Tuli Wilderness - (Serolo and Mohave Camps) — Hotel in Central District

We have just returned from a 5 night stay at Mohave Bush Camp and we are so sad to have left. We had been previously in April 2021 and it was just as good as the first trip. ||We went with a large group of friends all with children and the staff are so good and accommodating even with the children. ||On arrival we were met by one of the rangers that then takes you to the Mohave camp. You follow them in your own vehicle - it is preferable to have 4x4 but one of the vehicles in our convoy was a 2x4 and managed fine. I would just reccommend a high clearance vehicle. It was a 45min drive to Mohave camp where we were met by such a friendly team including Gaby and Tips. ||On arrival there is the amazing lapa area (kitchen is off the lapa) with the pool and a separate fire boma area. ||We were taken to room number 1 which is the smallest room but more than sufficient for myself and my husband to share a double bed and our sons camp cot. Unit 1 & 2 both have an open air ensuite bathroom which is such a beautiful experience. Rooms are spotless and cleaned daily. Although there is no electricity they provide you with lanterns that are lit for you as soon as dark is approaching and they put on the already charged LED light in your room when they do turn down service for the night! |I would suggest you bring some kind of a power bank if you need to charge a phone and a rechargeable fan in the hotter months. ||Game drives were some of the best we have ever been on. The guides Jou and Norman will come through to discuss with you daily about what time they suggest we go for a drive and we will work out what is best (especially with us having to try and fit around some of the kids). |The wealth of knowledge from Jou was amazing. He is the most talented ranger when it comes to tracking animals. We were so fortunate to see so many incredible animals such as lion, leopard, spotted hyena, brown hyena, bat eared foxes, jackals, porcupines, African wild cat, civet, elephants, pels fishing owl just to name a few. |The night drive is not to be missed. You see a completely different African Bush at night.. all the nocturnal animals come out that you would never normally see during the day. ||We opted for a self catering option for food. The fire is lit every afternoon so if you need to braai it is as easy as putting the meat on the grill. The kitchen is fully equipped with all the cutlery and crockery you need. There is a medium sized gas chest fridge to store food and a gas stove and oven if you need it. All dishes get cleaned by Gaby which is such a blessing especially with our large group.  We were told Gaby is an amazing and talented cook and she marinated and braaied our meat to absolute perfection the one evening when we knew we were going to be back late from a game drive. ||The attention to detail by this team is really special. From the perfectly set table at night, the lanterns scattered through the camp, the perfectly raked sand as you enter Mohave and not to mention the effort of the rangers to look for animals you would love to see - you really must experience it yourself. ||The beauty of Mohave is that it is the perfect balance of luxury and rustic, authentic bush experience. While there is no electricity, they have still accommodated for a 220V outlet off the lapa area for charging small things such as a phone or camera. Should you absolutely need signal there is a bit of MTN and cell c signal but this fluctuates. |The fact that the camp is completely wild and is not fenced means that animals can come through the camp at any time. It is amazing to see animals come through to the small watering hole infront of the lapa. For anyone worried about animals coming through the camp, the staff and rangers do stay close by (+-200m away), they have provided air horns for an emergency and there is a radio in the kitchen for emergency situations. The kitchen also has a door so if you really needed to get into a safe place from the lapa area then the kitchen would be more than sufficient - we definately did not need this! We loved hearing the sounds of the bush and the animals around us. ||We cannot...

Can not recommend this place! Our experience in general was horrible and discriminating. The safari tents have a nice touch, but the majority of the staff and the owner Stuart are maybe the most unprofessional people we have ever met. They just couldn’t take any negative feedback either and only were able to make different kinds of threats and false accusations via rude and aggressive emails (!) after our stay and tried to threat and bully us to pay for a service that was not agreed upon nor its price was never told to us during our stay — despite us asking about it several times. I.e. the owner threatened to defame us etc., if we’d post any negative reviews anywhere etc. He also immediately called us with the ”R-word” because he had heard that we were not pleased about the staff’s behavior nor their unprofessional practices. We have the emails as proof. About this service, we asked about the price several times, but it was not told and we then especially verbally declined to the staff to pay anything extra for it. However, on the next morning they all of a sudden provided the service in question (without anybody telling/saying anything about it to us), so we were left on the presumption that it was complimentary. During our stay we also even asked from the staff to call to the owners, as we would’ve liked to speak with them about all the issues we were having (and also about this service in question), but they downright refused. The owners were not on the premises on the whole time of our stay. One of the problems was that we also have some special dietary requirements, but the chef brought us wrong food three times, and the chef was also continuosly late from the told lunch and dinner schedules. The reserve in itself is nice, but its roads are pretty badly rocky and it was very empty of game at the time of our visit. The food was ok, but very simple low-cost items (carrots, mince, cabbages etc), so it seemed that the profits were maximised. No wifi anywhere on the premises, either. Our guide was a good tracker but their senior guide Joe was downright blatant and rude with no professional manners. Also, do not leave all your credit card details for them to a piece of paper, like they’ll ask you to do, if you’d like to pay by card, that is a very unsafe practice. Pay only with cash in Pula, they’ll rip you off with x1.5 exhange if you pay in rands. Or ask for a secure credit card payment link, so you can pay safely by card and your cc details will stay safe. There are very nice places in this area, but unfortunately this was not one of them. We had high hopes because of the good, previous reviews, but we were gravely disappointed. The owners will probably reply to this review and deny everything (among other accusations) but I have no reason but only to tell the truth of our personal experience, so that other people could avoid the bad feelings and disappointment. We are also a women pair and we felt discriminated and received rude behavior from the staff which was clearly not trained well enough to handle either more demanding nor minority customers. If you don’t have any expectations, this place may work for you, but if you do and would like to have professional staff etc., just go elsewhere. UPDATE 3.5.2023 the owner Stuart (unfortunately) ran into us in Johannesburg O.R.Tambo airport and came to shout and harass us in public! He also smelled of alcohol. It’s hard to be more unprofessional that this man and he definitely should not be in tourism business at all. A total disgrace in every manner possible. EDIT 7.5.2023:The owner of the place has replied to my honest review as expected, with downright lying about everything that went through and in total denial about his own and his unprofessional staff’s outrageous behavior. Everything has happened as I have wrote. The owner just couldn’t accept the fact that his ”business” with unethical practices did not pass our pedantic sieve of possible cooperation partner and therefore now childishly tries to defame me and my partner by telling lies. Do your own...

Tuli wilderness is one of the most amazing places on the planet, and I genuinely can’t recommend this place enough. One of the last true wilderness places, you’ll go for the animals and fall in love with everything else.

As there are no fences between reserves, meaning game sightings of specific animals are not a given, we went for 12 nights to maximise our chances. In the first 3 days we saw more game than we could have dreamed of. Cheetah cubs, 100’s of elephants, lions feeding and hunting, and everything in-between. Even the quieter game drives are just magnificent, you get to appreciate the landscape and the smaller animals.

The location and the camps are amazing. We stayed in both camps, and spent a night in eagle deck view. For anyone going in a group, I couldn’t recommend Mohave bush camp enough. Some of the best animal encounters we had were right by the camp, including watching 20 elephants drink at the water hole. The huts themselves are lovely, with hot running water and drinking water in all the taps. The 12 day break from the internet was something I never new I wanted, but I think not having Wi-Fi is a genius decision. Our time in camp was filled with great conversation and animal watching, instead of screen watching.

The staff at Tuli are just amazing. All three of our guides were absolutely fantastic, Mahindi felt like one of our group almost immediately, Joe was just the loveliest and wisest man I’ve ever met, and Victor must be the smartest man on the planet and gave us the best elephant experience of the trip. There isn’t a single complaint you could make about any of these guys. The camp staff were just as amazing and took care of us better than I could take care of myself. The food was absolutely delicious despite the import bans in Botswana at the moment. We all felt like one big family during our stay, and have made connections that will never fade.

The owners, Julie and Stuart, are just two of the sweetest and most accommodating people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. We had a few problems during our stay that were not connected to the camps or tuli in anyway, and Julie was so supportive and helpful along with the rest of the staff who all worked very hard to help get a lost bag back. They also just made us feel so wanted and looked after. Without these two and without the amazing guides, chefs and camp staff the trip wouldn’t have been half of what it is. There genuinely isn’t a single complaint that could be made about this place.

Tuli wilderness will always hold a special place in my soul, and I will be returning to this place of pure magic as soon as possible. There truly is no better option for a wild safari. Please go and support this true...