Timbavati Safari Short and Sweet

I just came back from my holiday organised by Discover Africa and can safely say this was one of the most incredible trips I’ve ever done (and I travel quite a lot). I can’t recommend them enough!

I contacted them last minute, merely 4 weeks ahead of my planned travel dates. Matthys, the travel expert that took care of me, scheduled a video call to understand better what I’m after. I gave him a rather vague brief (Victoria Falls + safari somewhere in South Africa, Botswana or Zimbabwe, including walking safaris; avoiding touristy hotspots and crowds as much as possible). Within just a couple of days he came back with an itinerary that fit the bill to a tee. Just a few highlights from my trip: watching a group of hippos at sunset just in front of my porch in Chundu Island near Victoria Falls, a microlight flight over the falls (the views are incredible), watching a pack of wild dogs hunting kudus in Sabi Sand (and hyenas joining in too), and tracking lions on foot at Rhino Walking Safaris in Kruger NP. Each of the locations I visited offered something truly special.

Everything was perfectly organised, including all the transfers between locations. Matthys was very responsive whenever I had any questions (even outside of working hours). This was my first visit to this part of Africa, and I already know I’ll be coming back soon enough and will reach out to Discover Africa to help me make it happen.

Barry helped me plan my dream safari to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. I was nervous about getting transportation from the airport to my lodges and making sure I was able to make all my safaris on time. Barry planned my itinerary very carefully so I didn’t have anything to worry about.

He was also very good at responding to me consistently whenever I had questions. Sabi Sands, in South Africa, was my favourite. I was so lucky to be able to see the Big 5 on the very first game drive! The lodges in Sabi Sands were so luxurious and the hospitality was incredible. Each country had different terrain and was unique in its own way. I can’t wait to plan my next safari to Africa!

This trip was a 20th anniversary/bucket list trip. From the time we landed in South Africa until we sadly had to depart, we were hosted like no other country we’ve visited. Our travel agent, Dianne DuPlessis from Discover Africa, was amazing. We described the trip we were looking for and the type of accommodations and she completely nailed it. All of our accommodations were perfect. We meet so many wonderful host and guests at the different lodges. The food very delicious as was the water & cocktails! 🙂

We were able to see the big 5, little 5, ugly 5, and many others. Our guides and trackers were the best at explaining the ecology of the African Savannah. We learned so much. We highly recommend Dianne and Discover Africa as well as the lodges we stayed at.

Patty's South African Safari Experience

Discover Africa , and Matthys van Aswegen in particular, was a pleasure to work with. Firstly, his patience and understanding is a true fine attributive of his. We started talking about a safari to South Africa in mid-2019. We had both phone calls and email exchanges, and he was always responsive with concrete intelligent answers.

In fact, he sent me many options/packages that were only in Kruger, and others that included Botswana, whatever combination I asked him for, he put together happily. However, by the end of 2019, not knowing about Covid yet, we simply weren’t ready to go on Safari yet. He never put any pressure and was quite understanding.

We then spent most of 2020 emailing back and forth again during the pandemic, with many more questions and options. In Dec 2020, I finally booked a Safari with him to Mala Mala camp in Sabi Sands(one camp , 4 nights, seven game drives), as well as visits to Johannesburg and Cape Town.

We continued to exchange emails during 2021, updating and tweaking the itinerary, when suddenly the Omicron variant hit during Thanksgiving. Since there was MUCH uncertainty with Omicron and our trip was a few weeks away, I couldn’t take chance with my family’s well-being and potentially getting stuck in South Africa.

So I postponed the entire trip for a year to Dec 2022. Matthys, once Again, was only understanding and flexible! He helped me re-book everything to Dec 2022 AND I even rearranged the itinerary completely, and he was accommodating and cooperative. He was also able to transfer all of my pre-payments for Mala Mala, other hotels, flights, to Dec 2022 so that not one penny was lost!

In short, he was amazing ! We just returned a few days ago and the safari at Mala Mala was something me and family will always treasure. We also very much enjoyed Cape Town and the winelands! Discover Africa gets an A+ !

Megan Warrington and Discover Africa made our 5 country African vacation a trip of a lifetime. She planned the perfect vacation for us. The pace was perfect, the sequence of countries was perfect, and the accommodations were truly amazing. She knew exactly what we wanted and needed along the way.

I would have never been able to put together such an amazing adventure. Discover Africa was there for us every step of the way. They made our connecting flights seamless, getting us through airports and border crossings quickly and easily.

They saved us so much time and energy, making the difficult things seem easy.

With Covid changing everyone’s travel plans, our trip was 2 years in the planning yet Megan was very understanding and patient with us. We changed dates and itineraries 2 or 3 times trying to make the trip possible and Megan just adjusted everything along the way so that our dream trip became a reality.

I just want to say thank you to Megan and Discover Africa for letting us experience your beautiful continent.

From the very beginning, it was so easy and convenient to get in touch with Discover Africa, and specifically Antoinette Van Heerden.

Antoinette was extremely responsive and amenable to all our emails and requests for accommodations, diets, and preferences for our 10 day honeymoon in Cape Town, Kruger National Park, and Livingstone/Victoria Falls.

The accommodations that Discover Africa partners with and where we stayed were simply out of this world. As an example, our Cape Town hotel sat at the foot of Table Mountain with a dramatic view! The food was also stellar. All our transfers from airports to hotel and internal flights were completely seamless and set up completely by Discover Africa. All of this was at a very reasonable price. Discover Africa / Antoinette even provided us a helpful mini-booklet that provided us with suggestions on dealing with the weather, clothes, bugs, tipping, covid guidelines, etc. My wife and I felt so prepared for our full trip including safari and other tours.

We had a magical honeymoon that we will never forget, thanks to the dedication of Discover Africa and Antoinette.