Botswana Safari Chobe National Park

The trip was fantastic. The level of service and personalized attention at each location met and exceeded expectation, which is a rare thing. The number of problems or issues was very limited and and no time did anything seem out of control or limit our enjoyment.

One bit of feedback is the information provided was voluminous and very generalized. More specifics would have been appreciated. There is a great deal of information regarding each camp that would have been valuable to know.  For example, Leadswood and Shinde allowed us to put our tips on a credit card and once we let Johannesburg, access to the right currency was limited, causing some anxiety. We had full power at all camps if not all the time, for enough of the day, charging was easy. We hauled a lots of battery backup, burning luggage weight necessarily. The trip to Victiria Falls was a little stressful, because we never felt we knew what was going on. We left at 9am and did not get to camp until 4pm...just in time to drop our stuff and take a boat ride. We were then told we were leaving at 9:30 the next morning for the airport. They set up a private tour of Victoria Falls, which was perfect, but the process of getting to the airport was far more involved than we expected involving a long drive with a border crossing and hand off to another van. Had we know what we were in for, we would have felt better about how our time was spent, as it tuned out we got everything in.

None of this got in our way, but knowing would have simplified things.

I just got back from a wonderful two-week trip to Southern Africa and want to thank Zicasso for putting me in touch with the travel agency and Shannon, who did a wonderful job of constructing my dream trip. Everything was top-notch and well-executed, and Shannon was friendly, responsive (I'm very picky and made many revisions), and a great communicator. 

When there was a wrinkle (which fortunately was very rare), she was right on top of it (in one case a lodge had booked us into their other property and tried to move us there, but Shannon showed them proof that we had booked over a year in advance and insisted we stay in the original property. They honored that).

Here is my review of specific aspects of the trip:

Cape Town. I can't say enough about the hotel, which was one of the best we'd ever stayed in. The property itself (it's a very modern and beautiful boutique hotel steps from the beach) and the customer service were wonderful. We stayed for four nights and I can't imagine a better place to stay in Cape Town. We spent one night in the wharf area before coming to the hotel and I'm so glad we opted to stay near the beach instead. Having a beautiful ocean view and being able to walk to the beach to watch the sunset every night was incredible. 

Also, the staff were over-the-top amazing; they were so flexible and accommodating (if you wanted breakfast early or after the regular serving period, they would happily oblige; if you walked in with take-out, they would plate it for you and bring it to your room. They would also pick up take-out and deliver it to you). 

There were also many special touches - free wine, free, stocked mini-bar, free hot cocoa, and popcorn that they would deliver to your room any time - we felt very cared for. One of the managers led us on a guided hike up Lion's Head mountain, which was super-fun (he not only brought tea and snacks, but is an excellent photographer and took beautiful photos of us that he shared). I highly recommend the activity to anyone who is reasonably fit (the views at the top are outstanding). We also did a peninsula tour and an all-day food and culture walking tour the next, and highly recommend our guide - she was delightful and fun.

The lodge. Wow, I had read all the five-star reviews of this lodge on a private reserve near Kruger before we left and wondered how it could ever meet such high expectations, but it exceeded them. This was more like 10-star than 5-star. The staff (much like the staff at our hotel in Cape Town) were so friendly, professional and responsive. They would do anything to make you happy. And like them, all of the warmth and special treatment felt genuine rather than fake or forced. 

The food was amazing (and plentiful - all meals, alcohol and high tea were included), but what set this lodge apart was the amazing rangers (we were lucky to have the head ranger and his tracker). I learned so much from them about animal behavior as they were incredibly knowledgeable (and extremely respectful) of the animals. As a result, we saw all of the big five multiple times (my favorites were seeing three leopards and seven lions, including both male lions sleeping after a kill and female lions slowly hunting Cape buffalo in the early evening). We met people at this lodge who had stayed at multiple other five-star lodges and all said this one was the best, which I can believe.

Victoria Falls. The lodge was the number one rated lodge in Victoria Falls and though it was very nice, it did honestly pale by comparison to our lodge near Kruger (the outdoor bathtub and pool were both dirty and not usable. I'm not sure how one would remedy this, other than to re-order the trip so one ends in Sabi Sands). 

The staff were nice and the food was wonderful, and like our other lodge, activities were included (the guided trip to Victoria Falls was very informative as was the private "sundowner" river cruise we had on our arrival night. We saw male elephants engaging in "horseplay" in the water, a trip highlight. However, the game drive (no tracker and a much smaller park) paled in comparison to those we did in Sabi Sands). 

The optional (extra charge) elephant interaction at their sanctuary was really amazing and we highly recommend it to anyone staying in Victoria Falls. The falls were about a third dry because we went after the winter dry season. Shannon had warned us about this in advance, so they were a little underwhelming, but I'm still glad we went because we wanted to see them and weren't sure if we'd get back to this part of the continent on another trip. If you want to visit the falls, be sure to look at photos of how they look during certain months so your expectations are met. 

Chobe River Cruise (Namibia).  I'm so glad we did this cruise because it was a great way to end our trip on a really high note. We originally wanted to book the Zambezi Queen (which is bigger, more modern, and more luxurious), but only the Chobe Princess was available for our dates and we ended up getting the smallest (four rooms) of the three CPs. I thought it might be underwhelming, but I was wrong. We had a great time on our small ship with six members of a German family. 

The staff were wonderful (amazing food from Chef Edgar!) and "game drives" on the river turned out to be a game-changer. Although we saw many animals during our land-based safaris, we did see different behavior from the water (elephant herds crossing the river; baboons at play for 30 minutes at a time, whereas on land, the baboons would run away; huge groups of giraffe in an open field). 

Unlike on land, where you would sometimes drive 30 minutes or an hour in search of a sighting, we saw animals the entire time we were on small boat excursions from the larger boat. Essentially, we'd spend 30 minutes watching elephants and then move to crocodiles, baboons, and giraffes, etc.). Of my top recommendations for people going to Africa, it's to do this river cruise in addition to land-based safaris.

Thanks again to Shannon (and Zicasso) for making our dream trip come true. Although we've been to many wonderful places (including Patagonia, Bora Bora, Australia/New Zealand, etc), my wife and I agree that this was the best trip we've ever taken. And we will be back!

We booked, what we thought would be the trip of a lifetime.  It was so fabulous in reality, that we think we need to go again!  We had turned almost all of the trip over to our travel agency to plan for us, giving them only a minimal outline of what we would like to see.  They planned the trip and only with a few minor changes (e.g. add a day for a wine tour in the Cape) we booked.  Frankly, we were a little nervous about placing a high level of trust in a company we only knew via Zicasso and the internet, but it was trust well placed and rewarded.  Our trip consisted of 3 days at Cape Town, a few nights at Londolozi in Sabi Sands/Kruger, a day at Victoria Falls, a few days at Chobe Game Lodge on the Chobe River, a few days at Savute, and the last few days in the Okavango Delta at Xugana Island Lodge.  Almost 3 weeks in total. All logistics were seamless with no problems whatsoever despite numerous hand offs and transports.

We had a very enjoyable trip to Victoria Falls, back to the Republic of South Africa (via Botswana) for a typical safari experience in the Northwest Province at Madikwe Game Reserve, and then a week in the Cape.  Our travel agency suggested the Victoria Falls stop and Elephant Camp in particular.  Elephant Camp was very nice (and we were in the intimate four "tent" family camp that opened just in March) with excellent service and good food.  However, our agent oversold the opportunity to interact with the somewhat tamed elephants on the Wild Horizons/Elephant Camp Reserve.  We had literally no more than five minutes with the elephants, feeding them, so far less than we expected.  We enjoyed the visit to Victoria Falls National Park, as well as a canoe safari on the Zambezi above the falls.  We also very much enjoyed our time at Madikwe Safari Lodge, a very nice facility with an excellent guide, good food, but not always top-rate service.  However, I wish the agent had suggested the opportunity to fly in and out of Madikwe because it has an air strip, and this would have saved us a great deal of travel time doing mostly road transfers to and from Madikwe.  Our travel company was responsive to our requests for particular accommodations in Franschhoek and Cape Town, though they were different than the accommodations suggested by Born Free.  In both cases, we enjoyed our choices very much, as much because of location as because of the facilities themselves.   In Zimbabwe and Madikwe, service was not always up to par at all facilities, and meals were not always as excellent as we expected, but our travel company is not responsible for this.  

When our son left his Kindle on one of the transfers, Born Free helped track it down and get it sent by courier to catch up with us at Cape Town.  This was very helpful, but instead of charging us the cost of the courier and telling us what that cost was, they passed onto us the round figure of ZAR 500. I would have preferred transparency on that.  One of the other transfer operators officiously collected form the safari lodge things of ours (plaster imprints of animal tracks) we had asked them for--she did this while we were having breakfast our last morning.  But then the transfer operator forgot to give the things to us when she dropped us off at Oliver Tambo Airport--even though they were on the front seat of the van next to her!  Again, we were able to get these items sent by courier to catch up with us on Cape Town, but I didn't think we should bear the cost of that.   

Our African vacation was the trip of a lifetime!  After a year of planning with our agent, we were truly on our way. We flew Qatar airlines,  business class and had a wonderful flight.  The club was beautiful and extremely spacious.  Our guide was wonderful, always on time and very informative. We had daily trips to Robben Island, Cape Hope, Table mountain, the city of Cape Town and so much more. Our visit to the wineries was beyond perfect.  A magnificent lunch at Tokara, tastings at Ernie Ells, Haute Carriere, Rupert were individualized and perfect. The towns of Franschoek and Stellenbosch were charming. We went to dinner in a winery in Constancia, Buitenverwachting that was wonderful.  We even treated ourselves to a tasting dinner at Nobu!!!

  The Rovos Train was perfect.  The service, meeting Mr Rovos himself and hearing his story, the food was all very special.  We had the master suite with its own soaking tub...amazing. The staff was wonderful and full of old world charm. Truly living the good life

Our night at the African Rock Hotel was delightful.  It was small and very comforting, beautiful grounds for relaxing and wonderful food..    

Upon arriving at Tinga, our first bush camp, we thought we were truly living the life of the Rich and Famous.  I said to my husband, Kardashian's move over, because we have arrived.  The accommodations, food and service were fabulous.  Our safari's were wonderful, full of excitement and amazing seeing all the animals in their natural settings.  We were not on a time schedule, so if they knew the animals were somewhere special, we were there watching.

Dulini, our next camp was a little smaller, only 6 cabins, but even more detail to the client,  We were really treated as if we were the only guests there.  A very special treat was being taken to our room after safari and being surprised with a candlelit table set for the 2 of us outside with a bucket of champagne.  The menu was on the table and we were to call our personal butler when we were ready to order.  To top this, they had a bubble bath with candles lit up in the bathroom!! Beyond fabulous....

Next to Victoria Falls hotel. It was somewhat of a hassle going thru immigration, but we survived!   Our room looked out to the falls and the beautiful gardens.  The buffet breakfast was amazing.  After being in the plush camps, we were a little disappointed in the hotel...what a shame.  We had dinner al fresco at the restaurant and got bitten alive...The only time during the entire trip.  We could have done without the sunset cruise, especially since we were going to be on the river for 3 days.  This is the only thing we would have changed. The tour of the falls, helicopter and elephant rides were terrific....

Last stop, the Zambezi riverside hotel.  We had a beautiful room in the front with double balcony perfect for watching the beautiful sunrise and sunsets.  The room was very comfortable and the staff warm and friendly. The meals were good, wine ever flowing and a good chance to meet some great people.  The water safaris were wonderful and were somewhat different from the ones in Kruger. Our trip to the village gave us a first hand experience of how the natives actually live.  It was wonderful having the 3 experiences, as they each were a little different.

The personnel and workers at each camp were wonderful.  Everyone called you by your name and truly wanted to do whatever they could for  you.  A wonderful experience in each one, was when the crew would do their songs and dances for us.  It was wonderful to see them in their natural settings, so warm and giving..

We have traveled all over the world, and can truly say this was a trip of a lifetime and a "true life experience" .  We don't think we will ever have another vacation to top this.  Thank you to our agent for all her hard work. Our memories will last forever.

This African Safari Tour operator planned our trip to Leroo La Tau, Okavango delta, Chobe Game Reserve,Victoria Falls andUlusaba in Sabe Sands, South Africa. This company  provided excellent and flawless service. The trip was within the budget without any surprises. Their advice and suggestions were very valuable to us. Their communications, mostly via emails, were prompt and courteous. We could communicate to the personnel in South Africa as well as in the US. The planning of the trip was detailed, including internal transfers and air bookings. We were also given detailed information regarding visas and vaccinations. We were provided with a number of phone numbers for contact, including emergency numbers. We experienced no hitch during the trip.