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Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali
Nkwali

Reviews of Nkwali

Wildlife sightings and reviews

252 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Nkwali and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Apr-2018, 75 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Nkwali.
Lion

86% success

Leopard

90% success

Wild dog

63% success

Hippo

100% success

Elephant

99% success

Giraffe

99% success

Zebra

99% success

Buffalo

88% success

Spotted Hyena

85% success

Wildebeest

23% success

Eland

12% success

Aardvark

8% success

Roan antelope

7% success

Sable antelope

4% success

Pangolin

0% success

Showing 1-10 of 252
Duration
Arrival date
jonah
london

"Nkwali review"

2 nights Arrived 22 Oct 2024
"Another fantastic setting, wonderful adventures accommodation.

A really welcoming, vibrant, energetic feel to the camp. We were especially impressed with the staff here, the guides were incredibly knowledgeable and Max the host did an incredible job.

We were really made to feel cared for and at home." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Elephant

5 sightings

Giraffe

5 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

1 sighting

Zebra

3 sightings

AD and JM
edinburgh

"A very special memorable experience "

4 nights Arrived 13 Sep 2024
"Enjoyed every aspect of our 4 night stay in Nkwali.

Over the four days we were led by three different guides (one who picked us up at airport, one who was our regular guide, one who took us on the walking safari) and all were excellent. We appreciated their enthusiasm and their efforts to make sure we were having an enjoyable holiday. Their knowledge of the animals and birds was impressive ....as were their ability to find stunning spots for sundowners!

The food was very tasty, varied and and well presented. On one evening we came back to discover they had set up dinner for two on our room terrace as everyone else had left. A small gesture but typical of the thoughtfulness of staff to make our stay special." See all these reviews: 5n in Zambia; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Wild dog

1 sighting

Zebra

Multiple sightings

The Sand Martins
Oxon

"Return to Nkwali"

3 nights Arrived 11 Sep 2024
"Being welcomed at Mfuwe airport by Perry was a great start to my eighth visit to Nkwali.

Perry was my guide during my stay. Perry is supremely knowledgeable, and is one of the best guides I have ever experienced. Knowing my photographic interests, he suggested 4:30 wake-up calls so that we could be out in the bush before sunrise. I particularly appreciated this.

I also had a great welcome from Kiki, whom I have known for many years. He, Bianca and all his team make Nkwali so enjoyable. The variety and quality of the lunches and dinners was excellent." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

2 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

5 sightings

Wild dog

2 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Miss S
London

"Nkwali review - great first lodge"

2 nights Arrived 9 Sep 2024
"Excellent welcome from Sebastian at the airport did the transfer to the camp where we were met with welcome drinks, excellent information given on the rooms and safety and general instructions for the logde.

Sebastian was the allocated guide for the drives that I did and he was brilliant, excellent knowledge, absolute professional. All of the staff at the lodge were excellent, Kiki, Tizi, Bianca and Benson to name just a few.

Excellent food, excellent organisation and absolutely professionally run." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Aardvark

4 sightings

Buffalo

1 sighting

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

8 sightings

Giraffe

8 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Lion

8 sightings

Roan antelope

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mr & Mrs T
TunbridgeW

"Nkwali review"

2 nights Arrived 6 Sep 2024
"For anyone who has not been to a safari camp before this would be a great introduction. This was our third safari and found everything to be just what we expected. Our only regret was that we were only staying for 2 nights!!

Nkwali set the standard for Robin Pope Safaris, the accommodation, food and guiding were great as were the animals and birds we saw.

The one drawback for myself who is 81 years of age was using the boat to cross the river. I was not good at the assent/decent from the river but the staff were always on hand to give me assistance

Overall- highly recommended" See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

4 sightings

Eland

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Lion

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

2 sightings

Wild dog

2 sightings

Zebra

5 sightings

Ms. S
Madrid

"Nkwali review"

2 nights Arrived 20 Aug 2024
"Nkwali was my first real experience on safari and it was a fantastic way to start.

It's situated on a beautiful spot on the river, where there was water even despite the drought, and the camp is spacious and the accommodation lovely. You can sit watching the wildlife on the river from your tent and the pool is a plus.

The staff were exceedingly friendly and helpful and the guide I had, Chizi (who I was lucky enough to be on my own with for a couple of days), was extremely knowledgeable and always seemed to manage to be in the right spot at the right time. I learnt a lot with him.

I loved the drum call to meals/wake up. A perfect start for a first-timer!" See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

2 sightings

Elephant

6 sightings

Giraffe

2 sightings

Hippo

7 sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Lion

3 sightings

Zebra

7 sightings

Mr G
Bristol

"Nkwali review"

3 nights Arrived 12 Aug 2024
"Another excellent camp - just pipped by Tena Tena for my favourite.

Good sized rooms open front & back - front is semi closed at night - but with large mosquito net protecting the bed area. Camp receives regular animal visitors from baboons/vervets to mongoose & bush buck plus lots of bird life (& the occasional elephant at their water hole near the dining deck).

African drums call you at wake up, lunch & dinner to add a local touch too.

Nkwali whilst away from the central SLNP area is busier than the other RPS camps so you will see other cars especially if your guide goes into the central park zone to look for sightings." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Good
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Buffalo

4 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

8 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

3 sightings

Spotted Hyena

5 sightings

Wild dog

3 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Miss P
London

"Nkwali review"

3 nights Arrived 10 Aug 2024
"I've spent a lot of time at Nkwali in recent years, so am running out of new things to say about it! I love the welcoming atmosphere at this camp, the incredible views of the river from the main area and the open fronted chalets, and the wildlife that comes through the camp- especially the mongooses.

Perry was a fantastic guide as ever, and Sorrel was a great host.

The river crossing is a real benefit here, as it allows you to enter the park away from the busy main gate and our sightings were often not busy as a result. As ever, they were incredibly flexible regarding activities and everyone was able to do what they wanted without fuss- on my last morning a guide was brought in specially as some of the guests requested to walk, and the two guides who had been doing the drives were not walking qualified.

I think Nkwali definitely has the best chef of the RPS camps, especially for desserts and tea time cakes and coffee stop cookies!" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mrs G
London

"Nkwali review"

4 nights Arrived 3 Aug 2024
"The rooms, the camp and the food was lovely.

Our guide Perry was so knowledgeable and made a great effort to try and spot animals that we hadn't seen before.

The wildlife here was more spread out than in the Nsefu area. However we saw wild dogs and male lions that we hadn't before." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

2 sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Dr J.
United Kingdom

"Nkwali review"

3 nights Arrived 29 Jun 2024
"Camp itself is very comfortable, food was all very good and I enjoyed the communal dining.

There's plenty of wildlife around camp, just an hour after arriving a group of elephants came to drink from the lagoon in front of our lunch table. Being outside the park was offset by the location on the banks of the river with a very short boat ride from camp taking you directly into the park. This helped avoid the busiest parts of the central area of the park and I only felt sightings were crowded on the few occasions when we went to the central areas with a specific goal (lion and wild dog).

It was the only camp that allowed radio communication between guides. This proved a double-edged sword - it means greater chance of seeing something special if it's found by another Nkwali vehicle, but there were a couple of occasions where a voice over the radio felt intrusive if we were stopped at a sighting. Not a big issue for me, but worth keeping in mind depending on the type of experience you want.

On the whole, of all camps I stayed in on this trip, I felt the team at Nkwali went that little bit further in ensuring they gave me the very best experience possible (not that others were bad, the Nkwali team were just superb). This included shuffling some allocations of guests and guides to give me a dedicated "birding" game drive with Perry (offered to me without me asking, when they noticed my interest in birds), and arranging an extra-early departure for a morning game drive to find lions in time to watch the sun rise with them." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

3 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

3 sightings

Spotted Hyena

3 sightings

Wild dog

1 sighting

Zebra

10 sightings

Showing 1-10 of 252
97%
252 reviews of Nkwali by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
213
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5
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0
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