Guest’s of Natasha’s recently went on a family adventure to discover the wonders of Zimbabwe and the marvels that it has to offer, here is their feedback:
Hi Natasha:
We had a very good trip. Everything worked out . When I tell people about the trip, i say the only problem I had was the food was too good and came back heavier than when I left.
The Ilana Hotel was better than expected. The herd of elephants and the two hippos we saw the first night was a surprise; good planning by the hotel to impress new guests! Victoria Falls was amazing. The tour guide was very good and patient; we took a little longer than I think he expected. (Just for reference, getting into the VF National Park is $50 per foreign person; well worth it, but worth knowing beforehand).
MacAir was very good.
We had a very good time at the 2 camps. It did rain a bit more than we would have liked, but both camps catered for the bad weather and we still enjoyed ourselves. It may have helped that initially we were the only guests at Verney’s Camp (a second family arrived halfway through our stay) and at Deteema Spring were the only guests. The staff at both camps were excellent; I was impressed by the spoken English of all the staff and the tour guides. The kids enjoyed the pools, and the chess board at Deteema Springs was a big hit.
As I mentioned, food was good and plentiful; even a very fussy teenager found plenty to eat.
I am sure it depends on the time of year, but we saw seven or eight of herds of very big giraffes–amazing. Although I think April is probably not the best time for safari because there is too much water around, we saw a lot of animals–giraffes, elephants, hippos, zebras, crocodiles, impala, lions, waterbuck, eland, kudu, baboons, great birds,…..
Especially exciting was that the guides guided us out of the vehicle to get pictures of a herd of eland and a herd of elephants. Although we did not go on any arranged hikes (the weather was not conducive to it and it avoided the problem of the kids being a bit young), we still had an excellent safari experience.
The safari guides were very good and notably excellent with the kids. The guides engaged the kids when they were sitting in the front and this helped keep them engaged.
Thanks for arranging the trip. Everything worked out well. I think everyone enjoyed themselves a great deal.
An interesting point that I had not realised, although the trip was expensive, going to other places like New Zealand or the Galapagos is even more expensive!
Pierre
