Our Safari Blog

After discovering a high number of camps in and around the Okavango, and at a price higher than we typically go for on a safari, we were very unsure on the route to go down for our honeymoon (especially whilst trying to planning our wedding!). So we reached out to Adelle at Discover Africa Safaris and she put the perfect itinerary together for us, which matched our budget, and the experience far exceeded our expectations!

Rhys and Grace's Botswana Experience

We had a fantastic time at Rra Dinare, Moremi Crossing and Nxai Pan camps. All of the camps are managed by Kwando Safaris who are also exceptional. We had great wildlife sightings at all 3 camps – it was very hard to choose which camp we preferred as they are all amazing in their own way, as are the guides and staff at all camps. Adelle had also arranged private dinners and champagne for us at 2 of the 3 camps, which was a lovely addition. Our highlight was the camping out in the bush evening under the stars listening to the hippos calling and lions roaring all night.

From start to finish, every phase of our trip was seamless. From the man who greeted us at Nairobi airport when we arrived to the woman who assisted us at our departure, we were taken care of perfectly. Our lodges at Saruni Samburu and Saruni Mara were beautiful. The staff was welcoming and we had genuine conversations that gave us an appreciation of their culture. Matthys at Discover Africa listened to our priorities. He communicated well and made our remarkable safari to Kenya a dream come true.

Our safari trip to South Africa was nothing short of spectacular and I would like to thank Chrizaan for putting together a wonderful itinerary for us. Our first contact with Discover Africa was with a consultant who was amazing and very personable. Our planning was over a year out and, unfortunately, she moved on but I appreciated Alice Lombard (Head of Sales and Operations) stepping in and referring us to Chrizaan. I couldn’t have asked for a better consultant.

Because of our location the time discrepancy made communication a bit challenging, but through emails, WhatsApp and Zoom calls the interactions with Chrizaan were all timely and efficient (1/2 hr blocks of time were set aside on Chrizaan’s schedule where one could book Zoom chats). I liked the web design they use to view options for personalized itineraries – descriptions on potential lodges, information on daily activities etc.

Our trip included a 4 day visit to Cape Town before our safari and Chrizaan arranged all the necessary flights, transfers and tours associated and everything went smoothly. Little things like sending us an email with our flight reservation so we could check in 24 hrs before our flight were much appreciated. If we had questions during our trip she was always available. We thought that this safari was going to be a once in a lifetime trip but our experience made us feel like it’s something we would love to do again and I wouldn’t hesitate to use Chrizaan and Discover Africa once again.

Everything was more than what I expected. From the safari drives to the lodging and food was five star. At the camps, one was pampered. Everyone was personable and made me feel at home. The entire trip was wonderful!

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!

We just completed our second African safari planned by Megan Warrington, this one to Botswana, and we couldn’t have been more pleased with our trip! Megan did a fantastic job of starting us out in the Kalahari (Tau Pan Camp) which was unique in its landscape and some of the animals that you see, including the Oryx. You don’t see as many animals as in other locations, which would be expected in the desert, but the experience was wonderful and we are glad we started there.

Our next stop was in the Okavango Delta (Splash Camp) which exceeded our lofty expectations. Before we made it to our camp from the landing strip we saw a leopard and hundreds of various animals including giraffes, zebras, elephants, etc. While in the delta we saw another leopard, a large pride of lions that were resting in trees, which is very unusual, hundreds (estimated at 600) buffalo and we actually experienced a lion hunt where a group of four siblings successfully secured a young buffalo. Our last stop was on the Kwando River (Lagoon Camp) and this was actually the jewel of the trip. There weren’t as many prey animals as in the delta, but predators were abundant and the hippos were unbelievable. We saw 3 leopards, two young brothers together and another very shy female, many lions from a couple of prides included several mature males, 2 cheetahs (brothers that travelled and hunted together), and a small pack of African Wild Dogs including 4 adults and 6 puppies.

Our guides and trackers were exceptional at all locations, but Mr. T stood out at Kwando’s Lagoon camp. All of our stays were at Kwando camps and I will write them a separate review, but they were fantastic! Back to Megan, we thought that the lengths of stays and the order of our stays was perfect and very well planned. She is so easy to work with and truly tries to meet your personal goals and experiences for the trip. We thought this may be our last trip to Africa, but we are now fully onboard to come back, likely in a few years with our grown children. There is no question that we will revisit Botswana, we can’t say enough about the people, the landscape and the wildlife, they are all lovely.