Camp Kuzuma

We would thoroughly recommend Bench. Kapama: great accommodation & food, lots of animals Zambezi Sands: great location, friendly staff, great canoe ride with hippos Camelthorn: enjoyed elephant train, great location, friendly staff, amazing game viewing especially from Hide Kuzuma: absolutely amazing, great food & accommodation, heaps of elephants, included day trip to Chobe National Park.(July not a good time to go to see other wildlife because of long grasses) Cape Town: in hindsight should have done first, not last

We had an absolutely awesome time and would do it all again. Zimbabwe Hwange was amazing and although our camp Elephants Eye was outside the NP it was beautiful and the staff and guides were great. Just a tad cold driving to the NP early in the mornings! We did a walking tour on the Elephants Eye reserve which was fabulous. Loved the Vic Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe we did a helicopter ride, walked with lions which was very good and walked the NP Botswana Stayed at Camp Kazuma the camp was excellent but the water and animals a bit more scarce compared to Hwange. Lions and elephants right up to our tent and not too many other vehicles which was great. Think an extra day there and we would have gone into Chobe NP. We will have to go back for that. Camp Okuti in the Delta was great also staff were excellent and plenty to see. Just a shame there are 1000’s of others in the NP also but not really an issue. Namibia In hindsight it would have been better and perhaps cheaper to spend another night in the Delta and take a flight direct from Maun to Windhoek rather than via Jo’berg with a night in Windhoek. It was basically a long, sometimes rushed and wasted day when we could have had a direct flight the next day. Galton House the motel is not in the Centre of town and it is a bit difficult to get around. Unfortunately there was a mix up with our rooms also one single & one double which was sorted. We also lost a few hours the next day when they closed the town airport down for the President Camp Kalula in the desert was just fabulous and I would recommend anyone wanting to experience something a little different to go to this part of Namibia. Sadly our scenic flight from this part of the desert to Etosha NP in the north was fogged in so we didn’t get to see the Skeleton Coast again we will have to go back for that but still had an amazing flight as were all of the light aircraft flights. Ongava Game Reserve Anderssons Camp. Sadly we were staying in a Rhino park and didn’t see one much to the disappointment of our guide and us. There are 2 camps on the reserve the main lodge stunning and about 200 au dollars a night more expensive and Anderssons where we stayed. This was probably the worst of the accommodation nice but far too hot during the day for a sleep and we were there in August. Unfortunately we also managed to snag a bus load of Spanish tourists who were so noisy that no animals would come into the waterhole while they were there morning or night. Such a shame as I thought it had the best hide and waterhole of all the camps. Would certainly recommend seeing that part of Namibia also. We also had a night a Galton House on return leg again perhaps avoid overnighting in Windhoek or find a more suitable motel closer to the town centre. Our guide driver same for both stays was great and did take us on a tour of the city for a few hour to pass the time on the first leg. Overall an extremely enjoyable holiday. Communications with Bench to organise the trip was done in the December 2014 January 2015 and was not as timely as we had expected. This made us a little nervous but Bench delivered in Africa and the trip exceeded our expectations

Everything worked like clockwork. With the exception of one meeting, all pick-ups were on time and all drivers pleasant and helpful. The accommodation was unusual and superb and the hosts and staff at both Camp Kuzuma and Zambezi Sands, welcoming and thoroughly professional. With the exception of the processing at Vic Falls and Joburg airports, we could not be happier with the whole experience. The only serious recommendation I would make is, don't exit Zimbabwe then South Africa on the same day. The passenger processing in both countries is third world standard and EXTREMELY slow and disorganised. We had to go through the diplomats gate to get to our luggage in Jo'burg. We would otherwise, still be there.

We were lucky as we were in a small group of seven - eight people, thru out our tour which had 3 parts to it. Everything included in the itinerary was there including the level of accommodation .The two stand out accomodations were Hunters Hill lodge and Camp Kazuma both have outstanding customer service. Jacko and his staff at Camp K were interactive with the guests and a special mention to Garry our safari drive guide and Beer (yes that was his name who was a spotter for Garry, found a pride of 12 lions and drinks waiter as well ). The tour guides were great Rory was coloured and a nice guy who liked cricket, Lutendo the second driver was African more serious but extremely passionate about his country. The trip was great and everything flowed along just about perfectly. My one critisicm was on day three it was an afternoon sightseeing of Cape town. The driver never showed up until 2.00pm and that afternoon was rushed. Would recommend Bench.