Anne-Marie’s clients stayed at Oddballs Enclave in the Okavango Delta and the Elephant Valley Lodge in the Kasane forest reserve in Chobe.
Hi Anne Marie
Jude and I checking in with you as promised!
We are home safe and already having withdrawal symptoms for our trip, specifically Oddballs Enclave! We really thought this place was something special. We loved the friendliness, the fact that everyone sat round the table together at night, it was a bit like a family type atmosphere and we were able to all share some things about our lives. The staff were brilliant and made us feel immediately at home. The guides all seemed great and John, our guide, never ceased in his efforts to inform and enlighten us, and went to great lengths to give us the best possible authentic experience that he could.
We very much liked that we learnt so much more by walking to seek animals, learning all about tracks, habits, and habitat of the animals. He even managed to find a Pels Fishing Owl on the last walk on the day we left, and this was quite something. Everyone there were entirely professional whilst being supportive and relaxed. We enjoyed the very natural surroundings and it seemed very peaceful. Those mokoro rides, and walks on the island, were experiences we will never forget, and we feel very priveliged to have had this opportunity.
Elephant Valley Lodge was very comfortable, and very well run. In contrast, due to the size of the place, it was less personal, but every effort was made for us to ensure we maximised our time observing wildlife we had not yet seen. Seeing as we had just a week on safari, we felt it was the right mix of experiences and settings, it was interesting to see large numbers of animals in wide open spaces.
Our guide agreed to go out early in the morning – at dawn – in order that we had the best chance to view game. The staff surprised Jude with a birthday display of african dance, and a lovely cake, which was completely unexpected. Elephant Lodge – we can’t fault it, but it didn’t touch our hearts in the way that Oddballs did. We did agree however that given our short duration of trip, the two camps complemented each other and we didn’t feel we could have got more experience if we’d tried.
Once again, our great thanks to you for assisting with all our queries, we did get exactly what we wanted and needed in the end, which meant an awful lot to us, as it is not a holiday we will do again and we had a very special and memorable experience. We are really grateful to you and as I said, including the emergency response regarding the split luggage bag on day of travel! You have been diligent, patient, professional, and we appreciated your guidance so much as we would not have known quite where to start or how to go about it otherwise.
We will send some pictures in a separate email for you . If you want more feedback on specific aspects please let us know, we will be happy to do so.
Very best wishes to you and thanks once again for our fantastic holiday!
Jo Lodge and Jude Angell.
