Best of Zimbabwe Safari in 12 Days

All travel between camps was well coordinated and all of the accommodations were excellent, the job your travel company did was outstanding in every way.

Overall our trip was spectacular at each camp with one exception - Hwange, but this was a staffing issue.

Our comments on each are here:

01. Camp Moremi - 3 nights - The personnel at this camp were outstanding and very friendly and helpful. Our guide was very knowledgeable and highly qualified, good at finding great fauna and fun to be with. It did help that we could go off trail a bit. The accommodations were excellent, the lodge, food and refreshments were great, the location was optimal for land or river excursions and the overall experience was fabulous. Wanted to spend more time here!

02. Ghoha Hills Savuti Lodge - 2 nights - The same as above, very nice & knowledgeable proprietor who spent time with us looking at the stars and learning the history of Botswana. Our guide was also knowledgeable and friendly, nice accommodations, food and refreshments were great, intimate experience, good game viewing after a long drive but well worth it and quite interesting location especially with the pan below the lodge itself attracting different wildlife each day and night. 2 nights was appropriate for this camp.

03. Chobe Game Lodge - 3 nights - The  lodge here is more like a nice hotel, but with an excellent location & also within the park. Again, Our guide was very knowledgeable, good at finding wildlife and fun to be with. The lodge area, and refreshments were great, the food not so good, just OK, but the staff were very friendly and helpful. The location was optimal for land or river excursions and the overall experience was fabulous. Wanted to spend more time here!

04. Victoria Falls Hotel - 2 nights - This was a culture shock after Botswana, but it's a nice hotel with a good view and location - just a lot of civilization after the first 3 camps. Hotel drinks A+, food C-. We did the hike around the falls, lunch at the overlook and a chopper ride above the falls which was excellent and the sunset cruise on the Zambezi was really the highlight of this experience where we could return to the wilderness on the river and observe the wildlife, the boat staff was excellent and the snacks & refreshments were great - as was the wildlife viewing. 2 nights was appropriate for this place.

05. Camp Hwange - 3 nights - This experience had some great highs and some low points as well. Upon arriving at the camp from Vic Falls we were picked up by an excellent, knowledgeable and friendly guide who wore a Camp Hwange uniform. We had a long ride into the camp from the entrance in which we viewed a lot of wildlife and made several stops. The lodge had a very nice staff and excellent location for viewing the pan directly in front of the camp for wildlife, the accommodations, food and refreshments were also great. Our same guide took us out that afternoon for a nice sundowner and animal viewing that included some spectacular nighlife immediately after dinner.  At dinner the first night at dinner we met our next guide and learned that he was one of two contract guides, and not part of the regular staff.

The next day with this new contract guide we spent the morning hiking without much success in wildlife viewing and searching for a buffalo herd. He did not have his radio turned on to communicate back with the lodge or other guides during the morning but finally turned the radio on at noon to notify the lodge that we were returning for lunch at which time we immediately learned of some lions to go see from another guide.  The afternoon was similar in that we were still in search of the elusive buffalo herd and didn't really see much wildlife. We learned at dinner that the other contract guide and his group seen a multitude of wildlife over the course of the entire day, but without our radio communication we never had a heads up.

The third day we went on a day trip heading out the road towards the entrance we came in on the first day, again our guide did not have his radio on and was searching for the buffalo herd without success. We did a morning hike and saw practically nothing, then found a spot for a late lunch during which our guide went and took a nap under a tree. After lunch we we finally drove to a large pan filled with elephants which we viewed for 2 hours, then drove back to our camp, stopping at a pan with a herd of hippos briefly for photos. It was nightfall when we arrived for an very nice picnic style dinner away from the camp. We also viewed some nighlife that evening which was spectacular.

The next morning we left, and we had our original official Camp Hwange guide from the day we arrived doing the driving - and again saw an abundance of wildlife along the way which included several stops along the way.

Bottom line - we saw more wildlife with the official camp guide going in and out of the camp than we did in two days with our contract guide. This guide was knowledgable but also a bit crabby, a little too in your face and interested in discussing peoples politics and complained that he expected bad reviews - understandably after our experience - so we left feeling that we wasted a day and a half with this guide when we could have been viewing a lot more of what Camp Hwange is known for. I am optimistic that 3-4 nights in this park is appropriate, but you need a decent guide - that makes all the difference

I am going to copy and paste an email that I sent to my travel consultant.  If all of your staff are as good as he was, you really have a top notch outfit.  Thank you for an experience I will never forget.

HiI don't have enough words of praise to tell you what a phenomenal time I had in Africa.  I would be lying to say that I didn't have some trepidation going to a destination that I had never been to before and doing it by myself.  But from the moment I stepped off the airplane and saw that there was someone there holding a sign with my name on it all fears were forgotten and I was made to feel very special and that they were glad to see me. That feeling continued through the entire 2 weeks as one person after another showed that they were expecting me and were glad I was there.  This was certainly very different than arriving someplace as part of a group.  I was immediately comfortable and knew I was going to be taken care of.The hotel at the Joberg airport was certainly more than adequate for a stopover rest after flying for more than 20 hours.  The hotel at Victoria Falls was absolutely wonderful and its location near the Falls was perfect.  I had accidentally cracked the frame on my sunglasses while traveling and they were more than happy to get them fixed for me.  Both they and you were immediately responsive when I didn't hear from my upcoming ride to the airport to Botswana.  I had a team behind me that included you.And then, the highlight of my trip, the camps.  Wow, wow, wow. Watching a game drive on tv or the internet just doesn't do justice to being there in person.  I was fortunate to see an immense amount of wildlife much of which I might have missed except for the excellent guides.  It still astonishes me that they can spot things far in the distance that I'm sure I would have missed.  My guide at the first camp spotted a 2 foot long baby crocodile from our boat which was at least 100 feet from the shore.  Unbelievable!  I could probably go on and on about the camps but suffice it to say that they were phenomenal.  And you were right in telling me there would be no problem getting a position in the truck which would allow me to photograph and video anything I wanted to.  I took about 2500 photos and videos which I am still sorting through and will send you some examples when I get it all organized.I was glad to be in Cape Town for their first significant rain in years and their reservoirs had just gone from 20% to 40% although the 3 days I was there were absolutely gorgeous.  Prayers were being answered.  The tours were okay but I'm just not used to drinking wine at 10:30 in the morning.  Guess I'll have to practice.The flight home was uneventful but sooo..... long.  What a phenomenal vacation, one that I will never forget.  I may have to go back.  Thanks to you, my experience earned an A+ rating.  I so appreciate all that you did both before and even during the trip.  I have recommended you to friends and will continue to do so.  Thank you for helping me cross another item off my bucket list.All my best regards,

David

I can’t begin to decide what made my 50th birthday trip, organized by this travel company, our best trip ever. Could it be the personal service? From the very beginning, our travel agent made sure he knew what we wanted and our expectations. He narrowed down each area we wanted to visit with three suggestions of lodging and let me research and pick. All spot on suggestions and we could not have been happier with our choices.

Could it be our amazing stay in the Winelands? Four nights at a picturesque farm with one of the best restaurants in the area, Bablyonstoren was everything we hoped for. A great guide, who chose all the right stops for our wine tour and the most amazing day in Cape Town (including the highlight of my birthday, holding a penguin!).

Could it be the safari lodge that took our very high expectations and blew the top off of them? Sabi Sabi Little Bush was amazing. From the manager, to our ranger and tracker, to the service staff, every single person was immediately like family. The animal viewing was unbelievable even spotting 2 of the Big 5 on the way to the lodge from the airport! Four nights, all of the Big 5 plus cheetahs, hippos, giraffes and more , numerous amazing meals in a different location each night later, we were sad to leave but excited about our next stop.

Could it be relaxing at the most beautiful spot on the Zambezi River? Two nights in the tree house followed by two nights in the honeymoon house made for the cherry on the top of the most glorious trip ever. Hippos, champage bubble baths, sitting on the edge of Victoria Falls and meals with the most exceptional views in the world brought our journey to a happy end.

Could it be all of it rolled into one amazing company? Yes – I believe that had we not had the experience, diligence and oversight of these wonderful people, our trip would not have been what it was and it was perfect.

You could not have planned the trip better. It was fantastic! Our safari driver from Rangers was great - again could not of been better. He pushed every day for us to see everything possible. Hes fun and incredibly knowledgeable and has a great command of the English language.You were right to schedule one day in Nairobi - so glad we did not change it to two days. We saw the last of the Big 5 - the black rhino in Kenya. We loved all of our accommodations and the people are so friendly, polite and helpful.We saw the Great Migration in Tanzania. We would not of changed one thing. People from other tour agencies were dissapointed that when they arrived in Kenya when we did as all of the Wildebeest had already migrated to Tanzania.What you scheduled for us was perfect. I do think that Tanzania is not well known but Kenya is to the average American like us. If it wasn't for you we would of never known about Tanzania. Tanzania has it all - except the black rhino at the Govenor's Camp- no need to even go to Kenya but I did want to go the the Elephant and Giraffe orphanages. We loved Capetown, the shark cage trip and the tour operator was wonderful. The 1/2 day Capetown trip was great. We went on the historic Capetown walking tour at 11:00 after we checked out. We added the Olduvai museum at the crater to our trip.  We had a wonderful time and saw so much in 17 days including traveling from the East Coast;  Arusha, Tarangire National park,  Ngorongoro crater, Central Serengeti - Turner Springs, Norther Serengeti - Kokatonde, Masai - Mara, Nairobi, Victoria Falls and Capetown. A trip of a lifetime.

We contacted Zicasso not knowing what to expect.  We usually plan our own trips, but this was kind of a biggie to places we were not familiar with and I thought I would like someone else to do the legwork for a change.  We wanted to go to South Africa and Botswana and mostly just see animals in the wild at Kruger National Park, but, I also wanted to go to Cape Town because I had heard wonderful things about that city. 

We provided the information requested to Zicasso, and very shortly afterward we were contacted by three agencies.  We also contacted a couple of others on our own to see what they could offer.  The ones we contacted outside of Zicasso wanted to put us on tours with lots of other people with regimented itineraries... not what we were looking for at all.  Of the three agencies that contacted us through Zicasso, one was off the charts with pricing and we were able to eliminate that one fairly quickly.  The other two were both fabulous - the tours were just what we were looking for and the people we dealt with really went out of their way to mold the itineraries to what we wanted. 

It was a really tough decision between the two remaining agencies.  I think the deciding factor ended up being this travel agent had lived in South Africa and was a guide himself, and now lived in Florida (a few hours from where we live).  I'm sure the other trip would have been wonderful, but the one we chose was really terrific. 

Everything the agent planned worked like clockwork. We were met everywhere we went, driven where we needed to go, and treated very well at each stop.  The driver meetings and checkins and border crossings and internal flights were all on schedule.

We really liked Cape Town - wish we could have spent more time there.  The hop-on-hop-off busses went very well on the first day.  We spent quite a bit of time at the harbor - what a nice place.  Unfortunately the table mountain cable car was closed due to weather.  Can’t do anything about that.  We scheduled a private tour for the next day and and it went really well - we got to see some of the main points our agent mentioned.  We needed at least 2 or 3 more days there though - maybe a week - maybe 2…

All of the preserves we visited had their own charms and amenities.  I think we probably liked Pondoro the best - it just seemed to have everything.  I liked the guides and trackers at all three preserves - each handles the drives a little differently, and all were fun.  My wife really enjoyed the drives.  This was a dream trip for her.  Except for the flights to and from SA, this was a terrific trip.  (The flights were just too long, especially the trip home.  From the time we left the preserve until the time we got home, we were traveling 42 hours.  If we should ever consider doing this again, I think we’ll break up the flights and stay a couple of days somewhere in between, both coming and going.)

The only problem we had on the trip was the weather - nothing to be done about that.  It was pretty cool and a bit drizzly in Cape Town, but we dressed for it and were fine.  When we arrived at Mashatu Tented Camp, our third preserve, a cold front arrived with us.  It was very cold the evening we got there and our evening game drive about froze our butts off.  Showering under the stars was not an option.    We huddled under the blankets, which kept us quite warm, and slept until a cold early morning game drive called - put on a bunch of layers, and set off.  But it did warm up that day, and a shower was welcome around noon.  Every day was warmer at Mashatu and more pleasant after that, and our final night, we were finally able to shower under the stars comfortably.  

Monwana, our second preserve, was very pleasant as well. We liked it there and enjoyed looking at the pond where the animals came to drink.  One of my wifes favorite memories was watching about 35 elephants march down to the pond on a particularly hot day and splash around in the pond.  The staff, as with all three places, was very nice.

Our agent must have answered a hundred questions from me from the time I first inquired until final payment.  He was always quick to respond (even once when he was on vacation.  We are currently Facebook friends and share pictures.