Classic Tanzania- Ngorongoro Crater to the Great Migration

I have just come back to Australia from 2 months travelling in Africa. Part of this time was a personal tour organised by Discover Africa just for me. I had found them online when I was researching safaris and made contact with them, as their tours looked like they covered the sort of places I was interested in. I don’t like big tour groups and would have been happy in a small group, but Susan Swanpoel replied and said they’d organise whatever I wanted, just for me. Susan was super helpful with the organisation by email and a couple of Zoom calls. She designed the trip around my wishes of where I wanted to visit and was super helpful when my friend decided to join me for half the trip. She worked within my budget and changed things as necessary to suit me/us better. Everything was set out well, on paper, and also on a phone app that could be accessed offline whilst we were travelling. It may not have been the cheapest option for such a trip, but it was definitely excellent value for money!

The trip started in South Africa and went up through Victoria Falls and Botswana and on to Tanzania. Everywhere I travelled, I could rely on being met at the airport and helped through to either my next flight or my next accommodation. Airports can be quite intimidating; it was really great to have someone meet me. I was travelling on my own for half the trip and always felt safe and well looked after. The hotels and safari lodges Susan had suggested were great. All the safari lodges were full board and were absolutely wonderful. I especially loved Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana and Rufiji River Lodge in Tanzania.

Deidre's Experience

I started in South Africa in January, and it was February by the time I was in the Serengeti and the wildebeest were on the southern part of their migration. We saw so many thousands! Plus lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, so many birds – you name it, we saw it! February was a good time to be in Tanzania, because it is between two wet seasons. The guide we had for the Serengeti and Ngorongoro was really experienced and looked after us super well. It is an amazing part of the world! The small plane flights between safari locations in Tanzania were excellent, and saved us so much time (and body shaking), as road travel is very slow over there, even when it looks like it’s not that far (the roads are pretty bad).

I loved the whole trip and would not hesitate to use Discover Africa again if I ever revisit the African continent for another tour.

A Tanzanian Safari had been a bucket list trip and Adelle at Discover Africa and Solly, our guide, made it better than we could have ever imagined! A few highlights

Flexibility: we had to adjust dates and itineraries several times given personal conflicts and Adelle flexed with us at every step, offering thoughtful recommendations to make sure we’d be able to have the best possible experience.

Overall Service: from pre-booking until we were back home, we felt genuinely cared about and like we were in great hands. Solly went out of his way to take routes and find spots off the beaten path to see the hard-to-find animals- answered our endless questions, all while doing some of the most impressive driving we’ve ever seen!

Attention to Detail: Adelle reviewed our all arrangements in detail, catching an error I had made with flights and time zones that could have resulted in missing a full day- but was avoided thanks to her. Every detail was perfect at every step. Food, bed types, custom pieces of the itinerary, etc.

Safety: it was of course a little disconcerting traveling during Covid and with my father who had only been out of the country once before- but the team was excellent and guided us through Covid requirements with ease and made us feel safe at every step, staying in constant contact and being very responsive.

Accommodations: far exceeded expectations and were beyond what we imagined, perfectly capturing the essence of a safari. We lucked out that on several of the nights we were the only guests on property- so had over the top service. A reason to book before tourism comes surging back!

Value: we knew this would be a bit of a pricy trip, but Adelle worked with us to get what we felt was a great overall value within our budget. She helped recommend where to pull back and where to spend more on hotels, activities, etc and her advice was excellent. Worth every penny. We could not say enough to compliment the team or recommend more highly – thanks again for the experience of a lifetime!!

Karl’s communication was faultless, he replied immediately with information to our Questions.

Everything from the vehicle, driver, accommodation, meeting and greeting, food, company, safari our tour was everything and more than we expected. We had the most amazing and memorable time ever.

David Anatory our driver was perfect, his communication, his safe driver with a little adventure every now and then 🙂 made the trip for us. He certainly picked up our vibes for what we liked and what we didn’t want to experience. We enjoyed his sense of humour, knowledge of and passion for Tanzania.

I could go on and on forever about our experience. We rate it 100 out of 100 and if we could afford it we would definitely do again. Thanks DA your great, but a special thank you to David, see you in NZ sometime soon.

From our first contact with Karl, by email, to transferring large sums of money, which was promptly acknowledged, to being met by Petrous at Kilimanjaro, this Safari was way beyond our expectations. The moment, soon after arrival, the five of us received a boxed gift of a Masai blanket, each, we knew we chose the right Safari operator.

Discover Africa, you know the way to a tourist’s heart. Thank you. The blankets were used at every opportunity during the Safari and are now washed and ironed, at home, with us in Malaysia. A heart warming ,loved souvenir of our 8 absolutely amazing days in Tanzania.

Our guide and driver was totally committed to ensuring we sighted as many big cats, other wild animals, insects and birds as we could. He stopped to show us a line of Martebelli ants and on another occasion,a dung beetle busily preparing its nest. Nothing was too trivial for Petrous.

Returning to a kopje ,which housed big cats ,sighted in the morning to “ see what the lions, leopards and Cheetahs “were up to,now” was the norm each day; it did not matter that we were driving around for 6-8 hours before that ! We feel very grateful that he was assigned to us. Rational, knowledgeable and calm. He drove skillfully through shocking, terribly muddy ditches. We were impressed and he endeared himself to my husband, our 3 adult children and me.

Accommodation was as expected the first 3 nights but our final four nights were spent in a luxurious, comfortable and absolutely scenic camp – Lemala Nanyukie. Being lulled to sleep by roaring lions was sublime. Food was delicious, the barman Nelson was awesome and staff friendly, warm and hospitable. Leaving the Serengeti was not easy for all 5 of us. We will treasure memories of awesome wild life, trustworthy ,honest ,hospitable people and stunning scenery.

Thank you Karl and Mathys of Discover Africa. May we be in contact again, in the future. S Sushila

I am an avid traveler, I love to discover new places and see new things. It didn’t take long for me to put Africa on my bucket list of places to visit with an African safari as a top priority bucket list activity.

I’ve visited other websites and have even communicated with their employees, unfortunately, I didn’t have good experiences with some of them. So upon planning my first safari, I came across Discover Africa & true to their name, they did help me discover a part of Africa.

My correspondent was Karl, and I have to say that he was very efficient, I laid out the specifications for him and he quickly managed to create an itinerary for me. Things were smooth from the planning stage, to the tour itself, to the return. I had a wonderful time and I can confidently recommend Discover Africa for your first (or next) trip to Africa. Africa is certainly a unique continent full of wonder.

My first trip was a combination of two East African countries, Rwanda & Kenya. It was a great combination as there was a stark contrast between the two countries.

Rwanda was a lush, green, mountainous region where farms galore. Kenya had a somewhat harsh, arid landscape. The gorillas and golden monkeys were Rwanda’s flagship attraction so I didn’t dare to miss the opportunity to see both. Some people opted for 2 gorilla treks as opposed to one gorilla & golden monkey trek, and I simply don’t recommend that. There is beauty in both encounters & a contrast in behavior as well. The gorillas were generally more reserved and shy while the monkeys were playful and mischievous. The rules of both encounters differ as well & you had a bit more freedom with the golden monkeys. Rwandans are a very welcoming, friendly people & I lost count of how many times we got smiles, hellos and waves as we drove past them. On one occasion, a couple of cute children did a little cultural dance and song for us.

Kenya was beautiful in it’s own way as well. I stayed at the Governer’s Camp at the Maasai Mara & the experience was nothing short of unique. A 45 minute flight will take you away from society and into the wilderness where the camps are located. You will be greeted by gazelles, giraffes, baboons & zebras upon arrival & transferal to the camp. You will enjoy the escape from civilization, you will enjoy waking up to the grunts and roars of animals as opposed to the grunts and roars of vehicles, you will enjoy viewing the wildlife you may have seen in zoos, only this time in their natural habitat. Having breakfast while marveling at the gazelles & zebras on the horizon is an alluring experience and beats all the dinner nights I’ve had watching my favorite TV shows. If you get the chance, opt for some Kenyan coffee, it’s a pleasure to the senses and the best I’ve ever tasted (and I’m not much of a coffee person).

One thing to keep in mind is that this is nature, experiences will vary from one person to the next, there are no guarantees in the wild. But I can guarantee that you will have a great overall experience. My favourite moment was witnessing the very end of a river crossing by a zeal of zebras as it rained over the Mara river. A zebra met it’s end at the jaws of a crocodile. Our driver brought us closer to witness the spectacle of a bask of crocodiles engaging in a feeding frenzy like nothing I’ve ever seen. All of this while a rainbow arched over us.

Truly awe inspiring.

Communications: Excellent combination of calling to chat about plans and details, followed up with emailing of detailed information. Made all arrangements easy for us from the actual booking to payment procedures, exchange rate recommendations, visa advice, packing advice and suggestions for malaria prophylaxis amongst other details. Service: Went above and beyond to help adapt the itinerary to suit everyone’s needs and timings. Made excellent suggestions based on group travelling and ensured that all of us were happy.

Expectations: Exceeded ! Was impressed with the knowledge of the consultant (Carel Verhoef) of not only the country (Uganda) but the best transport routes, practical solutions to travel plans, excellent ideas and well chosen accommodation establishments. He helped and arranged all the details with diligence and really listened to what our needs were and then made it happen. Will definitely use them again.

Tour: Everything and more than we expected. From a luxurious & relaxing (much-needed) start of the trip, to smooth transfers, an incredible hike and mountain experience, a unique wildlife experience that should be on everyone’s bucket list and then a calm and gentle wrap up with great wildlife and lodge choices.

The assistance during the trip was also superb as we had a typical “travel-in-Africa” experience where we were delayed and there was a risk of missing our Gorilla Trek and losing our permits. During the ‘race’ to make it in time, the support from Discover Africa to help with arrangements was outstanding. (PS: You can’t ‘race’ in Africa) Thank you to Discover Africa for a trip of a lifetime. It will never be forgotten.