Travel reviews by D & S from NZ

"We were only there for about 3 hours (~3-6am) between flights, trying to sleep, so nothing relevant to write.

Phegan, who picked us up and dropped us back at the airport, was friendly and helpful."

"We spent 1 night at Kutali Camp beside the Lower Zambezi river and 2 nights at Tusk and Mane's other camp on Chula Island. Luke Evans, one of the camp's two founders, accompanied us at both camps.

Location:
Kutali has a beautiful location in a winter-thorn forest, with the scent of the trees coming into flower, beside the peaceful Zambezi River. It is small and personal and we loved it. It is ideally situated for water activities - we had some lovely boat trips, with plenty of hippos and birds, and atmospheric sundowners on the river.

Accommodation:
The tents have mesh walls giving maximum sense of the outdoors, and open-air bathrooms with excellent hot bucket showers and flush toilets. The camps are carefully designed to be as environmentally sustainable and unobtrusive as possible, and the atmosphere is relaxed, personal and friendly. This is supported by Luke's speaking Nyanja (the local language) from boyhood.

Activities:
An afternoon game drive with James at Kutali yielded many elephants, impala, zebra, waterbuck and a leopard, followed by spot-lit white-tailed mongoose, genet and another leopard on the way back to dinner.On a brief morning drive before walking the next day we also saw kudu, warthog and baboons, as well of course as many birds.

We loved the walking safaris at both camps with Jakob, particularly enjoying his explanation of small details of tracking and the environment, and appreciating his care around approaching and avoiding buffalo and elephants. We saw many lion footprints, and the other campers at Kutali saw the group of resident lions, one up a tree, beside the river."

"The drive in to Tafika, through the Game Reserve and then the National Park, was depressing because of the amount of burnt land, and then the numbers of dead mopane trees standing. But Tafika itself is a vibrant and attractive camp, obviously an institution of long standing. It glories in the fresh food from its gardens and the obvious long-term family care it embodies, and has many very happy repeat visitors, though for us it felt a little large and busy,

Location:
Tafika's gardens are possible because it is not actually in the National Park, but it feels as if it is, with a beautiful site on the bank of the Luangwa River and immediate access to the wildlife world.

Accommodation:
The rooms are solid, beautifully detailed and comfortable, though a little enclosed at night for our taste.

Activities;
The game drives were very good, with plenty of sightings of birds, elephant, bushbuck, hippos, crocodiles, baboons, leopards, big herds of buffalo, giraffes, zebra. Night drives showed us hyenas ( in pairs rather than groups, as they apparently focus on stealing leopard kills rather than hunting in that area), genets, elephant shrews, scrub hares and a chameleon. Lloyd's guiding was excellent.

David went for a bicycle ride with founder John Coppinger and a few others - an interesting variation.

As our next few camps would be walking ones we didn't do walking from here."

"We walked to and at Crocodile and Chikoko Bushcamps, so the game-sighting experience was less dense but more intense because of the experience of walking through the environment and all the information this supplies.

We enjoyed the walk to the camp, with guide Stephen and plenty of wildlife sightings(elephants, buffalo, impala, zebra, puku, baboons) and some interesting tracks (lion, hyena, civet , genet). We actually reached the camp mid-morning, after a half- hour tea break en route, so we would have been happy to have spent longer getting there, perhaps by being able to spend time waiting and watching the behaviour of the family of elephants we passed for example.

Other walks from the camp were similarly interesting, and the more local wildlife also. There was a hyena at the camp after dinner, and a little house snake under the table after lunch the next day. Moffat was our very cheerful and competent guide at Crocodile and Chikoko - we really enjoyed the quiet away-from-it-all nature of these walking camps."

"We enjoyed the walks from Chikoko in the same way as we had from Crocodile, with guides Moffat and then Amon. It was fun avoiding being right in the path of elephants; we enjoyed the combination of the detailed appreciation of the environment and the necessary awareness of larger issues. Amongst the normal sightings of baboons, birds, warthogs and bushbuck we had the rarer pleasures of a Pel's fishing owl and a bushpig.

The accommodation at Chikoko particularly appealed to us with its upstairs bedroom: we had closeup observation of a bushbuck and more distant views of elephant and impala and warthogs from our room.

A lioness whose tracks had been evident around the camp slept outside our door one night - we heard her moving away when going down to the toilet, and could clearly see where she'd been lying in the dust. A hippo was also around at night.

On our walk out to the river on our last morning we saw a wild dog by itself - very exciting."

"Mwaleshi has the distinction of being able/required to walk across the river to the camp, though they were expecting a truck to be able to cross soon. It was pleasant to be able to access the river as well as overlook it, as that section lacked the normal wildlife that prevents such behaviour.

Again we enjoyed the walking safaris, seeing kudu, warthog, impala, puku, buffalo, Cookson's wildebeest, numerous birds and keeping out of the way of elephants we'd watched crossing the river. We saw some rhino dung near the camp, but it wasn't fresh.

We particularly enjoyed a couple of occasions of sitting quietly at waterholes, just watching the normal interactions of mongooses, impala, squirrels, hippos and various birds."

"It was quite a long drive from Lusaka to Musekese - a lovely camp with a genuinely remote feel. Nearing the camp, in the dark, a lioness with a couple of half-grown cubs strolled along the road in front of us. We didn't see her again but heard lions at night, and leopards left regular overnight tracks in the camp. A young leopard had just starred on a guest's camera trap lying on the lounge area sofa chewing cushions.

Location:
The camp sits under large trees beside a long permanent lagoon, so there are always various antelopes and vervet monkeys to watch. A hippo plodded past our room in the night. Kafue National Park is very large and mostly very attractive with a combination of plains and a variety of trees, There are some inevitable burnt patches, some firebreaks and some from poachers or other sources. The accommodation is in large comfortable chalets with decks overlooking the lagoon.

Activities:
Our first morning we had a boat trip with Phil Jeffery, one of Musekese's founders, on the beautiful (large, clear and tree-lined) Kafue river. Numerous birds, hippos, monkeys and then a group of elephants snorkelling their way across. Then the wind got up so we returned to the vehicle and found a kill - a male puku covered in vultures - dramatic watching their speedy targeted descents. An evening drive with guide Ephie found scrub hares and black-backed jackals.

On the following morning's game drive Ephie used various alarm calls to discover a pair of young leopards high up adjacent trees, presumably hunting the vervets in them, and then found their mother on a nearby termite mound, calling to them. Great to see the interactions involved. We saw a single roan antelope on the way back to camp. On our afternoon game drive with Tyrone McKeith (the other founder) we had our sundowners across the swamp from 2 leopards and a large grazing elephant.

Our final morning consisted of a very enjoyable walk with Tyrone and 2 other guests - more interesting information on environmental details and sightings of impala, puku, kudu, elephants. In the afternoon we drove to Ntemwa Busanga camp.

Overall a great experience."

"Location and accommodation:
Our drive to Ntemwa Busanga from Musekese went through a wooded area well-inhabited by tsetse flies - the only time they actually bothered us in Kafue. Ntemwa Camp itself, though pleasantly situated against trees, had no problem. The camp's attractive minimalist design particularly appealed to us, with its elegant fly over the lounge area, its lunch table/bar on a raised platform and flowering cassia beside the meshed tents. We loved the small size of the camp (just 3 or 4 tents and a resident staff of 4).

Activities:
These consisted of game drives on the spacious Busanga Plains, or around the wooded edges near the camp, and observations at some local lagoons. We saw buffalo, roan and sable antelopes, wildebeest, hartebeest, duiker, puku, impala, oribi and reed buck then a large herd of red lechwe at the further end of the plains. Also of course hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, zebras, elephants and numerous birds, including the attractive wattled cranes, open-billed storks and African skimmers.

A lovely finale to our safari."

"We stayed a final night at Pioneer before our flight from Lusaka airport. It was convenient and appropriate.

The staff was pleasant, the shower and food were fine, we caught up on wi-fi - all the necessaries in a pleasant low-key environment.

Transport to and from the airport was seamless."

"Accommodation:
We had the end tent in the row, so felt closer to the "real world" of wildlife. The view down to the river outside was great; when we arrived late morning it was full of elephants, and in the afternoon it was full of buffalo, though the next day it was quiet. During the first night David woke to find a giraffe feeding just outside our tent, and a resident pair of duikers popped in and out of the bushes nearby.

Lodge:
Definitely bulk safari territory; hotel-style stacks of luggage as large groups came and went. Pleasant but impersonal - it was good to have our own guide travelling with us, though he didn't eat with us here as he did elsewhere. Plenty of places to look over the river, though it felt very "drive-in" public just outside the restaurant.

Tarangire NP:
Plenty of sightings in the park, particularly of elephants (as expected), giraffe, zebra and buffalo. a couple of sightings each of spotted hyena, eland and wildebeest, and one of hartebeest. Also jackals, banded mongooses, lots of birds, other antelopes. On the night drive, which we ordered separately but which was very expensive, we saw bat-eared foxes and springtail hares."

"Location:
On the Ngorongoro Crater rim without the expense of a "view" over the crater, which at this season is perpetually foggy. Waterbuck on the "lawn" beside our deck. A relaxed and rustic feel.

Lodge:
Cosy fires in the lounge/dining area, and in your room if desired. Our guide ate with us, which was good.

Wildlife:
Good access to Ngorongoro - first car down there I think. Some really interesting behavioural wildlife watching; a standoff/hunt between a large herd of buffalo with an attacked calf, 5 male lions and 12 hyenas.
Also did a half-day walk on crater rim; had intended a walk up Mt Makarot but grass too long for safety, and this season apparently habitually too foggy for views. Alternative well-organised for us by our guide Aminiel."

"Arrived in pouring rain, so muddy, but later on and next day fine. Tent with mesh sides - a favourite style - at the end of the row so good open feeling. Took quite a while to drive in with the state of the road after the rain, but good central location.

On our second night, after a nearby lion roar, a "horse-race" sound of zebra galloped between our tent and the next. Apparently lions slept overnight near the campfire area, but no-one had seen a kill when we left.

We had a good sighting of a female leopard, though not of her cub which we'd seen briefly the previous day, on our way out of the park.

We were glad to be in the company of our driver guide, and sad to see the jam-packed crowd of cars around the koppie where the leopard and cub were. Regulations about the number of vehicles clustering round a particular animal are obviously widely ignored. We also were disturbed to see 3 vehicles from 1 company leave the road and drive right up to a magnificent lion sitting in the grass, previously undisturbed by several vehicles photographing it from the road. The lion was forced to move.

This situation is apparently common, usually caused by tourists pressuring their driver to disobey the rules, either by offering bribes, or to pay any fines, or by threatening to with-hold tips or complain to the company if the driver tries to stick to the rules. Consequently the authorities apparently now, instead of imposing fines (which they know will be paid by the tourists), attack the driver by banning him from entering the park again. The driver thus risks his job and his livelihood if he succumbs to the tourists' demands, causing extreme stress for him.

We think it is important that Safari Tour Operators stress to their clients the importance of not pressuring their guide to disobey rules. The "entitled" selfishness of this behaviour is obviously hugely detrimental to both the guides and the animals on which safaris depend."