Beautiful country, wildlife and culture
I didn't stay in Zimbabwe very long. We stayed right outside of Victoria Falls and the town was really interesting. It's completely different from anything you could ever imagine! The town was a poor area, but there was a lot of surrounding land that had incredible scenery and wildlife. The weather was hot, humid and rainy. We camped in tents, which was an adventure too with all the wildlife living around us (monkeys, bugs, etc). We went rafting down the Zambezi River which was a BLAST and also visited Victoria Falls of course. Our guide, named Pastor, was great. We had a blast with him. We traveled in a big passenger van, but there was only 4 of us including Pastor so we had a lot of room. The food was amazing. On our last night, we went a restaurant called The Boma. The food, dancing, and entertainment was incredible.
Review about Namibia by Daniel Mac Alister
It is an amazing place, so varied in it's landscape.
Review about Zambezi National Park by jdlevrec
Lots of wildlife - birds, animals, plants, etc. A good amount of tourists, but not enough to be bothered by the amount of people!
65+ years of age
The scale is right, the place is delightful, the staff are great, the animals are abundant.
Everything about the Hide in Hwange works well. The rooms are comfortable without being unnecessarily opulent and are right for the location. The travel arrangements ( you are picked up from the Park Entrance) work really well, there is abundant game and a wide choice of excursions and drives. The staff, with whom you eat the exceptionally good food, are extremely knowledgeable and hard working. Its a rare destination and not to be missed.
Etosha : An incredible once in a lifetime experience
I would like to do my best to write of my amazing experience in this wonderful place,
I have always wanted to go to Namibia - I think my first time falling in love with this amazing country was seeing a BBC documentary on the Skeleton coast when I was about 10.
20 years later and I finally went on a safari/trekking tour of the country - Etosha national park was our first stop.
We were in a group of about 10 and all got on very well, I was with a bunch of crazy Italians ! -great fun!
The 1st place we stayed in was called Okaukuejo , it was close to the Etosha pan , we were lucky to get our tents near a fantastic waterhole - that always had animals drinking and was floodlit at night - but this did not disturb the animals.
We went to the waterhole and had a fantastic view of a herd of Elephants drinking, then a group of Giraffe and Zebra came along - I must say it was a very emotional experience.
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This was high afternoon and the temperature must have been in the mid 30's, but there was sheltered seats so it wasn't too bad, later on in the evening with fading temperatures and softer light we went out for a drive around the park - perfect for taking pictures with the low sun.
There was plenty of Springbok to be seen ! (more than 20,000 in Etosha :) ), also plenty of Zebra and some giraffe and then later we were very lucky to see a pride of Lions.
That evening we had an excellent cooked meal eating outside in the cool African night .
We spoke with our guides over dinner and I must say I felt like a kid with him telling us great stories about the wildlife in Namibia.
We were about to go to the Waterhole when we heard the roar of Lions !! - they sounded so close ,
but we were in the safety of the enclosed camp - still it was quite a buzz to hear.
We went to the waterhole and were treated to a multitude of animals drinking - including the Pride of Lions that decided to chase off a few Giraffes, some Rhino came along too and then a few Elephants, it was a totally different experience to see these animals at night and was very happy to have witnessed it.
Coming back to my tent there were some Jackals about !, they were harmless enough as long as you didn't feed them or harass them - also we had to leave our shoes in the tent, as people would wake up in the morning to find them all chewed up !! - the Jackals it seemed aren't so different from our own domesticated dogs!!
That night I went to bed with the sound of Lions calling - pure heaven !!.
Early the next morning (6 am) we had a short breakfast and went on a safari drive , again the light was perfect for taking pictures , we were really lucky to see another pride of lions and then shortly after a pair of Lions crossed right in front of us - I got this fantastic shot :
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We took more drives that day and returned to the campsite in the evening ,where again we went to the waterhole for some night viewing - we saw some Rhino and their young drinking.
Later that night the Lions showed up again and scared some Giraffe away!.
A cocky young male Lion tried to stalk the Rhino - but he was having none of it and soon intimidated the Lion off.
Next day (3rd and last full day in Etosha) We went to the campsite at Namutoni - this was a nice campsite that also had a floodlit waterhole - although it was a lot quieter than the one at Okaukuejo.
Before we arrived we took an early morning drive and were treated to the site of two Cheetah and then a Leopard !! - They were quite far off and I wish I could have gotten better pictures but I didn't expect to see them at all so was very happy.
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Then we saw a Spotted Hyaena !! , this is a very rare sighting in Etosha so was thrilled to see him!!
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The final night we could hear the distant sounds of Hyaena's ! - I never did like this animal before this trip but have learned to appreciate them since.
So an amazing few days were had in Etosha, we left on the 4th morning and continued an incredible journey for almost another 2 weeks across this fascinating country.
Review about Namib-Naukluft National Park by Daniel Mac Alister
This was the best part - scenery wise, it's just INCREDIBLE - the dunes are just amazing.
Review about Kaokoland by Daniel Mac Alister
This was amazing , we visited the Himba people here and saw the Epupa falls on the Angola border.
20-35 years of age
Excellent for mountain gorillas, and for a good not too touristy safari experience
I found Uganda to be a fantastic place. The highlight was, without doubt, the mountain gorillas which were truly breathtaking when seen in their natural environment. I found the way the treks were organized to be very good, making the whole experience accessible, but without it feeling too sanitised. I also enjoyed the other parts of my trip - while the game drives are not up to the quality in terms of number of animals that you might find in other reserves (so I am told - this is my only experience of safaris so far) what is great is that they are a lot quieter than other reserves in other countries. We saw a post-kill pride of lions ripping apart a warthog carcass and there were only a total of 6 or 7 vehicles around - something I believe is not likely to happen in places such as Tanzania which are more developed. The lodges were, without exception, fantastic - great food, nice atmosphere and friendly staff. The trip was expensive, but we did a lot - several boat trips, chimpanzee trekking and of course the gorilla trekking. It might not be somewhere you consider unless you are either a birder (Uganda is meant to be great for birds) or going to see the Gorillas, but for me it was a perfect place for mixing safari and trekking.
20-35 years of age
Review about Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by pummel
Simply stunning surroundings and completely unspoilt. The development around the park HQ seems tasteful and the Gorilla trekking experience itself is one of the greatest experiences of my life.
35-50 years of age
Amazing
Kgalagadi was an amazing experience, self drive Safari in beautiful locations. We stayed one night in Twee Rivieren, 1 night in Mata Mata, 1 night in Nosob, and one night at Biterpan Wilderness camp. Mata Mata and Nossob are the best places to stay, especially in the river chalets in mata mata. Bit Nossob was amazing base for wildlife. Saw so many Lions! Would recommend going back and will be again!