Namiri Plains

Our trip to Kenya and Tanzania met and exceeded expectations! The Africa Safari Expert took our group’s information and my requests and created a trip that hit all the highlights of an African Safari. The itinerary took us through two countries and six regions – all with different views, animals and people. Accommodations were nicer than expected (even the temporary camp) and all were clean with extremely attentive and helpful personnel. All our guides were very knowledgeable, got us closer than expected to a wide range of animals and were responsive to our requests. For six days of the 12-day trip, we had two Discover Africa guides who were tremendous – they were nice, enthusiastic, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. It was obvious they were quite experienced, with books and maps to enhance their information.

Normally I love planning our trips but quickly realized it needed a professional since African travel is complicated by many factors. I picked Discover Africa because of a friend’s recommendation and their reviews. During the planning process, the Discover Africa representative provided an itinerary with detailed information (including pictures of the lodgings). Once the trip was booked, our representative made changes when our flights to/from were rebooked. As the trip got closer, they sent us comprehensive travel information (including pre-trip checklists). And there was an online link to our itinerary we used while on the trip!

I was especially impressed by all the vendors they used. All the guides, cars and planes were ready for us – no searching or waiting. All the lodgings were beautiful. And when there was an issue with a hotel (a water leak in one of the wings), another hotel had already been arranged (equally nice and down the street, and we got a free dinner too!).

First safari for us – 3 days in Arusha, 2 Tarangire, 2 Ngorongo, 4 Serengeti and 6 in Zanzibar.

We found the choice of potential locations, accommodation, routes etc almost bewildering at first. Matthys at DA carefully sought to understand we were looking for and came up (after a couple of face to face discussions and several emails) with a suitable schedule

Pre and mid trip communication was excellent. The DA portal is very detailed and comprehensive and the app was very useful on a day to day basis once we arrived in Tanzania.

The recommended accommodation and transport was mostly superb, only issue was transferring from Kogatendi to Zanzibar where a supposed direct flight was in fact 2 flights with a 2 hour delay on the second, meaning we arrived in Zanzibar around 4 hours later than planned. We understand this happens quite regularly in the bush so not a big deal.

My wife was unfortunately taken ill during the trip (not attaching any blame to any lodge or hotel, these things can happen any time). An initial doctor visit was very well handled by our first guide (en route from Tarangire to Ngongoro), and after a slight recovery she again went downhill when we in the Serengeti. Between Matthys from DA and our driver in Zanzibar a hospital visit was pre-arranged when we arrived and the recommended hospital was excellent. The camps in Ngongoro, Serengeti and the hotel in Zanzibar really couldn’t have done any more to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.

The accommodation was fabulous in all locations and the two guides/drivers absolutely exceptional. All arrangements went as planned and everyone we encountered were so friendly and helpful. Despite the illness disruption we saw many amazing things, too many to list here,

Would very happily recommend DA and use them again.

Many thanks to Discover Africa for organising a great trip to Victoria Falls and Botswana. Chrizaan was extremely helpful in planning the trip (including promptly arranging visa related paperwork etc) and answering queries. The quality of the accommodations was great (with a particular shout-out to Jackalberry Lodge in Chobe, which is a beautiful property) with excellent service throughout. The guides at Chobe and the Okavango Delta worked hard to make sure that the wildlife sightings were great (was just a little unlucky given the recent freak flooding in the Delta – even then, I had two excellent leopard sightings in Khwai!). Would gladly reach out to Discover Africa to help plan future safaris.

Justin planned the best safari for our honeymoon. Everything was coordinated smoothly and the arrangements could not have been better. We are hoping to take another trip to South Africa in the future and will be using Discover Africa again. Justin was available for any questions we had during our safari and checked in to ensure we were good. A fantastic experience!!

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.

What we appreciated was the effort in doing all the best to satisfy our requests! So everything was as expected.. the tented camp (everything was like at home),the game drive( we asked a private tour), the position of the camp ( very important for us, we saw animals from our tent).. attention to the quality of food, served every night in a nice way!! We asked the box lunch every day.. in order to eat it in the middle of the Savana!! Silvia..

Silvia's Tanzania Experience