A Special Botswana Honeymoon – Client Feedback

 

A Special Botswana Honeymoon to Kanana Camp, Machaba Camp. Muchenje Camp and Ilala Lodge

Celeste booked newly weds Philip and Carolyn on a special Botswana honeymoon, where they had a wonderful time and stayed in some great camps. They ended their honeymoon in Victoria Falls and even had some time for a white water rafting trip! Celeste booked them into Kanana Camp in the Okavango Delta, Machaba Camp in the Moremi Game Reserve, Muchenje Safari Lodge in Chobe Game Reserve and finally at Ilala Lodge in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

 

Here is their feedback:

 

Hi Celeste,

 

I apologize for the delay in writing.   Both Carolyn and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip you had planned out for us.  The camps were all great and the transfers — both air and ground — went without a hitch.

 

Kanana Camp was our favorite camp.  The location and the staff and the accommodations and food were all top notch.  Thanks for letting them know about our honeymoon as they treated us to a very special and romantic dinner.  We also had our own guide, Owner, for the duration of the stay.   Owner was a great guide, and he really showed us a very varied and exciting safari experience.

All the activities were great with the standouts being the boating and fishing in the delta.  I would recommend people stay in the Hide one night if there is a full moon.  We saw virtually every animal imaginable, save for a rhino due to the poaching problem.  Had a great lion (two males) sighting on our last day.  Also, a person can’t help being a bird lover after witnessing the heronry that Kanana has on its concession.

Machaba Camp along the Kwai was our next favorite.  it is new and very well appointed, and its position along the river is unbeatable.  They put us in a huge family tent that had a lot of room and was very comfortable. The surrounding area is very beautiful and it was great fun fording through the small tributaries and creeks.   We had a really good leopard sighting. The food was excellent, and we enjoyed dining outside on the long table with all the other guests and under the romantic glow of lanterns strung along the tree branches.  One afternoon, they surprised us by having an intimate picnic lunch at the end of our mokoro tour — it was just my wife and I and a nice English family.  That was a very nice touch.  Very well done.

Machaba is a family camp, one of the few in the Delta.  There were a number of guests with kids of various ages.   All the kids were well behaved and it was good seeing kids enjoy such an experience.  My only observation is that at times it felt like the staff was focused on the families — who understandably need more focus — and as a result at times I felt that Carolyn and I were an afterthought.  This feeling could be due to the fact that at Kanana, Carolyn and I felt like the focus and at Machaba there seemed to be a shift.  It’s a very small gripe but for the cost of these camps, I would whole heartedly recommend Machaba for families but would steer honeymooners towards a camp like Kanana.

 

Muchenje was a good lodge.  Obviously not the same caliber as the former two.  We liked talking to the two owners, and they had a lot of good African experience between them.  The Chobe river excursion was great fun, and the number of elephants and crocs and hippos was astounding.  The game drives were fine but not like Kanana or Machaba.

We liked Ilaha Lodge at Victoria Falls and its proximity to the falls and the center of town.  The Palm restaurant is very nice, and having breakfast outside with the sound of the falls and seeing the smoke-like mist is pretty special.

 

We actually did the white water rafting and had a lot of fun.  Two nights is plenty in Vic Falls, and while Carolyn and I definitely wish to come back to Africa, we do not need to go back to the Falls.

 

The Mack Air pilots were all top-notch.  Very professional and friendly. 

 

Please tell all the camp operators that we had a wonderful time — it met and exceeded our expectations.   We plan to post good trip advisor reviews.

Thank you for putting together a great itinerary for us!

Philip and Carolyn