Wilderness Kulala Desert Lodge

From the very beginning, Bianca was a wonderful help in planning our South African safari. Her knowledge, attention to detail, and thoughtful recommendations made our trip truly exceptional.

Becks Safari Lodge was, in our group’s opinion, a six-star experience. The attention to detail throughout the property, in our luxurious rooms, during every meal, and on the game drives was simply impeccable. Every aspect exceeded our expectations.

There were so many standout moments, but for me, the most memorable was the way the staff came together to celebrate my friend’s birthday. From the delicious cake they prepared to their beautiful singing voices that sounded like angels, it was a heartfelt experience that we will treasure for the rest of our lives.

Bianca also recommended that we spend three nights in Franschhoek, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our South African adventure. It was a perfect recommendation.

We cannot thank Bianca enough for helping create such an unforgettable holiday, and we will definitely book through her again on our next visit to South Africa.

Going to south and central Africa was a bucket list item for me and booking a big and expensive trip always feels a bit risky and you hope you have made the right choice.

Booking with Discover Africa was fantastic from beginning to end! Our trip coordinator, Susan Veldman, was very responsive whenever we had questions or concerns and she checked in with us throughout the trip to make sure things were going smoothly. I especially appreciated the video call with her prior to leaving.

It was really great to be able to ask any remaining questions and she provided us with all the information we would need once we were there. The whole trip was seamless, from our transfers to the flights to the camps.

I was particularly impressed with Desert and Delta Safaris, the company who ran the camps in Botswana. The accommodations, food and staff were incredible! I would highly recommend booking with Discover Africa and I would book with them again if I decided to return.

This was a well organized trip that smoothly transitioned us from one adventure to the next. All our transfers from hotels to airport to safari lodges were professional, courteous, and timely. We loved the places that were recommended and felt the pace of our trip was just right.

Jeanne's Southern Africa Experience

We booked a safari with Susan and as it was something I have been eagerly anticipating most of my life, we opened the budget strings a little. If we were going to do it once, we really wanted to get it right and make sure to make the most of it. We were still blown away. Although we have been home for a couple weeks, it still hasn’t really sunk it what an amazing experience it was. Susan set up an incredible itinerary, covering both Tanzania and Kenya during the wildebeest migration. Stayed a two five star camps, Taasa Lodge and the Soroi Luxury Migration Camp and both were better than we could have even hoped. The animal experiences were incredible, staff were unbelievably friendly, food unreal. Just a great family experience.

When there were little hiccups, and there are bound to be, Susan promptly responded and sorted it out. She was great. Would recommend her to anyone looking for a trip of a lifetime safari!

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.