Kruger, Timbavati and the Panorama Route

From the very beginning, Bianca was a wonderful help in planning our South African safari. Her knowledge, attention to detail, and thoughtful recommendations made our trip truly exceptional.

Becks Safari Lodge was, in our group’s opinion, a six-star experience. The attention to detail throughout the property, in our luxurious rooms, during every meal, and on the game drives was simply impeccable. Every aspect exceeded our expectations.

There were so many standout moments, but for me, the most memorable was the way the staff came together to celebrate my friend’s birthday. From the delicious cake they prepared to their beautiful singing voices that sounded like angels, it was a heartfelt experience that we will treasure for the rest of our lives.

Bianca also recommended that we spend three nights in Franschhoek, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our South African adventure. It was a perfect recommendation.

We cannot thank Bianca enough for helping create such an unforgettable holiday, and we will definitely book through her again on our next visit to South Africa.

Chrizaan arranged an amazing safari experience for six of us, who came from the UK and Australia. She secured our booking at a superb Lodge in the Kruger at relatively short notice, tied in the flight transfers and ensured that the whole experience ran smoothly. She was extremely knowledgeable and nothing was too much trouble. We felt that we were in very capable hands, and Chrizaan was a delight to correspond with.

Africa was on my travel “wishlist” but I never thought I would actually get there

That all changed when our son was home for a visit over Christmas. He announced that he and a friend were going to Africa. They had selected DISCOVER AFRICA to plan their trip. He shared all the details with us and we decided it was an adventure we had to experience as well.

Our son connected us with Vihann Van Wyk at Discover Africa, the same agent he was using. Vihann was a pleasure to work with. He coordinated our trip with our son’s and tweaked the details as requested. Communication was a breeze through both email and WhatsApp. Vihann made suggestions as well as accepted specific requests from us to build a custom itinerary. No detail was overlooked. Some accommodations were adjusted to keep us within budget without sacrificing our experience.

All drivers, tour guides, experiences & lodging did not disappoint. All internal flights were on Airlink …. better than some regional airlines in the USA. The weather was perfect too!

Deborah's Safari Experience

Our itinerary included:

*CAPE TOWN – Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel….very nice property with an excellent breakfast and beautiful outdoor dining. Must sees were the full day Cape Tour, Wine Tour to Stellenbosch, Table Mountain and High Tea at the Cape Grace Hotel.

*KRUGER NTL PARK – Lion Sands Tinga Lodge….a dream experience! Excellent private bungalow, twice daily game drives, delicious food, and a wonderful massage and facial at the spa. The staff was outstanding.

*VICTORIA FALLS – Shongwe Lookout Lodge…a modest property that met all our needs and saved us some money. We experienced the Zambezi River sunset cruise, Victoria Falls ( incredible!! ) , lunch at the Lookout Cafe and a visit to the historic Victoria Falls hotel for lunch.

*JOHANNESBURG – Marriott African Pride Hotel in Melrose Arch ….an upscale area with lots of shopping and dining. The Soweto Tour was an experience not to be missed. We visited Nelson Mandela’s office and home. The Apartheid Museum was sobering and moving.

Lastly, every where we went we met the nicest people….friendly and helpful.

Excellent adventure! An experience like no other!

From the first moment, Vihann helped us with the organization and choice of places. Super patient and kind! The recommendations EXCEEDED our expectations!
I would choose them again and again!

Megan, We just returned from our family trip to your country on June 4, 2021. We had a GREAT TIME! Thank you for changing things as required over 2 years (as our trip had to be postponed from May 2020 to May 2021 due to COVID-19).

Now our thoughts on the two lodges and our trip overall: Ngala tented camp: Personalized attention, food was a notch up from the safari lodge. The accommodations were a notch below the safari lodge, given that it is tented. The accommodations were fine (as in decent) but did not really like the outdoor showers.

Saw the white lions at Ngala on our first and second days there. Was one of the highlights of our trip. Would we stay at the tented camp again?? … Possibly. All the transfers everywhere were seamless. The Fairlawns stay on both occasions was very nice! They really do a very nice job at this hotel.

The PCR test to return to the US at Jo berg airport was pretty painless (took the PCR test to avoid the hassle of whether the antigen test would work). Got the results via email in four hours and got the certificates printed out at the airport PCR facility the next day.

Tengile River Lodge; This lodge was truly stunning. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The food was divine. The snacks on the game drives were a notch better than Ngala. The drinks were top of the line and the four of us had our own safari vehicle. We had Warren as our ranger and Jophet as our tracker. They were both very, very good and really friendly. On day two we saw four of the big five on the morning game drive (lion, black rhino, buffalo, and elephants). On the evening game drive on day two we saw lion, buffalo, elephants and the leopard. Also saw lions with cubs on day 6 and also saw leopard with her cub on day 5. Finally saw the honey badger, which as our ranger at Tengile pointed out is extremely rare to spot. Once again thank you for everything.

One final point the game viewing in the Sabi Sands was very good… as good or better than 2017. The game viewing we thought at Ngala this time was not as good as what we saw in 2017. Paucity of animals… though we were very, very happy to see the white lions of Ngala.

Everything was as expected. Our vacation was amazing from transfers to lodging to activities. We had one small hiccup with a transfer; I contacted Discover Africa via email and Alice was immediately digging into the problem and guaranteeing no more issues. Our 2 safari lodges were incredible. I would definitely use Discover Africa again!