Review: Safari in Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

My husband and I started planning our Safari in Sept to go in May. Vihann at Discover Africa was wonderful!! He setup a video call on our timeline to ask what we wanted and actually listened. He came up with a plan that we agreed to and the rest was easy. All of our accommodations were exactly as promised, flights and transfers all went off without a hitch, so we had nothing to worry about the whole time just a wonderful experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Can not think of one negative comment to add.

Megan Warrington was amazing to work with. She was very informative and kept us up to date on everything. I found out that I would need to have surgery a few days after returning from the trip and asked Megan if she would be able to arrange for a wheelchair to be at the airports and activities we had planned. She got everything scheduled and sent me confirmations within a short period of time…That is what you call service!!!!!

Discover Africa and their trip advisor Megan Warrington did a fantastic job arranging our trip to Cape Town, Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), and the Chobe River and Kwara Camp in Botswana. We originally planned this trip a few years ago, but had to cancel. Megan was able to resurrect our itinerary with a few improvements this year. The trip details they provided were very accurate and helped us in our planning (and packing). All the transfers/transportation went without a hitch. Greeters met us at each location and guided us to the appropriate next step.

All the accommodations they booked us in were top notch; better than we anticipated. In particular, they had booked us into a camp in the Okavanga delta run by the Kwando Safari company. When they Kwando company ended up closing the camp for renovations Megan made sure that Kwando upgraded our camp and we ended up at the amazing Kwara camp, their flagship location, with no additonal cost or bother for us. (That camp was amazing great wildlife, staff, food and “tents”.)

I would recommend Discover Africa and Megan to anyone planning a trip to the Southern Africa area for a safari or city visit.

We booked our honeymoon through this travel agency, and it was an absolutely flawless experience from start to finish! Every detail was meticulously planned, and we didn’t have to worry about a single thing. All tickets and transfers between lodges were seamless, with staff at each location fully informed of our itinerary, ensuring smooth transitions and an stress-free journey.

The highlight was the breathtaking safari at Timbavati Nature Preserve in South Africa—an unforgettable adventure with incredible wildlife sightings, guided by knowledgeable and passionate experts. We were also blown away by our stay at Santorini in Vilankulos, Mozambique, which was the epitome of relaxation. The serene beauty and impeccable service made it the perfect romantic retreat.

This agency went above and beyond to make our honeymoon magical. Their attention to detail, personalised service, and ability to craft a dream itinerary deserve more than five stars. Highly recommend!

We did a 3-week bespoke tour with Discover Africa and specifically Devryn Panaino. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana game parks. Our group of 6 had a fantastic time, as the itinerary was top notch, transfers smooth and now we can’t wait to go back. We were nervous about small plane transfers but it was very smooth and professional service. In fact, it puts Aussie’s Jetstar in the shade. We saw all the animals big 5, ugly 5, small 5 and everything in between. Would definitely recommend this company and Devryn. Hot tip: be prepared to spend a bit of money it’s worth it for a truly unique experience.

Vicki's Southern Africa 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.