Mateya Safari Lodge

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.

We had a wonderful safari experience, and Justin from Discover Africa made everything seamless from start to finish. Communication before the trip was clear and helpful, and we felt well supported throughout.

Some truly special moments including the fantastic lodge we stayed at (Arathusa) and the incredible wildlife sightings made the trip unforgettable.

Everything including flights and transfers ran smoothly, which allowed us to simply enjoy the experience. We would happily recommend Justin and Discover Africa to anyone planning a safari.

Coming in absolutely blind on how to plan an Africa trip, I stumbled across Discover Africa Safaris on the internet and reached out for an inquiry. Susan responded and started off with a video conference to ask about what we were thinking. Susan was extremely knowledgeable and answered all my questions as well as providing great insights that I wasn’t thinking of. My trip had additional complexities since I was going to a family wedding before, but Susan was able to navigate logistics with ease. She provided 3 options for our trip. Once we picked, she handled all the bookings/reservations in Africa. After things were booked, she proactively reached out for trip reminders, checked us in on our domestic flights within Africa, and reached out to ask how things were going while we were on our trip. Everything went perfect. We had an absolutely wonderful experience with the booking process and most importantly discovering Africa. 100% recommend!

We started to plan our Safari only 2 months prior to arriving in South Africa. The planning and logistics provided by Discover Africa were superb. We only visited Botswana (4 different camps for 2 nights each) and each camp was a wonderful, and yet very different experience in terms of geography and animals. We will definitely be coming back to visit other countries in Southern Africa.

We had a wonderful experience with Discover Africa and, specifically, Dev Panaino. Dev helped us plan a dream vacation to South Africa and Zimbabwe and made the planning from our end effortless. We met with Dev via Zoom calls for the initial trip planning, and he regularly followed up with us via email. Dev was personable, easy to work with, and really listened when we outlined the experiences we desired on this trip. He designed an itinerary that met and even exceeded all our goals. With his knowledge of the area, he had great ideas for enhancing our adventure. Discover Africa provided us with comprehensive information on how to prepare for the trip down to the smallest detail. We left home with our travel documents safely in tow and the knowledge that we could reach out to Dev at any time should difficulties arise. And they sure did.

It’s worth noting that Dev arranged all our ground transportation at each leg of the trip as well as a private guide for several excursions. We traveled in unexpected luxury on the excursions with a knowledgeable, friendly guide who really added depth to the experiences. Dev also strongly recommended a safari lodge other than the more popular (and expensive) choices we had researched ourselves on-line. It turned out to be a true hidden gem, upscale yet cozier and more intimate than the others.

One of us had an unfortunate, vacation-ending injury on the fourth day of the trip (bad fall resulting in a broken kneecap requiring immediate surgery). We contacted Dev almost immediately in near-panic about what to do and how to get home. He really rose to the occasion, reassuring us that he would help and we’d be safe. Dev made many on-the-fly arrangements for us, from finding last-minute hotel accommodations and dealing with the local airline to arranging ground transportation and making all the necessary cancellations/re-bookings. Following our return home, he provided gathered helpful information to support our travel insurance claim.

Although our trip did not work out as planned, needless to say we highly recommend Dev Panaino at Discover Africa and would absolutely work with him again.

It was a total coincidence that led me to Discover Africa Safaris. First I would like to thank Devryn for planning and suggesting the safari reserve. The price was reasonable given the location and services we received. They booked the aeroplane tickets, the pickup cars and the lodge.