Victoria Falls Tours with African Safaris

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.

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.

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.

This was a phenomenal experience, perhaps my best yet facilitated by Zicasso, and the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

From start to finish, our agent was a superb planner and communicator. She was easy to talk to via email and over the phone, and expertly asked all the right questions to tease out the details she needed to craft the perfect trip for me. She was equally adept at answering all of the questions I had, which helped me to make informed decisions throughout the process.

Despite booking my safari less than a year in advance (when the standard practice is usually two years out) and on a budget that was no doubt way less than what luxury travelers splurge, our agent was able to arrange the perfect combination of accommodations and tours that provided me with a luxurious, comfortable, enjoyable, and memorable experience. She was even able to amend my confirmed plans a bit late in the game after what was originally a solo trip became a trip for two when my mom, awe-struck by the awesome itinerary, implored me to let her join.

This was our first safari and first venture into southern Africa. While our agent and all our guides along the way tempered our expectations about what we'd be able to see once out in the wilderness, luck was on our side. We ended up seeing just about everything. We spotted four of the Big Five on our three days in the reserve in the Kruger Park (elephant, buffalo, leopard, rhino). The lions eluded us there, but we got more than our fill of them in the Okavango Delta. In addition to those, we had the pleasure of spotting wild dog and hyena packs with cubs in their dens, zebra, giraffe, hippos galore, crocodiles, baboons, monkeys, impalas to no end, kudu, an owl, ostriches, fish eagles, and a ton of other pretty birds. There was never a boring day. Despite our good fortune, I'm happy our agent was realistic and cautious in setting expectations.

One reason for this trip was to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday. Our agent went above and beyond in that regard, surprising us with a decorative towel arrangement in our first hotel, a bottle of wine in our first game camp, and another bottle of wine and a cake at our third hotel. That was a nice and unexpected touch, and much appreciated.

All of our accommodations were top-notch. The hotel in South Africa was in an excellent location, with modern facilities, friendly staff, and a superb kitchen. The private camp in the Kruger Park was a nice first introduction to the wilderness as it was basically a hotel in the middle of nowhere, complete with luxurious facilities and super-friendly and helpful staff. The lodge in Elandskop was wonderful and I regret that we didn't have more free time to enjoy it. The staff were very friendly, the restaurant very elegant, and the rooms very comfortable. The camp in Botswana was as close to camping as we'll ever come (glamping), but similarly offered wonderfully welcoming service, comfortable facilities, and a memorable experience. Finally, the Cape Town hotel offered a great location, friendly service, and wonderful food. Overall, the travel advisor did well with the choice of accommodations.

Similarly, our travel agent partnered with a great selection of local tour operators to ensure our every transfer and tour went smoothly and comfortably. I'd happily work with her again on future trips to the region and would highly recommend her services to all.