Tanya and Ragan took their three kids to Zimbabwe on a short but action packed 6 night holiday visiting the might Victoria Falls as well enjoying many adrenalin fuelled activities on offer here from zip-lining to gorge-swinging, followed by three nights in Hwange National Park on safari.
“We had a wonderful trip and loved Victoria Falls and the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. The watering hole always had lots of animals and they did a vulture feeding session every day which tended to bring hyenas at night to finish off any scraps.
“We did a tour of Victoria Falls, which was very good, and we had a guide to ourselves. That evening we did a sunset cruise which was better than expected seeing lots of Hippos, a crocodile and an elephant. The hosts and food and drinks were great. As we came back very full (and tired) we couldn’t make it through dinner! Your partners on the ground were great – that day went really well and all of us did enjoyed all of the activities. The Boma dinner was a good experience – we enjoyed it though it wasn’t one of our primary highlights.
“Encompass Africa thank you – I’m glad we experienced it all and wouldn’t change a thing.”
“The trip to Camelthorn was quite a long drive to a remote train station. From here, we boarded the Elephant Express, a tram with food and drinks served. It was cold, windy and a little bit bumpy. Sadly we didn’t see much wildlife from the tram, though it was a novelty for the first half hour. The staff and tram driver and conductor were all very good and we were provided blankets to keep warm during the trip.
“Camelthorn itself was wonderful. They ended up giving our son his own Villa, while the other two shared a villa, and my husband and I had one to ourselves which was nice. They were pretty quiet – never fully booked while we were there. The service was impeccable and the food delicious. It was freezing though (the whole trip) we had jackets/gloves/beanies but were still cold a lot of the time. We did the school/village/homestead tour and learnt how Imevlo is trying to educate the locals about conservation. As our kids are into soccer and our guide had set up a soccer academy in the local village – he took us to play soccer with the kids on Saturday morning. That was a huge highlight for all of us.
“Game drives were good – heaps of elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, baboons, antelope varieties and smaller animal and birds, though we didn’t see any lions, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs, or rhino (although wasn’t expecting to see these). Very few giraffes and only from a great distance, and not many zebra. Elephants were excellent – saw heaps of these and did a hide sit to see them up close. There were some lions in the vicinity and we tried to track them for hours but had no luck. The other party staying at Camelthorn at the same time as us did see them. I guess it’s the luck on the day at any location. But as I said the staff and service (and facilities) were excellent.”
“Encompass Africa thank you – I’m glad we experienced it all and wouldn’t change a thing.”
Steph from Encompass Africa says:
“It was a pleasure working with Tanya to create a memorable family holiday”
See the itinerary
Steph’s suggestion for the Stonier’s next African adventure:
“Having experienced safari in Southern Africa I would suggest a trip to East Africa, to do a tailormade safari in Tanzania with a private guide and vehicle. This allows them to have quality time as a family, stay in awesome tented camps as they go and also on a private safari they can focus on seeing the big cats they missed out on before. Serengeti certainly has plenty!”
