13 May 2024
Having grown up in Africa and done many game drives over the years, we found this one a very poor experience. Firstly the vehicle was not ideal, just being a pickup truck with the cab's rear window removed - this did not lend itself to easy clear communication from the guide. It was a chilly morning when we were collected and as we sat at the game reserve gate for registration we enviously looked at all the other vehicles who had provided blankets to their guests. Our guide, Corbin?, was a nice enough friendly guy but sorry to say not a very good guide. We drove past many fresh tracks that were not investigated resulting in missed sighting opportunities and he was not even equipped with a pair of binoculars which meant we had to to spot and identify a lot of the game ourselves. The cherry on the cake, or lack thereof, was when we stopped for morning tea, a bag of biscuits was torn open and scattered on a plate which were only accompanied by a tea bag dropped in a cup with lukewarm water. When requested, powdered milk was scooped out of a bag with Corbin's finger. After tea, like a horse heading for home, we bolted through the bush to the nearest gate gate without stopping and with zero effort made to spot game on the way out. All in all an extremely dissapointing experience and without a doubt the worst game drive I've ever been on. I would recommend you use anyone other than Batoka however in the interest of a balanced review I must add I left my mobile phone on their vehicle and they were kind enough to find it and return it to my lodge a few hours later.