakfast gives you what you need before the next step. Arriving late Sunday was fine as there was very little traffic, other times traffic from airport to downtown Dar can be congested - hopefully better when the fly over bridge from the harbour is completed."

"We stayed three nights and that was about the right duration, The game viewing was excellent, to the extent that we from arrival at the airstrip saw lions, leopards, wild dogs and tried to locate a lion kill (heard the noise) thus in the pursuit of finding the lion kill ignored (did not stop for) e.g. buffalo and eland herds. We only arrived at the camp site after dark and that was somewhat of a challenge as the kerosene lamps do not provide that much light for example in the tents and trying to find your stuff in your luggage.

The following days was also good yet - as known upfront - with the rainy season around the corner we did have our share off rain showers. The guide was pleasant and knowledgeable, making the game drives interesting beyond only looking for game and birds.

The camp manager (Andrea) was initially somewhat silent but opened up more and more and was all in all a very good host engaging with the guests and sharing his own experiences.

We did share some feedback with the camp manager, mainly around the food which was plentiful but somewhat strangely combined. Meat and warm vegetables together with some kind of pie makes may all taste fine but together a bit strange. Soups for starter was good, especially as the rain and lack of sun made you a bit chilly. Lunches for full day game drives could have been more attractive e.g. with adding bread, having a banana cake instead of a banana as a desert, etc."

"Katavi was an experience. Firstly we were the only guests in the only still open camp Katavi Wildlife Camp. Secondly we had an enormous luck with the weather, being the rainy season we had basically sun or some cloudy skies but no rain for 4 days. The roads were fine, yes you could not get everywhere because of the earlier rains but able to travel to Chada plains besides the Katsunga plains next to the lodge.

The game viewing was good, great to see elands and topi besides the more prevalent groups of elephants, buffalo, kudu, waterbuck , reedbuck, etc. and of course hippo and crocs. We knew that cats would be more difficult due to the high grass still we spotted leopard and hyena. Sable and roan antelope though was ought of sight. Our focus in Katavi was also birding which was fantastic, not being experienced at all yet fascinating and rewarding to see (and mostly be able to take some pics) of close to 100 birds in a few days.

The camp manager (Lewis) had all the time in the world for us being the only guests which was nice, chatting about anything over lunches and dinners. The staff was excellent, having both a guide as a driver and an "official" guide providing 2 pairs of excellent eyes spotting birds (and noting them duly in checklist). Food was really good, tasty and plentiful also in the light that the camp did close when we left thus the fridge was supposed to be empty when we left !"

"We finally got to Mahale National Park and the lovely Greystoke Camp with lake Tanganyika at our footstep. The camp has been described as a dream location and to large extent it was. Isolated own bungalows overlooking the lake and with all you need for a very relaxing and enjoyable break.

The highlight was of course the chimp trekking which we did twice, both times reminding us that it is not always easy to find the chimps. The plan was at breakfast around 08.00, we would know from our guides where the chimps were and then we would head out. The practice was that on day one we went out after lunch and on day two around 10.30 only proving that chimps tend to be further away from the camp during the rainy season. Anyway we saw chimps both day, in the trees or on the ground. The walking took about an hour, mostly in rainy conditions.

The camp manager (Julian) was very entertaining and the staff was simply excellent in providing service and caring for the guests. Being at the lake we took a boat out and jumped in 25 degree crystal clear water and afterwards did some fishing (which we had for dinner the same evening). The sunset and evening skies, one day with a distant thunderstorm was magical.

The food was good, nothing to complain about but nothing to be overly positive about either."