Ngorongoro in April

Chrizaan was wonderful. She took our requests to heart and created a once in a lifetime trip for us. The transportation was arranged flawlessly and the safaris were breathtaking. We saw so much and did so much but it didn’t feel rushed. I would recommend Chrizaan 100%. It was a truly amazing trip.

Was just awesome, would recommend anytime…saw all big 5, all small 5, live kill by lions…was just divine

Discover Africa planned a fabulous trip for us! The travel planner came up with an itinerary that included everything we wanted; the trip was extremely well organized; the accommodations were lovely; and the activities were fun and interesting. We especially loved the Queen Victoria Hotel in Cape Town near the V&A waterfront and Beck’s Lodge in South Africa. The management at Beck’s was so friendly and helpful, our safari guide and tracker were extremely knowledgeable and personable, and the chefs were outstanding. I highly recommend Discover Africa!

We had a wonderful experience with Discover Africa from the planning stage all the way through to the end of the trip. I communicated what my family was looking for with a visit to Africa and Vihann helped construct a trip that provided the quality and experience to match our wishes. Using a travel agent, communication is of the upmost importance and Vihann was readily available during all parts of planning via email and even during the trip via WhatsApp.

If you choose to visit multiple countries in Africa and remote locations within those countries, transportation and logistics can be very challenging, and we were consistently at ease during our travel knowing that we’d always be in the correct place at the correct time because of Discover Africa. There were no hiccups or concerns going between locations and that alone made using Discover Africa worth it. In addition to logistics, Vihann chose incredible accommodations at each location in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

The camps in Botswana (African Bush Camps Kwai Lediba & Atzaro Okavango) and Zimbabwe (Old Drift Lodge) were luxurious and intimate and the staff at the camps made our stays far exceed expectations. On top of the camp hosts and staff being personable and accommodating, the safari guides were extremely knowledgeable and made it possible for us to see every kind of wildlife we wished to that was native to the areas (including lions, elephants, leopards, hyenas, hippos, and wild dogs).

While the price for the overall trip can change quite a bit based on the accommodations you choose, I strongly recommend paying the additional dollars for the comfort and service that you receive at the higher-end camps. Overall we had an amazing trip due to the planning and service provided by Discover Africa and Vihann. I would absolutely use them again in the future knowing that we would be taken care of and set up for success.

I chose a travel agency for four reasons. Years in business, quantity and quality of reviews, customisability, and local expertise. Discover Africa and my agent, Adelle, met or exceeded all expectations. I gave Adelle my budget and modified one of their suggested tours. Five stars.

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.