Travel reviews by Andy & Karen from Hereford
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
4
Excursions taken
0
Flavour of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe between 24 Jun 2019 and 5 Jul 2019
"As Zimbabwe emerges from recent troubles we wanted to visit three of its classic locations of Matopo, Hwange and Mana Pools. We were particularly hopeful of seeing Painted Dog, although sadly this was not to be.
Matopo has some fabulous scenery, history and was a place to track rhino on foot - tick to all three. Rhino with calf was a highlight. It also gave us our best ever sighting of Elephant Shrew at Rhodes Grave! The National Park, however, has little game and incursions from cattle and humans are common. Locals roam the whole park on foot cutting grass for sale. It is still worth a visit and arguable needs more visitors to recover, so I’d still include it if you can.
Hwange with its pumped water holes and huge elephant population delivered more classic sightings, and a pride of lions with 6 cubs provided entertainment on all our game drives. Good antelope including Sable and Roan with huge buffalo herd of 500 plus were also a highlight. The open areas and mixed forest gave good variety to habitats.
Mana Pools was in drought in June so maybe not at its best. We were surprised at the number of self drivers and campers, some of whom are clearly not controlled effectively by the NP staff (much to the frustration of guides). No off road but you can off walk so great encounter with lions on a kill on foot was the highlight. If this is the jewel in the crown for Zimbabwe then it’s a little disappointing - at times it felt like a safari park - particularly as the unique environment offers so much.
Versus other neighbouring safari destinations, Zimbabwe still has some catching up to do if it is to return to its previous premier ranking. The amazing teams at African Bush Camps certainly warrant a visit."
Matopo has some fabulous scenery, history and was a place to track rhino on foot - tick to all three. Rhino with calf was a highlight. It also gave us our best ever sighting of Elephant Shrew at Rhodes Grave! The National Park, however, has little game and incursions from cattle and humans are common. Locals roam the whole park on foot cutting grass for sale. It is still worth a visit and arguable needs more visitors to recover, so I’d still include it if you can.
Hwange with its pumped water holes and huge elephant population delivered more classic sightings, and a pride of lions with 6 cubs provided entertainment on all our game drives. Good antelope including Sable and Roan with huge buffalo herd of 500 plus were also a highlight. The open areas and mixed forest gave good variety to habitats.
Mana Pools was in drought in June so maybe not at its best. We were surprised at the number of self drivers and campers, some of whom are clearly not controlled effectively by the NP staff (much to the frustration of guides). No off road but you can off walk so great encounter with lions on a kill on foot was the highlight. If this is the jewel in the crown for Zimbabwe then it’s a little disappointing - at times it felt like a safari park - particularly as the unique environment offers so much.
Versus other neighbouring safari destinations, Zimbabwe still has some catching up to do if it is to return to its previous premier ranking. The amazing teams at African Bush Camps certainly warrant a visit."
Arranged By Tom Morris
Amalinda Lodge
"Unique lodge built around granite boulders"
3 nights
Arrived 25 Jun 2019
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Giraffe
1 sighting
White Rhino
3 sightings
Zebra
2 sightings
Somalisa Camp
"Large camp luxury"
1 night
Arrived 28 Jun 2019
"Due to a booking error we got upgraded to Somalisa Camp from nearby Somalisa Expeditions so understand this type of luxury camp is not our first choice when reading this feedback.
The facilities are obviously outstanding - luxury tents, copper baths, a wood burner(!) in tent, plus small pool and high quality furnishings in private and public areas. Staff were delightful (a feature of all three African Bush Camps we visited) and guides excellent in quality vehicles. If this is what you like then you will not be disappointed!
What surprised us, however, was how close the sister camp of Somalisa Acacia was i.e right on top of it, enabling it to act as a single entity for large groups. Our tent #7 looked onto the back of Acacia and was certainly less than 100m from it. We dropped the curtains to give us a sense of privacy. This was no intimate Bush experience, and was therefore not for us. Other tents had more privacy but it is still a sizeable complex."
The facilities are obviously outstanding - luxury tents, copper baths, a wood burner(!) in tent, plus small pool and high quality furnishings in private and public areas. Staff were delightful (a feature of all three African Bush Camps we visited) and guides excellent in quality vehicles. If this is what you like then you will not be disappointed!
What surprised us, however, was how close the sister camp of Somalisa Acacia was i.e right on top of it, enabling it to act as a single entity for large groups. Our tent #7 looked onto the back of Acacia and was certainly less than 100m from it. We dropped the curtains to give us a sense of privacy. This was no intimate Bush experience, and was therefore not for us. Other tents had more privacy but it is still a sizeable complex."
Good
Location
Poor
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
4 sightings
Cheetah
2 sightings
Eland
1 sighting
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
4 sightings
Lion
6 sightings
Roan antelope
2 sightings
Sable antelope
1 sighting
Wildebeest
3 sightings
Zebra
4 sightings
Somalisa Expeditions
"Perfect traditional safari camp"
2 nights
Arrived 29 Jun 2019
"If you want to stay in a small, traditional safari camp with great food, guides and service then this is the place for you.
A good distance away from the glitz of Somalisa Camp this intimate 6 tent camp is set in amongst trees with simple but delightful facilities. The tents are spacious, the beds are super comfortable and the en-suite outside showers solar powered - a little bracing on a cold evening but refreshing at the end of your game drive.
Food was excellent, served in the main tent where an open fire kept off the chill. A pump fed pond attracts elephants to within feet of the deck.
Our guide David was very knowledgeable and because of the link to the nearby big sister camps had many eyes looking for game on the drives.
We would highly recommend this camp, our favourite in Zimbabwe.More"
A good distance away from the glitz of Somalisa Camp this intimate 6 tent camp is set in amongst trees with simple but delightful facilities. The tents are spacious, the beds are super comfortable and the en-suite outside showers solar powered - a little bracing on a cold evening but refreshing at the end of your game drive.
Food was excellent, served in the main tent where an open fire kept off the chill. A pump fed pond attracts elephants to within feet of the deck.
Our guide David was very knowledgeable and because of the link to the nearby big sister camps had many eyes looking for game on the drives.
We would highly recommend this camp, our favourite in Zimbabwe.More"
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Buffalo
4 sightings
Cheetah
1 sighting
Eland
1 sighting
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
2 sightings
Lion
4 sightings
Roan antelope
1 sighting
Wildebeest
2 sightings
Zebra
4 sightings
Zambezi Expeditions
"Simple but perfect"
3 nights
Arrived 1 Jul 2019
"This is a fantastic simple camp on the banks of the Zambezi run by a truly wonderful team.
The tents are not luxurious but are clean and very comfortable, looking out over the Zambezi River to the hills of Zambia beyond. Outside en-suite facilities include perfectly acceptable bucket showers and heated water in the mornings or when you want it. To lie in bed listening to the sound of hippos and other camp visitors at night is the archetypal African experience and this is the place to do it (Africa as it used to be).
Without doubt it is the staff, however, who turn this camp from good to brilliant. It was like staying with friends for 3 nights and we wish we could have stayed longer. Every single person in camp was a delight and a credit to African Bush Camps."
The tents are not luxurious but are clean and very comfortable, looking out over the Zambezi River to the hills of Zambia beyond. Outside en-suite facilities include perfectly acceptable bucket showers and heated water in the mornings or when you want it. To lie in bed listening to the sound of hippos and other camp visitors at night is the archetypal African experience and this is the place to do it (Africa as it used to be).
Without doubt it is the staff, however, who turn this camp from good to brilliant. It was like staying with friends for 3 nights and we wish we could have stayed longer. Every single person in camp was a delight and a credit to African Bush Camps."
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Buffalo
3 sightings
Eland
1 sighting
Elephant
4 sightings
Hippo
4 sightings
Lion
1 sighting
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Zebra
2 sightings
The rooms are designed to reflect the surrounding landscape, moulded around boulders and utilizing the crevices of the cliff face against which it sits. But this is no Fred Flintstone experience and the rooms are spacious, well furnished and cleverly designed. We stayed in Room 3 and frankly could have fitted a coach party in there! Its is one of the lower rooms (good if you are a little unsteady on your feet), but I would have chosen a room up above the elevated dining level given a choice.
Billy and the staff were all very friendly and attentive, the food excellent. Bit more choice on the soft drinks would be nice for us non drinkers!
Good guide took us around the local sites and into the park, although wildlife pretty scarce. Come here for the rhino tracking and landscapes."