I thought this would be my last trip to Africa at 74 years of age, and for sure my last to Botswana, but I am so far, mistaken. I want to go back next year!

Guest Post
Oct 1
5 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

This trip you two planned was amazing. I thought this would be my last trip to Africa at 74 years of age, and for sure my last to Botswana, but I am so far, mistaken. I want to go back next year. Not everything was perfect, but that’s ok.

Getting there: I will never go through London again. My route and timetable cost me 7 days of travel and expense (though I had some good times in London) vs 2 days going Salt Lake/Atlanta/JNB in 22 hours. I can do First Class so that helps a lot. Overnight in JNB and head to Lusaka again the next day

Transfers: Every transfer from JNB and back was impeccable. A friend said she was referred to a safari company (Wilderness) which they may be ok, but I am referring her to you for next year for first timers. They are rich Texans and expect to be transported from one stop to the next. I also pointed out you vary the camps and not one brand.

Amanzi: I was worn to a nubbin by the time I got to the truck for the camp. Too many days traveling (see above). However, though we didn’t do a “game drive” to camp, 1 ½ hours away, at my request, it turned into one given the area. Wow…I felt like a kid again, totally revitalized by what was just there without going looking. Bizmiss was an incredible guide. As we neared camp he asked if I wanted to see some lions…sure! A pride was working over a zebra they had just brought down. Then we saw their fat little butts the next morning trying to walk off the binge. The camp itself and the staff were incredible. I was alone the first day and night and was treated like a princess. Then another older lady traveler arrived and we hit it off. She spent many years in Zambia and was a delight. I did get bitten by a tsetse fly but was assured they were not dangerous in their area. I did a tiger fish trip with no bites and then we ended with a surprise cocktail/sundowner for me on an island.

I want to go back there. Game was excellent…it was all excellent.

Tafika: Wow…what a place. Again, I’d go back there in a heartbeat. MaKupa was my guide and it was an honor to ride with him. When his senses picked up a trail he was a dog on a bone. And he found them. I can’t begin to describe everything I saw and experienced. Vel, who runs the front of the house was like a sister from another mother. I was the only person in camp for 2 nights and it was wonderful. MaKupa was an eager guide…if there was a place we needed to go, then drink your coffee, hit the can and finish your porridge, we gotta go. I like that. The sightings weren’t just oh there’s a pride of lions napping….they were doing something!

Mwaleshe: A bucket list experience I would never give up. Back of beyond with Brent (a guide nonpareil) and a small staff who again treated me like a princess. I was the only tourist at the only camp in the park and thank God that was so. It was hot and the 4 miler we did just about killed me until I sucked down a cold beer and took 2 naps. Nothing spectacular happened and that’s ok. If I was with a die hard walking group I would have been thrown to the lions we saw. Two male lions were in camp 2 nights roaring for the pride…exhilarating. One trip at my age is enough but I’ll remember that last night in the river, feet in the water having sundowners. Xander the pilot for Remote Safaris joined us. We drank, we enjoyed the sunset and the setting and barely said anything until dinner later.

Waterberry Lodge: Now we get to the nitty gritty. Beautiful but a 45 minute drive from the airport. Didn’t want to go back to town for anything. I stayed there and did a tiger fish trip getting only a bite. That’s ok that is fishing. But, the mosquitos were horrific. They chased me from my dinner (which was not all bad) back to my room which I later found was next to a small body of mosquito invested water.

The staff were nice but their restaurant leaves much to be desired. The kitchen was right there and the serving staff spent more time in their with the cooks yelling, laughing and carrying on than coming into the dining room to tend to guests. A guest shouldn’t have to go to the kitchen doors and ask for help! The food was hit and miss. The steak I was chased away from needed a cleaver to cut though the bites I was able to free were tasty. But the service….slow slow slow. The next night the chicken dish I ordered was so dry and overcooked it was criminal. Wine with dinner took forever; at breakfast my pancake took 30 minutes to “cook” and coffee didn’t arrive for 15 minutes at least. The pancakes were like hard tack. My next breakfast I got an omelet after again waiting forever for coffee. I asked where my toast was ½ way through my omelet that I was slow walking, and was told “it was coming right out”. I finished my omelet in time for the toast to arrive, cold to the touch.

Though there were some mosquitos in the Zambia camps, nothing compared to here. They loved Deet, they loved bug spray. Once covered up they loved my ears!

I would not send clients there. Several trips back you had me overnighting in Livingstone at a lovely garden type hotel with a great restaurant and grounds. Very comfortable. Next time I overnight in Livingstone enroute to Botswana, that is the type of place I want to be…and it was close to the airport and for the guide to transfer me to Kasane.

MmDinare: Fabulous place again. Kwando knocks it out of the park. This was a cross between river and arid. The manager remembered me from Pom Pom and how she did she told me…I had been very unhappy with Sable and spoke to her about it 3 years ago! My guide, Edwin, was again top notch. The food and drives were excellent. The group, suddenly there were other travelers, were fun and companionable. A male lion roared right outside my tent at dawn. Edwin got a picture of him as he came to wake me. Other guests asked if I went out to see him! Geez, sure, I have no idea where exactly he is, my deck?, so I stayed put like a smart traveler.

I do wish to return to Pom Pom and go deeper into the Delta. Given Zambia that is a nice contrast. Overall though, Botswana reminded me why it was such a happy place for me despite the extra travel and cost.

The Maun Studios: Sarah and Margaret say they wish you would come try the place out. I agree. To end such a fantastic trip is hard enough, but spending 2 nights in a luscious garden setting along the river, with the most amiable people in Margaret, Rocky and Sarah was a wonderful ending. I had my favorite room with AC and very comfortable furnishings and wonderful transition time. I highly recommend it as a place to wrap up one’s feelings about the adventure.

That 2 pm Airlink flight to JNB works great with the evening flights out. Time for a shower in a club and something to eat that is civilized compared to the horrid food served by British Airways both in their club and the planes. Highly suggest eating in the terminal to eating on board.

So that is my trip report. I think next year going a little earlier may help with the heat. Late August and very early September. Zambia again, 3 camps, Botswana at Pom Pom or similar area and then through Maun.

Regards,

Michele