African Bush Camps Khwai Lediba

Excellent trip — tour operators were professional and on time. Safari lodge choices excellent. Adelle communicated issues that cropped up in a timely manner and the whole process was a pleasure.

Our entire experience was magnificent. Everything was in place and perfectly reliable. We wanted for nothing and were taken care of every step of the way. To use the word “life changing” seems so cliché, but my husband and I both found the whole trip an amazing experience. From the first day we felt like we were in good hands. Communications from the start of planning to our trip home were clear and precise.

Working with Susan made our experience just perfect. She has everything organized and it all went so well. Her recommendations were perfect. We loved the safaris she chose, the lodges, guides, staff and the experience were wonderful.

Excellent trip! Chrizaan was fantastic — she helped us every step of the way and organised a truly magical journey.
I 100% recommend Discover Africa.

We did a 3-week bespoke tour with Discover Africa and specifically Devryn Panaino. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana game parks. Our group of 6 had a fantastic time, as the itinerary was top notch, transfers smooth and now we can’t wait to go back. We were nervous about small plane transfers but it was very smooth and professional service. In fact, it puts Aussie’s Jetstar in the shade. We saw all the animals big 5, ugly 5, small 5 and everything in between. Would definitely recommend this company and Devryn. Hot tip: be prepared to spend a bit of money it’s worth it for a truly unique experience.

Vicki's Southern Africa Journey

We had been thinking about a Southern Africa safari trip for a few years and had some valuable input from Zimbabwean friends who had been on tour many times. So we had a general idea of when and where but needed guidance on the finer details and options, as well as someone to put it all together once we’d agreed on an itinerary (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana). This was possibly going to be our one and only trip of this type so we wanted to get it right!

I saw an ad for a tour similar to what I had in mind so contacted Discover Africa (DA). Devryn was able to clearly outline his preferences that would meet the brief. He suggested the order of travel, how long at each place, what type of accommodation (generally getting better as we progressed), how to get from A to B, etc., via several email conversations.

We had a Zoom meeting with him before finalising the plan, where we were able to ask further questions, which he was able to answer confidently and competently, given he had been to these places himself.

We felt confident enough with his recommendations to lock it in 12 months ahead of the trip.
Naturally, you anticipate some things will go wrong on tour, e.g., a missed connection, a guide not turning up, or accommodation not being as described, and we were mentally prepared for that.

Garry's Safari Experience

However, every connection was made on time and the accommodation exceeded our high expectations!

The Safari experience itself (which Devryn obviously couldn’t guarantee) was superb. The guides from the lodges we used were experienced, informative, respectful of the animals, and considerate of what we had and hadn’t seen previously and so every day (twice a day!) was another trip into the unknown. Everyone hopes to see the Big 5, which we did early on. After that it was a matter of literally sitting back in the jeep and seeing what would turn up. The birdlife was better than I expected (the lilac-breasted roller was a favourite), and seeing small animals like mongooses (4 different species), a chameleon and a steenbok were unexpected highlights.

The food was varied at the various lodges, with usually a buffet of 3 main courses of western-style cuisine (although I ate wildebeest, crocodile, kudu and springbok when it was offered). We finished off with 3 nights in Cape Town to let the Safari experience sink in, which was a very good move.

So in summary, we did some initial research, worked out a plan with Devryn, and he nailed the brief. We’ll never know if it could have been even better, but I seriously doubt it.