Best time to visit

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.

My son Max and I just returned from an incredible trip to South Africa and Mauritus, and I can’t say enough about how exceptional Susan Veldman was throughout the entire process. From the very beginning she listened to what we wanted and designed an itinerary that was exactly right for us-thoughtful, seamless and perfectly tailored. Every detail was handled flawlessly. The drivers were prompt and professional, the local agents knowledgeable and the hotels outstanding.-each one what we hoped for. There was not a single disappointment on the trip which is rare for a trip of this scale.

What stood out the most was Susans care and attention. She checked in regularly to make sure everything was going smoothly.
I would highly recommend working with Discover Africa for a trip that would be memorable, stress free and tailored to your preferences and budget. Susan is not only incredibly organized but highly invested in making your experience special.

Debby Anziano's Safari Experience

She found the most outstanding places for us to stay with our favorite by far Leopard Hills Lodge in Sabi Sands Reserve, A small intimate lodge with incredible rooms, food and the game drives did not disappoint as we saw the big 5 every day and many leopards while feeling we were only ones in the park. I have been on several safaris in Africa but this was different how alone and private it was.

The other hotel I would not miss was one of the best hotels we ever stayed at in the world in Johannesburg, The Residence Hotel which was amazing and since our flight was cancelled due to a Lufthansa strike we had to stay an extra night which was also a highlight of our trip and we would go back to Johannesburg to stay there again.

Thank you Susan for making this such an amazing trip!

I was very pleased with the information, help and booking process provided by Cayleigh

We had an amazing experience at Walkers Plains Camp. The wildlife viewing was superb from start to finish. Our guide Millie and tracker were super friendly, extremely knowledgeable and made the game drives an absolute pleasure.

The camp was very luxurious, incredibly clean and tidy and the staff were on hand at all times for everything we needed.

They couldn’t have done more and they made us feel very special.

These are memories that will stay with us forever.

We booked the safari through Bianca Angelucci at Discover Africa. She was so accommodating and easy to work with. Taking care of everything from flights to any last minute changes that were needed.

Nothing was too much trouble and I will definitely be recommending them and booking my next trip with her help.

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 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.