Karongwe Portfolio - Chisomo Safari Camp

I stayed two nights at the Camp as arranged as part of my National Geographic tour. The camp is adjacent to the Karongwe Private Game Reserve, which we explored during the day on game drives. The Camp was excellent in all respects, particularly given its somewhat remote location. In particular the rooms, staff, and food were all great. The rooms are tent cabins with all of the amenities...very clean and comfortable. The staff were really terrific and treated us royally while we were there. Food and drink was plentiful and delicious. There are no barriers to wild animals entering the area, but the staff takes care to ensure everyone is safe at all times. But we still had delightful encounters with monkeys, wart hogs, and kudu during our stay. It's a wonderful place and I'd gladly return.

Our first stop on our family of 10 safari adventure and this really set things off on the right start. We were there in July and weather was colder than expected ( their winter) could have used better heating in our rooms but there were extra blankets. The safaris were great and we saw the Big Five our first day. Can’t say enough about our driver and tracker “ forget me”. They were so knowledgeable and showed as us so many animals. The staff very helpful . My husband fell on a walk to see Cheetahs up close and staff member attended his Wounds each day.

Part of the Karongwe collection, this is simply outstanding. The staff, tented rooms with electric blankets and heaters, early morning and late afternoon game drives where all the big five can be seen, are all wonderful. Guides and trackers have phenomenal knowledge of the local area. The concession is vast so no game drives were the same. They provide hot water bottles for your lap and blankets for the early drives then a full hot breakfast when you return 3-4 hours later. Afternoon game drives go for a similar time and always include sundowner drinks beside a scenic spot. Food in the dining areas was a wonderful mix. Wine by the bottle and spirits were not expensive. We stayed for 4 days and loved every minute.

Everything about our stay at Chisomo Safari Lodge exceeded our expectations. My husband and I stayed for 4 nights in one of their luxury tents. This accommodation was spacious and included a large very comfortable bed with an electric blanket (wonderful on the cold nights) and mosquito net (didn't see any mosquitos). Each tent has a nice verandah, a bar size fridge with small freezer, wardrobe and a generous sized bathroom. Everything was immaculately clean and the elephant shaped towels and chocolates placed on our bed each day were a lovely touch. During our 4 night stay at Chisomo we did one morning and 3 afternoon safaris in Karongwe Game Reserve, a day trip to Kruger NP (about 2 hr drive from Chisomo) and a half day Blyde River Canyon Tour. All were excellent! Thomas and Ernest were our friendly Karongwe GR driver and tracker and they did a great job in finding us animals including, lions, water Buffalo, Giraffe. rhinos, hippos, cheetahs, elephants, zebra and many more. I appreciated Thomas also pointing out the many birds that were of interest to me. I loved walking to the bird hide each day where a family of hippos resided. Along with the hippos I saw a good variety of birds and other animals including a giraffe, warthogs, impala, nyala and kudu. The food at Chisomo was excellent! I have many dietary restrictions and one of my main concerns before travelling to Africa was how will they feed me. I need not have worried. I have never been so well fed and looked after. Joyce and all the kitchen staff thankyou, you were amazing! Thankyou to all the friendly and professional staff at Chisomo including the happy porter who walked us safely back to our tent each night after dinner. I highly recommend staying at Chisomo Safari Lodge.

The experience of the safari was outstanding. The guides and the food were amazing. Unfortunately we were robbed whilst on site that totally changed our perspective. Our friends who also traveled with us were robbed too. Our in room safe was broken into and the thief (thieves), selectively stole the majority of our cash. Very clever however, as all the large bills were taken leaving small bills locked back up. If you go DO NOT LEAVE ANY CASH in the in room safe. Conrad the GM was amazing and helped with a special birthday celebration for our friend on the trip. The GM at the resort was very sorry for the incident but have not heard from anyone since - G Adventures or National Geographic who we booked the trip with. Will likely not book any more trips with G Adventures if this is the "5 star" accommodations that they pride themselves on.

Beautiful location and superb service from the trackers, safari guides, chefs, front desk staff, under the expert guidance of Conrad the GM. Cannot recommend highly enough. Thoroughly enjoyed our 3 day stay here - a lifetime’s experience.