Director Michelle on a mokoro in Botswana
Explore and Travel Africa
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2020)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $2,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CA
Email Emy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great, fast and easy
Such an easy process! I was contacted by Michelle Astbury so quickly and she’s been great since then. Michelle listened to all my requests and she delivered! Knowledgeable, experienced and awesome! We had a fantastic Safari, a one in a life time experience.
Thank you so much Michelle for your top notch service!
MY
Email Soon Lai NG | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Michelle Ashley patiently tailormade a 8 fantastic days of Botswana safari of Delta, desert n river!
Michelle was able to understand our requirements n it met all our expectations of varied safari in different terrain n environment. Tour was well organized n Kwando Lodges were comfortable, had excellent staff, good meals, knowledgeable guides. Flying to different lodges saved a lot of time too. The cost was well worth every penny. Daily laundry service was an extra bonus!
Email Andrew | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Knowledgeable, efficient, kind and responsive to questions.
I contacted a variety of agents via Google search. After a few days of posing my questions and requirements I found myself warming to Michelle at Explore & Travel Africa. She was knowledgeable, responded quickly, and in particular paid attention to my needs. I had set a budget which we quickly exceeded (for good reasons). This was a short notice booking to take advantage of unusual availability from the uk of airmile flights with BA to JNB, celebrating my upcoming 60th.
Michelle helped me find 2 lovely but contrasting safari properties that were available at a modest discount. I arranged our transport to Hoedspruit (BA then Airlink… excellent) and Michelle arranged the private transfers to Klasserie Drift and on to Arathusa and back to Hoedspruit. These transfers worked perfectly and I am so glad that I didn’t take the alternative option of renting a car. The roads are not driver friendly!
Klaserie Drift was simply stunning. The setting and staff/service set it apart. I could not think of any worthwhile improvements that could have been made. The food was exquisite, the setting just amazing and our river view room just stunning. The aircon struggled to cope with the nearly 40 degree temperatures but luckily the ceiling fan helped. Every member of staff went above and beyond and Khutso was an amazing guide/tracker. Although we saw an amazing variety of animals, in contrast to Arathusa they were perhaps harder to find. But every one of our 6 drives delivered and then some. Highlights included lion, hyena, vultures, rhino, elephant, water buffalo but no other cats. Loads of birds too.
Arathusa was also luxurious with a wonderful room. We had some amazing sightings and in particular close encounters with leopard, hyena and wild dogs. Plenty of lion. White rhinos in The distance at dusk. We seemed a little less lucky compared to the other cars out from Arathusa however. Our guide seemed to be a bit out on his own.
In summary I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Michelle at Explore and Travel Africa. Thank you! Hope to be back.
US
Email Leisa | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Spectacular
Michelle arranged a day tour and guide of the Apartheid museum in Johannesburg . The guide and driver were very knowledgeable and even took us on a little detour to see more. Then we went to Shimungwe Lodge in Thorneybush reserve near Kruger National park. The lodge is small and amazing. Every comfort, tea,drink or food you could want. The game driver and tracker found the big 5 for us to view. And so much more. It was a little spendy for us but the experience was more than worth the price.
Email Michaela Muller-Schuhwerk | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
amazing, excellent trip across 3 countries organised by Michelle which surpassed our expectations!
I loved dealing with Michelle at Explore & Travel Africa the moment we first made contact. I had described what I had roughly wanted out of 3 1/2 weeks travelling to Botswana, the Vic falls and Namibia and Michelle had planned the perfect trip for us.
I loved the fact that there was lots of input from both sides, that Michelle really tried to incorporate everything that was important to us and tried to stick to the budget we had given her. She changed parts of the itinerary to make the trip more cost effective without losing any of the sites we wanted to see. The lodges throughout our trip were beautiful, the locations we stayed at in the Okavango delta very varied and Michelle made sure that we experienced the various different areas that this beautiful part of Botswana provided. We then travelled to the Victoria falls, which again was incredibly beautiful before embarking on a 2 week self drive through Namibia. Again, Michelle had planned a trip for us that included all the major sites. The lodges and accommodation were incredible despite it being only "midrange"! Travelling was easy in every country! Local people were incredibly friendly and all English speaking and everything was arranged down to the last essential! From car rental to travel instruction (down to the last mile and where to turn left); helpful advice, maps, guides etc. The wildlife and scenery was stunning and it helped that travelling was easy and our stay in incredibly varied and beautiful accommodation. From Windhoek to Soussouvslei, Swakopmund, Damara Land Etosha and Africat, we did about 3000 km and experienced breathtakingly beautiful scenery and very friendly people. The wildlife was incredible. Michelle had planned a perfect trip for us for a special occasion. Communication with her was excellent, via email, ZOOM, WhatsApp, or any other form needed. It was a wonderful trip and I will certainly come back to Michelle if and when we plan other areas to see in Africa! A job very well done!
Email David | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Michelle from Explore Africa was a gift from the heavens
I love planning holidays and always do the planning myself, but Africa required a specialist with so many choices with camps and locations, time of year, duration at each camp, animals to focus on. Michelle made it so easy and the experience exceeded our expectations. We asked for smaller camps, more authentic fit-out, family feel, connection with place. Chacma and Motswari Camps were perfect. Every holiday needs Michelle, thank you!!!!
Email Delia | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Michelle was professional, flexible, personable, excellent communication skills.
Our 2 week safari tour into an area around Okavango Delta, Botswana and private reserves in Kruger, South Africa was a great balance. Michelle had a great feel for what we wanted and didn’t disappoint. We had no issues with transfers, flights or accommodation. We feel very comfortable in recommending others to use Explore & Travel Africa.
SA
Email Stephen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely flawless
Michelle and team made the whole process so easy and they made our trip a trip to remember for the rest of our lives. The operators and hotels are all great. 10/10
US
Email Cameron | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Could not have pulled this incredible last minute trip together without Michelle!
Michelle A. was an incredible help when planning our last minute trip to South Africa. She helped us pull together our plan efficiently and quickly. She presented a number of great options, and everything went extremely smoothly. Highly recommend reaching out if you need help planning your trip! The Elephant Plains Lodge in the Sabi Sands was INCREDIBLE!
Email Jackie Neill | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Knowledgeable, responsive, and a pleasure to deal with
We traveled to Kruger in South Africa, Vic Falls, Hwange in Zimbabwe, and the northern Serengeti in Tanzania for a 3 week multi camp trip over June and July 2024 and used The Explore and Travel Company to put together the bookings and logistics for us. We live in Australia and wanted to deal with someone local and after intense research decided upon this company located in Cape Town. We dealt directly with the Director of the company, Michelle, and couldn’t have asked for a better experience all round. My 22 year old niece did all the initial enquiries and communication and was extremely impressed with how well Michelle listened to and understood our needs and gave appropriate expert advice. She gave us choices that matched our strict criteria and our budget and helped us decide on the best camps for us with great patience as we peppered her with multiple questions over both Zoom meetings and emails. Michelle kept all her promises, was extremely knowledgeable and was absolutely lovely to deal with. She really went above and beyond to find out the answers to our questions if she did not know by contacting the properties themselves to ensure we got the most trustworthy information. All this care and attention to detail resulted in a most wonderful trip where properties lived up to or exceeded our expectations, ground and air partners were reliable and professional and gave us great value for money. Absolutely nothing went amiss and our experiences were very special and bespoke. We also loved the digital itinerary technology that Michelle used that we could download to our phones and simply check offline anything we wanted to know. We could not more highly recommend Michelle and her company and we would engage her again in a heat-beat.
