Pungwe Safari Camp

Pungwe is a very special place..totally unfenced, integrating with nature. The staff have all been with Pungwe for a long time(that in itself says loads.), providing the best service ever.The food was top notch! Michel is a great story teller, willingly sharing many interesting tales . We had lots of wind and rain on our trip, but this did not take away from the amazing time we had…hot water bottles at our feet for the night…wow. Great sightings.

Mixed feelings on our stay and Pungwe - we have been on many safaris and Pungwe delivered on some points (the camp set up) but failed on others (hosting and guiding). + the camp is great, very low key, no electricity/wifi as advertised and just what we wanted (kids not so impressed!) + tents simple but comfortable beds, plenty of hot water for showers also + breakfasts/brunches were really great + lovely chat with the host during the first brunch, engaged with our girls nicely + the kitchen ladies were super friendly, made a cake for our youngest even though we said it wasn't her actually birthday (trip was her 10th birthday trip, however!) + the Manyeleti is a good reserve, too many vehicles at some points yet the last 2 drives we barely saw anyone else and had some good animal encounters - the complete lack of welcome or warmth on arrival. We were a little behind schedule so I think the guide Never was stressed to get the afternoon drive going for the other 3 visitors, which is fair enough, but we barely got a hello, just a 'we need to get going quickly'. No welcome, no welcome drink, no introductions, not shown around - lack of hosting and genuine personal touch. Following on from the above, apart from the camp host joining for the one brunch there was no host present, a lack of warmth and personality within camp. Usually you have your guide and camp host - and that seems to be the case usually reading the reviews of Pungwe - but this time Never was both and didn't fulfil either role particularly well, he was not really very engaging nor enthusiastic - the guiding was lacking in enthusiasm and motivation, felt like he was going through the motions. Not impressed with his driving also, disturbing resting animals a couple of times by getting too close and driving aggressively at a slightly moody elephant that ran off in distress, definitely unnecessary and unsettling. We had very high hopes of Pungwe and some of them were met, but ultimately we were disappointed by the lack of warmth and missing personal touch.

Unique intimate bush experience which allowed us to get a real feel for the bush without western comforts. Whilst it didn't have the amazing scenic views of some other lodges was rustic and felt authentic. Michel the host was friendly and knowledgeable which added to the experience. Food was very impressive. Game viewing was good, seeing a large range of animals (including close encounters with Rhinos, Lions, and Wild Dogs). Despite this we didn't appreciate our guide Isaac being overly aggressive in flushing out a juvenile Leopard from the thicket. There was no need to push the safari vehicle to its limits in a rough area and herd the poor leopard with the car and then get out of the vehicle trying to find it on foot. Being less intrusive and more conservation minded would have been better. Other area of improvement would be the reservations process (res manager was slow and disorganised in confirming booking and managing the process) and the guide being more transparent regarding drinks (he offered us a sundowner during safari which he intimated was complementary but didn't turn out to be). Overall we recommend Pungwe for a unique safari experience.

A magical setting with great staff but any game lodge must be heavily judged on the game viewing experience....sadly we were rained out so can not rate this accurately... I look forward to when we can go back to hopefully give Pungwe the 5 star rating it desrves