It's all about value for money, isn't it? And Mantobeni is in my opinion great value for money. It was my third time at that camp, over the last 12 years. Overall, a very good experience, we loved the cooking and the game drives were good. I remembered it to be excellent, that's all. I remembered our sundowners to be in amazing locations, having our dinner near the fire, having a hot water bottle in my bed at night, having a ranger transparent about what we were about to see. This time it was different for me. The fire every night was minimal, we had to fan it to get something going. Our guide was somewhat resistant to share what was going on on the radio. Sundowners were just where we happened to be except one night where we were near a lake. One out of three.

The first night, we heard on the radio galagalagala, a very excited other guide was yelling. I then did not know that gala was lion in shangaan. Guide ignored it, we finished our drinks and then, rushed to where the lion was. We caught it as it was leaving, We did see it and we did rush to go see it. My preference would have been for the guide to ask us if we preferred having a glass of wine or going to see a lion. I think we would have said lion. I think the other two times I was there, our guide would have asked what our preference was.

To be fair, we did see a lot of animals, up close. But everyone wants to see lions, don't they?

The other point I would make, is that they asked the guide to sit with guests at meals. Our guide was not engaging at all, and I knew he would have preferred to be just about anywhere else, we would ask him a question and he would answer yes or no, which left us with talking among ourselves in English to be polite, as English is not our first language. I felt uncomfortable at meals because of the lack of conversational skills our guide had. Then on the last day, he perked up and wanted to talk. It would have been much better to be among ourselves in this case. What I remembered were great dinners with our guides - both times - them telling us stories of past drives etc. But his very guarded attitude did not allow him to share maybe because he thought we would require the same.

We had a good time, and since I got back I looked at other lodges and Mantobeni is definitely cheaper than most. If I was on a budget and wanted to see animals, I would go back. If I was a little bit more relaxed about money, I would try something else.

My family and I had the privilege of spending 6 nights at Khoka Moya safari, I was slightly concerned as we have a 4 & 6 year old and upon arriving this was all put behind me. Brett & his team made all of us welcome from the minute we arrived. Our children loved the game drives and our guides and trackers were so accommodating, they made sure both adults and kids were looked after with food and drinks, explanation of animals, tracks etc and just general fun. The food prepared by Mama G and her team was glorious, every meal was perfect. One of our children is a fussy eater and they were very accommodating for her and Rose and Nozisi were always there making sure they were eating, if they fell sleep at night they were there with a blanket and always keeping an eye on them. Brett arranged a trip with one of our great trackers "Vestment" for the kids to look at tracks of animals while parents had some rest. Our team of trackers (Anthony & Phillip) and our guides (Vestment, Anton & CJ) were wonderful, never once did we feel any drive was repetitious as we were always driving somewhere new and seeing different wildlife, they put so much effort into everything it was always a pleasure to be part of it. To all the team at Honeyguide Khoka Moya - thank you all so much for such a wonderful experience and one we will all treasure for life. I am sure you will see us again and for those thinking about it "do it", you will love it. The tents are amazing, so comfortable and a part of the natural habitat. Sit back and you will be amazed. See you next time, Regards The Lucas Family

Honeyguide provided a fantastic experience with their tented camp. The game drives, food and service were all first class but it was the thrill of sleeping out in the open that topped off a great stay.

We saw 4 of the Big 5 and to experience them at such a close distance just added to the experience. I would thoroughly recommend this as a place to start a safari holiday.