Masihambe Afrika
- Located In:
-
New Zealand
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Member Of:
- Tourism Industry Association New Zealand
- Tour Types:
- Mid-range tours with set start dates and a fixed itinerary
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $146 to $204 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
An awesome Masihambe wildlife safari which delivered once in a life time experiences and memories.
Many thanks to Jude for her passion and knowledge in organising such a great adventure for her clients, resulting in each day on our trip being a new experience. Our guide Anthony had amazing local and animal knowledge, was capable and always fun to be with. The food, transport, accommodation were all excellent value for money, the highlight being for us the four days spent camping in the bush.
We saw every animal possible apart from a cheetah, experiencing many special close up encounters.
This was a fantastic safari which we will highly recommend to our friends wishing to visit Africa.
NZ
Email Sylvia Hill | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience, thrilling to be "up close and personal " with so many different wild animals
Communications with Jude Hartley was excellent. She helped out in so many ways and that was much appreciated. Our tour guide Anthony was just the best. He was so knowledgeable, interesting and considerate of all our needs. Tour group size of 8 people was ideal. Good to have one empty seat in land cruiser. Vehicle was a little older than expected and took a battering on all the bumpy, uneven surfaced roads and tracks. This aspect of the amount of time and distance traveled (about 5000Km) was not clearly stated in the initial information about the trip. A reasonable level of physical fitness and endurance is required. However our group of mostly over 65's coped extremely well and we all maintained a positive and cheerful attitude. "Don't worry, Be happy" was our our theme song played many times on CD while travelling.
The standard of accommodation and food throughout the trip was excellent. Wonderful to have comfortable beds with clean sheets every night. It was fun preparing our own food and sharing cooking responsibilities together on some evenings. I enjoyed the African "banquets" in the larger restaurants also. Probably the best of all was the 5 days /4 nights out in the Chobe National Parks. Our team of 6 locals looked after us superbly well and prepared delicious meals cooked over a fire. The long days and early starts in the morning were worth the effort , and rewarded by the most amazing sightings of so many different animals. As this was the main purpose for our tour, I was just so thrilled to see the full range of animals and birds and vegetation so typical in Africa, but only seen in books or zoos here in New Zealand. My 10/50 binoculars were perfect, and I spent many hours observing close up these amazing creatures living in their natural environment. The huge number of photos and videos taken will be a lasting memory of the unique and wonderful experience. Well worth every dollar spent, and excellent value for money.
A couple of suggestions. I know this was primarily a wildlife and game park reserve and we also had so opportunities for some sightseeing, in particular around Victoria Falls which was magnificent. However, for me personally I would have enjoyed a few more opportunities to visit local communities and get to interact with the local people in their on environment . Also some more chances of walking around the areas, as I missed my regular exercise regime.
Another idea. While the Okavango Delta visit was a unique and special place, and I really enjoyed the peace and fascination of the environment, my suggestion would be to condense this visit into one night only, by including a plane trip to to local airstrip on the first morning early, do the beautiful sunset cruise, and mokoro pole cruise the next day through the the delta, then return to Maun that afternoon. Include the flights in the full costs instead of paying for additional sightseeing trip from Maun. This would mean one less day on the Tour, but would eliminate 2 long days of travelling in the cruiser over very rough roads. Just a thought.
Thanks so much for a wonderful experience. I will be thoroughly recommending to others.
NZ
Email Barbara | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Masihambe Afrika Safari allowed us to experience wildlife up close in their natural environment.
The Masihambe safari through South Africa, Zimbabwe & Botswana surpassed my expectations. This was on my bucket list & was the most enjoyable, informative & spectacular experience of a lifetime. The small group of 8 plus our guide made for a friendly group. All the guides we encountered were personable, helpful & informative. We saw & learnt so much & became expert at following paw prints & identifying the wildlife.
NZ
Email Arthur and Joy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
NamibiaTour. Magical wildlife and scenery with well informed guide.
Communication was excellent, service was great and the safari itself lived up to our expectations. Accommodation was good as were meals.
NZ
Email Julie and Adrian | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Masihambe, the tour operator who knows how to get it right
Masihambe is a professional well run tour operator with years of experience and personal knowledge of Africa. Communications, information and details provided before the trip is very comprehensive which in turn makes for easy and thorough preparation. Attention to detail is important to Masihambe, and this becomes very evident while touring.
This is the second trip we have done with Masihambe, the first travelling to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and second to South Africa and Namibia.
Both trips have exceeded our expectations in delivering variety, great accommodation, brilliant guides and experiences never to be forgotten.
It speaks for itself that we have travelled twice with them, and have no hesitation in recommending booking with Masihambe.
NZ
Email Alison & Rob McLaren | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent in every aspect. Jude is a gem!
We have done 4 tours with Masihambe Afrika and all have been beyond expectations. Jude and her team are easy to deal with, happy to discuss at length the ins and outs of any trip, good at meeting your individual needs and I cannot speak highly enough of the service we have always received. Friendly, knowledgeable, informative and highly skilled at what they do add up to peace of mind when booking with them. Prices are always competitive and the actual experience of the safaris are excellent. Her staff in the field are by far the best we have traveled with on our extensive travel in Africa and are happy to share their vast experiences with you. Always making your tours memorable, enjoyable, safe and extremely good fun .
NZ
Email Nicki & Richard | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Action packed, eye opening, varying, awesome experience, surpassed expectations!
Masihambe Afrika was well organised from woah to go. This was our first trip to Africa travelling through South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Ant Washford, our guide did a fantastic job of organising us all, sharing lots of knowledge about all the animals we encountered and using his culinary skills to keep us well fed. The varied accommodation was great. We would totally recommend booking with Masihambe Afrika.
NZ
Email Paul Lunberg | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
3 weeks of adventure
One of three couples at the Boathouse Cafe spoke about Masihambe Afrika and such was the mood of the group we all decided to join one of their safaris - but unfortunately one couple had to pull out. We lucky four remaining had the experience of a lifetime. On 18th June we met the other 4 members of our group - we were 6 Kiwis and 2 Americans. Then it was off>>>
We from Nelson had worked in Africa so had some knowledge of what to expect, but time had made us forget the distances we had to travel. Fortunately we had "Ant", our guide was a motorist, a chef, a raconteur, and a passionate and knowledgeable lover of African game and bush. I cannot believe any guide could be better, and he really made the trip exceptional.
Our 26 day trip took us through Kruger National Park, then across to Mapungubwe. After that we entered Zim and enjoyed Matopos, Hwange and Vic Falls – poor old Zim has been held back do much thanks to Mugabe. Then we entered Botswana, Africa’s secret, and spent some rugged days around the North of that beautiful, untouched country. We re-entered South Africa with 3 days to go spending the first couple in Tuli Game Reserve and the rest just motoring back to our start point.
We saw all types of wild animals and wilderness, and all in fine, if cold, weather. The Safari company was brilliant providing the 8 of us tourists with all manner of comforts and fine food even in the middle of nowhere!
This was truly a trip to remember!
NZ
Email William Lowman & Maureen McCruddon | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Switched on in Africa
from the time I first got in touch with Jude at Masihambe there was communication when ever I needed information and or even to tell her I had started my countdown at -6months. Then all the communication and help with the visas was great as we were going two weeks prior to the Safari.
Once we were picked up by Anthony we were living the dream. All lodgings, camps, tours and excursions was taken care of. Every type of accommodation was a wow factor and all the time the question was asked " how did you find this place?" Excellent food whether in fabulous lodges or over wood fires (3 course meals!!!) and our needs attended to by friendly helpful staff, cooks, and guides.
Our main guide through the trip was Anthony - amazing knowledgeable person in all things Africa from wildlife to flora and fauna, border diplomacy and crossing to head chef, looking after our group of eight between 60-75 year olds. Such a great sense of humour and stories
to tell while round the camp fire. He and all the guides amazed us at their ability to spot game in long grass that non of us could see, to leopards and snakes up trees, so well camouflaged. Without the guides I am sure we would have missed half of the big five and the smaller creatures and birds that no-one knew of before the trip.
This Safari tour is highly recommend and tops for value for money.
NZ
Email Fred | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very well organised with a very good guide visiting a wide range of game parks
Overall the organsation of the safari was very good particularly with the short time frame as we took a cancellation. We thought the tour leader was exceptionally good and knowledgeable. The game parks visited were varied and we saw a very wide range of animals. Accomodation, including tented camps were very good and being older we appreciated the individual facilities. Not being used to tipping we found chosing the appropriate level difficult. The only slight disappointment was the time at the Okavango Delta, which, although interesting, was not as exceptional for wildlife as we had expected from its reputation. Overall, very good value for money.