Food and Tipping in Uganda

We booked our safari trip through Justin van Wyk from Discover Africa, and we couldn’t be happier with the experience.

He organized and booked everything from A to Z, so we didn’t have to worry about anything at all. Throughout the entire trip, we stayed in close contact, and he regularly checked in to make sure everything was going well.

We are extremely satisfied with his work and truly appreciated his professionalism and attention to detail.

We would highly recommend both him and the agency anytime!

Justin planned the best safari for our honeymoon. Everything was coordinated smoothly and the arrangements could not have been better. We are hoping to take another trip to South Africa in the future and will be using Discover Africa again. Justin was available for any questions we had during our safari and checked in to ensure we were good. A fantastic experience!!

I contacted a few agency, Discover Africa was fast to respond. Every steps of the way in planning to the very end of departure, all things were planned with precise accuracy. Adelle was always in communication and ready to help and answer everything.

Frank, my guide and driver, was beyond expectations. I was an unusually quiet person, and somehow Frank seems to know that and provided me a perfect safari experience with just enough information and friendliness without making it seems overwhelming for me. He somehow noticed a lot of details while searching for animals, birds, plants and even insects while driving in the relatively difficult paths.

Both accommodations suggested by Adelle were great. I couldn’t ask for more. As a solo traveller, it isn’t always easy. It turned out to be beyond I had ever dreamed of. The feeling and experience when we stopped in the middle of hundreds or thousands of animals walking around us in the same direction was more than words can describe. Thank you Adelle. Thank you Frank.

Thank you Ngorongoro Lion’s Paw, and thank you Kirimu Camp. I am already thinking about my next experience with Discover Africa.

I have been more than impressed with this entire experience every time. I will continue to use them year after year.

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.

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.