Chobe, Botswana

Liz,
Our visit to the Chobe Safari Lodge was a highlight of our month long trip to Southern Africa. 

The new safari rooms were new and luxurious, and the food was extensive and excellent - I have never eaten kudu and impala before! 

Also the game we saw on the boat cruise and game drive was stunning - being so close to elephants and hippos in and on the banks of the Chobe River, and being surrounded by a pride of lions at dusk, are lifelong experiences which the family will treasure for many years.

Highly recommended!

The trip was great - whilst I will not be Africa way in the near future I am strongly recommending a lot of friends get there soon!
Tony C
Australia FFC24

Victoria Falls

Hello Nix,
I just wanted to let you know that we really enjoyed the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. Thank you very much for helping us out with this booking and coordinating our transfers.

Nikki, everyone was very professional and very courteous. We were VERY satisfied with the services and will definetely think of you again when our travels take us back to Africa.
Thank you very much for helping us to a wonderful vacation!

Maurice T
USA HFC 27

Victoria Falls

We had a lovely visit and thank you so much for your help. The only thing to make it better would have been to make it longer.
Thanks again,
Sharon W
USA DFJ41

Luangwa Valley

Trish,
We got it sorted. The trip was fantastic! 

One of the best we've ever taken. And it was a real pleasure getting to know Simon, Shanie, Marcus, Zebron, Keyala and everyone else on the staff at Nkwali. What a great team!

We're already thinking about going back next year. Thanks again for all your help and advice.
Best regards,
Rocky A
UK

Victoria Falls

Thank you for facilitating a wonderful tour of Victoria Falls for my daughter and I. Everything was handled professionally and efficiently. The activities included in our package were a lot of fun and we added a Gorge Swing for a little excitement. 

I would not hesitate to recommend your services to anyone. Thank you for wonderful memories and what we now consider a "trip of a lifetime".

Sincerely, Lise T 
Portland, Oregon

Zambia Safari

Hi Trish,
Well, we're back home & are slowly getting caught up on sleep & adjusted to our time zone! 
We had a fabulous time so thought I'd drop you a note to let you know what a great trip it was.
We did get off to a somewhat "shakey" start, however. Our flight from Chicago to London was cancelled due to high winds so it took some doing to get us Africa on time! 

We were glad we had allowed 6 hours in London. Then, when we arrived at the Lusaka airport (about a half hour late), no one was there to meet us.  After a short wait, we were relieved when our driver showed up. Once we met our guide, C. B., the next morning, everything went according to plan, right up until the end.

You were right about the guides. We found them to be very professional, experienced and knowledgeable.  All of the staff made us feel very welcome, safe and cared for.

You were right about the game viewing. It was incredible! We saw a great variety and some quite close, I might add!

Yes, it WAS hot a couple of days, but for the most part, bearable. We did seem to spend alot of time on the road, but used that to catch up on sleep.

Our time at Vic Falls could have been longer, but we managed to squeeze a lot in our day.
The one thing that I wished I'd thought to ask you before we left was about "tipping". We weren't sure what was appropriate, but did what we thought was right. 

Maybe that could be something helpful to add to all your other good information. Regarding everything else, we felt very prepared. 

Thanks so much for all of your help in making this trip such a success. You were most accomodating, even with all of our changes & delays. 

We will be eager to recommend your services to others. I'm in the process of typing my journal & Doug is busy editing our video tape. We plan to re-live this trip many times!

Trish H
Chicago PFC23

Zambia and Malawi

Trish,
(It's Sunday afternoon and thankfully being at home means I am not bogged down with work stuff to interfere with sending you this email)!...

Just thought I would write and say thank you for all your help and assistance in planning our holiday to Zambia/Malawi recently. Please also thank your colleagues that may have been involved.

The trip went superbly well and we were picked up and delivered from place to place in exactly the way we should have been. 

The Wayside B&B was really comfortable and clean and felt very secure for our first night stop over.  Beverley and John were also very welcoming. (The Wayside is someway from the centre of town but considering we were there and gone that didn't matter to us on this occassion).

South Luangwa was amazing! We saw loads of animals and had a thoroughly good time. 
Flatdogs was pretty much as we had expected it to be and it was fun and very good value for money. 

Jess and Ade (as in Adrian) were also great - they run a really good outfit there and nothing seems too much of a problem to them.

The Bushcamp Company guys were also really great (especially Chris our guide). 
Chamilandu was better than I had expected it to be. I don't know if you have been there but I would definately recommend it for its picturesque setting and remote secluded feeling compared to the more busy parts of the park (not that anywhere was really that busy). 
I was amazed by how much luxury they could cram into the huts that you stay in. 
We were also chuffed to have seen Mfuwe Lodge, where we had a swim and brunch before being delivered to the Airport on the final morning.

We then went to Malawi as you know and I am pleased to say we also got to the Vic Falls too for the final 4 days of the trip. 

I think the highlight there for me was going White Water rafting on the Zambezi! We had a brilliant time all round and I am sure we will definately be going back to Africa in the years ahead.

All said and done can I just say thanks once again for all your help/advise prior to our departure. We must have spoken to about 4 or 5 companies before deciding who to spend our money with. 
I recall that from the first call I made to the Zambezi Safari & Travel Company you seemed to 'listen' to what I was saying and 'understood' what we were looking for. 

This is hard to find nowadays but it made the difference, so thank you. 

Feel free to contact me if you should like other feedback on the places we stayed etc and I hope your company is still going strong when we need to use you next time?!

All the best,
Matthew A & Hayley G-G
Packwood House, Warwickshire.

The Zambezi Waterfront 

Just wanted to thank you for all of your help with the below accommodation. We are now back in the UK in the wind and rain and missing the Waterfront! The four days there were great fun and we are missing 'the mighty Zambezi'!

Thanks again
Tim H
UK MFK15

African Holliday is now over....and what fun it was!!

Hi Liz,
What madness. Every day i saw my life flash infront of me - especially after doing the bungee jump, purchasing the video tape just for them to tell me i could go back for another jump and video recording for free. 

So, i did another jump and did it backwards. MADNESS, what adrenaline!!!

All was really well orgainized Liz, the people were very frinedly and all the activities were the same. 

Well done and thanks for all the help and assistance.

Regards, 
Nic and Jack.
UK

Zambia, Botswana, South Africa

Hi Trish
Our trip was fantastic every thing went to plan, we loved Zambia and Siankaba, Chobe game was great, Sun city was out of this world! 

We also went on a trip round Joburg and went back to our old house which was very emotional we also went to Soweto.

The garden route was beautiful, went on a boat in Hermanus and we had 50 foot whales under our wee 20 foot boat!

We spent the last 7 nights in Camps bay which was fantastic.
Overall the holiday was the best from start to finish.

Thanks for all your help with the planning it was very much appreciated.
Best regards
Archy C
Bathgate, UK PFG16

Luangwa, Lower Zambezi and Victoria Falls

Hi Nikki,
I am sorry that it has taken me so long to respond about our fantastic safari.  

I learned a lot about how I will do it the next time. The next time I will stay at a maximum of 3 lodges, 4 nights each.  That gives you plenty of time to rest and write in a journal or just whatever. My parents were pretty tired but they really kept up with the pace.

Of the lodges we stayed in my favorite was Mwambashi River Lodge. We had the most one-on-one attention there, the environment was the most pleasant, and the hosts were the most "real".

Kayila Lodge was my second favorite, not because of the game because there was VERY little. But the hosts there were also very real, and I learned an enormous amount about the bush, living in the bush, the plants, trees, and animal behaviour. 

The lodge is nice and I thought it was quite special. We also were given very personal attention, and the hosts tried very hard to make our stay a good one, even though they also knew the area was a bit run down and without many animals.

Kapani at S. Luangwa was good. I preferred the bush camps and next time would stay there longer to do the circuit of walking to each bush camp.

Thorntree at Livingstone was nice, but the hosts were preoccupied with getting elephants for 'elephant safaris' across the border. 

Mosi-oy-tunya park is very dilapidated. Only the rhinos were excellent to see. We saw a zebra that had starved to death. They were really in bad shape. The Falls were brilliant, we spent an entire day viewing them from both sides, then tea at Vic Falls Hotel. It was so excellent and a real high point, and a nice place to finish the trip.

My parents enjoyed the bus ride from Livingstone to Lusaka, 6 hours on one of their lesser buses because the one we were supposed to be on broke down (not with us on it). Their first comment off the bus was that they would do it again no problem. They liked it.

So the entire trip was a real success. I wish more of my family could visit Zambia because it really is different for safari from the other countries.

Thank you so much for your time and attention for some high-maintenance Americans. It really was a trip of a lifetime for them and we all had a wonderful time. For people who may become interested in such a trip I will definitely recommend you and your company without any hesitation.

Thank you so much.
Take good care,
Lisabeth

Lower Zambezi

Hi Trish,
The trip went wonderfully, thank you. Everything went to plan. No problems at all. the lodge was great and the room fabulous as we managed to get the room right on the rivers edge. 

The safari itself was fantastic, our guide Mike was great. Even better was the fact that it was only us two on the tour so we could do pretty much what we wanted. M8ike was so good, we had amazing walks. 

He also taught us to fish and took us on spectacular walks. The camp was also great and the catering very good considering the situation.

It was a memorable trip and thanks for everything.

Alan x
UK

Luangwa Valley

Hey Nikki!
Wow! What a fabulous time we had! Everything was perfect! All transfers and such went without any gliches and the safari was the best ever. As it turned out, we had a private safari except for at Chendeni where we met a wonderful girl from Frankfurt. She booked her trip through you as well! Such a small world.

We were extremely please with the entire Bushcamp Co. operation. The guides, hostesses and staff were all excellent and the animals were pretty good too!

It was truly an amazing time to see the animals and birds and how they cope with the lack of water.

I want to thank you for everything and I hope that all goes well with you and your family.
Take care and hope to talk to you again in the near future.

Best Wishes,
Kim

GRRRRRRRRRREAT TRIP 

Hi Nikki~~
Sorry to take so long in touching base with you to let you know it was a fantastic time & a well planned trip!!! So many memorable experiences!! with lots of pictures to mark our footsteps.....

Lisabeth was the one with experience with Safari's & her testament was that this was the best one yet!!! She liked the idea of being able to get off-road during the drives to pursue the animals.
As for feedback, I wouldn't want you to take anything I might say as a criticism - as any trip goes, certain aspects will be better than others.

Every place we stayed was outstanding - the guides and hosts were just excellent!!! 

In Livingstone, our Thorntree escort to the bus station dropped us off before we were on the bus, and the bus was cancelled & we had to wait in heat for three more hours. 
We had already had a previous delay at bus station (from 9 to 11), but our escort took us back to Thorntree to wait. In essence, we had a 9:00 AM departure ticket, but bus did not leave until 1:00 PM. 
By time bus departed we had to wrestle with all the delayed people in order to get on the bus & have a seat - in other words, there were three busloads of people waiting for the 1:00 PM bus. 
My suggestion would be that Thorntree escorts stay with us until we are ON THE BUS - 

We saw a wonderful array of animals & got a great nature education from the guides - Our length of stay at each place was just right; perhaps an extra day on the shorter stays as it kept us moving very fast - but we did very well all in all. 

It was long enough at Kayila as that game area is very barren, poor area - elephants had done their job & cleaned that area out!! 

Which was interesting & our guide, Dave did a fabulous job of turning one of our drives into a real nature study - prints in sand, surviving on plants (he was specific) if lost, how to survive in the bush (this was terrific) - we found all guides extremely knowledgeable!!!

There was no outstanding criticism that we could make - we loved all of the whole experience & really didn't expect as much as we received. It still seems like a dream & I hope we can return with our grandchildren soon. 

Our best to you Nikki - am so appreciative to you for all your 'hand holding' during our planning stages. Oh, wouldn't it be great to have an opportunity to meet for a cup of coffee in Harare? Know we would be best friends for life (-:>
Love,
Bobby C HFC34

Zimbabwe trip

Dear Nix,
I returned home last Monday. I may have mentioned to you in a phone call that I had tried to speak to a lot of people in Zimbabwe to learn about the realities of their lives. These conversations were, for me, the best part of my time in Zimbabwe.

Everything that you arranged for me turned out very well. The day in Matopo was wonderful. The accommodations you had arranged for me in Vic Falls, Kariba and Lusaka were fine. The only problem with these accommodations was that the people in Lusaka wanted payment only in cash, and by the time I got to Lusaka I had traveler's cheques, but not enough cash to pay them. They did finally agree to accept traveler's cheques. If you did point out to me that I should pay in cash I certainly overlooked that.

Whitewater rafting was fabulous, as was canoeing. Gabriel, our guide, was super.

I was not looking for an experience like Sunyati offered, and when I first arrived there on Monday I thought that it would be a very boring week. However, I was able to make the necessary mental adjustments and very much enjoyed my time there. By the time I had to leave on Saturday morning I was thinking that my time had not been long enough.

Thank you for all your assistance in making arrangements.

Some of my friends, after hearing me go on and on about my time in Zimbabwe and the people I met, are very interested in traveling there with my wife and me, and perhaps in two years I can return for another visit. I will certainly be in touch with you for help in making arrangements for my next trip.

Yours truly,
Harry W

Something I forgot

Hi Nix
Just wanted to write and say what a fantastic time we all had at Spurwing - it was hot!

Everyone was incredibly helpful and the lodge was great. We will definitely be spreading the good word far and wide.

Many thanks for all your help in bringing it all together for us.
Best
George C
UK

Feedback 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6        next ->

Zambezi Site
Home | Safari Primer | Botswana | Zambia | Zimbabwe | Namibia | Tours | Contact

Last updated 14 January, 2005