Travel reviews by Mr S & Dr B from UK

"From the moment we arrived at Kasane Airport till the moment we returned to the airport we were met and looked after, including transfers and multiple passport controls.
Overall we had a wonderful time on Chobe Princess III with Captain Morgan and his crew.

Our activities included; small boats safari's and fishing. Safari can be done from the main boat, whilst at a distance great views. I once counted 104 Elephants. The small boats are great for getting close up; we were lucky and twice watch elephants crossing Chobe from a small boat, very close.

It is worth noting that there are quite a few other lodges with small boats, so not always just the Chobe boats.
Beds were big an comfortable, no problems from biting insets, food was good and good range of free drinks.

It Would have been nice to go further upstream, as we only used 2 berths over the 4 nights.
Overall, we had a fantastic time and really glad we did this, as very different. However, we would probably not do it again, though other on our boat had been before."

"The Camp is in a remote area where we only ever saw our camp vehicles. So maximum of 4 vehicles.

I must make special mention of the staff at this camp, they (every one of them) was so friendly and welcoming. an example; at 06;15 Breakfast, met with smiles and on second morning they remembered how I took my coffee (a splash of milk).

This lodge is built around game drives. you can even go out again after Tea!! They seem to specialise on tracking leopards and Lions, going off road and on foot. The numbers of game were not as high a Kwara, but the tracks are mostly in good condition and a smooth'ish ride.

The Rooms are lovely, but be prepared for Game walking through the Camp; Lions, Elephants, etc. No internet. All drinks are free with a good selection. Food excellent.
We had no incidents of biting bugs/mosquitos - June"

"We are currently booking to go back to this camp next year.

Kwara camp does share the concession with Splash, but we rarely saw many vehicles.

The rooms are amazing and you could just safari from sitting in the camp; Elephants, Baboons, Hippo, Red Lechwe, Kudu, Monkey, etc, etc.
Be prepared for rough and bumpy roads and in return we got a ridiculous amount of wildlife. e.g one evening we left 2 lions to go back to see 3 lions we saw earlier and then got a call and went to see a Leopard!. Another time we were surrounded by circa 1000 Buffalo.

Our Guide Diesel and Tracker KT did an amazing job, tracked/spotted Cheater, Leopard, Lions, birds, owls that we could only see with Bino's once pointed out. They were also very good at explaining how they tracked, what to look for and we honest when it turned out to be a log - gave us confidence to make mistakes.

A plus here is that only 4 in a vehicle, so easier to please everyone.

We went end of June, Whilst we were their the floods started to arrive. We noticed the change in the landscape, but also the number of Mosquitos started to increase.
Overall an amazing place, with a variety of activities, with one amazing animal encounter after another."

"This camp is an intimate camp, small, really close to nature and all about the guiding. We stayed for 5 nights and the last 3 we were the ONLY guests. The camp does seem to be moving away from semi-mobile to fixed and seemed to be struggling to identify it's unique selling point.

Entry into the park stated well as we made a stop at another airstrip flying low over a massive group of Hippo's only to find Elephants lining the runway at out airstrip. Now that's a welcome.

Within the Camp we saw birds, Impala, Jackal and 6 Lions calmly walking through whilst we were have dinner - Now I never knew a Lion could sneeze before!?!?! Nominally the guiding is from 06:00 to 11:00 and then 16:00 to 19:00. However, on one days we were out (our choice) at 06:15 and got back to camp at 15:15 and could have gone out again. In fact in over our 5 nights we clocked up about 50hrs of game viewing (not including that in camp!)

We had 2 different guides and always had our own vehicle which allowed us to dictate what we went to see and how long to stay etc. I think it was good swaping guides halfway through as this allowed a different perspective. Both guides were excellent in their own way. On many a day it was several hours before we saw another vehicle and often we ony saw several if we dashed off to a confirmed Lion sighting by another camp. I think an excellent location with good access to all part of the park, both popular and more remote.

Tents were fine and had everything we needed, inc UK 3pin plug (24hr electricity). Bucket showers worked well and a full buckets to yourself seem like luxury. Sleeping with Lions growling on the edge of camp could sometimes be a challenge.

The reason for only giving 4 stars was that for us the food was over the top, being very rich and trying too hard. An example was that the followed specific recipes and adjusted to what was around. So Beef and Ale, became Chicken and Ale, which did not work. Or mixed fruit with custard, but no advance warning to have it without custard. Perhaps a menu written down in the morning would help and reduce waste. Also whilst it was a tented kitchen the Chef would come out in his White Uniform and state the menu. A bit excessive for a tented camp when we were the only guests. Personaly we would have preferred simpler wholesome food.

Service was excellent as you would expect with only 2 guests and one night we had our dinner a short distance from out tent with a guard watching out for Lions!?!

As stated earlier this is an intimate and relax camp, for New Years eve we had a bottle of champagne and in bed early for a 06:00 departure the following day - For us this was perfect. With hindsight, I still believe we chose the best camp for what we were look for.

Go for Location, Guiding, flexibility and risking being a little scard (being so close to wild animals), Ruaha park.
Not good for partying, having a rest or true luxury."

"We spent 4 nights here after a Safari and hence looking to relax. We went early Jan and it was very hot. You should note that there is no aircon and there were quite a few biting insects, both during the day and night - take good replant, The rooms are very large and rustic nature. The large patio overlooking the sea is excellent, with a day bed, fan, chairs, etc.

The beach is fairly small, but with only 7 rooms, it is never busy. However, if you like long walks in the evening along the beach you will be disappointed. A wide range of activities are offered, with some complementary. The clarity of the complementary elements could be made clearer and in reality PolePole has its own boat and anything done with this is complementary. We did a Sunset Cruise, Snorkel trip (with guide) and trip to Chole Island all complementary. It is worth noting that many of the trips are tide dependant and because of the small number of rooms we could adapt trips to suit us. If you want to dive there is a dive centre next door.

What really makes this place is the staff, we found all were excellent, friendly and very helpful. I would like to especially mention Robin who was the main hosts and Alfa who worked on the boat. My recommendation is to talk to the staff and they will arrange most things and as we found out at no cost. Someone else just wanted to find out how to sail their traditional boat - no problem.

The food was very good, but there is no choice. They can cater is there are some dietry requirements (or specific dislikes), but you need to advise when you arrive. As you might expect it helps if you like fish and calamari. An earlier review suggested drinks price list to be provided in the rooms, PolePole response was to include, but still not done at time of our visit.

Go for relaxation, diving, sun bathing, but take insect repelant"

"I often stay at Hiltons, Holiday Inns, etc and so the 3 paws is in comparision to these. We also stayed 1 night at the Holiday Inn in Dar and the later was a better hotel. Though the Southern Sun does have an outside pool.

The aircon was not very powerful and possible as a consequence we had a couple of mosquito's in our room. We had evening dinner at the hotel and the food and price were fine.

The hotel does have a buiness centre with Internet machines (at small cost), which we were able to checkin for our return flights"