Essential Zambia and Malawi: The Idyllic Safari Getaway

Dear Reader, I am writing to unconditionally recommend the services of this travel company so that you may have the same exceptional experience that I was lucky enough to have by utilizing the services of this South Africa safari tour company. As a piece of background before the details of this letter, it is appropriate to detail that I work in the travel industry as the Vice President of Revenue Management and Operations for LeisureLink who owns and operates a niche lodging site called A Better Stay. My business caters to specialty lodging providers predominately in North America and the Caribbean. As part of my role, I do site visits at a majority of resorts and vacation rental properties as well as run a call center. The point I am making is that service is the utmost importance to me. Another point to frame this prior to diving in is that this trip was for four people from San Diego, CA traveling to South Africa. Now that the above formality is out of the way, I can move on to my experience with this South Africa safari travel company and the trip itself. From the get go, the travel company provided vastly superior service than any of the other providers we looked at for the trip. They provided knowledgeable recommendations on itinerary rather than simply a canned tour program. Deb from this South Africa safari travel company personally planned our trip. Would you rather have someone who is intimately familiar with the region plan the trip or some call center agent reading a script plan your trip? In fact, several of the planning discussions with Deb occurred when she was on site in South Africa scouting new lodges and locations. Deb's intimate knowledge of South Africa was obvious. Her knowledge made us comfortable. Upon receiving the completed itinerary and full trip proposal from Deb and her team, we realized how truly personalized of a trip we had requested. They came through with an itinerary that no other provider came close to matching in terms of quality, personalization and "soup to nuts" travel planning. We were planning on doing the Garden Route, but given that we live on the beach, Deb recommended we take advantage of the trip and visit Victoria Falls. All other operators, simply offered us a canned Garden Route package. Without their recommendation, we would have missed major highlights of the trip, including all of Zambia. Another item that was quite pleasing, if not shocking, is that the superlative service from the travel company continued even after they had secured our business. We made changes slight modifications to day tours and itinerary and they made it happen. Not only did they make it happen, but the the team was able secure surprise upgrades for us throughout. They made dinner reservations for us -- we got the best tables. We were on wait lists for upgrades (travel was during the World Cup) -- we got that even at the 5 Star Ivory Lodge at Lion Sands. We were even upgraded to first class on a couple of the flights within Africa. I could go on, but I assure more detail will come out in the description of my trip of a lifetime by this travel company. Now on to the trip... We were picked up by our guide at the airport and taken directly to the hotel for the early check in which pre-arranged by the travel company. Our guide, Brian, was phenomenal. The guide can often make or break a trip and Brian definitely made ours. He was great. His knowledge of the country, its history, and general pleasant nature really set us at ease. Brian adjusted any schedule based on our desires. I don't know if we will be able to travel again without a personalized guide of Brian's caliber. He was able to provide additional insight on every aspect of our stay in and around Capetown. Again, this travel company exemplifies a dedication to service and personalized travel with the highest quality guide. We stayed for 4 nights in Capetown at More Quarters ( Cape Cadogan ). The service was at the Cape Cadogan was fantastic. The entire team made us feel right at home. In Capetown, we went to the Waterfront, Table Mountain, the noon gun, Cape Flats, the Winelands, a World Cup game, and much more...The Hotel is in walking distance from great bars, clubs and restaurants. It is basically in the heart of the nightlife of Capetown, but on a quiet side street. It was perfect: a quiet, side street location, within a short walk of the heart of the city, just as we had requested. We were upgraded to the More Quarters for fully catered apartment style living rather than that of a simple hotel. The extra space in the More Quarters allowed us to relax and adjust to the massive time change. Another unexpected touch from this travel company were nightly dinner reservations at fantastic restaurants in the area. We received the best table at prime time at each restaurant, clearly exhibiting this travel company's partnership with the local businesses. The food and wine at each was top notch. We are an indecisive group, so having these made really added to the relaxation of our trip and the sense of vacation. From Capetown, we spent two nights in a quiet boutique guest house in Franschoek. The Winelands are beautiful and Brian arranged for several tastings at quality wineries with either private tastings or tours. We were thrilled with the Reserve tasting at Spier. We almost skipped Spier as it had the feel of a tourist trap with Cheetah petting, etc., but their reserve tasting was one of the best wines we have had in quite some time. We came home with the limit of Pinotage. They also arranged dinners at phenomenal restaurants: Reubens and The tasting room. The dinner at The Tasting Room was more of an experience than dinner. It was a 9 course blind tasting. They do 1 seating a night. Our dinner experience lasted 4 1/2 hours. Without this travel company, we would have missed our "dinner experience," which, by the way, we would recommend to any food and wine lover. We concluded our wine country experience with exceptional wine and cheese reserve tasting at Fairview . It was simply a great way to wind down before safari. We moved on to Sabi Sands. The Ivory Lodge at Lion Sands is unforgettable. We were thrilled to be able to experience Ivory as the original reservation was at the River Lodge at Lion Sands. The upgrade landed us at what has to be one of the most exclusive lodges in all of southern Africa, let alone South Africa. With only six units, you have a huge degree of privacy at Ivory Lodge. Upon arrival we did an abbreviated night game drive and saw 3 of the big 5 within 2 hours. After an hour of the morning game drive, we had seen the big five. Landon, our ranger, was great. Not only did we see the Big 5, but we experienced them. We would stay with the animals for at least 15-20 minutes to see how they behave. This is not a drive by safari. It was beyond expectations. We also saw giraffe, zebra, hippo, and many more. Breakfast and happy hour in the bush are not to be missed. Ivory Lodge provides the utmost in service. We had in room dinner and massage. We also did a bar-b-que where we were able to select the tasting menu. Food was fantastic (we are all on a diet regimen now). We had intended to stay somewhere else, but stayed here based on Deb's recommendation. This place is unbeatable. From Ivory Lodge, we moved to Johannesburg for a 1 night stop over. The travel company Selected 93 Jan Smuts for our stop over. This guest house provides the ultimate in comfort and friendly service. Karen, the owner, made us feel like we were well and truly at home. Given that this was just a stop over, we didn't really explore, rather had a quiet dinner and got ready for Zambia and Victoria Falls . Upon arrival in Zambia, our driver met us and transported us to Toka Leya -- another lodge with impeccable service. Our itinerary was planned once we got there: Lunch followed by a river cruise with sunset cocktails followed by dinner under the stars. Day two had us at Victoria Falls. What a sight to behold. After getting drenched during the tour of the Falls we went to the Victoria Falls Bunji Company. They only take cash, so be prepared. We didn't have the cash on hand to bunji, but our guide had the cash to allow us to zipline. This extra touch from the guide allowed us to add to our truly incredible. It is not every day that you can zipline from country (Zambia) to country (Zimbabwe) with Victoria falls as the back drop. We elected a massage over lunch. The spa services at Toka Leya are provided in a room directly on the Zambezi . The massages were absolutely fantastic. From there, we closed out our stay with another sunset cruise down the Zambezi , where we saw several hippo and crocodile. My only regret with Toka Leya is that we didn't stay longer. In my opinion two nights is simply not enough. We will be back to do the rafting trip down the canyon of the Zambezi . This was truly a trip of a lifetime. Every single item we requested from this South Africa safari travel company was met with a smile. Every accommodation they arranged was perfect. Guides and drivers were always prompt and knowledgeable. We did not wont for anything. I cannot fathom this trip coming of near as well had we worked with anyone else or been stuck a standardized tour. The travel company's team more than delivered on everything and truly went above and beyond. We will definitely use this travel company's services when we return with our entire family in the future. Without question, I recommend their services to anyone traveling to South Africa or southern Africa in general and I hope that other travelers are able to yield the same satisfaction as I from the services of this travel company.

Outstanding service, dedicated, easy to work with! Great guides! Londolozi was spectacular. We stayed in the owner's house (at Tongabezi Lodge), near Victoria Falls in Zambia right on the river. Capetown and wine country could not have been better. This African safari company is great!