Bush Lark Safaris
Bush Lark Safaris
4.5
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About
BUSH LARK SAFARIS is a Maun, Botswana based company offering Birding, Photographic and Tailor Made Safaris into some of Southern Africa’s finest wilderness areas including the now World Heritage listed Okavango Delta and the Moremi Game Reserve, the Okavango Pan Handle, Savute and Chobe River front and the semi arid environs of Nxai Pan, Makgadikgadi Pan and the Central Kalahari and beyond.
Maun, Botswana
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
7 reviews
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6
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PAW_Cheshire
1 contribution
Mar 2022
We travelled with Bush Lark Safaris as part as the Wildlife Worldwide Botswana's Rare Mammals tour going to Makgadikgadi National Park, Kalahari Central Game Reserve and Lake Ngami. The spacious tents were very comfortable with proper beds. Hot water was available whenever we needed it for showers and the food was delicious; we do not know how they could cook so well in the bush. The staff were marvellous, nothing was too much trouble. We were really pampered, leaving one place and finding the camp set up ready or us when we arrived at the next.
Written 8 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
suffdoc
england92 contributions
Oct 2022
10 nights mobile tent safari in Botswana; Superb wildlife viewing, organisation, camp and food. Three nights jn each of: Moremi Nature Reserve; the Kwai Concession and Savuti area of Chobe National Park.
Saw: Cheetahs; Leopards, many lions, African wild dogs, as well all the other usual wildlige, plus many beautiful birds, and special treat of seeing a serval in the wild after dusk!
Saw: Cheetahs; Leopards, many lions, African wild dogs, as well all the other usual wildlige, plus many beautiful birds, and special treat of seeing a serval in the wild after dusk!
Written 31 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Trevor S
Retford, UK143 contributions
Nov 2022 • Couples
Photography being our hobby my wife and I went for our third trip with Bushlark Safaris. The opportunities for up close wildlife photography are countless. The guide, Katembo, was extremely knowledgeable and got us repeatedly to the right place at the right time.
Written 13 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
pcsamburu1
Leicestershire, UK4 contributions
Jun 2019 • Couples
We spent a wonderful 10 days with Disho and Bush Lark Safaris in Northern Botswana. We have been many times before to Africa and Botswana, and Disho was as good a guide as we have met. His knowledge and enthusiasm and birding skills meant that not only did we see huge amounts of wildlife but the views themselves were stunning. We stayed in mobile camps run by Busk Lark and here the staff were brilliant, they couldn't have helped anymore and the food both for carnivores and vegetarians was excellent. Thanks very much to Disho and his team for a fantastic 10 days.
Written 6 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
John B
Suffolk, UK88 contributions
Jun 2022
The seven night mobile camping safari visiting Khwai Community Concession, Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve, booked through Wildlife Worldwide, was exceptional. Our guide Disho was outstanding at finding wildlife and the friendly camp staff provided comfortable accommodation and wonderful meals. The main target species of the tour was wild dogs so the time spent watching them hunt, feed and rest was the undoubted highlight. Other unforgettable sightings were hyena pups at a den, a stalking leopard, numerous lion encounters and an elephant silently and gently touching the bones of fallen comrade. Amongst the smaller animals seen were two night time servals, bat-eared foxes, black backed jackals and well over a hundred species of bird.
Written 29 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wiggy82
Maidstone, UK259 contributions
Jun 2019
My Wife and I went on the brilliant Wild Dogs trip to Botswana arranged by Wildlife Worldwide in June this year. The trip from start to finish was excellent.
Met upon arrival in Botswana by our tour guide and owner of Bush Lark Safaris, Disho Gabatsholwe. It is always a good sign to be welcomed with a broad smile and firm handshake and the impression that the person leading the tour knows his stuff - which was proved many times over during our trip.
After a comfortable transfer in a safari Land Cruiser we arrived in the Khwai Community Concession and our first mobile bush camp. Again we were greeted warmly by the staff who were to look after us during our trip. The camp was beautifully situated and was as described in the pre tour notes. This is an authentic African experience, with all your needs met without all the bells and whistles that are really not needed. Comfortable tents in excellent condition, a clean comfortable bed, a bush shower and toilet and an open sided mess tent serving excellent food cooked by the wonderful Mussa and served by the great gang of helpers.
We settled into our routine very quickly which consisted of an early wake up call with provision of some hot water for your morning freshen up, followed by hot porridge, coffee and toast around the camp fire before boarding our vehicles for our game drives. Mid morning is coffee and home baked biscuit break and then more game driving before coming back to a great lunch back at camp. After a hot bush shower and perhaps a little snooze its back to the game viewing around 3.30 pm until the sun goes down and sun downers are served in the bush - perfect!
The game viewing was excellent and highlighted the essential component of any safari - the guide. Disho, assisted by TJ and Albert, proved time and again their intimate knowledge of the bush where they have lived and worked all their lives. We experienced the best leopard sightings we have even had in any African country and finally put to bed our failure to see African Wild Dogs with a fabulous pack in superb morning light reflected in the Khwai river - magical!!!
The sightings were too numerous to mention here in detail, but we saw leopard (3 separate sightings), sable and roan antelope, honey badger, lion, huge buffalo herds, numerous bull elephants and numerous birds (65 different species including Pels Fishing Owl and Wattled Crane).
After 4 fabulous nights we transferred to Moremi Game Reserve. We left the camp staff dismantling the camp and wondering how they were to do this, travel to Moremi and meet us at the end of the day with the camp all set up and an excellent dinner waiting for us, a great feet of organisation and team work!
Moremi was to prove just as productive as Khwai. The highlight being giving privileged access to the den site of a large wild dog pack. We visited this site of a few occasions at different times of the day and witnessed some fantastic wild dog behaviour including the pack returning from hunting and feeding the 4 puppies and the ritual greeting that proceeds the pack leaving to hunt. We also go to speak to two researchers at the site that gave us an in depth profile of the pack and wild dogs across their research area.
Other memorable experiences include a 30 minute encounter with a magnificent male cheetah that posed in the fork of a tree as part of its morning scent marking routine!
On our final day we finally tracked down the large lion pride that we had heard roaring throughout the night. We watched a couple of females stalking some red lechwe, the lead male in full mating behaviour and left with the sound of the whole pride roaring an African farewell - an emotional farewell to a fantastic trip!
If you are seeking an authentic African safari experience, being looked after by the happiest staff and guided by a truly expert guide, then look no further than this trip which rates as one of our best ever African safaris in the past 30 years.
Met upon arrival in Botswana by our tour guide and owner of Bush Lark Safaris, Disho Gabatsholwe. It is always a good sign to be welcomed with a broad smile and firm handshake and the impression that the person leading the tour knows his stuff - which was proved many times over during our trip.
After a comfortable transfer in a safari Land Cruiser we arrived in the Khwai Community Concession and our first mobile bush camp. Again we were greeted warmly by the staff who were to look after us during our trip. The camp was beautifully situated and was as described in the pre tour notes. This is an authentic African experience, with all your needs met without all the bells and whistles that are really not needed. Comfortable tents in excellent condition, a clean comfortable bed, a bush shower and toilet and an open sided mess tent serving excellent food cooked by the wonderful Mussa and served by the great gang of helpers.
We settled into our routine very quickly which consisted of an early wake up call with provision of some hot water for your morning freshen up, followed by hot porridge, coffee and toast around the camp fire before boarding our vehicles for our game drives. Mid morning is coffee and home baked biscuit break and then more game driving before coming back to a great lunch back at camp. After a hot bush shower and perhaps a little snooze its back to the game viewing around 3.30 pm until the sun goes down and sun downers are served in the bush - perfect!
The game viewing was excellent and highlighted the essential component of any safari - the guide. Disho, assisted by TJ and Albert, proved time and again their intimate knowledge of the bush where they have lived and worked all their lives. We experienced the best leopard sightings we have even had in any African country and finally put to bed our failure to see African Wild Dogs with a fabulous pack in superb morning light reflected in the Khwai river - magical!!!
The sightings were too numerous to mention here in detail, but we saw leopard (3 separate sightings), sable and roan antelope, honey badger, lion, huge buffalo herds, numerous bull elephants and numerous birds (65 different species including Pels Fishing Owl and Wattled Crane).
After 4 fabulous nights we transferred to Moremi Game Reserve. We left the camp staff dismantling the camp and wondering how they were to do this, travel to Moremi and meet us at the end of the day with the camp all set up and an excellent dinner waiting for us, a great feet of organisation and team work!
Moremi was to prove just as productive as Khwai. The highlight being giving privileged access to the den site of a large wild dog pack. We visited this site of a few occasions at different times of the day and witnessed some fantastic wild dog behaviour including the pack returning from hunting and feeding the 4 puppies and the ritual greeting that proceeds the pack leaving to hunt. We also go to speak to two researchers at the site that gave us an in depth profile of the pack and wild dogs across their research area.
Other memorable experiences include a 30 minute encounter with a magnificent male cheetah that posed in the fork of a tree as part of its morning scent marking routine!
On our final day we finally tracked down the large lion pride that we had heard roaring throughout the night. We watched a couple of females stalking some red lechwe, the lead male in full mating behaviour and left with the sound of the whole pride roaring an African farewell - an emotional farewell to a fantastic trip!
If you are seeking an authentic African safari experience, being looked after by the happiest staff and guided by a truly expert guide, then look no further than this trip which rates as one of our best ever African safaris in the past 30 years.
Written 29 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ira Elizabeth B
1 contribution
May 2024 • Family
The experience was amazing and we have no regrets having taken this trip. We had a skilled guide and lovely camp staff. We saw an incredible number of species, including many that are endangered. Every day was special. The food was delicious and the accommodation was luxury camping. We felt safe and spoiled. The experience deserves 5 stars.
I have two concerns and for that reason I am rating this as 3 stars. The first was that as soon as we sent our wire deposit, their website went off-line. That was disconcerting. We had no idea what had happened and it was hard to track someone down as there was no answer on the listed phone number. Eventually their website was back online and it appeared that all was fine.
The second concern was that, though we paid Bush Lark for 2 nights in Victoria Falls, they failed to pay the hotel (oops!). We were asked to pay and were told they would reimburse us, just forward the invoice. Almost 2 months later and after many requests for reimbursement, we have yet to see those funds.
I suspect, being a small company that is competing against companies with greater advertising revenue, that their income is limited and basically 'what comes in, goes out'. It is also post COVID, so we do need to give a bit of leeway. I guess we will just have to consider those 2 nights/dinners as 'tips'.
All considered, yes, I would go again. The guide and camp staff made up for the financial issues.
I have two concerns and for that reason I am rating this as 3 stars. The first was that as soon as we sent our wire deposit, their website went off-line. That was disconcerting. We had no idea what had happened and it was hard to track someone down as there was no answer on the listed phone number. Eventually their website was back online and it appeared that all was fine.
The second concern was that, though we paid Bush Lark for 2 nights in Victoria Falls, they failed to pay the hotel (oops!). We were asked to pay and were told they would reimburse us, just forward the invoice. Almost 2 months later and after many requests for reimbursement, we have yet to see those funds.
I suspect, being a small company that is competing against companies with greater advertising revenue, that their income is limited and basically 'what comes in, goes out'. It is also post COVID, so we do need to give a bit of leeway. I guess we will just have to consider those 2 nights/dinners as 'tips'.
All considered, yes, I would go again. The guide and camp staff made up for the financial issues.
Written 25 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.