Wonderful Botswana “Relais & Chateaux“ Safari

Magic tour, the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in all my life, I really love this ancestral land: nature, wise animals, and humans with very big heart.

We just returned from our first African trip and had an absolutely amazing and memory making trip. We are usually self planners for our vacations but with essentially no knowledge I attempted to do research on Africa and felt overwhelmed. As suggested from different sites I did contact several companies and ultimately chose Discover Africa and was certainly glad we did.

We worked with Susan and after a lengthy phone conversation and some e-mail follow ups she put our itinerary together. Revisions were not an issue for her and Susan provided some great knowledge when it came to deciding our ultimate plans. In hindsight, I never would have been able to co-ordinate all the different aspects of accommodations, air and ground transfers, and paperwork the way she did. The availability of using the TravelKey App was great.

Our 15 day safari far exceeded our hopes. Each camp/lodge had their own unique qualities and all the guides and staff overflowed with knowledge and kindness. As I told Susan, when the experienced guide gets his camera out because the siting was rare or exceptional you know you have had a WOW moment.

Susan was great about keeping tabs on us and assuring all was going smoothly. She even contacted the lodge to assist in getting my husband some food items more to his liking. Our trip itinerary consisted of:
2N-Xugana Island Lodge- Okavango Delta
2N-Camp Xakanaxa- Moremi Game Reserve
4N- Camelthorn Lodge- East Hwanga National Park
2N Insika Lodge- Victoria Falls
4N Sable Camp- MalaMala Game Reserve

We have been blessed with many wonderful travels prior to this trip but it’s fair to say we will go back and explore more of what Africa has to offer and Discover Africa, and Susan will take the lead!

We had a wonderful experience with Discover Africa from the planning stage all the way through to the end of the trip. I communicated what my family was looking for with a visit to Africa and Vihann helped construct a trip that provided the quality and experience to match our wishes. Using a travel agent, communication is of the upmost importance and Vihann was readily available during all parts of planning via email and even during the trip via WhatsApp.

If you choose to visit multiple countries in Africa and remote locations within those countries, transportation and logistics can be very challenging, and we were consistently at ease during our travel knowing that we’d always be in the correct place at the correct time because of Discover Africa. There were no hiccups or concerns going between locations and that alone made using Discover Africa worth it. In addition to logistics, Vihann chose incredible accommodations at each location in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

The camps in Botswana (African Bush Camps Kwai Lediba & Atzaro Okavango) and Zimbabwe (Old Drift Lodge) were luxurious and intimate and the staff at the camps made our stays far exceed expectations. On top of the camp hosts and staff being personable and accommodating, the safari guides were extremely knowledgeable and made it possible for us to see every kind of wildlife we wished to that was native to the areas (including lions, elephants, leopards, hyenas, hippos, and wild dogs).

While the price for the overall trip can change quite a bit based on the accommodations you choose, I strongly recommend paying the additional dollars for the comfort and service that you receive at the higher-end camps. Overall we had an amazing trip due to the planning and service provided by Discover Africa and Vihann. I would absolutely use them again in the future knowing that we would be taken care of and set up for success.

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.

My husband and I went to Southern Africa for our honeymoon and it was unbelievable and truly the trip of our dreams. We wanted to visit Cape Town, Botswana, and Zimbabwe on a middle range budget but still getting as nice of things as possible and Megan made it happen. Megan was so on top of everything and so organized I couldn’t believe it! I felt so safe knowing that we were in her hands.

We stayed at the Victoria and Alfred hotel right on the waterfront and got to see the penguins and national parks in Cape Town. Then, in Botswana we did safaris in both the Okavango Delta and Chobe. We stayed at Kadizora Camp in the Delta first. This camp was so quaint, beautiful, peaceful, secluded, and the food and staff were beyond amazing. We didn’t see even one other jeep while we were out and saw the big 5 minus Rhinos which don’t live in that area.

The second place we stayed was Elephant Valley Lodge in Chobe and the there was a watering hole right in front of the camp where elephants and other animals would come to drink right in front of the camp that you could enjoy while drinking coffee or eating dinner. We also saw 3/5 there minus cheetahs and rhinos. This view was incredible and made the camp so special.

In Zimbabwe we saw the breathtaking Victoria Falls and did the funnest zip line. Even though we had several COVID tests while we were there it was all worth it and we respected each country keeping their people safe but still allowing us to visit. I cannot say enough about Megan she is truly incredible and we will be using her when we come back to different parts of Africa.

The communications were perfect , the guides in safari lodges are very knowledgeable in wild life and nature, they were incredible. the safari itself was unbelievable, we could see the big five except Rynos, we saw leopards hunting impalas and bringing it up to the tree and feeding their cubs, Lions, elephants girafes, hippos, wild dogs all the wild life in Okavango delta.

The landscape, the colors, the smell… we flew over in a small plane with 6 seats, and during 45 min we didn’t see any population, nothing than nature.

The lodges are very integrated in the nature and the service is very intimistic, everybody seats at one table to have breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only thing to point out is that the lodges should be renovated as they look slightly worned out.