24 Day Namibia Safari Review

We worked with Discover Africa to arrange our first ever Safari. Chrizaan from Discover Africa did a tremendous job in first understanding our requirements and wishes and then translating them into the perfect trip for us!

Everything was organized to the point and we did not have to fret about anything. We just had to bring our passport, money and good mood to enjoy an incredible vacation.

We felt like travelling with family!

Everybody was extremely friendly and the game reserves and lodges were first class. We saw all the animals we could have wished for and even more. We took so many photos, it will take weeks for us to decide which are the best ones. This is a great “problem” to have after such an exciting vacation. We are already talking about our next trip to Africa – and we would choose Discover Africa to organize the next trip for us again!

We have just returned from a trip to 3 different safari camps in Botswana, a short trip to Victoria Falls and a gorilla trek in Rwanda that was booked with Susan from Discover Africa. We couldn’t be happier with the direction and support she gave us to truly make it a trip of a lifetime.

Although the three camps she booked for us were geographically quite close, they were very different in the wildlife viewing experiences, with different focuses for each (we were at camp Okavango, Xakanaxa camp and Chobe Game Lodge). We saw all the animals and birds we dreamed of seeing in Africa with the exception of the rhino as conservation efforts are currently underway and they are located only in central Botswana at this time. The accommodation was incredible at all of them, the food delicious and the staff exceptional. Such lovely, welcoming people.

Rwanda was an absolute favorite and not just for the amazing gorillas. The country is lush and beautiful, the people warm and welcoming and the Bishops house hotel was incredible.

Susan coordinated all of our bookings and when one of the airlines cancelled our flight within hours of our flying, she was completely on it and got us re-booked and on our way, even arriving an hour earlier than the previously scheduled flight. We would definitely book with Susan and Discover Africa again.

I chose a travel agency for four reasons. Years in business, quantity and quality of reviews, customisability, and local expertise. Discover Africa and my agent, Adelle, met or exceeded all expectations. I gave Adelle my budget and modified one of their suggested tours. Five stars.

We just completed our second African safari planned by Megan Warrington, this one to Botswana, and we couldn’t have been more pleased with our trip! Megan did a fantastic job of starting us out in the Kalahari (Tau Pan Camp) which was unique in its landscape and some of the animals that you see, including the Oryx. You don’t see as many animals as in other locations, which would be expected in the desert, but the experience was wonderful and we are glad we started there.

Our next stop was in the Okavango Delta (Splash Camp) which exceeded our lofty expectations. Before we made it to our camp from the landing strip we saw a leopard and hundreds of various animals including giraffes, zebras, elephants, etc. While in the delta we saw another leopard, a large pride of lions that were resting in trees, which is very unusual, hundreds (estimated at 600) buffalo and we actually experienced a lion hunt where a group of four siblings successfully secured a young buffalo. Our last stop was on the Kwando River (Lagoon Camp) and this was actually the jewel of the trip. There weren’t as many prey animals as in the delta, but predators were abundant and the hippos were unbelievable. We saw 3 leopards, two young brothers together and another very shy female, many lions from a couple of prides included several mature males, 2 cheetahs (brothers that travelled and hunted together), and a small pack of African Wild Dogs including 4 adults and 6 puppies.

Our guides and trackers were exceptional at all locations, but Mr. T stood out at Kwando’s Lagoon camp. All of our stays were at Kwando camps and I will write them a separate review, but they were fantastic! Back to Megan, we thought that the lengths of stays and the order of our stays was perfect and very well planned. She is so easy to work with and truly tries to meet your personal goals and experiences for the trip. We thought this may be our last trip to Africa, but we are now fully onboard to come back, likely in a few years with our grown children. There is no question that we will revisit Botswana, we can’t say enough about the people, the landscape and the wildlife, they are all lovely.

We booked our safari through Chrizaan and the whole experience was absolutely fantastic. From the very beginning, communication was smooth and easy – both via email and WhatsApp – which made the planning process stress-free.

Despite our limited availability, she managed to secure our flights, transfers, and an amazing tented lodge for the exact dates we needed. Everything was perfectly organized: confirmations, payments, and all travel documents were clear and sent well in advance.

During the trip, everything ran seamlessly, and we even had the incredible luck of seeing the Big Five, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, and so much more – truly unforgettable. The lodge itself was excellent: the food was delicious, and they even adapted meals to be gluten free for my partner, which was such a thoughtful detail and made a big difference to our stay.

The service exceeded our expectations, both in quality and in value for money. I would 100% recommend booking with Chrizaan – not only did we enjoy an unforgettable safari, but we also felt truly taken care of throughout the entire journey.

We had been thinking about a Southern Africa safari trip for a few years and had some valuable input from Zimbabwean friends who had been on tour many times. So we had a general idea of when and where but needed guidance on the finer details and options, as well as someone to put it all together once we’d agreed on an itinerary (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana). This was possibly going to be our one and only trip of this type so we wanted to get it right!

I saw an ad for a tour similar to what I had in mind so contacted Discover Africa (DA). Devryn was able to clearly outline his preferences that would meet the brief. He suggested the order of travel, how long at each place, what type of accommodation (generally getting better as we progressed), how to get from A to B, etc., via several email conversations.

We had a Zoom meeting with him before finalising the plan, where we were able to ask further questions, which he was able to answer confidently and competently, given he had been to these places himself.

We felt confident enough with his recommendations to lock it in 12 months ahead of the trip.
Naturally, you anticipate some things will go wrong on tour, e.g., a missed connection, a guide not turning up, or accommodation not being as described, and we were mentally prepared for that.

Garry's Safari Experience

However, every connection was made on time and the accommodation exceeded our high expectations!

The Safari experience itself (which Devryn obviously couldn’t guarantee) was superb. The guides from the lodges we used were experienced, informative, respectful of the animals, and considerate of what we had and hadn’t seen previously and so every day (twice a day!) was another trip into the unknown. Everyone hopes to see the Big 5, which we did early on. After that it was a matter of literally sitting back in the jeep and seeing what would turn up. The birdlife was better than I expected (the lilac-breasted roller was a favourite), and seeing small animals like mongooses (4 different species), a chameleon and a steenbok were unexpected highlights.

The food was varied at the various lodges, with usually a buffet of 3 main courses of western-style cuisine (although I ate wildebeest, crocodile, kudu and springbok when it was offered). We finished off with 3 nights in Cape Town to let the Safari experience sink in, which was a very good move.

So in summary, we did some initial research, worked out a plan with Devryn, and he nailed the brief. We’ll never know if it could have been even better, but I seriously doubt it.