Classic Southern African Safari

Absolutely awesome experience – better than we imagined! We spent time in Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, the Okavango Delta and Cape Town. The service, guides, lodgings and experiences we had in each location were exceptional. This safari travel company and our travel planner made everything easy – we were greeted each step of the way, enabling us to enjoy our African adventure without the normal stress of traveling in another country. In Zimbabwe, we experienced majestic Victoria Falls both from the air and a guided tour through the park. We enjoyed a sunset dinner cruise on the Zambezi River. Our room at the Ilala Lodge was picture perfect and comfortable, plus we could see the mist rising from the falls. In Chobe National Park, we went on numerous game drives and boat tour with a dedicated guide. The Ngoma Safari Lodge was the most visually extravagant place we ever stayed.  The view walking into the lodge literally takes your breath away as you look down at the Chobe River with herds of zebras, giraffes and antelopes moving between a small watering hole close to Ngoma Lodge and the river. Combine that with great location to Chobe National Park, exceptional guides, thoughtful and well-trained staff, delicious dinners and wonderful rooms with incredible views and you have the perfect safari location. In the Okavango Delta we saw so much wildlife (inlcuding a numerous lions and African Wild dogs and their pups) and were again blessed with wonderful guides, great staff, and lovely rooms in an amazing location at Sable Alley in the Khwai Reserve. Cape Town gave us an opportunity to relax at the boutique hotel and enjoy winery tours and a peninsula tour, as well as amazing restaurants.

Originally, I tried to work out an itinerary myself using online review and travel books, but became concerned about arranging transportation and guides. Then I contacted several different travel agencies. This travel planner quickly responded. She made everything easy for us. She worked with us on locations, desired experiences, dates and cost. We really wanted to see Botswana’s Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta. Two other companies were trying to steer us away those areas due to cost and availability, but our travel planner was able to make it happen for us. She took care of absolutely everything from lodging, car and in-Africa air travel, tours, guides, and even restaurant reservations for us in Cape Town. Amazing personalized service.

This company makes you feel very pampered and special. Our travel planner made time to meet us in Victoria Falls (her home base). In honor of our 30th wedding anniversary, the travel company surprised us with a complimentary dinner and bottle of wine at our Victoria Falls hotel, which had one of the best restaurants in Victoria Falls.

       I like to think of myself as a low maintenance girl, but the truth is, I’m not. And that’s ok. Work hard play hard.  So when I, with my parents, husband and daughter decided to take the trip of a lifetime to South Africa, every detail was really important.  We knew we wanted a mix of a Safari vacation with a visit to Capetown.  For the Safari, all I had heard about was Kruger National park and then nothing else.  My entire view of SA was really what I knew through friends I met during their visits to the US. I found this travel agent on Zicasso and, although she didn’t have that many reviews, she beat out two other well-known companies because of her attention to detail, her exceptional hotel recommendations and her anticipation of what we might need. 

       For example, when looking for Safari lodges to stay at, she asked whether we were ok being in the malaria zone because my daughter is 10 and parents are older.  I had no idea the park was in the malaria zone and none of the other travel agents mentioned this to me! Instead, our agent found us a fantastic 5 star lodge in Welgevonden reserve (Mhondoro Game Lodge) where we had the absolute best guide and staff ever. She also booked us on a charter flight from Johannesburg to the reserve and back, and then the domestic flights from Johannesburg to Capetown and back (we had already booked the international flights on our own).  During our trip, our agent even went online and checked us in for our flights! She also arranged for executive meet and greet services for all our intra-country transfers which helped a ton.  Our travel agent also did an excellent job of booking all road transfers for us and every driver was at least 10 minutes early - we never had to wait - and super friendly and helpful.   She told all hotels, restaurants, etc. that I was gluten-free, she was always available via WhatsApp during our vacation and we even met her for lunch while out for a day tour of Stellenbosch & the winelands - so nice to put her pretty face to a name. 

       All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend this agent and this travel team for any travel in Southern Africa (in addition to S. Africa, I believe she also does Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and some other southern African countries). This travel agent has set an extremely high standard and I wish I could just take her back home with me to organize the rest of my life!

Zicasso matched us with two excellent travel agents who were both professional, responsive, and knowledgeable. We selected this travel company. Our agent, Richelle, worked with us to design an itinerary that transformed our wish list into an incredible African journey. Her prompt responses to our questions or needs were greatly appreciated.

We were attempting to see a lot of South Africa and Namibia in only two weeks. Throughout our trip, the accommodations, transfers, guides, restaurants, flights, and activities that Richelle had arranged or suggested were superb. She helped us create a portal for our trip that served as a source of information, pick-up times, e-tickets, and things like our allergies that restaurants knew ahead of time. Additionally, she was there for us as we were traveling in case we had a problem or question. We can't say enough about her professionalism, patience, and genuine concern that our vacation would be everything we hoped for.

Our itinerary was ambitious, but Richelle's preparation made it possible. First, we spent three days at Marataba. The accommodations, food, and staff were first-rate. Our guide on the safaris was excellent and the variety of game we saw was impressive.

The next part of our trip was in Cape Town. We arrived in a storm that the locals called "the storm of the century". There was extensive damage and some loss of life as well. While the storm certainly curtailed some activities, the following days had brilliant sunshine. We had a great time visiting the V&A Waterfront, a colony of African penguins at Boulders Beach, enjoying the gorgeous coastal scenery along Chapman's Peak Drive, and a too-short visit to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Our accommodations at the hotel in Sea Point were excellent for location and the professional staff.

After three days in Cape Town, our guide drove us for about an hour to the Cape Winelands. We arranged for two wine tastings in Stellenbosch. The winery was outstanding for the beautiful views and excellent wine. We also saw zebra and impala in the field just in front of the outdoor verandah. We had lunch at a boutique hotel and winery with spectacular views and delicious wine and food. Our accommodations at the hotel in Franschhoek were outstanding. The setting, service, food, and beautiful views were a highlight of our trip. Our room was large and beautifully appointed. An example of their generous hospitality was that all items in the minibar, including a bottle of wine produced at their winery, were gratis. We regretted having to leave after only one night's stay.

Our guide then returned us to the airport in Cape Town for our flight to Walvis Bay, Namibia. We were met by our driver at the airport to transfer us to the hotel in Swakopmund. The hotel was on the Atlantic Ocean and a perfect location to explore the town. The staff was top-notch. Warm, friendly, efficient, willing to help you arrange drivers, restaurant reservations, or figuring out how to work the TV remote.

After three days in Swakopmund, our excellent guide drove us to the lodge in the private Kulala Wilderness Reserve. Once again, the warm hospitality of the staff here and throughout our travels will stay with us for a long time. The lodge is a gateway to the magnificent dunes of Sossusvlei. Our guide was outstanding. He was an excellent driver over some awful roads and sand, and the depth and breadth of his knowledge were impressive. He cooked us a lovely chicken and salad lunch out in the desert. He drove us to Windhoek for our flight back to Johannesburg and our return home. 

There will be many wonderful things to remember about our journey in southern Africa, but Richelle's excellent guidance and the warmth of the African people are what will stay with us the longest.

3 Destination Safari Trip to South Africa and Botswana...  all logistics, transfers, airlines, reservations, excursions went off without a hitch, every thing flowed seamlessly. Our safari travel company and particularly agent did an excellent job pre-planning and sculpting trip to meet our needs and desires.  We wanted 9 day safari to various locations that had different terrains and bio-diversity, but wanted to be efficient with "travel times" and "travel days" to make use of limited 9 days.

Firstly, Kruger area in SA, our agent guided us away from some lodges and tented sites "inside the park" as one becomes limited to "on road" safari versus if at contiguous private concession [whereby animals freely roam from Kruger park into and out of concession] the safari guides will (and always do) take their Land Cruisers off road and into the bush, for example to find a leopard laying in the bush protecting his kill (water buck)... which this siting would never happen "on road" in the park.  Our agent and this company pushed us to Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp which was 5 stars and beyond all expectations; modern, clean, impeccable and beyond the call of duty service, and great guides (our guide was great and very knowledgeable). We saw the "magnificent 7" in the first 24 hours [the big 5 plus cheetah and wild dogs].

Secondly, we flew from Nelspruit to Livingston airport in Botswana, had driver take us from airport to river border, hand us off to a boat driver that took us across the river, then he handed us off to another driver that took us through the Botswana customs and then drove us to Kasane airport to meet a 3rd driver from Muchenje Lodge to drive us 50 minutes to the lodge.  All logistics worked perfectly (coordinated by our safari travel company). Muchenje Lodge was 4-star (not 5 star) because it is a bit aged [old bathroom, old toilet, old fixtures] but they make up for it in "safari lodge family atmosphere" and great management effort, buffet style family meals with other guests. Their safaris differed as we were limited to "on the road inside Chobe National Park) type safaris versus off-road. But abundance of hippos, elephants, giraffes here make it worth it.  Just on one afternoon track we saw 36 elephants (different sitings) and over 30 giraffes in just over 3 hours.

Thirdly, we wanted to try a different bio-diversity at Okavango Delta, so our travel company and our agent after much batting back and forth during the planning process, and planning for "bush flights" we selected Khwai Tented Bush Camp by African Bush Camps (they own many lodges and tented camps).  Five Stars, full amenities for a "tented site" very modern, and excellent first class cuisine, high teas, breakfasts and service. Our safari guide was great, friendly, and very knowledgeable. Lots of lions and leopards.

We departed by bush plane (coordinated by our travel company and agent) to Maun and then back to Cape Town.  The whole trip was planned impeccably, and went off without a hitch, the logistics of which I could have never have personally planned or procured by myself. I'm sure we paid a premium using first class travel agent, but it was worth it to just lay back and leave all the coordination to others.

Would we use this safari travel company again? Yes, I had this agent book us a subsequent trip from Cape Town to Victoria Falls for the weekend after this trip, and once again was first class and logistically efficient.