Somalisa Expeditions is set in the heart of Hwange National Park, and is known as the land of the giants for its big elephant herds. As an exact replica of the original Somalisa Camp, Somalisa Expeditions offers one of the most authentic ways to experience this exceptional wildlife haven.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
As soon as we arrived, lodge manager Taffy greeted us and said we treat all our guests as family and this is exactly how we were treated. The Safari and game viewing were outstanding. Ranger Dave knows the land inside out and is a wealth of information about the animals and their behaviours resulting in constant sightings. We were fortunate to see a pack of wild dogs on the hunt for dinner which was gruesome but amazing to see nature in it's rawest form. Back at the lodge, all of the staff continued to treat us as family. They love to chat, will help with anything and plenty of stories shared around the Bush TV (camp fire). The rooms are big and complete with all the luxury comforts. On a few occasions we had 10+ Elephants literally outside our room. The rooms did get quite hot during the afternoon sun but this was manageable with the fan that is provided. The eating safari was again 10/10, great variety and everything tasted incredible. You'd be challenged to leave hungry! Taffy, Dave and the teams made our experience one that we will never ever forget. We'd be back here in a heartbeat.
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Date of stay: January 2020
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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.
Response from tradeABC, Public Relations Manager at Somalisa Expeditions- African Bush Camps
Responded 27 Jan 2020
Good Day Ari, Thank you for taking the time to share this lovely review it is a delight to read. I will be sure to share it with our entire team. All the best until we meet again With Regards, The African Bush Camps Team
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Personally this was my favourite camp over our 2 week stay in Zimbabwe. Right from our arrival, you could feel the energy and enthusiasm of the staff. We loved the rustic feel of the camp despite all luxuries being available. The tents were very well appointed with an indoor/outdoor bathroom and running water along with international power sockets. The rooms were always in immaculate condition when we returned from our morning game drive and laundry was complimentary and returned the same day. The camp runs on solar power and as we were there in winter, we found the shower hottest in the afternoons and evening. Food was exceptional with our dietary requirements being met with ease. We loved the campfire area and watching the elephants drink from the pool after lunch. Ntando was an excellent, experienced guide who was able to anticipate animal sightings and positioning of the vehicle for the best vantage point for photography. He enabled us to have a front row seat in a lion kill of a wildebeest and we also had a fleeting sighting of a leopard. All the staff were great and we enjoyed having the guides join us during our meals, sharing their stories. Thank you Somalisa Expeditions for making our stay one to remember.
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Date of stay: July 2022
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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.
Response from African Bush Camps African Bush Camps, Marketing at Somalisa Expeditions- African Bush Camps
Responded 19 Sept 2022
Amazing! We appreciate your review and so happy to hear about your unforgettable stay, can't wait to see you again!
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Everything was perfect at the camp from start to finish. The camp offers a balanced experience in the wild. The tented rooms are very nice, with comfortable beds and lovely outdoor bathrooms. There is enough light (an issue in several camps) and power runs through the night. Hot and cold water available on tap, and the tap water is potable!! The best part was the hot water bottles (bush babies) in the bed and the jeep for those cold nights and mornings.
What more can one ask for? Well, the main tent is lovely to hang out in, and the waterhole area where the elephants come to drink daily (barely 10 ft away from guests) are amazing. The communal dinners were a blast as well. The camp has a lighter footprint than the more OTT lodges while still providing all the necessities and more.
The people really make the lodge and we had great interactions through out with our guide Ntando (and also Dixon who we spoke with a lot), host Aiden, boma staff Present and Gloria, and also housekeeping Fortunate and Gifford. All these people are brilliant at what they do and made sure we were extremely well taken care of. My best regards to Chef Tendai for providing the best meals of the trip, including a memorable bush lunch where a large herd of elephants walked by.
We had great sightings of lions/lion cubs, tons of elephants, hippo, hyena, antelope (kudu, sable, roan), zebra, ostrich, and a brief wild dog encounter. Lots of empty spaces as well due to the extreme cold, but that can’t be helped. One could hear the lions roaring, among other animals, through out the night!!!
It would be an honor to return here.
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Date of stay: July 2022
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Room Tip:Â Get Room 1 for the waterhole view
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.
Response from African Bush Camps African Bush Camps, Marketing at Somalisa Expeditions- African Bush Camps
Responded 19 Sept 2022
It would be an honour to have you again Tushar, thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We appreciate it!
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ABC certainly know how to run a good camp. This is a return visit as I like it so much it’s small do you get to know everyone. The camp is run by Star a lovely lady who certainly has the right name she is an absolute star. Staff & food good , the tents lovely with everything you need. Fresh drinking water always in your room plus hot water if you want tea or coffee, bath gel etc in room as is a safe & snacks You can sit on your deck & watch the animals come to the pool & drink. Guides great & some fantastic lion sightings, hyena & lots of elephants who sadly need more food so I hope now they have had rain. Meals are eaten all together so lots of chatting going on round the table. Breakfast is by the fire pit with fantastic sunrises. Thank you all I absolutely loved my stay. Hope I can return
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Date of stay: November 2023Trip type: Travelled solo
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.
Response from African Bush Camps African Bush Camps, Marketing at Somalisa Expeditions- African Bush Camps
Responded 15 Jan 2024
Hello Lola, we are thrilled to hear that you are a returing guest. We are always excited to see our extende African Bush Camps family members return. Thank you for your lovely review!
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My wife and I stayed here for 3 nights as part of a two-week Zimbabwe safari. This is part of African Bush Camps and as such is more towards the luxury end of the market in 'soft' safaris. It is situated in a beautiful grass valley and has luxury tented accommodation with a main tented dining / bar area and outside campfire area. Staff are friendly and proficient, special mention to Star, Perfect and Patience and the dancing chef! Food was excellent and more than plentiful. Safari guide was Charles, who was friendly and professional. Vehicle only safaris here mainly visiting water holes and surrounding bush. Lots of elephants and good lion sightings. Again, like most lodges stay for 3 nights to get the maximum out of your stay.
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Date of stay: September 2022
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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.
Response from African Bush Camps African Bush Camps, Marketing at Somalisa Expeditions- African Bush Camps
Responded 10 Nov 2022
Thank you for taking the time to share your review! We appreciate the special shout-outs and are pleased to hear about your experience. We hope to see you again
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So my husband and I travel to southern Africa as frequently as possible and have stayed at Somalisa in the past a few times and we absolutely love it it is a luxury tented camp. But this time we chose to stay at a more "traditional style" safari camp as we were bring 3 others along with us and wanted to them to experience a classic style safari.
We absoltuely loved this place so much!!!!! The tents are impeccable with all the comforts you can need. But not "over the top" as some luxury camps can be these days. We stayed in the family tent off the main gathering area - because we brought my niece along for her first safari experience, and were not sure how she would react to the environment. This tent (there are 2 next to each other) is actually on an elevated walkway off the main gathering area - this is ideal for families traveling together. The ambiance of the camp is wonderful, very traditional safari style the tents have comfortable beds and fine linens plenty of space to "spread out" This camp is just around the corner from Somalisa and lacks the waterhole that camp has in front of the tents from which you can sit and watch the elephants and other animals all day long, but all the same abundant and rich game is there, even elephants in camp at times.
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Date of stay: October 2020
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.
If I would have to name a camp as a model how a safari camp in the bush should be than this would be the perfect example: only six tents at good distance from each other, very good bedding. A veranda to sit and watch the elephants pass by. Tasteful decoration, in no way African kitsch but chosen with understatement and taste. High quality sanitairy products. A beautiful boma with comfortable seating furniture and good books. Sunbeds in front of a waterhole. Now the most important thing: incredible guides and incredible food. And if say incredible food I mean it. This was by far the best cooking I had on a 14 days Zimbabwe trip, and even the best food I can ever remember on any safari. Mindblowing. The guiding also was excellent allthough I must say that the concession often felt quite empty and there were long drives needed sometimes. But the experience of masses of thirsty elephants at the waterholes was more than a compensation for the long empty stretches. We also saw plenty of lions, sable, roan, oryx. No leopard, cheetah or wild dogs. What I really loved about this camp that they present their employees in a very nice way. This is not one of the "white" camps where you can still feel the apartheid past lingering. I emphasize this as I was quite shocked in some other camps run by white Zimbabweans who treat their employees in a different way. No this is friendly and heartwarming and non-discriminating camp, it seems. 100 % recommended allthough be warned: even in October it can be not only chilly but cold in Hwange. So take a very warm sweater even if you are coming in the hottest months. I cannot imagine how cold it must be in June/July here...
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Date of stay: October 2021
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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.
I had the opportunity to spend 3 nights at Somalisa Expeditions in Hwange and my stay was superb. The staff was extremely attentive and catered to my every need. The accommodations were comfortable and the lodge was tastefully decorated throughout. Of special interest was an open drinking trough for elephants to use, which they did with regularity. The guiding was excellent, resulting in awesome wildlife encounters. Cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed my stay. Highly recommended!
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Date of stay: March 2021
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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.
We visited Somalisa Expeditions for 4 nights in September 2024 as a couple celebrating our wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful stay. The tent was very comfortable, the hostess and the in house team anticipated all our needs and provided everything we would need. Laundry service was also top notch. A special mention to Star, Denford, Fortunate and Pleasant who were always serving us with big smiles. Dinner was always a lovely meal and the wine selection fab. My only feedback would be that more effort could be placed on providing lighter options for lunch (the meal was delicious but quite heavy!) especially considering theres an early breakfast and snacks before lunch, and snacks again at tea time and also with sundowners!
We had wonderful sightings at Somalisa. We were lucky that there were two prides of lions we went between, elephants everywhere, rich birdlife, lots of zebra, giraffes, hyena, impala and smaller wildlife that More took the time to teach us about. He's a wonderful guide, knowlegable and very obliging.
On our last night the team surprised us with a bottle of Champagne for our anniversary. This was a nice thought on behalf of the camp, we made lovely memories here and will of course return one day. x
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Date of stay: September 2024
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
Response from African Bush Camps African Bush Camps, Marketing at Somalisa Expeditions- African Bush Camps
Responded 6 days ago
Hi Aupert, thank you so much for your lovely review! We are delighted to hear that you had a wonderful safari experience with amazing wildlife sightings. We appreciate your feedback and bringing this concern to our attention. We will be sure to address it and to offer you an even better experience next time!
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We met our Somilisa Expeditions guide, Dixon, at the entrance of Hwange National Park, and from minute one, we were on the journey and experience of a lifetime. After settling into his vehicle, we began our first game drive through the national park to our lodge. Lo and behold, 20 minutes in and Tari spotted a leopard! Shortly after, we spotted a splendid pair of Nile. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Dixon packed the best damn veggie wraps ever with cold Zambezi beer. Before we reached our lodge, we had seen the leopard mentioned above and crocs along with zebra elephants, kudu (my adopted totem), zebra, African fish eagle, water-buck, and many other beautiful animals. Needless to say, this was an omen of things to come.
When we arrived at the lodge, we were greeted by our host, Aiden, a consummate professional. Aiden, Gloria, Present, and Fortunate began the pampering right away. Fortunate walked us through our lovely tent, with the necessary charging components, a great bed, shower, carafes of water, and biscuits! We had a wonderfully presented, tasty meal with suggested wine pairings that evening which made our first day with the Somilisa Expeditions team excellent! That service level only improved, as did our drives with Dixon.
Dixon knows the animals as species, family groupings, and individuals in that area. He is a wonderful guide who ensured we saw everything we wanted, including lions with their cubs, sable antelope, giraffe, and another leopard. Dixon is also very knowledgeable of plant life, its contributions to the ecosystem, and culinary and medicinal uses. He also took the time to share his tribe's - Tonga - relationship with the land, plant life, and animals. He was an excellent guide. Notably, on our last drive with Dixon, we saw an intimate reunion of a male lion with his cubs and their mother and a picturesque view of sable, eland, waterbuck, kudu, and impala graving together with the backdrop of a beautiful African sunset and a double rainbow. Hollywood couldn't have created a better ending.
We had a terrific and memorable time at Somalisa Expeditions!
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Date of stay: June 2022
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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.
Response from African Bush Camps African Bush Camps, Marketing at Somalisa Expeditions- African Bush Camps
Responded 19 Sept 2022
Hi Mark, thank you for taking the time to share your review. We're glad you enjoyed your stay at Somalisa expeditions , what a beautiful ending - we're happy to have ended on that note and hope to see you back in the near future
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Hi there,
It is lovely that you want to come and visit us at Somalisa Expeditions. Please email leah @ africanbushcamps. com for a quote and help to plan an amazing safari.
Thanks so much and best wishes
Hi there,
It is lovely that you want to come and visit us at Somalisa Expeditions. Please email leah @ africanbushcamps. com for a quote and help to plan an amazing safari.
Thanks so much and best wishes
There are more places to choose from in the Hwange National Park area.
LOCATION
ZimbabweMatabeleland North ProvinceHwange National Park
NUMBER OF ROOMS
6
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