Botswana Safari – Short and Sweet

I worked with Justin Van Wyk at Discover Africa Safaris to arrange safaris in Zimbabwe and Botswana, including a stop at Victoria Falls, for two of my children and me. The safaris were exquisite, and Justin was phenomenal—professional, responsive, and detail-oriented. He patiently helped refine my changing requirements and dreams until we created a luxurious, once-in-a-lifetime trip. The adventure was extremely well organized: there were no surprises, we were greeted at each location, and transportation between destinations was well planned and flexible when needed.

The six luxury camps arranged by Discover Africa and Justin were outstanding. The food was excellent, and even my picky daughter ate well at every meal. The accommodations and furnishings were beautiful, and the staff were welcoming, attentive, and friendly. Everyone at the camps prioritized safety and made sure we always felt comfortable and secure.

The actual safaris and activities we out-of-this-world. My goals of this trip were to have my adult children see the Big Five and to capture pictures of leopards. We saw a leopard on the first day! And around a dozen in all. Many amazing pictures were taken as well. With a side trip to see rhinos, we did see the Big Five, and many, many more wild African animals. We even caught tiger fish…

Thank you, Justin and Discover Africa,
Bill Reid

PS – Captured acceptable Milky Way photos in Botswana as a Bonus!

Chrizaan from Discover Africa created an amazing tour for me and my Mum, and somehow managed to get us a single room each for most of our stay, at better prices than other operators. My Mum has mobility limitations, and Chrizaan ensured that all of the amazing camps we stayed at would be accessible for her. The staff at the camps were so warm, welcoming and helpful. The flight logistics were seamless. The food was wonderful. I’ve never seen a better range of animals on any other safari. The guides and the trackers had unbelievable knowledge. I’ve already recommended Discover Africa to others, and would definitely use them again.

Our experience with Discover Africa was excellent from start to finish. Susan was our travel coordinator and we could not have asked for more – she was engaged from the beginning, took all of our personal interests in our bookings into account, and put together a wonderful itinerary for us. When there was a hiccup in the finalization of bookings due to a computer system issue (no fault of Discover Africa) it was no problem, as Susan had alternate bookings on hold that we were able to secure – bookings that ended up being our favorites on the whole trip!

We explored Cape Town, Botswana, and Namibia, and had absolutely wonderful experiences along the way. Throughout multiple flights, bush flights, and car rentals we had zero issues and everything went off without a hitch, and Susan checked it along the way to make sure everything was going smoothly and we were enjoying our travels. As we were on our honeymoon, we were treated to some pre-arranged unexpected surprises during our bookings along the way that made the experience even more memorable. I would absolutely recommend Discover Africa to anybody and will certainly be using them again in the future.

We originally booked 4 nights in Zimbabwe and Botswana for April 2020. The original planning and booking process was simple. Megan at Discover Africa provided a variety of options for durations and locations, and we were able to select the number of nights and the hotels that worked best for our budget and what we wanted to see/do. It was easy to add excursions such as boat tours and a helicopter flight over Victoria Falls.

When Covid derailed our trip, we were able to defer all the bookings indefinitely. In Spring of 2021, we put everything back on track for May 2021, and Megan got us set up with appointments and the information we needed to get Covid PCR tests in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Everything went off without a hitch.

Victoria Falls was extraordinary. The land transit to Botswana was complicated, but handled adroitly by the Wild Horizons drivers. We would have had a real headache figuring out those specifics without an experienced guide on the ground.

Our time in Chobe National Park was wonderful; we saw so many animals from pretty close-up! Again, the guides here were great. All of our covid results came in very quickly, and we had no worries about making our next transit to another country. Can’t recommend Discover Africa enough for getting you to and around Southern Africa.

Even in these uncertain Covid times, it’s very doable (check local conditions frequently though, as things seem to change rapidly).

Judy from Discover Africa organized a spectacular 9 day safari in Botswana for us. Everything was very well organized, the accommodations and service were outstanding. Judy promptly answered all of our questions, was patient with our ever-changing plans, and coordinated an unforgettable trip for us. Can highly recommend.