I have just come back to Australia from 2 months travelling in Africa. Part of this time was a personal tour organised by Discover Africa just for me. I had found them online when I was researching safaris and made contact with them, as their tours looked like they covered the sort of places I was interested in. I don’t like big tour groups and would have been happy in a small group, but Susan Swanpoel replied and said they’d organise whatever I wanted, just for me. Susan was super helpful with the organisation by email and a couple of Zoom calls. She designed the trip around my wishes of where I wanted to visit and was super helpful when my friend decided to join me for half the trip. She worked within my budget and changed things as necessary to suit me/us better. Everything was set out well, on paper, and also on a phone app that could be accessed offline whilst we were travelling. It may not have been the cheapest option for such a trip, but it was definitely excellent value for money!

The trip started in South Africa and went up through Victoria Falls and Botswana and on to Tanzania. Everywhere I travelled, I could rely on being met at the airport and helped through to either my next flight or my next accommodation. Airports can be quite intimidating; it was really great to have someone meet me. I was travelling on my own for half the trip and always felt safe and well looked after. The hotels and safari lodges Susan had suggested were great. All the safari lodges were full board and were absolutely wonderful. I especially loved Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana and Rufiji River Lodge in Tanzania.

Deidre's Experience

I started in South Africa in January, and it was February by the time I was in the Serengeti and the wildebeest were on the southern part of their migration. We saw so many thousands! Plus lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, so many birds – you name it, we saw it! February was a good time to be in Tanzania, because it is between two wet seasons. The guide we had for the Serengeti and Ngorongoro was really experienced and looked after us super well. It is an amazing part of the world! The small plane flights between safari locations in Tanzania were excellent, and saved us so much time (and body shaking), as road travel is very slow over there, even when it looks like it’s not that far (the roads are pretty bad).

I loved the whole trip and would not hesitate to use Discover Africa again if I ever revisit the African continent for another tour.

Deidre travelled to South Africa in January Zimbabwe in January Botswana Safari in January Tanzania in February and wrote the East and Southern African Ultimate Safari Review on 12 March 2025

The trip included: Chobe River Boat Cruise Victoria Falls Vacation Arusha Safari Dar Es Salaam Travel African Safari Big Five Chobe Game Lodge Shongwe Lookout Arusha Villa Ngorongoro Farm House Rufiji River Camp