Travel reviews by Mr T from Bangkok
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
2
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
7
Excursions taken
0
My Jun 2022 trip to Zambia
Zambia between 17 Jun 2022 and 2 Jul 2022
From the start of planning right until the end, I thought we have always been comfortable with the advice / guidance and all our concerns and questions have been addressed.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not really. Please keep up the good work."
Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe

Flatdogs Camp
"Great place to start our safari"

Buffalo
5 sightings

Elephant
9 sightings

Giraffe
5 sightings

Hippo
10+ sightings

Leopard
6 sightings

Lion
2 sightings

Spotted Hyena
6 sightings

Zebra
9 sightings

Kaingo Camp
"Luxury in the bush!"
Room is nicely decorated and spacious with indoor shower and outdoor bath. There is a private balcony with river views - very lovely to sit down and watch hippos, birds, etc during siesta. Food was so delicious and well prepared.
We had Sylvester as our guide (also at Mwamba) for the whole week and we could not have asked for more. He is so good at tracking/spotting wildlife, explaining and telling story. We have seen pretty much everything there is to see except the wild dogs which were not in the area during our visit. We enjoyed his accompany also during lunch/dinner and sundowners.
The only slight disappointment is that some animals such as lions and buffalos were more in-land as there were still plenty of water sources away from the river. But with such a great guide, I don't think it has affected our experience as we still saw so many wildlife. Birds sightings were excellent and we are not even much into birds."

Buffalo
2 sightings

Elephant
10+ sightings

Giraffe
6 sightings

Hippo
10+ sightings

Leopard
8 sightings

Lion
1 sighting

Spotted Hyena
3 sightings

Wildebeest
2 sightings

Zebra
5 sightings

Mwamba Bushcamp
"Mwamba is the ideal bushcamp"
We did a few walking here including a transfer from Kaingo to Mwamba - very enjoyable and informative with Sylvester as our guide. Here, we tasted Baobab fruit and enjoyed a sundowner with Baobab tree in the background - it was magical.
Game drive in-land from Mwamba allows us to see Cooksons wildebeest (endemic to South Luangwa) and eland.
We also spent one night on a starbed sleepout (Numbu) and we love the whole experience."

Buffalo
3 sightings

Eland
2 sightings

Elephant
10+ sightings

Giraffe
2 sightings

Hippo
8 sightings

Leopard
6 sightings

Lion
3 sightings

Spotted Hyena
3 sightings

Wildebeest
10+ sightings

Zebra
10+ sightings

Kutali Camp
"Kutali Camp review"
On improvement, we experienced a guide that was very inexperienced. Although we think he is a nice person, he was clearly well below what we have experienced with other guides in this trip - communication, animal identification, driving, etc. After we did a transfer drive on arrival and afternoon game drive with him, we informed the co-owners that we want to change the guide. We were asked to give him another chance in the morning drive, as it turned out, our vehicle broke down and we moved to join another guests in another vehicle/guide which saved us from a wasteful morning. Since then, the camp has assigned us another guide which was much better.
It appears to us that Kutali (and Chula) still need more staff and permanent manager to improve overall organization. We experienced the confusion on whether we could do activities that we asked to do (this was also shared by some other guests that we talked to). Service was generally good but a bit off from other camps we stayed in. Food was great."

Buffalo
2 sightings

Elephant
10+ sightings

Hippo
10+ sightings

Leopard
2 sightings

Lion
2 sightings

Spotted Hyena
1 sighting

Wild dog
1 sighting

Zebra
1 sighting

Chula Island Camp
"Chula Island Camp review"
On one afternoon game drive, we saw a pack of 25 wild dogs playing and trying to chase down pretty much everything (warthog, guinea fowl, impala, waterbuck) that they came across. Later one of the dog was chased by an elephant not far from a bull buffalo. It was one of the highlight of our trip.
Similar comment for improvement on organization and service as Kutali Camp but nevertheless a very enjoyable stay."

Buffalo
3 sightings

Elephant
10+ sightings

Hippo
10+ sightings

Lion
2 sightings

Wild dog
1 sighting

Zebra
3 sightings
My Mar/Apr Seychelles 2022 trip
Seychelles between 31 Mar 2022 and 9 Apr 2022
We enjoyed our stay at both accommodations in Mahe and Praslin and all the transfer logistics are very well organized. I felt our stay at Praslin was a little short and I wish we can have time to visit La Digue, hopefully we can revisit again.
We had 2 scary moments during this trip (no fault of Expert Africa). I got verbal abuse from the owner of Anse Soleil restaurant on a day we explored Mahe on our own. Apparently I parked my car at a place where they do not allow, he kept giving me verbal abuse even though I apologized and told him that we will leave immediately. Found out later on reviews and from Katerina (Le Sans Souci) experience with her family that this guy is very bad and may have mental problem.
The other scary moment was when our rental car got struck in the sand in the parking space near Anse Lazio. Luckily, the local people (3 of them) were so nice that they helped us for almost 30 minutes until we can get our car back on track.
Overall, we had a great trip and thanks to your excellent services and thoughtful advice and arrangement throughout."
Arranged By Megan Green

Le Sans Souci
"Le Sans Souci review"
Her nephew Slain and his partner Caterina took care of our family during our stay. While we can tell that they are still relatively new, they have tried very hard to ensure we have a great time and have everything we need during our stay. They gave us lots of information where to go and where to eat and we found them very useful. Also, Slain was very quick to support whenever I called/texted him. We had a problem with the air-con in one of the bedroom on the third night (Sat), he offered us an additional room once he learned that it can't be fixed until Mon. Also as it turned out, he gave us a complimentary bottle of red wine on our last night that we cooked and dined in as an apology in which we appreciated.
The location of the guesthouse is in the mountain with very nice view of the city and ocean on the east side. A rental car is needed staying here but it makes a very convenient base to explore Mahe if you don't mind staying away from the beach. It is 5-10 mins drive to Victoria and 15-20 minutes drive to Beau Vallon or Port Launay where we also drive further south to explore the island.
We got an upgrade to a self-catering 2 bedroom unit which is very nice. I thought it is nicely designed, comfortable with spacious room for us to relax after coming back each day. Fresh breakfast is served at the owner house - 2 minutes steep walk up from our unit - and the view is even better from our unit. There is also small pool near where breakfast is served but we didn't use it."

Coco de Mer Hotel
"Coco de Mer Hotel review"
They changed their dinner buffet menu daily that we didn't feel too repetitive (although we may if staying longer). Overall breakfast and dinner are quite good with lots of variety. Except one or two staff, the services of the staff are excellent.
The room is standard size and large enough for my family including our 2 year boy to be very comfortable. We had an issue with air-con one night and they quickly came to fix it for us. The hotel also arranged 2 hour nature trail led by a guide (their staff) every other day starting from the hotel lobby. My wife and I joined this walk and thought it was very informative with a great view on top.
Would love to stay longer as we can do more with relaxing in the hotel area and considering many different activities in and around Praslin."
Due to unavailability, we stayed first night in standard tent before moving to luxury tent for the last 2 nights. Although the camp is larger than any other camps we stayed in this trip, we never feel crowded. Dining is private and flexible which we enjoyed. Food and service were excellent.
We informed them that we want to do walking safari and they managed to arrange for us one morning - very nice. We spent 2 full days with Jonathan as our driving guide and Kenneth as walking guide - thought they were both great. On our last night drive, we saw 4 lioness killed a puku - first time we witnessed a kill and it was such a memorable experience. I thought there were too many vehicles for any leopard sightings which is probably understandable staying in this area of the park which is relatively more busy.
Would not hesitate to stay at Flatdogs Camp again next time we visit South Luangwa"