Travel reviews by Manaman from Thailand
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
2
Excursions taken
0
My Oct 2024 trip
Botswana between 24 Oct 2024 and 5 Nov 2024
"The trip was brilliant.
It was the first time for my wife in Africa and she was charmed and able to see everything. My sister and her daughter were back in Africa for the first time in many years and both for the first time in Botswana.
The people were charming and helpful, both those at the camps and those at the airport. The food was as good as I have ever had on safari and the camps, vehicles and expertise of the guides/trackers was first class. They answered all our dumb questions with a smile. The only drawback was the problem with my wife's (Thai) visa. They insist on you having a confirmed accomodation booking and confirmed flights. They will not process the visa until shortly before the start of the trip which means you risk losing everything if the visa doesn't come through.
In our case my wife lost two days and only managed to get the visa by pestering the Botswana consulate in Johannesburg over two days whilst staying in a hotel at the airport in Joberg. Hence extra costs for change of flights, hotel, taxis and loss of two days in camp."
It was the first time for my wife in Africa and she was charmed and able to see everything. My sister and her daughter were back in Africa for the first time in many years and both for the first time in Botswana.
The people were charming and helpful, both those at the camps and those at the airport. The food was as good as I have ever had on safari and the camps, vehicles and expertise of the guides/trackers was first class. They answered all our dumb questions with a smile. The only drawback was the problem with my wife's (Thai) visa. They insist on you having a confirmed accomodation booking and confirmed flights. They will not process the visa until shortly before the start of the trip which means you risk losing everything if the visa doesn't come through.
In our case my wife lost two days and only managed to get the visa by pestering the Botswana consulate in Johannesburg over two days whilst staying in a hotel at the airport in Joberg. Hence extra costs for change of flights, hotel, taxis and loss of two days in camp."
Arranged By Megan Green
Lebala Camp
"Lebala Camp review"
4 nights
Arrived
24 Oct 2024
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Buffalo
Many sightings
Cheetah
2 sightings
Elephant
Many sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Leopard
3 sightings
Lion
Many sightings
Roan antelope
1 sighting
Spotted Hyena
3 sightings
Wildebeest
Many sightings
Zebra
Many sightings
Splash Camp
"Splash Camp review"
4 nights
Arrived
28 Oct 2024
"Splash was the best of the three camps. Not that Lebala was worse but obviously the rooms are newer and more modern at Splash.
The comp was very full the first night but less so thereafter. This was not a problem as the staff coped excellently. We had Moz and KB as guide and tracker. They were excellent altough my butt suffered after Moz said hang on. We saw everything we asked for with the highlight being a cheetah being chased up a tree by an angry Tseebee mum and a warthog giving the finger to the two cheetah brothers by waiting until the last minute to dash to and down its burrow.
We saw dogs, aardwolf with pups, leopard and everything else. It was my sister's birthday and they did a brillant dinner by the swimming pool. The wifi limited to the rooms is an excellent idea as it keeps the public areas free of phones. Da went fishing and they caught one fish between three."
The comp was very full the first night but less so thereafter. This was not a problem as the staff coped excellently. We had Moz and KB as guide and tracker. They were excellent altough my butt suffered after Moz said hang on. We saw everything we asked for with the highlight being a cheetah being chased up a tree by an angry Tseebee mum and a warthog giving the finger to the two cheetah brothers by waiting until the last minute to dash to and down its burrow.
We saw dogs, aardwolf with pups, leopard and everything else. It was my sister's birthday and they did a brillant dinner by the swimming pool. The wifi limited to the rooms is an excellent idea as it keeps the public areas free of phones. Da went fishing and they caught one fish between three."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
Many sightings
Cheetah
Many sightings
Elephant
Many sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Leopard
Many sightings
Lion
Many sightings
Roan antelope
Many sightings
Sable antelope
Many sightings
Sitatunga
Many sightings
Spotted Hyena
Many sightings
Wild dog
Many sightings
Wildebeest
Many sightings
Zebra
Many sightings
As you know we had problems with Da's visa but Prudence could not have been more helpful. The guide (George) and the tracker (Joe) had to work really hard because there was only one vehicle underway in the area. They were great and found leopard on two days and cheetah after much hard work. If I remember correctly it was 3 leapord and 2 cheetah plus all the normal things.
It was extremely hot, 40°C on the first couple of days but a thunder storm cooled things down a bit. The pilot for the flight in with Morami air was great but the plane is a little small for those of a larger stature. I called it the chicken coop. After Da arrived they made a special dinner on the last night. Wonderful.
The only criticism I have is that the downtime in the middle of the day is very long 11:30 am until 4pm. This applies to all camps. I understand the reasoning but perhaps something can be arranged to fill in some of this time."