Kimkim Trip Reviews for Botswana

My wife and our boys had an incredible trip to Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Despite planning our trip last-minute, Bianca, our Kimkim local specialist, expertly put together an amazing itinerary. Every detail was flawlessly executed, from airport pickups to safaris and hotel accommodations. All the local tour operators and guides Bianca selected were exceptional. A huge shoutout to Makumu Private Game Lodge – with special thanks to guide Ruann and tracker NY.

Anna Marié was amazing at planning the trip. Everything was smooth and well thought. I loved it. Special mention for Delta Camp team in Okavengo Delta. The whole team was so nice and welcoming making the experience unique and exceptional. Highly recommend this trip.
Thanks a lot!

Our trip to South Africa and Botswana was excellent.
Eileen and her team put together a wonderful trip that completely met our needs.
They listened to all of our requests and after several versions, nailed the perfect trip for our family.
While in country, her team (specifically Lucy) continually checked in with us to make sure that everything was going smoothly and we were having a great time.
I never felt like we were traveling alone and always had someone local looking out for us.

My daughters and I planned a girls trip to Africa. Four countries (South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia) in 3 weeks was no small feat for first time visitors. We reached out to Kimkim for help and they connected us with their local specialist Esther Reumpol of The Eco-Travel Boutique.
Esther, through the Kimkim platform, made the whole planning process easy. Her suggestions based on our given budget, interests and preferences helped us narrow down what we wanted to do. From the time we connected till the time we got home, Esther was in constant contact, coordinating, revising, confirming and checking in.
The result of her patience with our itinerary revisions was perfect! The accommodations she booked were superb, the transfers to and fro like clockwork, our last minute tour bookings accommodated and all our inquiries patiently and promptly answered.
Esther is also a miracle worker. My luggage, amongst some other passengers, was offloaded from our flight from Nelspruit to Victoria Falls. We were taking a morning chartered flight to the Okavango delta the day after and there were no more flights from that airline coming in that day or the next. All I had were the clothes I was wearing. All my necessities, toiletries and medicines were in my luggage.
I call her a “miracle worker” because on this chartered flight, you can only check in soft luggage with a weight limit of 20 kg inclusive of hand carry. My luggage was in a hard case and weighed 25 kg which I was planning on repacking to a duffle for our 4 night stay at the Delta. I had resigned myself to accepting that I would not get to see my luggage until I got back to Victoria Falls but Esther, somehow, made the airline deliver my luggage to the heart of the delta. This was the airlines responsibility and was not part of Esther’s obligation to us. I can just imagine how many phone calls she had to make, while she herself was away on a work trip and I am truly grateful.
Our biggest thanks to the KimKim team, Esther and Lucy, our concierge, for making our first visit to Africa the most wonderful and memorable experience. It was a palate teaser that makes us want to go back, stay longer in each country and explore more of what Africa has to offer.

We are experienced and demanding senior travellers and Bianca was very responsive to our specific needs and responding to our questions in a timely fashion. We had to change our plan and she was able to make the appropriate changes. She proved to be knowledgeable and experienced as a travel advisor and planner.
We had an interesting and informative visit to Johannesburg based on travel guides recommended by Bianca. Victoria Fall was breathtaking and the accomodation at the Phezulu Guest Lodge was very enjoyable. Chobe and staying at the Chobe Bush Lodge with morning safari outings and the afternoon boat trips were amazing. Okavango swamp and Pom Pom Camp was outstanding with very personal service and staying among the animals with knowledgeable guides we found all the animal we wanted to see. The Pom Pom Camp was a very special experience.

Hotel Reviews

Premier OR Tambo Hotel

We liked the spacious rooms, the location next to the airport was perfect and the staff were helpful and professional

Authenticity & Character

Not sure what to say about character, but the staff were friendly and helpful

Location

next to the airport

Staff

Very helpful staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Phezulu Guest Lodge

Victoria Falls

As small hotel near Vic Falls and all that we needed for our stay. Staff were very helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chobe Bush Lodge

Kasane

The rooms were very spacious and modern with large bathroom area and balconies. Location near the Chobe river was great. Very helpful staff that were very responsive when we needed their help. I would say that the food was a bit disappointing.

Authenticity & Character

Large thatched building that was very spacious.

Location

On the Chobe River

Cleanliness & Comfort

Great rooms

Pom Pom Camp

United Kingdom

Very personal service with a limited number of guests. We had safari outing to our selves most of the time. The food was good. The tent accomodations with open bathing areas was spacious but a bit warm in the afternoons. Staying among the animals was unique and watching them from the balcony was captivating. This was the peak experince of the trip and Ryder our guide knew where to find the animals including leopards, wild dogs as well as lions, elephants and giraffes . A magical experience with outings in the morning and late afternoons.

Authenticity & Character

Definitely a lot of character and the personal attention of the staff

Location

Isolated and staying among the animals next to a watering hole

Staff

Always address by name, our guide ate meals with us and the service was great

Cleanliness & Comfort

The tent rooms were spotless, just two small issues, the rooms were very hot in the afternoon and the need to be careful about the use of lights at night to avoid invasion by the insects

Activity Reviews

Chobe Safari Day

Botswana

The safari drives were nice but the best was the boat outing on the water since all the animals are drawn to the water. Seeing the elephants swim/walk through the water was great and the wallowing hippos.

Quality of Experience

Great sightings of animals on land and from the water.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Some of the drivers were a bit fast. They need to clean the area where they stop for morning tea as there seemed to be a lot of used toilet paper around the area.

Transport

Keep the speed down

Okavango Delta Safari

Okavango Delta

The morning and afternoon safari outings were amazing. Ryder our driver and guide was very professional and knowledgeable and we found all the animals that we wanted to see plus a few surprises

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very personal and friendly service and when one of our party was a bit sick they when out of their way to help him feel better

Transport

You have to be ready to be shaken a bit during the game drives

The planning and the sites we saw were incredible. There were a few snafus during the trip. However, I was satisfied with KimKim's responce upon our return to take care of those snafus. I would reccomend this trip to anyone.
John B.

The first two lodges we stayed at, Leroo La Tau lodge and Xugana Island Lodge were fantastic with the staff members delightful, helpful, and providing excellent service. We saw beautiful wildlife and enjoyed the beauty of the Botswana landscape for the 8 nights of our trip. We did book this trip last minute and Lize, our local specialist, worked hard to ensure we had luxury accomodations for 4 adults. However, there was a lot of misinformation provided in the finalized itinerary as if the descriptions were just copy and pasted into our itinerary; thus leading to an experience of unpersonalized trip planning and also confusion when checking into our lodges of what was actually paid for/included. For example, information about one lodge said we were booked for a 4WD safari, but the lodge only does water-based activities. As another example, the finalized KimKim itinerary said "private group" for some activities but we were actually in a "small group" so it was unclear if we paid more for private and yet were put in a small group. More attention to detail in the trip planning itinerary would have been appreciated. Additionally, providing more options with details (e.g., so we could have compared pricing, activities, etc.) before finalizing bookings would have been good. For example, two or three lodge options (with details on each lodge) on where to stay for each night would have been better than just providing one option before booking because we were unaware of which lodges were in the area and who KimKim partner lodges are.

We had a pre arranged trip in Botswana for the first part of our holiday and worked with kimkim and Lize to provide an itinerary for an additional 5 days.

We had a great trip and the Lodge/Salt Pan overnight trip in Makgadikgadi and House boat in Chobe were all excellent.

Lize
The remoteness of the Okavango was the perfect start to our trip and the attention to detail and quality of the staff at the lodge was exceptional we loved the walking safari and the mojito and when they handed us our hot water bottles on the first night I’ve never seen a happier bunch of ladies.
Our next stop at Chobe lodge felt a little more luxurious in terms of the lodge and rooms and the setting on the river was lovely. Our game drives were early but interesting and in spite of the lion remaining elusive we saw lots of elephant, hippo, giraffe, crocodile, many different antelope species and birds galore. The variety of dining there was excellent and we felt that the experienced so far was the right way round. A tricky transfer to Zimbabwe followed as we had not been alerted by anyone or taken on board ourselves that we were going to need crisp US dollars in cash to pay for our visas. Eventually with help from our driver and a trip back to the cash point and bureau de change we succeeded in getting our visas and passed through emigration.
The setting at the Victoria Falls game lodge was lovely and having the balcony overlooking the waterhole an added bonus. Victoria Falls itself lived up to expectations and we did the scenic helicopter ride which provided us with some amazing photos. Back through the borders and onto the Zambezi Queen which was everything and more. A combination of the excellent food and staff on board meant we had some relaxation time, gentle river safaris in the sunshine, elephants, crocs and hippos in abundance topped off by a rare sighting of a leopard. The perfect end to what was most definitely a very special holiday.
Thank you.