Hi again, Moira,

Thought I would repeat here my latest message I wrote on the thread regarding our trip to Zambia. It has some additional pictures I took, but also critical comments regarding Sausage Tree, where we stayed for one night in between our 3-night stays at Chiawa and Old Mondoro, both of which we loved. I will admit that others staying there seemed happy, but our stay was quite unsatisfactory, both in comparison to our stays at the other camps, including Luangwa River Lodge, and on an absolute basis.

There were a few minor problems that had a common theme--being told one thing, but provided something quite different and lesser in quality, or not being provided it at all. The worst was the unprofessional guiding on our night drive. Oh, while Chiawa's tents can be fully screened against bugs, the tents at Sausage Tree are inexplicably connected to bathrooms that are not screened. That really wasn't much of a problem for us, and the mosquitoes really weren't too bad, but I bring it up because of the concern you raised about your sister's concern over bugs. Luangwa River Lodge has fully screened chalets. Old Mondoro Bush Camp, which we absolutely adored, also is not fully screened. But, it is, after all, a bush camp. We'd go back there in a heart beat.



Here are a selection of scans from slides from our stay at Old Mondoro and some more from Chiawa.

http://picasaweb.google.com/steeliej...aAndOldMondoro

We also stayed one night at Sausage Tree Camp, which is located between Chiawa and Old Mondoro.

Sausage Tree was the one place that we found disappointing. I had suggested going there, because I wanted to fly fish for tigerfish. As it turned out, Chiawa provided all the great fishing I could have hoped for.

Some of the problems we had at Sausage Tree were small, but when you are repeatedly promised certain things which are not delivered, the annoyance builds.

It was the night drive where our experience at Sausage Tree escalated from annoyance to, frustration. We had just come from Chiawa and our guides had been safety conscious, communicative, knowledgeable, and respectful of the game. Our Sausage Tree guide did not give us any of the precautions about being quiet, not standing up, etc. And, there was very little communication about what we were seeing, night time game habits and patterns, or telling us, as the guides at Chiawa had, that they would make sure that no advantage would be given to predator or prey when spotting with the light.

To the contrary, he rushed along, our spotter's light dwelling on the animals and sending groups of elephants running away shrieking in anger and fear. And when a lioness was spotted hunting, another Sausage Tree vehicle close by tailgated her, forcing her into a run.

At that point our only other experience had been with the guides at Chiawa, but we then went to Old Mondoro Bush Camp where we stayed for three nights (we were able to get an extra night there and cancelled going back to Sausage Tree for our final night) where our guide's behavior was also expert and respectful of the wildlife. And then on to Luangwa River Lodge where the guiding was also wonderful. The contrast between the disappointing experience we had at Sausage Tree and the other camps was most glaring. And, the price we paid per night was certainly no less.

Other people we talked to at Sausage Tree seemed to be satisfied. Perhaps were were considered an afterthought, because were staying there only two nights, one each, before and after Old Mondoro.

Anyway, I thought it appropriate to share our experience at Sausage Tree, because it positions itself as a luxury camp and is priced as such.

Enough.

I will get back to our wonderful stays at Old Mondoro and Luangwa River Lodge soon. Promise.

Jim

Jim,

Been reading your trip report and saw the pictures....all your travels seem fantastic....what are your safari plans for the next trip?

Hari

Hi Hari,

Thanks, and thanks for asking. Hope MoiraS doesn't mind the hijacking.

Well, so far, I have more of a wish list than specific plans. If I could figure out how to stay away longer, I would definitely like to return to Chiawa, Old Mondoro and Luangwa River Lodge and add other places.

I look at a map of Africa, remember looking out the window of the airplane hour after hour as the terrain changed below me, and realize there is so much more than a lifetime (at least mine, since I'm no spring chicken) worth of exploring.

Some thoughts: Rocco's plan to cross over to Zimbabwe (Mana Pools) from Zambia looks really intriguing, and I'd like to see, first hand, the contrast from one side of the Zambezi to the other.

To see the Serengeti migration would be thrilling, but, and this is a very big BUT, I really do not want to be in a rugby scrum's worth of other vehicles surrounding a cheetah.

Lack of crowds was a prerequisite that lead to our choice of country and camps, and it's been reinforced by what I've read and heard about.

However, I am clueless at this point of how to accomplish that in Kenya/Tanzania. Mobile safari perhaps?

Also, the managers at Old Mondoro, Helen and Ruloph, talked very highly of the snorkeling and diving in Mozambique. Yes, I love to dive. At some point, I would also love to see the gorillas of Uganda or Rwanda.

Shifting gears completely, crowd-wise that is, I would also, at some point, like to see Victoria Falls. And, to spend a few days in South Africa seeing the sights, touring the wineries, and who knows, maybe spend some time in a shark cage.

And, as much as I love to be around water wherever I go, the dunes of Namibia look amazing. And so do its people.

One more shift--to go back to India. And, I expect you could really help here. We visited last year, and came away completely enthralled with your amazing country. We'd love to return soon. We visited the north central part, spending most of our time centered on Darjeeling where my daughter was working at the time helping tea farmers living in remote villages. We did visit a couple of small wildlife preserves, including Jaldapara (sp?) even taking morning "drives" on the backs of elephants. A lot of fun to ride on the elephants, but the areas were rather small and game sparse.

We'd love to go back and spend more time in larger parks where there would be a reasonable chance of seeing tigers in the wild.

And back to Alaska (just came back from a short trip to Sitka two weeks ago). It's not exactly going on safari, but in some ways the same. Denali Nat. Park is over 5,000,000 acres, and when you hike up some of the lower, gentler mountains below Denali (McKinley), you can get within yards of Dall sheep, and look out over an expanse that is completely devoid of humans for hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles.

And, more diving. Cozumel is up next, in January.

Actually, Hari, your question is a good thread topic.

And, now, it's your turn. You have far more safari experience than I, and I would love to know those favorite places, including camps, to which you would return (and those to which you would not), and those places which you haven't visited yet, but are a high priority.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Wow!!! India.....make it a point to visit down South (that's where i live) much more relaxed, people far more friendly and away from the hustle bustle....the south Indian parks are also well worth a visit...good chance to see the Indian Wild dogs (dholes).

Jim, i fully understand your desire to return to camps/parks that marks something special to you. To me, Botswana is special. My next trip is a combination of Lebala (my personal favourite) and Zibalianja (in the Selinda concession, my first visit there).

your thoughts on Tanzania and Kenya....i think it's a must do atleast once to see the migration and the HUGE numbers of predators. I'm sure you can find places that are well away from the masses of tourists. I will definitely return one of these years.

The other places on my wish list include- Southern Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe and a return to the Serengeti/Mara.

Cheers
Hari

Hi Moira

If you are coming out in 2008 I would suggest going to the Desrt and Delta Camps in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. Desert and Delta have 5 camps in Botswana three being in the Okavango and two in the Chobe National park. Okavango Camps; Camp Xugana, Camp Okavango and Camp Moremi. Chobe National Park; Camp Savute and Chobe Game Lodge. Namibia; Lianshulu main Camp and Chobe Savanna Lodge. Zambia- Sekoma Island lodge on the Zambezi. If you would like to see large cats I would recommend Camp Savute. It boasts some of the most spectacular lion prides as well as many cheetah depending on what time of the year. Camp Moremi in the Delta is also spectacular. Lion, cheetah, leopard, wild dogs and cheetah are plentiful. The group have their own fleet of planes so an itinerary between the camps can be easily arranged. Other activities include: Fishing, birding, canoe safaris, nature walks etc..

Garreth,

Thanks for your post. Have you recently visited any of their camps? Any additional info (especailly about specific sightings) would be appreciated as there arent many ppl from these boards who have been to these camps you mentioned. Camp Savute in the Chobe? so, no night drives?

Cheers,
Hari

Hi Fodorites!

Thanks so much for continuing to write on this thread even though I was AWOL for awhile with work and holiday stuff.

But good news...my sister will be joining me! I showed her lots of your pictures and gave her some printouts of some of the trip reports and now she is hooked!

She really fell in love with the Makadigadi Pans after reading a trip report from Jasher who visited there last year and seeing Cindy's pictures...and we both want to see the leopards and go canoeing...

After looking at a map of Africa and other people's itineraries, we are thinking of something like this...

Sabisands (Mala Mala) - 4 nights
Makadikadi Pans - 3 nights
Okavango Delta - 2 nights "water camp"
Okavango Delta - 3 nights "land camp"
Linyanti area - 3 nights
Victoria Falls - 2 nights (bungee jumping and white water rafting!)
Lower Zambezi - 4 nights

I don't know about 4 nights in Lower Zambezi, it seems too few to enjoy it and also do the canoeing. It seems like it would be beter to have five or six nights there but then we would need to cut back in other areas.

My sister also mentioned wanting to go to Cape Town and do some whale watching from Hermanus, but we could not fit it in. Maybe we should do this instead and save Zambia for another trip?

Moira

Moira,

If i were you, i would do 5 nights in the Greater Linyanti area (HUGE and WILD) and do 3 nights in a mixed land/water camp. Good luck!!!

Hari

I like your itinerary. I was only 4 nights in LZ and felt I had adequate water time. Of course a longer stay is better, but that's always the case. I concentrated on water activities and did 2 boat safaris, one canoe safari and one all day canoe trip between Sausage Tree and Old Mondoro. Plus night drives. No one was dumped on my canoe trip, which is a rarity, nor did anything scary happen, and that trip remains a highlight of my African travels.

Cape Town could be saved for another time, if you have that luxury of returning to Africa. With the whales, Great White Sharks, baboon walk, penguins, Spier's cheetah outreach & winery, scenery of Cape of Good Hope, Robbens Island, vineyards, and Table Mountain, Cape Town deserves more than just a couple days. At least that was my opinion, so I cut it out of my 2007 South Africa safari trip and pushed it to 2008 when I can spend the time that location deserves.

For Botswana, I agree with Hari's suggestion.

Hi Atravelynn,

Did you spend 2 nights at Sausage Tree and 2 at Old Mondoro? That's what we are thinking of doing, but we are leaning towards Chiawa and Old Mondoro because there are so many great reports about Chiawa. I'm just wondering if it will feel too rushed especially at the end of the trip.

Maybe it would be better to start in Zambia and end at Mala Mala to avoid feeling rushed...

Hi Hari,

Thanks for your post, we will read more about Linyati and maybe move some Botswana time around. We definitely want to see the watery parts of the Okavango and do at least one mokoro trip, but game viewing is more important.

Right now we think that Savuti is our first choice because of the water hole in front of the camp...reading about this and the wood pile is one of the things that made my sister decide to come so it would be hard to skip it!

I read about the sleep out that Jasher did at Savuti which sounded great (and did not have any bugs that I could tell...). Can you do sleep outs at any other camps? Has anyone else done one?

Moira

I did Sausage Tree to Old Mondoro, canoeing the Chifungulu Channel. Going from Chiawa to Old Mondoro is too far in a day by canoe. I had no problems in Sausage Tree in 2003 and loved my stay, but things may have changed.

They are noted for being "festive" at the camp. The bartender seemed to be more noticeable and encouraging at this camp compared to others I've been to. That attracts a certain element, like French models and young jet setters. Both were present when I was there. We all mixed fine.

One itinerary I've seen was 1 or 2 days at Chiawa. Boat or canoe to Sausage Tree for one night, then canoe to Old Mondoro for about 2 nights.

Sleep outs:
<u>Excerpt from my 2005 trip report on Chitabe Trails Walking Camp</u>
My fourth and supposedly final night in Chitabe was at their Walking Trails Camp. In the afternoon I set off with Newman, the walking guide (and superb all around guide), and Luke, a guide in training (who will make a superb guide and as far as I could tell already was) for the hour walk to the Walking Trails camp. On the way to Walking Trails, we saw elephants at a distance and did our best not to alarm them.

When I got settled into the Walking Camp, the Chitabe Main Camp manager stopped by for a chat and sundowners, a very nice touch. Then Newman, Luke and I had a lovely lantern lit dinner with salad, main course, and dessert. Really a lot of staff effort is put into this memorable night in the bush.

The Walking Trails hide itself is a raised platform of two stories above the ground level with stairs. A comfortable mattress with mosquito netting was set up on the first level, about 15 feet above the ground. The second level is for observation and with a lagoon right there, at least one elephant was usually present.

Many lanterns were provided and could be left on all night. The path to a drop toilet with “sand flush” and a bucket shower was lit by lanterns. It was suggested that during the night, a bedpan be used. I did not take advantage of either the bedpan or the bucket shower.

Before retiring, the three of us went on a night drive. The hyena den was not far and I got my last view of the two frisky hyena cubs and one adult hyena nearby. The highlight of the night drive occurred within sight of our lantern-lit Walking Trails hide. Spotter Luke saw a relaxed leopard that proceeded to lounge around the vehicle at a distance of about five feet, then took a drink out of the lagoon and returned to visit with us. Eventually she walked off into the moonlight to hunt.

Time for bed about 9:00 p.m. Two days short of a full moon meant the lagoon was well lit throughout the cloudless night and the elephants that wandered into the lagoon could be easily viewed and even more easily heard as they shook the nearby palms for the fruit. Besides the elephants, I could hear lechwe leaping, hippos grunting, hyenas, and lions calling in the distance, plus I had my own personal fruit bat chirping all through the night from its home in the tree above.

It was a beautiful and peaceful experience and I got to sleep in until 6:30 the next morning. Newman and Luke slept within view in a tent on the ground and were up first to prepare cereal, fruit, and toast for breakfast. Sleeping in the open air in the bush was a magical experience and a highlight of a wonderful trip!

I stayed at the OLD Walking Trails, which accommodates up to four, and is only an hour’s walk from camp. There is a NEW Walking Trails that sleeps up to eight with platforms adjoined by hanging bridges and is a three or four hour walk from camp. The immediate area of the lagoon-less new camp did not seem as interesting as the old camp, but the new camp is closer to the Moremi border with its abundant, diverse wildlife.

You can walk between the new and old camp in several hours and spend two consecutive nights in the open-air bush. You also can be driven to and from either of these walking camps (despite the name indicating otherwise) in case you wanted to sleep on the open platform but did not want to give up the more game-intense drives.

<u>Excerpt from my 2006 trip report on the walking trails camp in Selinda </u>
Upon my request, Camp Manager Stuart had made some nice arrangements for me with Chris DeBeer, the manager of the walking trails safari camps. I could do an abbreviated version of the 4-5 day hiking trip, spending one night at Tshwene (one of the two walking trails camps) and participating in a couple of walks. The group he was leading was on its way to Zibalianja anyway, where we would all spend our last night in the concession. BB drove managers Stuart, Tess, and me to the walking trails camp.

I was warmly greeted by Chris and Joanna, the managers, and the camp staff. The four other hikers were delightful—a Sabi Sands ranger and his wife plus an Italian couple who were frequent guests at the couple's camp. Now they were all on holiday together in Botswana. I appreciated their good cheer in accepting me as the interloper for the last leg of their walking safari.

In their morning walk, they had encountered two male lions and they were still excited about that. Our walk was through picturesque bush, with more foliage than the terrain near Zib. Our outing included a baobab tree, a warthog, wild dog tracks and a harmless belly striped sand snake.

The outdoor shower with a spectacular view was also a highlight, as much for entertainment as for hygiene. Speaking of entertainment, Chris DeBeer is a one-man show himself and provided many laughs at dinner and around the campfire. The ranger on holiday, was also a hoot so we heard many a humorous tale that night.

The small comfortable tents were up one story with the flush-toilet discretly tucked at the foot of the stairs. Tshwene was a perfect bush camp.

After breakfast we were off in weather well suited for walking--cool, with cloud cover and a slight breeze. Normally we would walk all the way to Zib, but the amount of water made walking the whole way impossible, so we were picked up by vehicle after about four hours. On our walk back to camp, we saw a herd of buffalo crossing a channel, herds of tsessebee, a lone wildebeest defending its territory, a slender mongoose, and four hornbills that came to the water for a drink.

I did Sausage Tree to Old Mondoro, canoeing the Chifungulu Channel. Going from Chiawa to Old Mondoro is too far in a day by canoe. I had no problems in Sausage Tree in 2003 and loved my stay, but things may have changed.

They are noted for being &quot;festive&quot; at the camp. The bartender seemed to be more noticeable and encouraging at this camp compared to others I've been to. That attracts a certain element, like French models and young jet setters, both were present when I was there.

One itinerary I've seen was 1 or 2 days at Chiawa. Boat or canoe to Sausage Tree for one night, then canoe to Old Mondoro for about 2 nights.

sorry for the previous double post and with this it's a triple post

things are goofy with my connection

There you go, Moira........Lynn, has given you some great replies to your questions.

If you go to a mixed land/water camp, you could do a mekoro and a boat trip. Big game viewing can be done in the vehicles for the rest of your trip. I recommend Kwara or Little Kwara. Little Kwara is a bit more luxurious than Kwara main and is a smaller camp. They are very serious there about their game viewing.

You cant go wrong with any of the choices in the greater linyanti system. If your mind is set on Savuti, go for it.

Hari

Hi Lynn,

Thanks for posting about the Zambezi camps and the sleep outs! For Zambezi I think we will do two night and two nights so we don't have to pack and unpack so much. For some reason I thought I read about someone canoeing from Chiawa but I guess I made a mistake, so if you can only canoe from Sausage Tree we will probably stay there.

The sleep outs sound like a lot of fun!

Moira

I just posted on your separate thread on canoeing.

Taking the Zambezi from Chiawa to Old Mondoro may be possible by canoe. The meandering Chifungulu Channel takes too long.