Reviews of Little Makalolo Camp

"Little Makalolo will charm you from the instant you set foot on the boardwalk toward the main lodge. The dining room is to your right with an elevated patio and pool beyond, a lounge and bar are to the left and before you an enormous false mopane tree that shades camp. Beyond sits a large waterhole visited by a constant parade of animals. We had tent #1 on the end beyond the bar with a direct view of the waterhole. The front porch had two comfortable chairs and a hammock. Our room was impeccably clean and comfortable with comfortable seating inside too. The concrete floors can be slippery in stocking feet, however. There was WiFi in the tent and electrical outlets for charging electronics.

The staff raked the sand around our tent every day so we could see footprints left overnight. One morning, as he escorted us to breakfast, a staff member pointed out to us that there were leopard tracks all the way around our tent! This is why we had to be escorted from and to our tent early in the morning and after dark at night. Camp is unfenced.

Breakfast around the campfire started with a buffet of yogurt, cereal, fruit and juices. There were muffins and bread plus cheese, meats, and hot breakfast. It was tempting to linger beside the campfire. Lunch was served at our table and always delicious and varied with vegetables and salads featured prominently with meat and fruit for dessert. High tea included cool drinks plus both sweet and savory snacks. Dinners were served at our table and were three course, generous and delicious.

Temperatures in mid-October were hot; we started the day in shorts. Afternoons were very hot. One night, though, a strong wind and rainstorm came through and the next morning was cool. In spite of the warm temperatures, our game viewing was excellent thanks to the experience of our guide, Livingstone. It began with lions, zebra and elephants and continued like that every day, plus giraffe, sable antelope, cheetahs, painted wolves (wild dogs) and even a honey badger one morning. We spent time watching a large pride of lions hunting buffalo (they failed) and watching the many elephants splashing in one of the many large waterholes maintained by Wilderness. Many times there were lions at the waterholes and thirsty animals were desperate for a drink; there was a lot of tension at times. We even sat poolside while elephants splashed in the pool in camp. The landscape varies quite a lot and is very interesting.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Livingstone in the safari vehicle. He knows the area and its residents well and has a great respect for all the animals big and small. We felt very at home at Little Mak, as it’s called. When our flight to the next camp was cancelled due to weather, the staff made room for us for another night without batting an eye. We stayed the extra night in the family unit #5, at the opposite end of camp, connected by a boardwalk. We weren’t one bit unhappy to stay another night at Little Makalolo." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia; 10n in Botswana; 6n in Zimbabwe

"Our experience at Little Makalolo Camp was very special.

The staff were extremely warm and inviting and did everything to make our experience wonderful. The food was gourmet quality, creatively prepared and served beautifully. Our guide Leo was beyond amazing! He is a great tracker and has a sixth sense about the animals surrounding the camp. We saw things we never imagined.

The camp has a water hole adjacent to camp and a pool at the camp that brought a parade of animals, all throughout the day. We were often 2-3 feet from Elephants, Lions (and cubs), Cheetahs, Buffalo and even Hyenas. Leo even made my dream of seeing Wild Dogs come true (not a small feat)!

We are so grateful for Leo and all the staff at Liitle Mak!" See all these reviews: 5n in Zimbabwe; 4n in South Africa; 3n in Botswana

"I am very glad we went to this camp and would have liked to stay for another night. I would like to rank it very good.

There are so many things I love about it. The elephant hide was def a highlight of our trip. Also, the elephants that visit the plunge pool at lunch are a delight. It had the best elephant viewings by far. Loved the waterhole here as frequented by lots of animals. So you can game view in between drives.

I love the rustic feel of the camp- that’s what makes it so special. Love the morning camp fire on the sand - feels authentic. I loved it because it was a small and intimate camp. Nice touches like water bottles for early morning game drives and also for bed time. But I honestly was very cold in bed and didn’t want to get out of it to change in the morning.

I see a few weeks later the overnight temperature has really warmed up. The staff are lovely and Liberty was a great guide. The only real shortfall of this camp is that you have a good 20 minute drive to get out of it into the safari area. However the game viewing was excellent.

But I would def go back and recommend for a more authentic safari ." See all these reviews: 8n in Zimbabwe

"Little Makalolo is a small camp (approx 6 tents laid out either side of the main tents, pool etc) in a private concession in Hwange National Park. The camp is approached through a forest but looks out over an open area with a large waterhole which a wide range of animals visit throughout the day.

The tents are excellent and reached via wooden pathways, the outside sitting area looks out over the waterhole where there is nearly always something going on. We also had a bird bath/pool on the edge of the deck which was good to watch from inside the tent during siesta time with a variety of birds dropping in for a drink or bath.

The main area has large lounge and dining tents and a pool deck arranged around a camp fire under a big tree which works very well. The food and service was very good and on our last night we were treated to a private dinner by the pool with elephants coming into to drink less than 10m away.

As we visited in August, the area was generally very dry and game was concentrated around the various waterholes. As part of the national park, vehicles are restricted to the tracks which we thought might be an issue but wasn't really. However, it might make following a leopard pretty difficult and our one sighting of a cheetah disappeared into the bush very quickly. The area is rich in elephants, giraffe zebra and various antelopes. The most common predators were lions and we had a couple of great sightings.

As there are a number of camps within the large concession, there is good radio traffic between the various guides and therefore a lot of pairs of eyes looking for sightings which is a definite advantage. Although we never felt there were too many vehicles around.

There is a log pile hide next to the waterhole which allows really close viewing of the animals coming into drink and bathe, most notably elephants. We spent over 2 1/2 hours in the hide between brunch and our afternoon game drive and our guide counted over 100 elephants in addition to Kudu, Zebra etc.

The lodge also has a sleep under the stars platform adjacent to another waterhole which was a great experience, although the stars were dominated a full moon.

The only issue that we came across at Little Makalolo was in respect of guiding. Disappointingly, on our third day (we stayed for three days) our guide was changed even though the initial guide was still around. I'm sure that there must have been a good reason but would have expected the camp manager to take the trouble to explain what was happening and why rather than leave it to a clearly embarrassed guide. That said we were quite happy with both guides." See all these reviews: 10n in Zimbabwe; 4n in Botswana

"This was an exceptionally well run place in every respect, despite the heat and drought. The standards are high and the quality of the place shone through.

We had a really excellent guide, Leo(!) and all the camp staff were most charming and helpful. The highlight, once again for us, was a visit at breakfast time of a small pack of wild dogs, three adults and six pups, to feed on a dead elephant who had died overnight just in front of camp.

We watched them for 90 minutes and were delighted to observe them at such close quarters. We had some excellent game drives and saw leopard, bush baby, genet and, finally , eland to add to our tally overall." See all these reviews: 8n in Zimbabwe; 7n in Botswana; 7n in South Africa

"First class service and food.

Excellent guiding and sightings

Friendly camp atmosphere

Visit to the local village was insightful and rewarding" See all these reviews: 13n in Zimbabwe

"Again very knowledgeable guide, making our game drive interesting. Guides keep in touch with each other radioing when something interesting to be seen. eg Lions.

Visit to local village was an eye opener, lovely people we felt very welcome. Happy smiling children pleased to see us, asking lots of questions. Danced and sang for us brilliant performance." See all these reviews: 13n in Zimbabwe

"Little Mak is a very comfortable camp with just six tented chalets set in a semi-circle around a watering hole which is frequented regularly by a variety of wildlife especially elephants. Each of the tents are well laid out with indoor and outdoor showers facilities. The hot water is generated by solar panels and is extremely effective although it does take some considerable time for the hot water to appear at the taps.

The detailed report on the EA website is very comprehensive and accurately covers all aspects of the layout of the accommodation and the camp itself.

Dickson, our guide for the duration of our stay, was extremely knowledgeable and managed to find lions plus cubs on our first day in camp who were fantastic to watch. Hwange is noted for its large elephant population and we often felt that they were all at Little Mak. We spent part of an evening game drive sitting in the log pile in front of the watering hole totally surrounded by at least five or six family groups totalling well over 60, including a number of very young calves. The interaction of the young as they tried to emulate their older siblings was fascinating.

Sundowners at another watering hole, again surrounded by elephants was another highlight, especially as they walked right past us, totally disinterested in our vehicle or us, in order to get to the water.

Dickson also managed to find a cheetah on a hunt during our transfer to Camp Hwange by road, as well as annoying a hippo who seemed to take an instant dislike to our vehicle and decided to charge!!. Hippos run quite fast it would seem!!

There are a couple of points we would make regarding the camp. EA states that dining style is group meals, however that appears to no longer be the case as we were seated at separate tables for our entire stay, and as the camp was far from full, this made for a somewhat isolated experience. All the camps we have visited over the years have used communal dining and this is an aspect that we always enjoyed. I don’t know if this a recent departure for Wilderness Safaris however we were disappointed by this aspect of the camp. Something they might want to reconsider.

The other point we would make is that due to the camps location you have to spend approximately 20 mins driving through dense mopane forest before reaching any of the more open areas where wildlife can be easily seen and tracked. It’s not a major issue but an aspect that needs to be taken into consideration during game drives

All in all a great camp in a fantastic location." See all these reviews: 10n in Zimbabwe

"An absolut wonderfull Camp, quite upmarket. The Staff and especially the guiding of Charles were absolutely brilliant. Definately one of the best Guides I've had so far.

All activities have been on a vehicle. Sightings were absolutely thrilling, wouldn't have expected that much in terms of quantity and quality of Game sights. Lions everywhere, Cheetah, Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes. Birding was great, i was able to tick down 100 species in this trip. Great luxurious Camp.

Highly appreciated their luxury Safari vehicles, 2 single seats in a row and in the middle a box to take care of my photographic equipment.

Loved that place!" See all these reviews: 9n in Zimbabwe

"Another well run Wilderness camp - this time our visit was made by our guide, Eustace. We would rate him as among the top 5 guides we have encountered over very many safaris in southern Africa. He is charming, very knowledgeable, has such a keen sense of the bush that he knows before it happens that something wonderful is about to occur (even if we did spot the wild dog before him!).

The game viewing at Hwange was superb." See all these reviews: 12n in Zimbabwe