Safari and luxury
Lion Sands was the perfect final stop on our safari adventure. We had travelled to two other camps in Botswana before finishing with 3 days at LS.
Staff were warm, welcoming, and tended to our needs. We were privileged to have Landon and Eddie as our guide and tracker. Jeffery also took care of our needs while in camp at every meal----a very humble and funny man.
We were able to view all the animals we wanted to see in close proximity without feeling threatened or disturbing the wildlife. One particular lion pride viewing was spectacular....around 15 lions grooming, playing, and getting VERY close to our vehicle.
The weather was perfect during our trip which was late January into February.
Lion Sands made it extremely easy and fun with travel between camps, airports, and game drives.
Our highlight was viewing an adolescent elephant trying to intimidate our truck by mock charging, flaring his ears, raising his trunk and so on. We all got a good laugh and were treated to this close up encounter ( check my video plus voice over http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69URe-21FO4 ).
My parents also had the opportunity to stay in the 'treehouse' one night. Quite an adventure for them! Extremely beautiful venue and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
And one must not forget Lion Sands Frank....he will send you on your way and greet you on your way back in with quite the song and dance :)
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Holiday safari
What a lovely holiday it was in South Africa!
The animals made a wonderful impression on us as well as the scenery. The food is excellent and the people are very hospitable. Our guide was very good at showing us around.
35-50 years of age
Organised
I went on the horse workshop in Pakamisa. It was really a stunning experience. Accommodation and food were really fantastic. All the organising into photographing the horses was really well done. Overall it was a really great time. Weather - one cannot control the weather although our weather was relatively good. My highlight were the horses - I love horses and love photographing and being around them.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Etosha National Park by lifeisgreat77
if you have been in Khaudum or at the Kwando river, Etosha looks like a big zoo
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Bwabwata National Park by lifeisgreat77
Kwando River is the best, i ever saw!
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Your own private paradise
No big five or Serengeti-style mega-herds but lots of other wildlife to enjoy. Never saw so many raptors in one place.
You need to work a bit harder than in Luangwa because this park was recently established and animals here are not used to people watching them. Makes it feel all the more 'wild'.
Only one lodge in this park so you really feel like you own the place; especially if you are the only guests like we were. Staff (many from local community) is excellent.
An enormous, spacious, uninhabited, dry, cold and hot, real African landscape
The Central Kalahari is enormous. Driving through this Reserve, only on dirt roads, is quite an experience.
Maybe 2 or 3 other cars can be seen daily. There is a lot more chance to see wildlife than humans.
Don't expect to see animals every 10 minutes. Sometimes you have to drive some distance to see them.
Overall Botswana gives much more bush - wildlife experience than the touristic areas in Kenya.
A video of this trip can be seen on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BWD5I6YrIo
An amazing experience. I would recommend it to others.
I saw a Leopard quite by chance. I also saw giraffes, buffalo, elephants,and various other animal. The weather was hot and dry. There was a lot of dust. The lodge was brilliant with lovely clean rooms and a good al a carte menu in the restaurant.
A remote park
If you are in the area, it is well worth a trip to Ruma National Park. You will probably not see any large carnivores, but it is the only park where you can see Roan antelope. We saw plenty of roan antelope, topi, impala, giraffes, monkeys (vervets and baboons), some pretty birds, and zebra in the park. There is a nice camping area. You must have a four wheel drive vehicle as the roads get muddy and it's easy to get stuck. We ended up having to push our landrover out of some mud. But! We were the only people in the park, it was peaceful, there were not huge groups of landrovers surrounding the animals. For that BIG reason, I highly recommend it. It's probably great for birding as there aren't tons of loud people around! If you an get there, I highly recommend it.