Travel reviews by Mrs H from Kigali
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
2
Excursions taken
0
A wonderful family holiday
Zambia between 30 Mar 2018 and 9 Apr 2018
"Our trip was fantastic. We spent 10 days in all in Zambia, with a day visit to Botswana. In that time we stayed at 3 lodges, visited the falls, did a helicopter ride, the zipline, the train museum, a rhino walk, Mosi-oa-Tunya park, Chobe park, boat trips and nature walks. Although we did a lot, we also had a lot of time to relax so felt recharged by the end of the trip.
The selection of lodges we stayed at were excellent with outstanding service and hospitality. Nothing was too much trouble.
When we did have a hiccup with a trip to Chobe (the transfer vehicle car broke down so was late and we didn't know we needed children's birth certificates to enter Botswana), Amanda at Expert Africa worked tirelessly to resolve the problems to the best of her ability outside of office hours. She responded instantly to my emails and called me to talk through our options.
We enjoyed every minute of our trip and really recommend Zambia as a great holiday destination for adventurers and families.
Our Response:
We were very sorry to hear of the issue with this traveller’s day trip to Chobe National Park – and were grateful to Waterberry for their assistance in rearranging the trip to Chobe after an initial problem when the driver broke down.
When we offer trips to Botswana we advise of the situation with minors entering the country, but as this trip entered from Zambia this was missed, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to these travellers. We have now updated our Zambia literature to advise any travellers crossing over the border into Botswana to be aware of the current visa requirements when travelling with children. We were happy to offer recompense to the family for the inconvenience by way of covering the costs for some extra activities whilst they were in Livingstone.
Issues like this happen rarely, but when they do, it’s important to us to make sure that the impact to travellers’ trips is as minimal as possible, whether this is within or outside of office hours. We do appreciate the feedback from this family, and are glad that the rest of their trip was such an enjoyable experience."
The selection of lodges we stayed at were excellent with outstanding service and hospitality. Nothing was too much trouble.
When we did have a hiccup with a trip to Chobe (the transfer vehicle car broke down so was late and we didn't know we needed children's birth certificates to enter Botswana), Amanda at Expert Africa worked tirelessly to resolve the problems to the best of her ability outside of office hours. She responded instantly to my emails and called me to talk through our options.
We enjoyed every minute of our trip and really recommend Zambia as a great holiday destination for adventurers and families.
Our Response:
We were very sorry to hear of the issue with this traveller’s day trip to Chobe National Park – and were grateful to Waterberry for their assistance in rearranging the trip to Chobe after an initial problem when the driver broke down.
When we offer trips to Botswana we advise of the situation with minors entering the country, but as this trip entered from Zambia this was missed, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to these travellers. We have now updated our Zambia literature to advise any travellers crossing over the border into Botswana to be aware of the current visa requirements when travelling with children. We were happy to offer recompense to the family for the inconvenience by way of covering the costs for some extra activities whilst they were in Livingstone.
Issues like this happen rarely, but when they do, it’s important to us to make sure that the impact to travellers’ trips is as minimal as possible, whether this is within or outside of office hours. We do appreciate the feedback from this family, and are glad that the rest of their trip was such an enjoyable experience."
Arranged By Amanda Bond
Waterberry Zambezi Lodge
"A wonderful family lodge - excellent service"
4 nights
Arrived
2 Apr 2018
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Thorntree River Lodge
"Absolute luxury"
3 nights
Arrived
6 Apr 2018
"Thorntree - wow! The lodge is only 10 months old so is very new and sparkly! The lodge is set out along the river with teh rooms right on the water front (in the rainy season). Each room is very spacious with a separate dressing area, bath, shower and bar and a huge, comfortable bed with lounge. Outside you have a priovate terrace with sofas, sunlounders, and a private pool. For families, some room inter-connect via a corridor which was excellent for us and our two boys.
Your every need is catered for and included in the cost (except spa and a few external actvities). You have a personal staff member for your needs during the stay. The food is excellent and the decor impeccable. The wine pairing was always spot on (although I'm not a wine buff!).
We did the rhino walk, drices in the Mosi-oa-Yunya park and boat trips along the river and enjoyed each activity. There was plenty of time in between to relax in your room, a the spa or in the main area, which also has an infinity pool. Hippos can be seen (and heard!) from the lodge and beware of teh monkeys - one of which stole some of my son'd lunch right off his plate!
Wifi is avialable only in a small library which suits some (like us!) but maybe not others. The lodge has quite an adult feel to it and, although the staff were more than welcoming and accommodating of our 4 and 6 year olds, I'm not sure all the other guests were happy that small children were around at meal times. We were not the only ones with small kids (there was one other family) and some older children were also there during our stay. The rooms do allow you to keep yourself to yourself as much as you want to, though and our kids used the private pool in our room rahter than the communal one.
It was a very luxurious stay at Throntree and we would highly recommend it to anyone."
Your every need is catered for and included in the cost (except spa and a few external actvities). You have a personal staff member for your needs during the stay. The food is excellent and the decor impeccable. The wine pairing was always spot on (although I'm not a wine buff!).
We did the rhino walk, drices in the Mosi-oa-Yunya park and boat trips along the river and enjoyed each activity. There was plenty of time in between to relax in your room, a the spa or in the main area, which also has an infinity pool. Hippos can be seen (and heard!) from the lodge and beware of teh monkeys - one of which stole some of my son'd lunch right off his plate!
Wifi is avialable only in a small library which suits some (like us!) but maybe not others. The lodge has quite an adult feel to it and, although the staff were more than welcoming and accommodating of our 4 and 6 year olds, I'm not sure all the other guests were happy that small children were around at meal times. We were not the only ones with small kids (there was one other family) and some older children were also there during our stay. The rooms do allow you to keep yourself to yourself as much as you want to, though and our kids used the private pool in our room rahter than the communal one.
It was a very luxurious stay at Throntree and we would highly recommend it to anyone."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
The swimming pool has a baby splash pool and the larger pool has a shallow end, separated from the main pool to keep little ones safe. The staff are excellent and the manamgement go oput of their way to help you in any way possible. They gave expert advice on a safari to Botswana for us and arranged a wonderful day torip to Chobe National park at the last minute (like 7pm the night before!) when we had a small hiccup with another company.
We couldn't receommend waterberry enough and would love to return."