Luxury Safari in Kenya & Gorilla Encounters in Bwindi

I booked a safari with Discover Africa. Adelle did a great job of finding me lodges that suited my budget, also within driving distance to the River Mara, so I was lucky enough to see a migration river crossing. The trip went so smoothly from the moment I landed in Nairobi a driver was waiting for me. I was dropped off at my hotel in Nairobi, I was picked up the following morning and taken to Wilson Airport and checked-in ready for my flight to the game reserve and exactly the same thing on the return journey. Everything was taken care of. The lodges were perfect and the safari was amazing. I would highly recommend Discover Africa.

We booked our 10-day safari in Tanzania and Kenya through Discover Africa, and it exceeded every expectation. From our first conversation through the end of our journey, everything was exceptionally well organized, allowing us to focus entirely on enjoying the experience.

A special thank you to Bianca, who helped us design our itinerary. She was knowledgeable, responsive, and incredibly patient throughout the planning process. We had a lot of questions, compared multiple itinerary options, and made several adjustments along the way. Bianca always provided thoughtful recommendations, explained the tradeoffs, and never made us feel rushed. Her expertise was invaluable in building an itinerary that perfectly matched what we were looking for.

Every transfer, flight, and accommodation was seamlessly coordinated. We never had to worry about logistics, and everything ran exactly as planned.

The itinerary itself was phenomenal. We experienced Cape Town, Victoria Falls, Tanzania, and Kenya, culminating in an unforgettable safari where we witnessed the Great Migration, saw the Big Five, and had incredible wildlife encounters throughout. The accommodations Discover Africa selected were all excellent, each offering something unique while consistently delivering outstanding hospitality and service.

What impressed us most was that Discover Africa didn’t simply book hotels and flights. They helped craft an experience. The pacing of the trip, the choice of camps, and the routing between destinations all came together to create a vacation we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

If you’re planning an African safari and want a company that genuinely listens to your preferences and takes the stress out of organizing a complex itinerary, I highly recommend Discover Africa. Thank you to Bianca and the entire team for helping us create the trip of a lifetime.

Honestly, this review can’t even possibly come close to expressing what this trip meant to us! I have taken a bit of time to write this review. We went back in July-August 2024. It has been hard to write a review that would do this trip justice, but I am going to try.

From start to finish, it was beyond our dreams! So let’s start at the beginning. We started working with Antoinette with Discover Africa in December 2023. Lucky for us, we found her by accident doing some research. We talked to others but really connected with Antoinette and decided to take a leap of faith in her. Thank goodness we did! She was the “Queen” of this trip, if you will! If it wasn’t for her, this experience would never have happened. I can’t express enough thanks to her and her team! She NEVER got impatient with us. Even with all our “stupid” questions. She answered all of our questions patiently. She never lost focus. She is a source of incredible knowledge and personal experience. She designed a fantastic bucket list trip for us! Every detail was thought out! She is a gem, and if you are lucky enough to get to work with her, you will not be disappointed!

Our trip was focused on the country of Tanzania. What an absolutely beautiful country and beautiful people! From the landscapes to the people and the animals, you should see this amazing country! (Kenya has nothing on Tanzania!)

We started our adventure in Kilimanjaro. We were picked up by Freddy, an Anderson and Harvey representative. He had the most smiling face to welcome us into the country. After a 30+ hour journey, it was well received! We asked him for a coffee place, and he took us to a stand since he is a tea drinker; he was a little at a loss but was very tasty. Onwards to our lodge. Stayed at the Kaliwa Lodge. Very pretty in the treetops over looking the river. With the abundance of foliage, it was hard to see the river but could hear it. Food was incredible, and staff were really nice and attentive. We tried to “hike” Kilimanjaro, I use this word loosely, to the first base camp. We made it halfway. It was a wonderful experience. Our guide was Kester who works with the lodge. He was so fun. I think he was a bit worried with us but we made it! We learnt about his life and what movies he liked. Great way to kick off our trip.

We were picked up from Anderson and Harvey transfers and met Charles for the first time. On the way, Charles treated us to a “respectful” coffee! He was such a delight. We loved talking politics to him. Learnt about his family and his job.

We met Charles a few times throughout the trip. He was a great representative for Anderson and Harvey. He brought us to Siringit Villa. That place is incredible! Beautiful grounds. The food is 5-star! People come from all around to eat there. The service was impeccable. The spa and the golf were fantastic. We spent one of our days visiting the Arusha National Park with Allen from Anderson and Harvey. The brush is incredible and thick. We had a picnic lunch and just a great conversation getting to know Allen and seeing the park and the animals. Really a nice relaxing stay to get ready for the push through to the Serengeti.

Next on our stop was the Arusha Coffee Lodge. Unfortunately, only 1 night at the Arusha Coffee Lodge. I wish it could have been more! The room was gorgeous. We were treated to an excellent dinner. And the breakfast was incredible! The arts and crafts are fun to watch them make and to shop.

Enjoying our trip immensely to this point, as I reflect, this is the point where our adventure really began!

We meet Penuel. He was our guide for the next 11 days. Starting from the Tarangire National Park, through the Ngorongoro Crater, into Central Serengeti, finishing in Northern Serengeti. That is a statement… meeting Penuel. He is a force of nature. He is an astounding guide! From his incredible sightings to all his knowledge. He is a true ambassador of the culture, environment, and all the creatures. His patience is unparalleled to anyone. His comprehension of the terrain and the roads was stupefying (not like there are road signs). His witty sense of humour and his sarcasm endeared him to us right away. We are in debt to Penuel for forever! What he showed us there are no words. He means the world to us! Thank you, Penuel!

Every place we stayed along the way, mentioned below, was beyond belief! From the service to the food and drinks to the breathtaking rooms! You do not want for anything! They surpassed any expectations that we might have had! We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our wonderful camps.

All 5-star experience:

• Elewana Tarangire Treetops
• Melia Collection Ngorongoro
• Nimali Central Serengeti
• Nimali Mara Northern Serengeti

Our trip ended in Zanzibar at Essque Zalu Zanzibar. This island is very cultural. Be respectful! Had a nice time unwinding from the rush.

If you made it this far, thank you! Spectacular Trip!

I think we are very lucky and grateful by choosing Discover Africa Safari for our first safari trip in Kenya, even in Africa.

The itinerary is very well balanced, scheduled and organized. We get to explore the different aspects and experienced different dimensions of Kenya, including local culture and rhino tracking at Rhino Saruni , breathtaking views and luxurious stay of Samburu Saruni, and of course the wild animals with very experienced guides. We often WOW and lots of things are beyond our expectation.

Susan, I can’t thank you enough. It was definitely one of the most memorable travel we had. Thank you!

Chen Jie's Kenya Safari Experience

Our trip included 3 siblings and our partners; we visited four camps in Kenya and Tanzania – Elewana Tortilis Camp near Amboseli NP, Elewana Sand River Maasai Mara Camp, Aurari Camp North Serengeti, Acacia Farm Lodge in Karatu near Ngorongoro Crater.

Discover Africa’s Megan Warrington created an outstanding itinerary! Megan was very quick to respond to our emails and texts; every moment of our travels was perfectly arranged and professionally handled.

I can’t imagine any operator providing a better, bespoke experience.

Each camp selected by Megan was unique and wonderful. Graham and Candy Smith, the managers at Tortilis, were a fountain of information and fascinating stories. We were fortunate to have spectacular views of Kilimanjaro for 2 of our 3 days.

Sand River was magical in its own way with animals wandering past mornings and evenings across the river and elephants enjoying the camp’s lush greenery at night (until the staff chased them away!).

Aurari, with only 4 tents and our group the only occupants, was simply amazing with our own chef, hostess and 3 additional staff to take care of us. Every night a fire with sundowners was ready when we returned from our game drive. The view over the Serengeti and the Mara Triangle was spectacular.

Acacia is a town lodge with a country feel – beautiful, comfortable cabins and outstanding staff. Every location had superb food with offerings ranging from a single meal to menu selection or buffet – we could have stayed a month at any of the camps.

Safaris were led by outstanding, highly experienced guides – all had at least 15 years’ experience and, judging from the conversations with other guides we passed on game drives, highly regarded by their peers. We had outstanding luck with our animal sightings and we credit our guides for many of them – Juma in Ambroseli, Charles in Masai Mara, Joe in Serengeti, and Charmy in Ngorongoro area. Since we were traveling late October, we were successful seeing the many baby animals we hoped for – a few hours’ old baby elephant still learning to suckle, 16 lion cubs in one pride and 6 in another, giraffe calves, warthog piglets, jackal pups, ostrich chicks – the list goes on.

In Amboseli a herd of elephant passed within a yard of our perfectly positioned Land Cruiser; in Maasai Mara the Sand River pride walked up from their sleeping place on the river sand at dusk right past our Cruiser – kudos to our guide Charles for putting us in the perfect position. The Serengeti offered up a wildebeest crossing – our guide Joe had us perfectly positioned – with the added excitement of a croc grabbing one unfortunate animal (it got away!). Our animal sightings also included many lions (including a couple on ‘honeymoon’!), cheetahs, leopards, crocodiles, hippopotamus, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest to name a few and many different birds.

The Serengeti balloon safari was one of the highlights of our trip; Serengeti Balloon Safaris provided a fabulous dawn safari across the Mara River and the Serengeti. Our pilot, Jason Adams, learned the trade from his father and was superb as was the support team. There were 3 people in the basket that were afraid of heights, but on the balloon there wasn’t even a hint of discomfort. Yes, it’s expensive…but it’s worth it!

Hopefully we’ll have a chance to visit Africa again – such a magical place – and our first call will be to Discover Africa.

Discover Africa and Carel has put in such an effort for us to experience the annual wildebeest migration, meticulous planning and accurate predictions with logical and the best accommodation options both sides of the Mara River guaranteed us crossings, we did manage to see the herds cross on the Serengeti side and again on the Masai Mara side, it felt good that they had this covered!

Thanks Carel, we see you next year – Jates and Hil