Wilderness Mombo

We were initially overwhelmed with all of the options for African Safaris when we first started planning our trip. Luckily, Discover Africa responded promptly to our initial request for information and we were quickly scheduled for an initial consult with Adelle Bell.

Adelle presented several options and really listened to our feedback to tailor a perfect week in the African bush for our honeymoon. She took care of absolutely everything for us besides the international flights, which was a big weight off our shoulders after just planning so much time planning our wedding ourselves. She was also extremely communicative throughout the planning process and while we were on the ground the week of our honeymoon as well.

We spent 3 nights at Motswari in the Timbavati Private Game Reserve followed by 3 nights at Arathusa in Sabi Sands Private Game reserve. Both lodges and reserves surpassed our expectations. Motswari felt like a much more traditional and authentic safari experience, while Arathusa felt more up-scale and resort like. The staff and hospitality at both were fantastic, and the game drives surpassed our expectations immediately.

If you are considering booking a vacation to Africa, I would highly recommend booking through Discover Africa and asking for Adelle specifically. She will knock it out of the park!

I started planning my Africa safari/vacation about two years ago with the help of Diane, and was transitioned to Chrizaan about halfway through my timeline. There was zero issues with changing my guide, and both ladies were SUPER lovely to work with. I was able to see and do everything I dreamed of between Zimbabwe and South Africa, and wouldn’t have been able to do this without the team at Discover Africa. I even added an extra person a few months after booking, and was able to seamlessly integrate her into my travels.

We were able to see the Big 5, almost all of the Beautiful 5 (except a cheetah), and the Ugly 5! In addition to Victoria Falls, the Zambezi River, Cape Town, Johannesburg, the wine lands of Cape Town, many white rhinos, zebra, monkeys, wild dogs, the list goes ON.

The different lodges were amazing, super well kept, and the staff, guides, and trackers were exceptional. This trip was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and having a dedicated guide who understood everything I wanted to do made the whole journey as easy as can be. Chrizaan was so easy to contact and made this truly the trip of a lifetime for me!

Africa was on my travel “wishlist” but I never thought I would actually get there

That all changed when our son was home for a visit over Christmas. He announced that he and a friend were going to Africa. They had selected DISCOVER AFRICA to plan their trip. He shared all the details with us and we decided it was an adventure we had to experience as well.

Our son connected us with Vihann Van Wyk at Discover Africa, the same agent he was using. Vihann was a pleasure to work with. He coordinated our trip with our son’s and tweaked the details as requested. Communication was a breeze through both email and WhatsApp. Vihann made suggestions as well as accepted specific requests from us to build a custom itinerary. No detail was overlooked. Some accommodations were adjusted to keep us within budget without sacrificing our experience.

All drivers, tour guides, experiences & lodging did not disappoint. All internal flights were on Airlink …. better than some regional airlines in the USA. The weather was perfect too!

Deborah's Safari Experience

Our itinerary included:

*CAPE TOWN – Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel….very nice property with an excellent breakfast and beautiful outdoor dining. Must sees were the full day Cape Tour, Wine Tour to Stellenbosch, Table Mountain and High Tea at the Cape Grace Hotel.

*KRUGER NTL PARK – Lion Sands Tinga Lodge….a dream experience! Excellent private bungalow, twice daily game drives, delicious food, and a wonderful massage and facial at the spa. The staff was outstanding.

*VICTORIA FALLS – Shongwe Lookout Lodge…a modest property that met all our needs and saved us some money. We experienced the Zambezi River sunset cruise, Victoria Falls ( incredible!! ) , lunch at the Lookout Cafe and a visit to the historic Victoria Falls hotel for lunch.

*JOHANNESBURG – Marriott African Pride Hotel in Melrose Arch ….an upscale area with lots of shopping and dining. The Soweto Tour was an experience not to be missed. We visited Nelson Mandela’s office and home. The Apartheid Museum was sobering and moving.

Lastly, every where we went we met the nicest people….friendly and helpful.

Excellent adventure! An experience like no other!

We travelled this summer with Discover Africa Safaris for the first time to Botswana, after spending 2 summers in Kenya and Tanzania. We got recommendations for this travel agency from friends and were really very satisfied with the service provided!

We were travelling with 2 small children and were extra cautious, but Dev planned everything perfectly. The lodge he suggested was out of this world! During our stay he was always available (although we didn’t encounter not a single problem). This was our most beautiful journey to the African continent and we would really recommend Discover Africa.

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.

We have returned again after Matthys arranged another trip for us for 2025, and we spent almost 4 weeks in May 2025, where we spent our time at Londolozi, Diulini Moya and Earth Lodge, and cannot thank Matthys enough. The camps we stayed at were once again exceptional, and our final camp was Earth Lodge, which was out of this world. We saw the Big Five, and we were lucky enough to see 2 leopard kills up in a tree as well as see the leopards coming down from the tree. We are avid photographers and have so many photos again which we can treasure forever.

Matthys has already arranged another trip for us, leaving late April and returning May 2026. Matthys I do not know where to begin or how to thank you for being so professional and helpful – anything I needed to change was done, and this is one of the main reasons we keep coming back to South Africa from Australia on a yearly basis and will only deal with Matthys and Discover Africa – I cannot recommend them enough. Thank you for taking such good care of us – we are excited for our next trip.

Thank you again – Kind regards, David and Lana Ogilvie

Lana's Safari Experience