Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs AL from France

"Well worth breaking the long journey from home before driving into Hwange.

Olde Worlde atmosphere with good service and food. Short walk to Victoria Falls National Park which is questionable value at $30 per person in September/October unless you are desperate to see a partial waterfall.

Hotel pool was most welcome for some early morning exercise."

"We drove to Little Makalolo from Vic Falls and were met at Hwange Main Camp by our guide, Eustace, who set the stage for the most enjoyable stay at this wonderful camp. All of the staff were friendly, efficient and obviously very happy to be part of the team and they made us feel like family. The smiles, the humour, the knowledge and the desire to make our stay as good for themselves as it was for us was just brilliant. The food quality, service and the clean rooms completed the perfect stay.

Eustace proved to be a superb guide and we were able to quickly establish a wonderful personal rapport which enhanced our shared experiences of the flora and fauna.

Elephant viewing was just amazing and we had great sightings of lion, eland, sable and many other animals both large and small as well as lots of birds.
Pumped waterholes create great wildlife viewing, especially Elephant, but it will be interesting to see how the vast overpopulation of these gentle giants can be controlled to preserve Hwange."

"Compared with the standards set by the other camps we stayed in, Rhino Camp was something of a disappointment. Despite the friendliness of the manager and our guide, we felt that this camp is being run on a shoestring budget with some maintenance and safety issues.

In general the accommodation and food were ok, however, some basics such as shower gel and fresh juices were not available and we felt that this may have been because we were the only guests in camp.

In our opinion rustic should not necessarily mean run-down and a bit ramshackle. We experienced boat engine breakdown and a safari vehicle with serious suspension problem that led to most uncomfortable game drives (this was rectified but should not have occurred in the first place).

The most alarming item was the total lack of radios with communication being by mobile phones that were dependent upon the, not always available, signal. This was something of a worry when on game drives but more so when on the 1.1/2 hour boat transfer across Lake Kariba for our onward air transfer. We suggest that this is a serious safety issue.

It should be noted that, due to the low water levels of Lake Kariba, the buffalo herds, together with many other varieties of animals have not been present for several years and that Rhino have all but disappeared from Matusadona.

We feel that, despite the excellent guiding of Steve and the friendly nature of camp manager Levi, the place we experienced was lacking the hands on "hosting and gracious hospitality" of owner Jenny who appears to spend very little time at the camp."

"The location of the Ruckomechi Concession offers the perfect safari experience with varied bush environments and the awesome Zambezi River. The Camp has an amazing riverside location and is extremely comfortable in all aspects.

Rooms, food and service were excellent although we did find the Wilderness Safari practice of clearing plates before everyone at the table had finished eating was annoying and spoiled a relaxed time (this is also considered to be the height of bad manners in the UK and some of us object to being treated like Americans!!}

The staff were very friendly but this somewhat larger camp seemed more corporate and lacked the family atmosphere of Little Makalolo. The guides are of the highest standard with encyclopaedic knowledge and great personalities and the game drives and river cruises were superb. We were somewhat disappointed that the walking activity was not readily available and it required some persistence on our part to arrange a superb morning walk which turned out to be one of the highlights of our holiday.

Sharing the camp with Elephants required caution but we did not feel in any danger, although lions resting outside our tent, after dinner one evening, did require extreme caution and brought to light the professionalism of the staff.

On a negative note, we must say that some of our game drives were disturbed by selfish photographers with their intrusive equipment - noisy cameras with overly large lenses and tripods. We discussed this problem with a sympathetic camp manager (Karen) who had raised this very issue with Wilderness Safaris. We feel that these people should be advised that they should charter or share a vehicle with like minded photographers.

We sincerely hope that the planned refurbishment of the excellent camp does not result in a large increase in rates!! We hope to return !!"

"The variety in terrain and habitat made this a very interesting area to visit although game drives were of long duration and mainly in off road conditions. Guides and drivers were excellent.

We enjoyed the communal spirit created by the staff which made for a true bush camp experience."

"The riverside location here made for excellent boating safaris which we very much enjoyed. We found the morning game drives to be quite arduous and their long duration left little time to enjoy other facilities (i.e. pool) before lunch. However, guiding and driving were excellent and although game was somewhat sparse we recorded over 100 bird varieties during our three day stay.

We were disappointed that drinks were not made available before early morning game drives unless one required them with an early morning call. We found the camp policy of individual tables at mealtimes most unsatisfactory as in our opinion and experience communal mealtimes are some of the most enjoyable experiences in bush camps when everybody has the opportunity to discuss their day with other guests and hosts.

Overall, we were somewhat disappointed with our experience of this camp as, although the staff were friendly and helpful, we felt somewhat pressurised and short of time to relax."

"Great Location and a good start to any South Luangwa trip"

"The new camp is in an excellent location and the accomodation is superb."

"Our second visit to Luwi and the accomodation, food etc were as expected.

Unfortunately we felt that although very knowledgeable and personable, our guide Sam always seemed to be in a hurry and we felt that we were being rushed through game drives and walks without the attention to detail shown by all of our other guides.This did not make for a satisfactory experience."

"Great location but accomodation rather basic and not what we expected. Bed was very uncomfortable, shower a disaster and wc seat a joke. If this is the camp which is to be used during the wet season serious attention to maintainance and detail is required.

Guiding by Simon and Aubrey was superb."

"Our second visit and despite the ravages of floods still an excellent camp with superb guiding from Levy who spent a great deal of time with the guests and was very attentive."

"Out of Africa with luxury, elephants holding us hostage, canoeing on the Zambezi, great birding, superb guiding and an unbelievable experience of dining in the river.

Small moan about quality of equipment and staffing of fishing trip which were not good."