Port Elizabeth Hotel Group

This is the second safari holiday we have used Dev to organise. We had the privilege of visiting three beautiful lodges on this trip, Devs recommendations in three different locations, Sabi Sands, Timbavati, and Makalali, which entailed a lot of organising with pick up and drop by road, each of which was flawless almost to the minute.

First stop was Sabi Sands where we saw the big five within 30 minutes, Unbelievable!

Next stop was Timbavati known for the possibility of seeing the rare white lion, second day out we saw the white lion cub (one of three in the world so we were told ) a gorgeous dirty little white cub with the pride, once again magic. Next stop was Makalali, Dev had mentioned the possibility of seeing cheetahs, after a lot experienced tracking and off road driving we came across two magnificent males basking in the sun, unbelievable.

On our last day when due to leave, a Saturday, my wife fell ill and could not travel, one phone call to Dev, he had transfers rearranged, flights cancelled and rebooked, which took all the stress out of a stressful situation.

I cannot speak highly enough of Dev and Discover Africa.

Justin Van Wyk from Discover Africa Safari did an outstanding job in planning our perfect Safari. All travel and transfers between airports and game lodges have been flawless! The lodges and safari experiences have been awesome.

Magic tour, the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in all my life, I really love this ancestral land: nature, wise animals, and humans with very big heart.

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!

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.

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.