Gondwana Tours & Safaris on safari in the Okavango
Gondwana Tours & Safaris
- Offices In:
-
United Kingdom
Portugal
Germany
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $1,200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Mike Nissen | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mark at Gondwana set up a safari tour that was all I was hoping for and more!
From our initial email to being met by Gondwana rep when I arrived in Botswana, Gondwana made me feel extremely comfortable about my trip. I had informed Mark that my main goal of this trip was to view as many animals as possible, with a emphasis on elephants. He did not disappoint. From the first morning at the Nxai Pans camp when I walked out of my cabin to see a group of elephants drinking at the waterhole about 150 yards from me, to the last game drive of my trip, I saw elephants every game drive for the entire 10 day trip.
All 4 camps were staffed with very knowledgeable guides who made each drive a unique and memorable experience. This safari tour more than lived up to my expectations and I would recommend Gondwana to family and friends in a heartbeat. I will use Gondwana for my next safari without a doubt.
DE
Email Lisa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Individually tailored safaris, awesome expertise and a wonderful trip - highly recommended!
After having travelled to Botswana with Gondwana Tours & Safaris in May 2015 and falling in love with the bush, we decided to return to Botswana in green season this February and experience the country in a different season. As we were more than happy with our first trip, it was absolutely clear that we will book our travels again with Mark Hathaway from Gondwana Tours. His expertise of the lodges and parks is outstanding and you notice constantly that he has been living in Botswana (Africa) for considerable time. It is remarkable, you always get a quick, friendly and competent answer no matter at what day or time you contact him and for longer planning sessions it is easy to arrange skype calls. We were welcomed met by the airport again flying in and out of Maun and the travel and transfers between the lodges were smoothly and accurately organized. Experiencing Botswana in the rainy season and seeing the country so green was definitely a very interesting and different experience. I can only recommend you to book with Gondwana Tours & Safaris! Thank you again, Mark for planning such an unforgettable journey for us.
DE
Email Lisa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Third travel with Gondwana Tours: Unique journey to Zambia and Zimbabwe
We just came back from a stunning, exciting and to Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was already our third trip with Gondwana Tours & Safaris and again perfectly organized by Mark Hathaway. During booking our second trip with Mark from Gondwana Tours to Botswana, Mark told us about Zambia / South Luangwe, that it is still wild and he believes it would be ideal for us. To be honest we had never considered Zambia as a destination before but were completely enthusiastic about the information, stories and lodge suggestions he shared with us. Thus, we started planning our third trip with Gondwana Tours. The service and consultation was again fabulous, the routing was a bit complex and Mark was extremely patient in answering all our questions and rearranging the journey so it fit our flight dates. The travel was as always perfectly organized, the lodges knew all our wishes and preferences and everybody knew that we are Mark’s clients. Also during our holiday in Zimbabwe, when one information about the flight was somehow “lost” at the hotel and not transferred to us, Mark was within seconds available via WhatsApp and immediately solved the problem for us (even though it was a holiday). We loved South Luangwe National Park and Mana Pools and had wonderful sightings and stayed in fabulous camps. To sum it up, we can only recommend Zambia and Zimbabwe and will never book our Africa travels with another agent again. Thank you Mark for proposing us Zambia and planning this unforgettable trip for us!!!
DE
Email Lisa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding, individual consulting, great responsiveness and a perfectly organized trip
It was always one of our dreams to visit the Okavango Delta in Botswana. However, after contacting and seeing the (totally overrated) prices of several big German tour operators, we doubted that we can realize our dream due to our budget restraints. Thus, we reached out to several local tour companies, including Gondwana Tours & Safaris, Mark Hathaway answered and immediately stood out from the rest with his extreme responsiveness, individual consulting and high expertise and knowledge of Botswana. Thus, it was the easiest decision only to continue our travel plans with Mark. Mark immediately understood what we are looking for, proposed us great camps and did a great job in tailoring a perfect and very individual safari for us. The journey was perfectly organized, the transfers worked out perfectly (even though we had several border crossings in our trip!) the camps completely met our expectations and ideas and it was great to meet Mark in Maun and to know someone is close just in case sth. goes wrong. Gondwana Tours & Safaris did not only provide much better service and individual consultation than german agents (who do not really tailorize journeys but rather sell and combine modular blocks) but above all was significantly cheaper and reasonably priced, which is why I cannot understand why people still book with German agencies. In summary, I can only recommend you to book your travels with Gondwana Tours & Safaris. You won't regret it!!!
NZ
Email Sarah | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Honeymoon in the Delta
We were initially mind boggled with options on how to best spend time in Southern Africa, and definitely wanted to go to the Delta. We didn't have a huge budget and were starting to think it wouldn't be possible, but then came across this company: Gondwana Tours & Safaris. Mark Hathaway was superb in his dealings with us: all the advice, knowledge, patience and expertise he had was fantastic. The itinerary we chose suited us perfectly for the land and water options we were keen on, and the locations and prices. We had an amazing 4 nights at Guns & Pompoms. We were surprised with a candle lit dinner by the water as a honeymoon surprise, had some memorable wildlife encounters , and everything met our expectations.Thanks Mark for all your help !
Email Brian Hoath | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well planned, very reasonably priced, personalised, leisurely and rewarding
My wife and I did an eleven day tour of Botswana in April 2017. This tour was put together by Mark Hathaway of Gondwana Tours. In a long initial e-mail Mark set out various alternatives while at the same time making comparisons and expressing what he thought would be preferable. From that original e-mail I gained a sense of confidence which turned out not to be misplaced. His planning was thorough, his response to any question was immediate the overall cost was very reasonable and the whole tour went without a hitch. The lodges we stayed at were exceptional value with very good facilities and meals, very personalised service, excellent guides, and extended game drives with an abundance of game. The lodges we stayed at were private concessions which enabled you to go off road and view the game from a matter of metres away. Although they were private concessions they were not unduly expensive. Good guides and the ability to get up close to the animals made our tour a most memorable one.
Fantastic experience
We booked through Gondwana Tours & Safaris in May 2016 for a 2 week holiday to Botswana, Victoria Falls and Rwanda.
Mark was very knowledgable and answered any questions we had leading up to our Safari.
All our accommodation was superb and exactly what we hoped for. The safaris and organisiation of our entire trip went smoothly and all very well explained in our itenrary from Gondwana.
Overall we were externally happy with Gondwana and their service and expertise. Our next African adventure will be booked through them.
DE
Email Miriam | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unbelievable and stunning experience in Okawango Delta
I wanted to go to the Delta already for years and never had the time to organize it and on top I knew that my budget would be very tide. Finally I got in touch with Steffi from Gondwana tours and Safari. She gave me her ideas and actually she had to convince me into some things. And lucky enough - she did. Everything surpassed my expectations. Every pick up, every appoinment was on time. The communication went very good. The camps where great, the experience and the game drives excellent, the service incredable nice and good food. Steffi was even able to organize the super moon on top of the stars during my stay. So I can highly recommand Gondwana tours and Safari - also for single travelers like me.
Link to this review
US
Email Yasmin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
7 day Safari and Victoria Falls
We just got back from a fantastic trip organized by Mark Hathaway of Gondwana tours and Safari. Everything surpassed our expectations and the various transfers went like clockwork. Mark was excellent with communications before our trip and recommended the camps to us. We stayed at Stanley's and Khwai tented camp where the wildlife viewing was outstanding, our hotel in Victoria Fall was also lovely. All in all a fantastic trip!! We added three days in Cape Town on our own and that was just as gorgeous!
US
Email Eric | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Birthday in Botswana
Mark with Gondwana was extremely helpful. I emailed him to suggest an itinerary that fit my budget. Within a few minutes I had several options to choose from. I picked one that looked good and emailed Mark. There was some confusion on my end with whether my daughter could join us. At one point she was gong then she couldn't and finally she ended up joining us. Needless to say Mark handled all of our going back and forth with no problem. We did alter his suggested itinerary a bit and stayed a little longer in the bush camp so we could do an elephant activity. Again Mark handled this no problem. We ended up staying 2 nights in Vic Falls, I booked my own Devil's Pool and an incredible dinner cruise with Zambezi Explorer. We then transferred to Kasane, Botswana and stayed at the Bakwena Lodge for 2 nights and 3 days and then flew to Stanley's Camp in the Delta. Mark arranged all of the lodging and ground transfers. Everything went smoothly, including special requests for vegetarian meals for my daughter and he also informed the staff at Bakwena about my wife's birthday and they sang a nice song. Overall it was a painless experience and fit our budget with no surprises.