Hideaways

Justin helped craft the perfect honeymoon for us! There are so many options when it comes to choosing a tour operator that I feel so fortunate we landed on Discover Africa. The experience felt seamless from start to finish. Our trip felt perfectly tailored to what we were looking for. You can tell that they truly listened to your situation and crafted the trip specifically for you. Planning an African safari can easily feel overwhelming, but Justin gave us nothing but confidence. The lodges, staff, guides, transportation, every aspect was top tier. There was constant communication from everyone on the ground to make sure you were where you needed to be on each leg of the trip. Save yourself the option overload and set up a call. No harm in getting a quote and taking it from there!

We had an amazing time, and loved every minute. The tour was very well planned, and dealt with the many changes we made with ease.

It was an extensive planning process to put together a 24 day safari and adventure trip covering Victoria Falls, Mana Pools and Hwange Park in Zimbabwe, followed by a wonderful experience in Botswana on the Chobe River and Okvango Delta. There were flight considerations and a few changed plans along the way. I was worried that I was becoming a bore but no, Adelle was just as excited to plan my trip as I was to go on it. Finally the day arrived and I boarded my flights and arrived in Victoria Falls after 36 hours of travel. There waiting for me was my shuttle driver and the hotel was amazing. The next day the same level of service and off to Mana Pools I went. Same wonderful level of service.

But 1.5 days later I fell in the middle of the night and fractured two discs in my back. The care and support I received from Adelle is what got me through what could have turned into a tragedy. She was there for me every step of the way and continued to check in with me after I was finally safe at home. I don’t know what I would have done without her. A 5 star rating is simply not enough. Discover Africa and Adelle deserve a million stars. Once my back is healed we will begin the planning process again. They have won not only my repeat business but also my heart. I cannot sing their praises loudly enough.

Discover Africa and their trip advisor Megan Warrington did a fantastic job arranging our trip to Cape Town, Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), and the Chobe River and Kwara Camp in Botswana. We originally planned this trip a few years ago, but had to cancel. Megan was able to resurrect our itinerary with a few improvements this year. The trip details they provided were very accurate and helped us in our planning (and packing). All the transfers/transportation went without a hitch. Greeters met us at each location and guided us to the appropriate next step.

All the accommodations they booked us in were top notch; better than we anticipated. In particular, they had booked us into a camp in the Okavanga delta run by the Kwando Safari company. When they Kwando company ended up closing the camp for renovations Megan made sure that Kwando upgraded our camp and we ended up at the amazing Kwara camp, their flagship location, with no additonal cost or bother for us. (That camp was amazing great wildlife, staff, food and “tents”.)

I would recommend Discover Africa and Megan to anyone planning a trip to the Southern Africa area for a safari or city visit.

I had 2 months lead time to plan a Botswana safari so I googled tour companies. After emailing a few, I chose Discover Africa. Susan Veldman responded quickly and was able to figure out an 8 night safari, with stays in 3 different camps. Each one was amazing. The kindness of each and every staff member at all 3 was heartwarming. The bush flights between camps were so easy once we did our initial one. I was stressed about the suitcase and weight restrictions, but it was really a non-issue.

They don’t measure or weigh anything. I had purchased 30” roller duffles but then saw it was 24”, so changed to an over the shoulder bag. The 30” would have been fine. Each camp also provides mosquito repellent so no need to take. The food was absolutely delicious and so much: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, cocktail hour, and dinner. The trip was surreal. After a week, we felt like we were gone a month!

Amanda's Botswana Safari Adventure

We had been thinking about a Southern Africa safari trip for a few years and had some valuable input from Zimbabwean friends who had been on tour many times. So we had a general idea of when and where but needed guidance on the finer details and options, as well as someone to put it all together once we’d agreed on an itinerary (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana). This was possibly going to be our one and only trip of this type so we wanted to get it right!

I saw an ad for a tour similar to what I had in mind so contacted Discover Africa (DA). Devryn was able to clearly outline his preferences that would meet the brief. He suggested the order of travel, how long at each place, what type of accommodation (generally getting better as we progressed), how to get from A to B, etc., via several email conversations.

We had a Zoom meeting with him before finalising the plan, where we were able to ask further questions, which he was able to answer confidently and competently, given he had been to these places himself.

We felt confident enough with his recommendations to lock it in 12 months ahead of the trip.
Naturally, you anticipate some things will go wrong on tour, e.g., a missed connection, a guide not turning up, or accommodation not being as described, and we were mentally prepared for that.

Garry's Safari Experience

However, every connection was made on time and the accommodation exceeded our high expectations!

The Safari experience itself (which Devryn obviously couldn’t guarantee) was superb. The guides from the lodges we used were experienced, informative, respectful of the animals, and considerate of what we had and hadn’t seen previously and so every day (twice a day!) was another trip into the unknown. Everyone hopes to see the Big 5, which we did early on. After that it was a matter of literally sitting back in the jeep and seeing what would turn up. The birdlife was better than I expected (the lilac-breasted roller was a favourite), and seeing small animals like mongooses (4 different species), a chameleon and a steenbok were unexpected highlights.

The food was varied at the various lodges, with usually a buffet of 3 main courses of western-style cuisine (although I ate wildebeest, crocodile, kudu and springbok when it was offered). We finished off with 3 nights in Cape Town to let the Safari experience sink in, which was a very good move.

So in summary, we did some initial research, worked out a plan with Devryn, and he nailed the brief. We’ll never know if it could have been even better, but I seriously doubt it.