A Chobe Elephant Camp and Victoria Falls Safari Lodge review by guests just returning from their Combo Safari
Anne-Marie puts together some fantastic tailor-made Botswana safari packages for her guests. Recently we’ve heard back from 2 sets of travellers who wrote to tell us about their experiences.
Botswana feedback:
Zoe visited Chobe Elephant Camp, which overlooks the famous Chobe River, and Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, located on the doorstep of Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe.
Hi Anne-Marie,
We are back and slowly recovering from the long flight and jet lag.
Both of your choices for us were excellent. As far as Chobe Elephant Camp, we were very happy with the accommodations and game viewing. The density of animals near the river was pretty phenomenal, and we liked being able to go out on a boat. We did get a pretty amazing leopard sighting – it was eating an impala. We even saw an African wildcat. Unfortunately we missed out on the wild dogs and had only a cursory sighting of a lioness. Lots of elephants, hippos, giraffes, kudu, impala, waterbuck, etc.
The two potential negatives were that there are no rhinos in the area and that there weren’t any options for night drives because the park closes at 6:30pm, but I feel like every location has different strengths and weaknesses and we were very, very happy with our time there. The camp itself is beautiful and we did not lack for anything. I also agree that 3 nights (effectively 2.5 days) was enough time.
Victoria Falls Safari lodge was also fabulous. We were upgraded to the Safari Club. The rooms were great, breakfast was fantastic, and the happy hour in the evenings was also quite nice – all these are separate from the lodge. They also brought someone in to do some stargazing lessons, which was great because we realized we didn’t know any of the southern hemisphere star arrangements. It was pretty empty our first two nights but filled up on our last night – I think the Vic Falls marathon may have been part of that. In particular, Claire, the manager of the club really went out of her way to accommodate us.
The sunset cruise was on the Zambezi Explorer and was a real highlight of the trip. I think I had envisioned a smaller boat packed full of tourists with cheap drinks. This was the opposite. The Boma Dinner was a bit touristy, but fun. The food and service at the main restaurant (Makuwa-kuwa) and at the Buffalo Bar was hit or miss.
Hope that helps. I would definitely recommend both places. Thanks again,
Zoe.
