Review about Manyeleti Game Reserve by Jette NL
(visited in 2010) The Honeyguide tented lodge offered the ultimate combination of sounds and smells of nature. The lodge offered great food in tranquillity. The reserve was not very accidentated, but well varied in bush thickness. Great herds of elephants and buffalo. Not so many roads so repetitive itineraries occurred during six game drives. Enough wildlife surprises !
Ssesee Island Safari
Though I was only briefly in the country of Uganda, I had to privilege to visit the Ssesee Islands while I was there. We had to take a short ferry ride to get over there, but once we arrived, the landscape was lush and fertile. We spent some time with local guides wading through the forest and wetlands in search of Sitatunga, so that we could get some rare footage of them. It was a beautiful island, and had some lovely lodges that we stayed in during our time. It was really fascinating to be able to see the hard to find Sitatunga in their natural habitat, as there are few who get to do that. It was worth a short side trip to see the islands over there, and I would highly recommend looking into that next time you are in Uganda.
Easy to reach reserve with determined staff, rich in landscape with well set lodges
Good variety of landscapes in a relatively small park with enough wildlife species in small herds/groups. Enough to see for three days - six game drives. The reserve needs the active search spirit as the accidentation hides the wildlife. We enjoyed the wonderful ranger Andre for his perseverence that made us all eager to be the one to spot a 'prey', as we all did during day or night. We enjoyed the cosy setting of Bukela lodge. Unfortunately we did not get to visit the finding site of a dinosaur skeleton.
Zambia is an amazing safari destination, of which you couldn't ask a whole lot more of.
Zambia has some amazing areas, and benefits from not being the most sought out safari destination like Tanzania's Serengeti Plains. Things are a bit more spread out, but that offers some great exploration opportunities. The locals are very kind and warm, and I have visited many of their home villages to hear their stories. The Kafue is also a great area to find the rare and elusive Sitatunga, of which I saw quite a few at dusk. There are some great lodges and tent locations in the area, some of which are permanent, with natural wood floors, stone walls, and traditional thatched roofs. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my stays in the area, and hope to return soon. Plenty of opportunities to view game, birds, or even the famous bat migrations.
PL
35-50 years of age
Review about Queen Elizabeth National Park by Tomasz
Not so much animals as we expected
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
So nice so comfortable holiday
All things were so organised, we spend our holiday peacefully with charm persons. We were so excited running up and down , moving left and right to see beautifully animals, it is an paradise place.
Deep in the Heart of the Chobi Reserve
I had to good fortune to spend two weeks in the Chobe National Park & the adjacent game reserve, and have never seen so many elephants in my life. It is a beautiful park, and is teeming with wildlife. It was also a nice respite to not have as many tsetse flies following you around. The local guides we were with were elephant experts, and had even names certain ones based on the tracks they left, and could tell elaborate stories of how they spent their days based on their comings and going. The weather was very mild for Africa standards, and the abundance of water at the time made for some great game viewing. I highly recommend this area, especially for people who don't have a lot of experience on safari, as this would be a great entry level safari. You're definitely going to see lots of wildlife.
PL
35-50 years of age
Meeting with chimpanzees
I was so excited seeing chimpanzees living without borders and boundaries - in freedom. As Kibale is a forest there was not too much light for filming of taking photographs but i managed to take some great photos.
Guide knew everything about wildlife and told us as much as he was able diuring our stay.
And the weather was so good during our stay there.
I would really recommend Kibale Forest as a great place to see wildlife in Uganda.
NL
under20 years of age
A Luxurious Bush Hotel
Mala Mala is obviously geared towards the high market, with most visitors arriving by plane. As such, it is important to review Mala Mala in this context.
Yes, the rooms are luxurious and contain everything you could need, but there are other lodges that just add that touch of style which give them an edge in the luxury department. More specifically, the rooms felt like a 5-star hotel rather than a bush lodge - there was little viewing to be done from the room which was in near proximity to other rooms and therefore wasnt as open as it could have been. The view from the balcony was less than spectacular, rather dull even, but the occasional animal did walk by. In short - very comfortable, but didnt integrate you into the bush, or even really 'Africa'.
The communal areas were much more succesful in this regard, tastefully decorated, also with large trophies and plenty of space. Eating is done on a large deck with a great view over the river Sands, where the occasional elephant of hippo walks. There were many stories of animals coming into the lodge, but I didnt witness any of this. Further, there is a large and beautiful pool, as well as gym and entertainment room for kids with DVDs. The food was fantastic.
All the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. No complaints here. Especially the guides are extremely knowledgeable and willing to adjust to your wishes. They also eat every meal with you, providing great conversation.
The wildlife is what Mala Mala is famous for and there is no shortage of it. Within my first hour I had seen 2 cheetahs, a leopard and an attempted lion kill. We visited these animals repeatedly, and saw some more great interactions. The one thing I will add is that they are a little obsessed with the 'big five' and even provide a certificate at the end. Although the wildlife is great, and the game drives are lovely, the lodge lacks anything to really get you into the bush; the walk was 20min long and followed a road with the car trailing us, ready to pick us up. Further Ive heard some negative things about their conservation record, perhaps unfounded, but now with the fence to Kruger removed this should be fine.
In summary, a very comfortable and luxurious experience. You will see a lot of spectacular wildlife. Perfect if you want to visit Africa for a short time in comfort and tick your animal checklist. If you really want to explore Africa and experience the bush - go elsewhere.
Emiel de Lange
Review about Serengeti National Park by davisww
Big park with lots of animals, classic scenery.