South Africa Big 5 Safari and Victoria Falls Journey

I just got back from a truly wonderful trip to South Africa, organised by DiscoverAfrica. We spent 4 nights in Cape Town, 3 in Franschhoek and 3 at Arathusa Lodge in Sabi Sands. The transfers organised between all these locations were faultless and very professional. The highlight had to be the safari lodge at the end. We saw all the Big 5—lots of leopards, including 2 cubs, lions (and a cub), a baby hippo, baby elephants, a baby giraffe, hyenas, white rhinos, and many others.

The rangers and trackers are superb; we hadn’t seen a buffalo until the last 10 minutes of our last game drive. I still can’t fathom how our tracker saw the buffalo through all the bush! I can’t recommend Discover Africa enough; they were always prompt in responding to queries and changes, which we had to sort out, and it was all done with no issues.

Neil's Safari Trip

We contacted Discover Africa directly from Sydney. Feeling that a local travel agent would serve our interests best. And that’s how it turned out. Vihann van Wyck was our contact point, and he did everything we wanted and more. All his suggestions were good, and ALL his travel arrangements worked seamlessly. Hotels welcomed us, and shuttle buses arrived on time in remote locations for our group of 6 family members. We had a week in two excellent game parks. Jock in Kruger and Ulusaba at Sabi Sands. A wonderful experience of safari and luxury.

Then a week in Capetown. A beautiful city with its monumental Table Mountain. And we took severe advantage of the poor Rand with our less than spectacular Australian dollars. The African people are fantastic. We never felt stressed. All in all, an amazing holiday. Thank you, Vihann. I highly recommend Africa and Discover Africa. I should also say that the 14-hour direct Sydney to Jo’burg flight is a blessing for Australians going to South Africa. So easy and a great A380 plane and crew. The old Qantas that we all remember.

I would do it all again.

Alex.

This is the second “once-in-a-lifetime” trip we’ve booked through Adelle at Discover Africa–and it won’t be the last. Her knowledge of the available tours/lodges/details created very memorable trips. Having to translate our expectations and lack of knowledge of safaris and the various regions into a customized trip with unique and enjoyable experiences could not have been easy, but she’s made it seem so.

Our first trip introduced us to Cape Town, Sabi Sands, and Kruger. From the at-airport welcome for initial transportation, to various flights, and at-lodge customized details (e.g., special meal needs), the itinerary and connections were flawless. The length of stays was discussed and Adelle’s recommendations for each proved exactly what we needed. Even shifting our trip one week on her recommendation enabled us to avoid very heavy seasonal travel from Europe that we were unaware of. In-country/in-continent knowledge coupled with a deep experience with planning travel proved invaluable.

Our second safari experience involved several lodges (with airport-to lodges-to airport transportation) in various locations (Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa). Each provided unique aspects of the safari experience, and (again) the recommended length of stays for each was spot on.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our travel as arranged by Adelle, and are developing plans for another trip. We’ve discussed alternative levels of accommodations, and her knowledgeable responses related to differences between all-inclusive luxury vs. non-inclusive high-quality convinced us to again trust her planning for wonderful experiences of a lifetime.

We would recommend Adelle’s and Discover Africa’s travel services without hesitation and regularly provide their contact information to friends, family, and others who are interested in discovering Africa in a most beautiful, intimate, personal, and respectful way.

A good package was crafted for our needs. Each hotel and our tour program was well arranged. Price was well worth it for our holiday in Africa.

We had the most amazing experience with Susan who went above and beyond to make sure our first time in South Africa was pleasurable and one to remember. Susan was patient with us while we scrambled with dates and decided to change what we wanted to do halfway through our holiday.

She also made sure to match us perfectly with a safari tour that would fit our active lifestyles so we were kept busy throughout the days. Our tour was most incredible, the value for money was well beyond what we paid for and we saw all the animals we were wanting to see plus more!

Thank you Susan, we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and appreciate your expertise and knowledge of South Africa while organising our trip.

We loved our Africa vacation. Despite the airline schedule changes involved the whole itinerary went smoothly thanks to our travel consultant Matthys Van Aswegan who monitored our connections so we could fully enjoy each destination.

Our Sabi Sands Game Reserve Safari and Victoria Falls visit was breathtaking and mesmerizing. Each lodge was over the top with a wonderful staff. Hopefully, someday, we will be able to return!