Safari Reviews & Testimonials

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

A Truly Unforgettable Journey – Thank You, Megan! I wanted to give a special thanks to Megan for planning such a wonderful trip for us. Our adventure began at the breathtaking Victoria Falls and continued to the stunning Chobe Lodge — what an amazing experience! The lodge itself was not only beautiful, but the service and accommodations were absolutely spectacular.

From there, we traveled to the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve surrounded by nature and unforgettable wildlife encounters. Our journey concluded with four amazing nights in vibrant Cape Town, the perfect ending to a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We can’t wait to start planning our next visit to Africa — thank you again, Megan, for making this trip truly unforgettable!

Lorena's Southern Africa Safari Experience

We are an Australian family of 6 and have just returned from a 2-week safari holiday in South Africa. Discover Africa was excellent. Devryn Panaino was our consultant and he was full of good information and always speedy with a return email.

There was not a single glitch during our holiday. The lodges and camps recommended were exactly what we asked for, with very comfortable accommodation and a couple of dietary requirements catered for every single meal. The guides and trackers were first-rate. They were very friendly and seemed to know everything about the African bush and its wildlife. They would get us into the best possible viewing spot every time and always so close to the animals.

Even the transfers were good – on time with friendly drivers and air-conditioned vans. Each transfer turned into a mini safari.
We hope to return to Africa in the next few years and will absolutely use Dev and the team at Discover Africa.

Steve's South Africa Safari Experience

An absolutely incredible safari! My wife and I went on a two-week safari through Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Susan listened to what we hoped to see and do and then put together a great itinerary, with some fantastic accommodations. Highly recommend Susan and her team, and we look forward to one day booking another safari with them soon!

Chris' East Africa Safari Experience

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 had an absolutely amazing experience with this travel agency! Cayleigh was incredibly professional, friendly, and organized every detail of our trip flawlessly. All the transfers were perfectly arranged — we didn’t have to worry or struggle with anything from the moment we arrived until the end of our journey.

Even when we needed a last-minute flight change, Cayleigh handled everything quickly and efficiently. It made our trip completely stress-free. We felt truly taken care of every step of the way.

Highly recommended — we’ll definitely book with them again!

As soon as we chose Discover Africa to send us to Africa, we were constantly helped in planning the trip and were also continually guided during the trip. I felt as confident as possible that my wife and I were going to have a great trip. I appreciated the information we got about our lodging and activities at the 4 camps we stayed at. I also appreciated the quick responses by Susan Veldman to my every question leading up to the trip. And she often checked in with us while we were in Africa.

Despite our moving from camp to camp (my friend planned our itinerary) four times, everything went off without a hitch. We we were welcomed enthusiastically by the staff at each camp, including being serenaded when we arrived and at every dinner. The camps were well designed and well designed. They were way beyond anything we could imagine. The food was excellent and healthy choices were always offered.

Our lodging was spacious and comfortable, and we enjoyed night sounds of our surroundings, including the grunting Hippos in the river nearby. The guides assigned to us were skilful and very personable. They made sure we had endless opportunities safely to get up close to wildlife for photos that will last a lifetime. This was a remarkable trip, which we will never forget.

We just returned from an African safari in Kenya and Tanzania as well as gorilla trekking in Rwanda. Susan planned our 17 day to perfection. It was seamless to travel between countries, between lodges as well as negotiate airport arrivals and departures. The choice of itinerary and the amount of time in each location was perfect, as well as the choice of accommodations. We thoroughly enjoyed our safari and we met wonderful people as well as friendly, knowledgeable and informative guides. It was just the perfect trip. Words are not sufficient to express how pleased we were with Susan of Discover Africa. We would definitely use them again and we would not hesitate in recommending them.

I had received a glowing recommendation for Discover Africa from a member of my synagogue who has done multiple safaris with them. So when it came time to select a safari vendor for a once-in-a-lifetime wildlife safari for my daughter and I, I reached out to them. I’d done some research ahead of time and so knew that we were interested in Botswana, specifically the Okavango Delta. My contact/resource at Discover Africa was Susan Veldman and she was great.

She listened to what I told her in terms of what we were looking for and crafted a proposal that met our needs in terms of schedule, length, etc. Initially she had us ending our trip at Victoria Falls (my impression is most multiple-stop safaris in the region start or end there), but when I told her our focus was really on wildlife, she came up with an amended itinerary that subtracted Victoria Falls and added Chobe National Park. In short, she listened and responded to our input. We did 8 nights/9 days. We flew into Johannesburg, South Africa, from NYC via London. Those flights we booked on our own, but everything else and all the other flights (Johannesburg to Botswana, 3 bush flights to our lodges/accommodations, then back to Johannesburg from Kasane) were taken care of by Susan.

Plus we had dietary requirements (I’m a vegetarian and my daughter is allergic to dairy) that Susan communicated to the 3 lodges we stayed at and they came through with flying colors. I haven’t eaten so well in quite a while! We spent 3 nights at Kadizora Lodge (in the Delta), 3 nights at Saguni Lodge (eastern edge of the Delta, near Khwai and the Moremi Game Reserve) and two nights further east, at Elephant Valley Lodge outside of Kasane and adjacent to Chobe National Park.

Each lodge and experience was a little different, and we loved all three. Kadizora was the smallest of the three, and the most isolated — there weren’t many other lodges nearby and so we did not see a lot of other vehicles on our drives. The terrain in the area was flooded delta and savannah-style plain for the most part, with good/long visibility. Saguni was a little larger and close to the village of Khwai; the terrain in the area was more scrub trees, as well as savannah, so visibility was often more circumscribed. The wildlife in both areas of the Delta was similar, and both of the Okavango lodges were near water (Saguni especially).

At both the Okavango lodges we supplemented our drives with water-borne excursions, including two mokoro (traditional dug-out canoes, propelled by guides with long poles — think of Venice and gondolas) rides which were fantastic. We loved our guides at all three lodges, but bonded especially with Action at Suguni — he was very knowledgeable and a real gem. Elephant Valley Lodge was the largest of the three we stayed at; it is near Kasane, a significant town near the borders of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Paved roads, shopping centers, more people. And Chobe National Park was by far the most crowded of the three areas we drove in. And in the national park, as opposed to the Delta, guides were not permitted to take their vehicles off-road in search of game. More than compensating for this, though, was the sheer volume and density of wildlife in Chobe NP. It was amazing.

In short, Discover Africa delivered a perfect wildlife safari for my daughter and I which met all our (very high) expectations. We couldn’t have been happier, and Susan was always available for questions, both before and during the trip. We were in good hands throughout!

We had an amazing trip! Everything was very well planned out, and we were able to have a 5 star experience without breaking the budget! We loved the properties, and knowledgeable, friendly people met us at each transition along the way.

Discover Africa- Susan Veldman-was fantastic to work with. She responded promptly to our questions and needs and she put together several itineraries to choose from based on our budget and wish list.

We toured Capetown and 10 days on safari spread between 2 different camps, Beck’s and Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge. Beck’s was very intimate and the food was phenominal. Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge is one of the best in the business and the quality shows through at every instance.

Susan kept in constant contact and she was available for every need. Our trip was smooth, well planned, and just incredibly satisfying!

AT's Cape Town and Safari Experience

From start to finish, our experience with Discover Africa Safaris was exceptional. The communication throughout the planning stage was prompt, clear, and incredibly thoughtful. We felt truly listened to, and the itinerary was tailored exactly to what we wanted – every detail was perfectly planned and executed.

Susan, our consultant, was absolutely outstanding. She was available to us the entire time we were away, which gave us so much peace of mind. Her knowledge, support, and attention to detail made the entire journey feel smooth and stress-free.

The service, value for money, and overall reliability of Discover Africa Safaris exceeded our expectations. It was the trip of a lifetime, and we wouldn’t change a thing. Highly recommend – 5 stars from us!