Victoria Falls with lower Zambezi canoeing and walking

Hello NIKKI,
This is Pascal and Didier from France to give to you some news after our trip in the Zimbabwe on may 2001 (sorry for this delay) ! 

We started by 3 days to the Victoria Falls, certainly one the beautifull think on the earth, I overfly this place in an ultalight aircraft to take picture it was fantastic !!! and after we went to the Kariba lake for the conoeing safari , very good trip with pleasant guides and thousands of hippos but just one elephant, then back to Kariba for the walking safari with Steeve, not very good for the pictures because the bush is too dense but the stay was like in the movie "OUT OF AFRICA" excellent with kindly boys ! 

After that the second Steeve welcome us at the "Musango lodge" with his wife Wendy in this very pretty place ...I can tell that it's the best memory of this travel for me with lot of pictures of buffalos, elephants, rhinos, sunset on the Kariba lake with a Gin tonic in on hand and the camera in the other, with this extraordinary couple ......we are very sade to see what happens in this country with the polical problems because sometime our souls are always on this place ! we hope it will be possible to go another time in this country in a few years ! 

I made 1000 pictures and 800 of them are okay ; I tranfer a part of these on my web site in 4 galleries where it's possible to see these photos on : www.photodiffusion.com

Thank you very much for your help for this travel and have a good visit on my web site .
PASCAL
France 

Zimbabwe

Hi Trish,
We have just returned from a wonderful time on our holidays in Zimbabwe. 

Both the Vic Falls Safari Lodge and The Hide were ideal places to stay. At Vic Falls we walked along the path which overlooked the falls the first afternoon, and had a meal at the Boma on the first night. Unfortunately, we had to leave early as we were feeling so tired after the journey. The next day we relaxed at the pool for the morning watching the animals at the same time and then, during the afternoon went on the Helicopter trip over the falls and then went for tea at the Vic Falls Hotel, quite a trip back to the old days with cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam and then sticky cakes. Finally in the evening we had a meal in the Safari Lodge restaurant overlooking the floodlit waterhole. Everything was first class with very friendly helpful people everywhere in Vic Falls.

We then got to The Hide and had an even better time. Quite different from Kenya. Not as many animals but the guides used their tracking skills to find the less common animals we wanted to see. There were also many more bird species.

We saw Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, and the Painted Dog. In fact, the Painted Dog was probably the highlight as Valerie and I were alone on an early morning walk with Barry and at first noticed all the Impala getting very agitated and then two or three Painted dogs suddenly went past us about 10-20m away up the vrei towards the waterhole. Within 5 minutes we saw a nearly exhausted Impala come past about 10m metres from us, with a Painted dog about 10 seconds behind it. When it saw us it stopped 20m from us, grunted and went back the way it had come. I hope the Impala was very grateful that we were there. We carried on walking and were collected by one of the vans to try to find the remainder of the Pack. Barry had already radioed back and told the Vans on the early morning drive that the dogs were around, so we were soon told where the dogs looking after the puppies were. Our van was positioned where Barry thought the pack would come and he was so accurate that we had all the 17 dog pack right round the van. They even stopped for photographs as they crossed the dirt road. And all this before 8 o'clock. The rest of the day was a bit of an anticlimax!! Another time before this, on a night drive Ryan found a group of 5 lions, (3 lionesses and 2 large cubs) - Ryan says he knows both you and John and sends his best wishes.

So you can see, we had a great time and we haven't even mentioned the excellent food and friendly atmosphere at the lodge. 

Here are a few points of information for you:-

• At Vic Falls airport we did not have to pay for Visas. They said that UK didn't charge for them so they don't charge for us. That was a good start even before the holiday had really begun.
• At Vic Falls they were changing money over the counter at 200 Zim Dollars to the dollar. We changed $50 and got a wad of notes about 2" thick, all 100Z$ notes. The black market rate appeared to be 350-400 Z$ to the dollar. 
• At The Hide the climate is very much cooler than Vic Falls. It was chilly once the sun went down and even on the 4.30pm run, once it got dark at about 6.15 we needed blankets to keep us warm. It was mentioned that in May/June they commonly had frost at night and this June the temperature went down to minus 7C. In the tent we had 2 blankets on the bed and we closed all the "windows". We certainly needed a fleece and long sleeved T shirts or sweaters. 
• The last two days the weather was unusually cold. There was a strong wind all day and night. It also RAINED most of an afternoon and night. On our last night we all sat round the table for our evening dinner with as many layers of clothing as we had AND our anoraks, and had hot soup. We put a third blanket on the bed that night. The locals we met from Harare said that they could not remember rain ever in September. Bruce said that it was normally one of the driest months and was repairing the floor of the upstairs part of the bar. He had to put a tarpaulin over the roof to stop the rain getting into the downstairs bar. I don't think the animals liked it much as there were none round the watering hole. There were no early morning walks or drives on our last morning and I think every one was very pleased.

We got back to find that our luggage was still in Jo'burg. I have received mine but Valerie's is still missing. However, all this is insignificant in view of the news from America. We did not get very much information whilst we were at "The Hide". No TV and only a little basic news from BBC World service. It seems very difficult to prevent terrorist attack, and this one appears to have been very well planned.

Anyway, thank you very much for the excellent arrangements. By the way we had Chalet No 6, the one with the outside bath overlooking the waterhole.

Regards,
Roy and Valerie K
UK

Zimbabwe

Hi Trish,
......again no, we didn't get fuel from any inn, just from the normal gas stations. We didn't even know that we could ask the inns for fuel, in case problems had arrived! And none of the people in the inns did tell us about the possibility and/or about you telling them to give us a message. But, after all, everything went well and we really will try to convice people to go and visit your beautiful country. (We will come back anyway)

By the way, the Inn on the Rupurara is an absolutely magnificent place with extremely friendly staff and a fantastic restaurant and bar, the Inn on the Bvumba is nice, but the rooms are a bit low standard (the food, however, was excellent) and the staff was friendly, but not as heart-warming and family-like as in Rupurara, the Pa-Nyanda Lodge gave us the first taste of the bush again, people were absolutely great, food was excellent and we had our first morning game-walk there!
By the way, did Craig tell you that we unintentionally met at the airport in Kariba??

When we arrived there from Harare (York Lodge was superb!), we were met by a woman who took us to the Carribean Bay and while waiting for the luggage, I looked around and saw this huge man standing there, talking to other people. I said to Gerhard, "I have a feeling, that this must be Craig!" "Well", said Gerhard, "then go and ask him"! Which was what I did! When I mentioned my name, he immediately hugged me and we made an appointment for dinner the same evening in the Carribean Bay. (which was delicious!)

Also after our stay in his camp, he took care of us in an fantastic way, we are very grateful to him too!

There is another (organisatory) element that I would like to point out: please, mention somewhere in your website (wherever it is appropriate) that one has to pay US$ 20 when LEAVING the country!!!! And another one: Austrians do need visas ( I had to pay US$ 30 twice (in Harare when coming from London and in Kariba when coming back from Zambia after the canoe trip!) Gerhard didn't have to pay because he has an official government passport).

All this did not, in any way, reduce our wonderful experience, I just wanted to let you know for other guests (I know that some people can be rather fussy!)

All the best
Madeleine H (Austria)
PS: When friends ask me how our holiday has been, I answer: "Please, don't ask me, I won't stop talking about it!" or "Thanks God, another victim, you are doomed to see our slides!"

Zambia and Zimbabwe

Hi Nikki and Trish,
We just returned to the US. Karen and I want to thank you for helping organize a wonderful trip. As you know, it was our first time to Africa, and we are sure we will be back. 

The Bushcamps were incredible. It would be hard to imagine a better way to be introduced to Africa. Not only did we see abundant wildlife, but we had what amounted to a week’s private tutoring on natural history and folk medicine. Both the knowledge and friendliness of the staff exceeded our expectations. Phil Berry and Manda were exceptional guides, and Babette sets a high standard for catering and camp design. I know that we will be in touch with Manda on a regular basis. By the way Nikki, you were right, staying in the bushcamps was definitely better than staying at Mfuwe Lodge. The lodge was quite nice, but it did not offer the same sort of flexibility and opportunity to walk as the camps offered. I think the standards in general are higher in the bushcamps. Having said that, the reason we stayed at Mfuwe was so we could visit the Kawaza village. This turned out to be highly worthwhile, and well worth missing an extra night or two in the bushcamps. They are very well organized in the village and we really had an opportunity to talk with people out side of the more insulated experience of the lodges and camps.

Just so you know, there were a couple of things that did not go so smoothly, although it all worked out well in the end. The first was that we arrived at the Proflight hanger in Lusaka to discover that they did not know who we were! The pilot there called around and discovered that we were booked on Airwaves instead. Fortunately John had not simply dropped us off, so he drove us to the main terminal. Once there it actually took quite a while to find someone from Airwaves who could verify that we were on a flight with them. This flight then took off 2 hours late, so we did not get to Mfuwe lodge until about 4:30 p.m. When we arrived Andy apologized profusely for the mix up in Lusaka, he insisted that he had made the mistake when communicating with you. He must have apologized at least 6 times. Apology was readily accepted. We really owe a big thanks to John for helping us sort everything out at the airport. He stuck with us until we were absolutely confirmed on our flight.

The only other little glitches we had concerned currency exchange. Perhaps unwisely, we did not bring enough US cash with us, thinking that we could exchange with a bank or credit card at Lusaka airport. For a variety of coincidental reasons, we could not do this. Our bank cards would not work with their system (although our bank is one of the largest in the US), and we could only use a credit card from a teller machine. However, the latter requires a PIN which we did not have for the credit cards. There was no facility to run a credit card the standard way or by phone. Mfuwe lodge helped us out though, and allow us to use our credit card for an allotment of cash.

We had another cash flow problem in Zimbabwe, where as I am sure you know only too well, there are two economies. When we attempted to book tours using a credit card, we were told that a US $90 tour would end up getting charged to our credit card at about US $400 rather than US $90. I was disbelieving at first, but then learned that what is going on is that virtually all the tour operators and the restaurants have inflated their Zim $ prices to reflect the black market rates, not the official rate. As a result, a US $90 tour was being charged at about Zim $24,000. When run through the official bank rate, as it would be for a credit charge, this vastly inflates the US $ price once it shows up on our bill. This was true where dibber was being charged at Zim $2500 per person ($45 when converted at the official rate). 

We arrived on a Sunday, so we could not cross the border back into Zambia and buy dollars for tours that began either on Sunday or early Monday morning. We were in a real bind but Elizabeth helped us out by paying for our tours herself on Sunday and Monday. We then went to Zambia on Tuesday, bought dollars, and paid her back. We were able to buy dollars at the Barclay’s branch at the Sun just over the border. They allow one to buy a maximum of US $200 per person per day (at a high commission of about 14%). In summary, if you do not arrive will actual US dollars (not travelers checks), you will be vastly over-charged for services if you exchange at banks or by credit card. If you have other Americans visiting Zimbabwe you might want to tell them more about what is going on with pricing and currency. Perhaps you did send us this information and we either overlooked it or misplaced it.

I realize that I have written at some length now about the small glitches. I do not want you to get the wrong impression. Overall we had a great time and felt that you chose first class people to work with. The good relationship you have with everyone along the way was very evident. We look forward to working with you for our next trip!

Thanks!
David E 
Stanford, USA

Zimbabwe and Zambia

Hi Liz
Greetings. Sorry for not writing earlier. My computer was stricken with a worm virus, and has been down till of late. 

My sister and I have had a very good trip. The eclipse was fantastic. It was our best eclipse. The people we met on the trip are cheerful, interesting and very friendly. The Shentons of Luangwa Bridge Camp are real nice folks. Thanks to them, we had an interesting and successful journey to the eclipse-viewing site at Feira. The site was very well-chosen. You can strongly recommend the Bridge Camp to your other clients looking for an interesting remote getaway.

And many thanks to you, Liz, for all the arrangement you made for us. I will write to you regarding some itineraries I would like to sell to my Singapore and S.E. Asian clients - especially those involving Kariba and Victoria Falls. 

If you are coming to Singapore or the neighbouring region please don't forget to contact me. 
Please give my regards to John and Trish Berry.
Cheers
Koh Poh C
Singapore

Botswana Safari

Dear Trish
We all had a super time with all the connections working well. The game viewing was very good and the quality of the camps was generally excellent. 

Our only disappointment was Island Lodge in Maun which was as I would imagine a Butlins holiday camp is out of season - run down, grubby and largely closed. It would have been better to stay the extra night at Camp Okuti, so my recommendation to you is to avoid this one in the future. 

Otherwise everything was fine.

Best wishes and thanks
Chris and Penny S 
UK

Dupont World Travel & Tours - Zimbabwe group

Dear Trish
I want to thank you again for the help and quality work you have provided to our clients who have returned astounded by their visit.

We will have great pleasure in working with you again.
Arno

Zimbabwe and Zambia

My wife and I had a wonderful time in Zimbabwe and Zambia with our son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Alison on our recent trip to Africa. Maronga with Gus and Sandy Alexander was different than what we had experienced before and we had a wonderful time there. 

The two bush camps out of Mfuwe were equally wonderful with the latter one, Kuyenda, the one on the Sand River, being particularly outstanding as Phil was able to show us every single animal we wanted to see, often all at the same time within eyesight, with the exception of the Rhino. 

The accommodations at all the camps, for all that they are "bush", were just fine - better than we expected in fact, and without question, at all the camps, the food was as good and varied as offered in any fine hotel in the world. 

When we left Maronga I was amazed when I climbed into the co-pilot's seat to find a "Happy Birthday" package containing a neat Zimbabwe tee-shirt addressed to me. So, whoever there was responsible for that fine surprise gift, Thanks Very Much!!!! 

And then when we arrived at the Bilimungwe camp I was given a wonderful Chocolate Birthday cake especially made by Andrew the Chef. 

In all, a wonderful trip. 
Gary & Lois Meeker
USA

Zambia, yes, yes!!!

hello nikki!!
how are you? me i felt very very well down in zambia at bushcamp company.

my impression were exceded. though i was there only for one week i felt it were two. we did two walks a day and / or a mixture of both. there are so many things to tell. it would take me too long. everything went well.one thing that stays in my mind was when i arrived lun airport too late due to a delay of SAA i stepped out and there was a young man saying: hello i'm ryan your pilot. the first pilot waiting to take me to his plane. funny, though i was scared to fly in that one -engine plane.anyway, andy was waiting at mfu and took us to mfuwe logde. after snacks and drinks we headed off to chindeni, my favourite lodge. i loved the tents and the food of carrie and the attention.

bilimungwe i liked as well. good for game viewing. but i preferred the wide view, the lagune and the tents of chindeni. the guides were all very good, high level standard and i liked to have different ones because everyone taught us something else.

chris was our dropping specialist and tracks, manda knows all about the tribal stuff of the trees and plants and there use, and debbie is the alround guide. she really got hooked on africa and loves it.

i spent the last 2 days with kim and garth of california. we had a good time.we were wondering where your base is. i said england, kim said zimbabwe.

anyway, i'll come back to you for a further booking in the future(have to save a little bit) . i would love to see the landscape after the rains. everything was so dry, lots of fires as well. thank you for everything i appreciated your quick help on the net everytime ineeded it. funny how things work nowadays... a booking through internet. it worked so well. 

it was more than i expected. good experience. real africa. well organised.
just to drop some topics thank you nikki and hope to hear from you some time
all thwe best for you
andrea
Germany

Zimbabwe and Zambia Safari

Hi Trish,
I wanted to take an opportunity at the end of our holiday to give you some feedback on the way our trip went. In summary, we had a wonderful trip, but there were some things which I would like to suggest could have been handled a little better.

As you know from the voice-mails I left you on our arrival at Vic Falls Hotel, we had arrived a day late due to fog in JHB to find that the hotel had booked 3 double rooms for us instead of the 2 doubles and 1 family room. While this was eventually sorted out, it took some time. On looking back through their correspondence with Chris, they saw that the booking was originally for this configuration of rooms, but somewhere along the way this got lost. I’m not sure if the hotel was at fault here, but there was clearly some confusion during the process of confirming all the bookings. We loved staying at the hotel, and had a really great time, although it was a bit shorter than we would have liked!

We did not have information on our departure from Vic Falls until shortly before being picked up from the hotel, and this uncertainty about the plans was a bit unsettling for us. I made a couple of phone calls and managed to find out that someone was responsible for making the arrangements, and in fact was making sure all went well, but it was not the most comfortable feeling not knowing what was going on.

When we arrived at Maronga, Sandy and Gus were surprised to find that we wanted 2 double and 2 single accomodations. After some quick changing on their part, they were able to accomodate us and we had a great time. Sandy was clearly surprised and a little uncomfortable with the sudden change in her plans, but she did a great job in making us feel comfortable. I think you probably know about all of the issues described so far, but perhaps the most unsettling was still to come. 

The only itinerary I had received prior to our trip was one e-mailed early on by Chris which laid out the Zambia arrangements to be: Mfuwe Lodge 1 night, Chamilandu 3 nights, Kuyenda 4 nights. When we arrived at Mfuwe airport, we were met by a guide in a land rover (dressed in casual clothes) who was looking for Chris Worden’s group. He introduced himself, and said he would be taking us to Billimungwe. I was a little concerned, and told him that I didn’t know anything about this, and asked what he thought the itinerary was. He had no identification, and we had no coupons/vouchers. After some conversation, we decided to just take him at his word, and were taken to Billimungwe where we had a wonderful time. 

As it turned out, we liked the actual itinerary better than the original one, so were happy at the way the trip went. However, I would have felt a little better with more information. We were also asked for a voucher at Kuyenda, but of course could not provide one. Trish, we really enjoyed our time in both Zimbabwe and Zambia, but I wanted to make sure that you knew of the things we feel would have made the trip better. 

Clearly, your group did a great job of selecting the itinerary and making all the arrangements, but the lack of communication of the details to us left us a little in the dark. Being controlling types ourselves, we feel a little uncomfortable without having all the information!

Thanks for all the hard work done by your team!
Best regards,
Alison H

Ed and Vicky L, clients of Burkhalter Travel - Zimbabwe

Hi Liz,
Sorry that I haven’t written back yet. I have been busy with a very large group. It’s to bad that they’re going to Mexico and not Zimbabwe.

The Levin’s had a fabulous time on their trip, although they’re trying to re-coup re-imbursement for the Air Zimbabwe flights that were changed. Before they left, they were saying that this is a once in a lifetime trip. After they returned, they were talking about going back in two years. They certainly felt reassured with you were there to help them through all of the ups and downs.

Other comments they made, were that they really liked Bomani, although Ed froze on the ride there, since he didn’t have the jacket and pants that were in his luggage. Someone loaned him a jacket that he couldn’t zip, but her was greatful. They were surprised at how chilly it got at night. They said that they would take more cash next time, because the exchange rate was not very good, but how much can one person safely carry? 

They also liked Illala Lodge, and even ran into Doris’ group just after they had arrived. They liked it so much, that they ate there again on their last night at Hunter’s Lodge. They were certainly glad that you suggested an extra day to see Victoria Falls too. They didn’t see any lions, or catch any tiger fish, but I guess this is not the season. They were certainly thrilled with everything that they saw and did.

I wish I had someone else wanting to come over. I am saving my money like mad. I may just forget how badly I need a new kitchen floor. I hope that you’re having a good summer and hope that we can work together again soon.

Thanks for everything!
Susan

North and South Luangwa, Kafue - Zambia

Nix
Just a quick note to say we’re back and had a great time!

Kutandala is a great camp and one which you can promote with confidence. They have a good eye for quality (little touches like brushed river sand on the bathroom floors rather than swept clay) and top quality cooking.

Rod’s guiding was great. He has a wealth of experience and felt like a safe pair of hands.
The game was there - elephants, lots of lion (in or around camp most nights!!) as well as puku and impala, but quantity is less than South Luangwa.

If people like Bussanga then they will love Kutandala. The walking makes it very special - and you can do lots of walking - up to 8 hours a day if you like - but you drive the agenda - it’s very guest focused.

Needless to say Nsefu is still fantastic - still no.1 on our list - but Kutandala makes an excellent complement to it if you’re looking for a bit of ‘roughing it’ then a bit of ‘pampering’.

Thanks again for a flawless service. Hope to be in touch for next year in due course!
Chris and Linda

Zimbabwe Solar Eclipse

Hi Nix
Well here we are again back at the grindstone with only a week of wonderful memories to keep us happy.

I have to thank you for having taken so much trouble with the organisation of our trip which worked perfectly. When we heard the stories of the chaos in Lusaka and elsewhere as eclipse day approached we felt even more fortunate.

The Breezes was a perfect choice and arriving there on the sunday evening was the perfect start to what was to follow. A couple of beers by the pool at dusk gave us the first hint that the fortune we had spent on mosquito deterrents was going to prove unneccessary !! I think we saw 1 mozzy all week and each of us got bitten just once !

We were fortunate in having Jim as our guide on the canoe trip . He has obviously been around for a while and was a lovely person to travel with. Victor, Memba and Anthony completed the crew and “CB” became an eclipse addict overnight.If you ever see Jim please thank him again for us. The River was flowing well and so we had little work to do. Lots of Hippos and some excellent elephants .

The Eclipse site turned out to be absolutely fine. I was tweaking the river horse ‘s tail a little before we left but once at the site I was perfectly happy with the position.

Chris who runs the camp had his family there and people emerged from the bush once they heard news of the mad englishman with 2 telescopes. At one point in the journey I began to understand why Scott failed at the south pole!!!

So in the end I had to give a lecture on eclipses to about 50 people— scratching diagrams in the sand ! The whole thing was filmed by the Spanish television crew but I dont know if it was used .

The Eclipse itself was absolutely magical. I hope that you had a good view. It is probably the most beautiful eclipse for many years. The tight structure of the inner corona was was very special and the prominences !!! The flight back to Lusaka worked well . We just squeezed into the Islander and avoided a lot of hassle at Lusaka airport by coming in through the back door !

so all in all a memorable week and really thanks to you who built such a perfect compact trip. Those first emails seem a long time ago now .

So now to start planning for Australia in 2002. 40 seconds but special as totality occurs at sunset! I think December in Africa is less predictable and less pleasant.

I hope that someday I can thank you in person but for now 1 more Nicky fades from my life but there always seem to be others popping up !

Take care
Best regards
Philip R, London

Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana

Nikki,
Just got back a few days ago. Wanted to let you know that we had a fantastic time and that we are already planning our return trip next year or so. Thank you very much for all your help, you were terrific!
Mike and Robyn A

Northern Namibia

Hi Nix,
I've just got back from a trip tto Sossus Vlei and so I'm knackered but the N N Explorer was great and thanks especially for setting it up and making sure I'd arrived OK. Everything went smoothly, Willrlm snd Susie were a scream and I'm deterrmined to come back and do something in Bushmanland one day. 

Keep me informed of all the options for next year. All the best 
James H

Zimbabwe and Zambia

Hi Nikki,
Feels like old times, exchanging emails—oh, oh how I miss them! I had a fabulous time,  and thank you immensely for all the things you did to make it possible. I am a little relieved to hear there’ll be no additional charges. Thank you again; I’m sure it’s your going to bat for me (that is probably an odd American expressison that is going to mean nothing to you but basically translates as being on my side) that brought the directors to their conclusion!

I truly did have a wonderful time—Victoria Falls and Tongabezi were gorgeous but I think I enjoyed Mana Pools more...perhaps because of the seclusion, perhaps because of just the incredible natural beauty. It makes me curious what Ruckomechi Camp is like. I was so enthralled with the scenery down there along the Zambezi that I’m considering returning next year...and of course, I wouldn’t want to go back to EXACTLY the same place! They weren’t running any white water rafting, either, so I’ll have to go back to Vic Falls, too!

Zimbabwe is in my thoughts now, and I pray everything calms down and works out for you all over there. It is such a lovely place, with such beautiful and hospitable people...it would be a shame for people to be unable to enjoy it.

Take care...and I’m always interested in any specials you may be running. (If only to let me dream for a few minutes!) That and I’ve got a friend heading to South Africa in November to swim with the sharks that I’m trying to convince to go up to Vic Falls and environs...

Thanks again, Nikki, and I wish you all the best—
Kari M C 
USA

Zimbabwe

Hi Trish,
You may not remember me but you helped my wife and I with some local information regarding the volatile situation in Zimbabwe prior to our holiday in May. We thank you sincerely for you comments and we can only say what a fantastic time we had there. I simply put it to people who ask – that it should be compulsory for everyone to visit and experience Africa.

On another issue, we have the most amazing photograph of the Victoria Falls taken from our helicopter flight which we have had enlarged and framed and hanging on our wall. Firstly it was taken from the back seat of the ‘chopper’ through the Perspex window and above all it is the biggest fluke imaginable. It means so much to us as it was actually our 30th wedding anniversary day itself and everything jelled so well for us.

We would like to offer your ‘Travel promotions people’ a copy of our wonderful photograph and if you are interested I could possibly send it as an attachment in the near future for you all to see.

Thank you once again for your assistance.
Alan and Gayle J
New Zealand

Victoria Falls

Hi Nikki
It was very enjoyable once agin, thanks..I will recommend it to friends in England, and you never know I might be back for more next year

Cheers
Matthew P 
UK 

Botswana 

Hi Nikki:
We just arrived home and received your note. Firstly, we wish you to know we were VERY pleased with the activities you arranged for us. 

The Safari was FIRST CLASS, and all our transfers, and other activities worked out perfectly. Everything was great, and we will recommend you to anyone interested. 

Thanks Again
Brian and Barbara C
P.S. If you are talking to the XUDUM folks, please tell them how pleased we were.....They are GREAT PEOPLE

Botswana

Dear Liz,
What a great trip! We were a bit dubious about the various pick ups and swap overs at the boarders etc. but everything went well. 

Saw lots of game in Chobe - one question - is it usual to get within 25-30 feet of lions and elephants without the protection of a gun in the jeep!! Anyway got great shots and the people were very welcoming and helpful. 

The whole thing was very well organised and worked like clockwork. 
Rozanne B

Matusadona walking safari

We just want to say how much we enjoyed our stay orchestrated by Craig and your company. It was a wonderful experience for all of us and you did a superb job on all the details. 

We're hoping we can repeat it some day. The only thing we'd do differently would be to stop somewhere for a couple of days between the US and Africa to adjust. It was a bit too much for us, particularly coming back.

Again, thanks!
Paul N Gohdes
USA

Baggage astray in Zambia

Dear Trish,
Thank-you for sorting out the Visa charges. The Zambian authorities really ought to realise that being so rigid does not endear them to travel weary tourists who have the world as their oyster to visit. Also it is in marked contrast to the open, friendly response you get from Zambian people.
The absence of luggage was initially pretty stressful,not only because of the loss of our clothes /toiletaries but it also contained our medecines / sunscreens / anti-malarials / bug-repellant. Most things we needed could not be replaced in Livingstone.

However, by the time we were setting off to Mfuwe we had seen the funny side. The other group on the plane had designer safari gear and beautiful luggage, whereas we were dressed in whatever we could purchase in Livingstone (Definately not designer!) and clutching a plastic carrier bag!
Everyone was great. Alison produced a variety of clothes / toiletaries and busied herself liasing with the airport manager, Karen, Proflight and Charmaine at the Waterfront. Phil lent me a hat and Andy his binoculars. 

We do not know where the luggage went a-drift but from our point of view the efforts from everyone invloved to get it to us was much appriciated. 

Kind Regards,
J K
UK PDS12

Lower Zambezi canoeing and walking safari

Nikki
Sorry about not getting back to you yesterday but 1st day back at work and all that. I have had a look through the amounts and they seem to be as agreed previously - so unless I go on the tack that I pretend that I was never in Zim then I suppose that you should go ahead and debit. 

We had an amazing time- the canoe safari was great- different to the one that I had down previously in that we took our own gear in the boats with us, but I think that it was better, but up close and personal. Lots of hippos crocs and lunch with elephants.

The walking safari was even better. Gary was a great guide and host and we managed to get charged by elephant, lion and rhino- not bad for four days, and very exciting. We got to within 3 metres of 17 lion at a kill which was pretty close !!

Many thanks for all your help
Best regards
Barry M
Ireland

Zambia Safari

Nikki
Fantastic!!
We've just got back and are ploughing through the intray, wishing we were elsewhere!

In summary, everything went like clockwork. The trip exceeded our expectations and we received unparalleled service wherever we went.

Ed was super efficient and on the one occassion when we had the need to get back to him for some clairification (whilst at Mwambashi) he was superb in his response.

RPS have clearly mastered the paradox of producing a relaxed, informal approach with a feeling of competence and safety. 

We would have no hesitation in recommending any of the venues or organisations included in our itinerary, although I would add a note of caution when sending people onto Par Excellance from RPS. 

The camp at Mwambashi is well organised but in a different and lower league.  For instance insteading of being handed a cold towel on arrival they hand out indemnity forms and the walks are accompanied by the guide only - whereas RPS include a scout and a tea bearer. 

None of this matters a jot unless you've just come from a 'higher level' experience such as RPS or Ed Smithe. I don't know how the prices compared between the camps and I guess it would have been reflected in the daily rate. Nikki, I cannot thank you enough for sticking with us all through the months which lead to up to this trip. The service you offered was equalled only by the product we finally sampled. 

I dearly hope that Zimbabwe picks up and that Zambezi.com weathers the storm. For our part we will recommend you to all our friends and would hope you use you again ourselves when we get round to considering our next Affican Adventure!

Best wishes
Chris and Linda D
UK

Zimbabwe and Zambia - Home again !

Well we are home again safe and sound after an excellent trip to Zim and Zam.

The flight to Lusaka was ok and Craig met us and transported us in fine style in the Golden Merc to the German High Command overlooking the lake -v comfortable.

Then with Sobek which was good - v nice and knowledgeable guides who looked after us exceptionally well. Obviously game-viewing is limited on first 2 days - but probably compensated for by visit to school and village which my boys found particularly interesting.

The to Senwa which is great - the resident elephant duly obliged by putting in an appearance at dinner and literally standing beside the table. we had good encounters with lions, rhinos and all the other usual stuff. Gary is obviously an excellent tracker/guide - but a bit of a ‘little big man ginger- headed’ personality !! Anyway we got on ok after a minor spat ! We had one particul;arly exciting encounter with a full grown wild (ie not released) bull rhino which ended up with 8 of us one side of an ant hill and the rhino literally on the other side 3 feet away - I thought Gary had really lost his marbles - but it all ended well !!

Then back to Lusaka in the golden limo - severe blow-out courtesy of a particularly evil pot hole but otherwise unscathed. Lechwe Lodge is excellent - comfort and food-wise.

Returned via an 8 hour stop over in Nairobi - so took my boys to look at where I lived as a child and visited my old school which i haven’t seen for 30 years. Nairobi is absolutely ghastly - severe drought - water and electricity rationed - filthy dirty slums/shanty towns etc etc - we ended up in a broken down taxi and had to push it back to the airport !! 

Only one moan - on arriving at Lusaka we were clobbered for $228 US as multiple entry visa fees - despite brisk arguement with immigration that we were tourists with a Zambian company. they had no letter from Sobek as you indicated would happen and our booking tickets etc were not accepted. I feel this was a bit rough as it is quite a significant amount of monety which we really should not have paid - tour comapnies operating in Zambia should know the score and make sure that tourists are not fleeced in this way - i will post you the visa document and would be grateful if you would check with Sobek whether they did in fact send a letter to immigration - there was some suggestion that if a letter was forthcoming a refund might be given - tho i have my doubts ! We then paid $60 departure tax at Lusaka - so overall it cost $288 for the privilage of passing thro Lusaka !

Back to work - not so good !!
Best wishes
BOB L

Zimbabwe and Botswana 

Hi Nikki
We had a fabulous time in Zimbabwe (as well as in Botswana) and every one your friendly and helpful. 

Very sad to see the tourist trade so badly affected. Most of the hotel staff, taxi drivers, traders etc commented on what a wonderful man Nelson Mandela was; not greedy and knew when to hand over power. 

As they said - ‘we are suffering too much’.
Hope things recover soon. Looking forward to coming back to Zim.

Thanks for all your help.
Patrick and Katharine B

Zimbabwe and Botswana

Hello Nikki:
I just got back from Botswana and Prague, so I couldn’t respond earlier. Hope you and your husband are doing well in spite of the current difficulties in Zimbabwe.

Our trip in Zimbabwe went very well. We were alone in Mana Pools camp and Maronga, although the canoe trip was well- booked. We had great game viewing and good treatment throughout. 

I would say our favorite was Maronga: Gus and Sandy treated us like royalty! Our only negative (mild) would be that there were children on the canoe trip and I thought that they were not permitted. 

Thanks for your help in arranging this trip.
Ken and Hana M

South Africa, Botswana and Zambia

Nikki - our trip went well. I just now am organizing my photos into an album. 

We loved Chitwa Chitwa, and strongly recommend it. 
Tshukudu was nice, but suffered by comparison to C.C. Also, Tshukudu is encouraging daytrippers, which gives it a more crowded feeling. The staff overall are good; some of the drivers were as not experienced. (Wendall was excellent.) Food there was excellent. Dean and Claudia worked out well, too. Two nights there would have been enough. 

Xudum as a camp was very nice, disappointing game viewing (not their fault, too much water), and again a driver not as good at spotting game or as informative about the surroundings as in Chitwa Chitwa. 

We liked Kafue very much; we spent one night at Ntemwa, and two nights at a more basic camp near the Basanga Plains. Did our pricing reflect two nights at the Plains camp? The game viewing was excellent at both locations; very knowledgeable guides at both. Also liked S. Luangwa. We were glad to spend just one night at the camp we walked to, missed having ensuite facilities! 

Guides here were also outstanding. Chisamba lodge is now a Protea property - Lusaka safari lodge. A nice property, but a long drive from the airport. Could have stayed closer to the airport on our last night. 

All arrangements worked as planned, with very minor hitches. 
(When we arrived in Maun, there was initially some confusion at what our next step was - Xudum had been informed we were going out of Maun on a regularly scheduled flight, but it was quickly resolved as someone met us in the terminal and introduced us to the charter pilot. Also, the Garden Court hotel in J’burg thought we had only prepaid for one round trip on the shuttle to the airport, but the manager quickly decided in our favor.) 

All in all, a great job of arranging the trip, especially with everything else going on in your life. We are talking about coming back to Southern Africa next year and bringing our 3 children - just in the talking stage now, but thinking about two weeks in August - Namibia and one other destination - maybe Chobe, or Zim. 

If we get more serious about it I will be in touch. Hope things have calmed down in Zim.

Regards. Nancy B

Zimbabwe

Hi Nikki:
My trip was great. The staff at the Hide was great. The best story there was when we were watching a large group of elephants at a water hole. I got out to stretch my legs and then slammed the door of the Land Rover shut. The noise freaked them out and they all stormed away trumpeting and running for their lives. Unfortunately for a cape buffalo that was walking by, because he had a herd of elephants bearing down on him. He really had to run for his life as well.

Vic Falls was nice and I met some cool Zambian girls there. ( One of them has been e mailing me and hinting that she’d like to come over to the US. So from my trip to Africa I discovered the sexiest thing about myself: My US passport... Yeah, I should have a centerfold picture of myself taken with my passport strategically placed! ) I also went white water rafting there.

Gus and his wife at Maronga were really cool as well. Since I was mostly alone there I got a lot of personal attention. We snuck up on a 5 day old baby rhino and it’s mother. Speaking of that the coolest thing at Matusadona was when we went to Tashinga and I got to sit on top of a 3 year old “baby” rhino (a 1,000 kilo baby). We went walking in the bush and spotted four of them. Gus made a noise and it came running over and laid at our feet like a pet dog. The picture came out great.

Mana Pools was the best though and Victor Ncube my favorite. It’s because of an article I read in the LA Times travel section about him that made me want to go to Zimbabwe. I was astounded by the amount of hippos there. We only got charged by one hippo and one cape buffalo too. (I wanted more!) The elderly woman who accompanied us told me, “You have a different idea of fun than I do Mark”.

The last day when I was at the Mana Pools Tented Camp, Victor radioed the guide I was with and told us to meet him at a certain spot. When we got there, we saw 8 lions lying by the side of the road. A wart hog and a cape buffalo came walking by without noticing them. Slowly they got up one by one and then chased the buffalo down. One swatted it with her paw but it got away. We drove to the other side where they ran and there was the buffalo facing the lions in the distance with the warthog pacing back and forth behind it like he was standing behind his big brother for protection.

How is the political situation there now? The media doesn’t mention it all here. I met some commercial farmers in Mana Pools who had just been driven off their land. They helped us get one of the trucks free that was stuck in the sand. I got a letter from them recently. I have to say they are some very resilient tough minded people. I admire them a lot.

Well I hope you are enjoying life in Harare. Thank you very much for all your help. I would definitely recommend your company to anyone who wants to visit Africa.

Sincerely,
Mark M

Victoria Falls trip

I have been dealing at length and for some time with Princess in Zimbabwe. 

First of all I would like to say she has been out of this world. 

She has been the most fantastic communicator I have dealt with in terms of efficiency of time and information and I would like you to convey this to her as she has been outstanding. 

My husband is MD of a large travel agent company which has offices in NZ, Aust and SA and I have given him Princess’ contact as her services and attitude has been second to none. 

Yours sincerely and thanks
Jude E 
New Zealand

Manyuli Springs Concession, Zimbabwe

At very short notice we had the good fortune to have two nights with Chris at the Manyuli Springs Bush Camp on 24-25 September. We were looked after very well and we would like to pass on our thanks to Chris and the team. 

Our only regret is that we were not there long enough.

Chris mentioned that he would be coming to London later in the year and that there may be a chance to meet. We would be very keen to do this, as we are interested in putting together another trip to Zimbabwe sometime around next September.

Regards
David and Rosemary G

Lower Zambezi canoeing

Dear Nikki
That was an excellent holiday. We all came away wishing we could have had longer, especially on the canoe safari which was absolutely delightful. We all said we'd try to do a bit more some time - maybe go on down to Kanyemba...

Thank you for all your efforts to make our holiday a success. If ever you have a chance to visit Kenya please do contact us : we can always offer you a bed for a few nights and ideas on where to go.

With best wishes from all of us,
Cilla W

Zimbabwe - lower Zambezi and Matusadona

Dear Trish,
Back in the cold ,wet, miserable UK after a great trip to Zimbabwe.

All the travel arrangements went like clockwork - air charters were very efficient indeed. Our thanks to Craig for assistance at Kariba airport. Lake View Hotel was fine.

A few comments which may be of interest to you;

• Mavuradonna riding safari was very good - if you have clients after this sort of thing - good horses, interesting terrain and excellent guide (Jane Hunt).
  
• Mukuyu canoe trail was great fun. Victor the guide was excellent and Patrick Brakspear the proprietor also came on the trip. I think he needs publicity on your web-page ! 
  
• Manyuli was a very interesting experience - different terrain from the others and of course Chris is a true enthusiast with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the bush. When we saw not one, not two, but three pennant winged nightjars (?) displaying round a tree one evening I thought he would explode with excitement ! We were a little disappointed to find that the main camp on the escarpment was only at the pegs-in- the- ground stage - 

Thanks for all your help - I strongly suspect we will be back to Zimbabwe one day.
RP & KG 

Zambezi honeymoon safari

Dear Chris,
Thank you again for looking after us so well for those few days of our honeymoon. 

You have a very special spot just there. We are still getting over the depression of having to work for a living again ! I hope that Air Zim start getting their act together, and that you find the backers that you need to complete the camp.....we will be returning to see the finished article. 

We hope you are very well,
Best regards
Danny & Spinny

Victoria Falls, Hwange

Dear Trish,
Well we are back now in the UK having had an absolutely fantastic holiday - thank you so much for organising everything, everything went smoothly except of course the Air Zambesi plane that landed and didn't pick us up at Bumi Hills - but thanks for eventually getting us to Hwange - as we did not use our return trip on the float plane.

We loved Zimbabwe especially our time at Musango which was an unforgetable experience and a great introduction to safari and the wildlife around Lake Kariba. We definitely want to come back to Kariba - maybe do a bush safari. 

I have already told everyone about our trip and will recommend anyone thinking about going to get in touch with you to help organise their trip.

Once again many thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you and was sorry that we didn't get a chance to meet.
Mark and Susie W

Edinburgh Zoo Group - Zambezi trip

Dear Trish,
I have just spoken to Rob, the Zoo group leader. He gave me a report of his trip and I thought you might like to hear what he said of you and I quote:
“A MOST DELIGHTFUL PERSON” 
“AN ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT LADY”
Sounds to me if you have yet another fan!
Many many thanks for ensuring it went well for them it is most sincerely appreciated by me.
Take care
Regards
James E

Victoria Falls and Livingstone visit

Hi Nikki,
We got back from Africa yesterday morning and I wanted to write and thank you for the help you provided in making arrangements for our stay in the Vic Falls area. 

Both lodges worked out well. Thorntree was very nice and we had a chance to go on a short game drive in the morning on 14 Aug before going to the airport and we got to see 4 of the 5 White Rhinos in Masi-oa-Tunya park. Seeing the rhinos was great since there are none left in Botswana where we had spent most of our holiday.

This was the first time I had booked travel arrangements over the internet and I was very pleased with the result. You have been very helpful throughout the whole process and I would recommend you to anyone travelling to that area.
Thank you,
Fern

Victoria Falls, Hwange - Zimbabwe

Nikki
Unfortunately our holiday in Africa is now over - and I am back in the UK (cold, wet and grey!)
I just wanted to say again - thank you for all your help the places we stayed were all really good - in different ways- and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to friends (Setabezi in Victoria Falls, Nyati at Hwange and Amalinda in the Matobo.)

Thanks again for your help
Karina B
UK

Lower Zambezi

Nikki,
We had a great time, although much too short.

Please let me know how far ahead you typically have to book to get into Ruckomechi. Also would be interested if you could keep us posted on trips into Zambia, and other “off the beaten track” locations.

Thanks for all your help.
Mike Evans
Singapore

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Last updated 14 January, 2005