anissrob

Has anyone visited Stanley's Camp in Botswana? My travel agent booked me there because I love elephants and they have an "elephant experience" there. I am a bit concerned though because the accomodations do not look great. Does anyone have any information about this camp?

Clematis

Yes, I stayed there last year. Do a search for "Stanley's Camp" and you should find my post. If not, give me your email address.

anissrob

Clematis - I found your post. Thank you. Do you think the elephant experience is worth staying at Stanley's Camp? If not, are there any other camps you would recommend where I can interact with elephants? Also, you said that the sightings were improving at Stanley's. What animals did you see while there? THANK YOU!

mv

I visited Stanley`s camp in june 2002.
Eventhough the tents are not of the standard of luxury camps like Little Ongava, Mombo etc, they are roomy and comfortable. Management and staff was great and made the stay very enjoyable.
Food was excellent.
The elephant experience is definitely worth trying.
Gameviewing was pretty good especially for Lion, Hyena, Buffalo, Elephant and Giraffe. Daytime viewing of Honey Badger. Good nightdrives. The Lions killed 2 Giraffe during my stay. The other vehicle had a good Leopard sighting. Elephants in camp every day, often making the trip to and from the tent very interesting

katycee

The elephant experience at Stanley's Camp was one of the most amazing and unique things I have done in the bush. My concern was that it might be ' tacky' or ' stage managed'. All my fears were soothed the moment that Jabu the elephant walked up to us in the thicket. It was fantastic.. I highly highly recommend it !

anissrob

Thanks for all the great information! You made me feel much better. Is there a pool at the camp for relaxing during the day?

Clematis

Camp management changes quickly. I was told Botswana has a rule that three years is the longest a non-native can stay as management at any one camp. The managers we had were not very good. I very gently asked the husband at pre-dinner drinks why the animals seemed skittish. Before I knew it, someone appeared and said a tourist was lost (driving) and the manager himself left to show him the way out. He *never* returned, hours later. The wife wouldn't give me a recipe for one of the lunch dishes. I can rave about our other managers. My guess is these managers are no longer there.

The camp has had remodeling done since our stay there last year. When I was there it did not have electricity in the tents and the tents are only a foot above ground with lots of broken trees around (ele feeding ground). The main camp area was a good 15 minute walk from our tents. So this was quite an adventure for our first camp. Our guide Jacob and his tracker Arliss were some of the best though. Smart, nice local guys. But I would not say go to this camp for the game. You go here for the best, most memorable experience, the 4 hour walk with the eles. It is led by a husband and wife who truly love and live with them (they actually sleep in a truck and travel with them so they are not penned up). These three eles were orphaned, they were "owned" by others and then about to be abandoned when rescued by this terrific guy.

I would recommend a short stay here so one can do the elephant experience. I think we had to do two nights due to the timing but one would have been fine. My earlier post mentions the upgrades/remodeling.

Roccco

Clematis,

That is ridiculous...refusing to share recipes? How petty is that? Hope you did not leave them a generous tip.

I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by wonderful managers, throughout, on my recently completed Zambian safari. Scaredtodeath, on the other hand, WAS able to get a couple recipes on this trip, both, I believe from Kaingo's kitchen. So, if she is asking for recipes, I guess that speaks pretty highly of Kaingo's cuisine.

While the political climate of Zimbabwe is very unfortunate, one good thing that is coming out of it, is former top Zim guides and managers are now in Zambia. So, while Zambia is just starting to grow in popularity, it already has a wealth of excellent guides and managers.

Clematis

In retrospect I think the cook wouldn't tell her. It was pretty obvious they didn't have a good relationship with the staff.

BTW, Rocco, do you remember cooking was one of my suggestions to STD about what she can do when she doesn't want to go on game drives? I'm glad she kept herself amused. I'm sorry your portable dvd player was stolen. I was thinking of buying one for Holland but probably not. On to your photo site!