Review: Safari in Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Chrizaan was friendly, organized and extremely knowledgeable about lodges and safari options that we were interested in. We booked an 11 night tour through Zimbabwe and Botswana starting in Victoria Falls at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge then going to Botswana to Chobe Game Lodge, Camp Okavango, Camp Xakanaxa and Leroo La Tau.

All the lodges were 5 star safari lodges or tented camps. The food was delicious and plentiful and the staff and guides were friendly, fun and very knowledgeable. We saw 4 of the Big 5 (no rhinos) plus hundreds of elephants, zebras, wildebeest, crocodiles and more.

The thing that stood out the most to us was how organized the tour was with Desert & Delta Safari Group managing timely flights between camps that coordinated flawlessly with game drives and meals.

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!

Matthys van Aswegen of Discover Africa went above and beyond to plan a two week trip for myself and my family (6 travelers) through multiple African countries that was unforgettable!

There were many moving parts to our schedule, but every step was thoroughly planned out so there was no stress – first class service all around! We were provided tickets and vouchers beforehand, Matthys thoroughly walked us through the activities and schedule, and was very receptive to all of our feedback and requests.

The clear standout of our entire trip was our stay at Simbambili with our incredible guide and tracker, Doctor and Service. They are worth a request! Obviously a ton of work went into the planning up front, but Matthys was also very helpful and responsive to our last minute add-ons while we were in Africa. He was easy to contact and got back to all members of our party immediately.

We would use Discover Africa for our next African adventure in a heartbeat, and we recommend their services to you!

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.

Justin helped me book my camp experience with short notice, he made the whole process very easy, took care of everything, was easy to contact and my trip was perfect.