Kate & Darren Humphrys with Henry, Olive and Hume
Compass Odyssey
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $300 to $1,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
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Email Urvi Pikle and family | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very professional, responsive, detail-oriented, reliable, flexible good suggestions/recommendations
I recently visited South Africa with my husband and 2 kids (12 yrs and 9 yrs old) via trip booked with Compass Odyssey. I researched a lot of different itineraries with various tour operators but decided to go with them due to 5 star rating/reviews. From the time we decided to go with Compass Odyssey, they have provided us with immaculate service. Darren is very proactive and responsive and helped us come up with the best customized 11 day family-friendly itinerary that covered Cape Town, Kruger, Panoramic route(Blyde Canyon) and Jo’burg. Throughout the tour we had a great experience, visited very scenic areas and had a thrilling Safari experience. 5 days of Cape Town was amazing, beautiful and saw whales in Hermanus and did wine tasting in Cape Winelands area. It would suggest staying at both these places. Baobab ridge in Klaserie reserve is a great hidden gem and we got to see Big 5 on our game drives in 3 days. David who is the tracker/safari guide was amazing and made sure we saw lions in each drive. Compass odyssey packages are very competitive and reasonable and provides great value which includes private guide/vehicle at each destination. All our guides (Garth, Phillip
and Johan) were amazing, friendly, trustworthy and knowledgeable and made our whole experience memorable especially Garth, our guide in Cape Town. He is fantastic and engages even with kids to make it super fun. Darren would constantly check with guides on how we are doing which shows great customer service and care even after paying for the whole trip before arriving. We would highly recommend Darren and team if you are planning any trip to Africa!! Compass Odyssey is the best and hope to book another trip with them soon!!
NL
Email Marieke and Fons | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Attentive, proactive and very informative travel agent which I absolutely recommend
From the first email to the last connect we really felt to be in good hands with Darren and Kate. They are very knowledgeable, attentive, flexible and very kind. We really had the feeling that we were being taken care off and looked after. The lodge that was selected was great and also the flights to get there were well arranged. All and all a great experience and can highly recommend to book with them.
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Email Kathy Thomas | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Compass Oddysey provides customized travel at group prices, and is responsive and experienced.
Since post Covid travel has resumed, the big travel companies are struggling to provide responsive service. That is not the case with the family owned Compass Oddysey. They replied to my every question, with timely and informative responses. The dossier for the trip they prepared for me (a solo traveler) was full of valuable and detailed information. We designed my weeklong trip through Namibia and it was a varied experience of safari, Atlantic coast, cities, and dessert. I truly loved the diversity of environment and wildlife. My Guide, Elvis, was experienced and knowledgeable. He knows his way around Namibia, it’s people, wildlife, and landscape.
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Email Carl Solano | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Compass Odyssey is extraordinarily responsive and efficient; I recommend it without hesitation.
I used Compass Odyssey to book a father–daughter trip to southern Africa — South Africa, Victoria Falls, and Chobe N.P. in Botswana. I am 71 years old, and in all my years of travel throughout the world, I have *never* encountered anyone as conscientious and responsive as Compass' owner, Darren Humphrys. He provided detailed answers to all of our questions; he carefully constructed our trip and then eagerly and efficiently addressed all of our requests for additions or changes. He was extremely knowledgeable about each aspect of our trip, from the pros and cons of various types of accommodations, to options for side excursions at Vic Falls, to the latest Covid requirements in each of the four countries we visited, to the best flight arrangements to get to each of our destinations. He provided us with expert guides in Cape Town and Vic Falls and advised us about how to get the most value throughout our trip. Best of all, once our trip began, he followed us each step of the way, staying in contact at each of our destinations and stepping in if an issue arose that could benefit from his assistance. I have *no* complaints or regrets about any aspect of the trip that Darren planned; all of it was wonderful! I highly recommend Compass Odyssey to anyone considering a trip to southern Africa.
MX
Email Daniel Cerda C. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They Understood our wishes and make them reality!
Everything started in 2020 that we had our Trip but obviously were some changes due to COVID, and they rescheduled our trip to 2022.
We were amazed on how they got our ideas into the places and type of travel we wanted.
Now on 2022 we Arrived to South Africa on July and from the beginning we felt welcomed and everything was organized, with the best timing posible. We really recommend Compass Odyssey.
We went to Kruger, Zambezi River (Zambian Side), Victoria Falls and Chobe River.
They organized flights, transportation, accommodation, activities. Everything was perfect from the beginning to the end.
IE
Email John R and family | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
First class highly experienced operator focused on customer and creating amazing holidays
From start to finish, Darren, Kate and the team at Compass Odyssey were fantastic.. We wanted to create trip with our teenage boys that would have adventure, fun and the incredible Safari experience and the guys nailed it . We worked through the plans for the holiday with Darren and he came back with ideas and suggestions which were spot on and within budget. We stayed in the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge for the first couple of nights and then on to The Hide in Hwange National Park. Both locations were amazing and were better than we could have imagined, thanks Darren for the recommendations. The ongoing communication was great with detailed information relevant to our trip.
Once we landed in Victoria Falls, Mortimer and Ruth were there to deal with transport and any other activities. Tours of the Falls on both sides, Bungee jumping for the lads and White Water Rafting for the whole family. When we arrived at The Hide we were treated to incredible service in one of the most amazing locations in the world. The team at The Hide were top class, the Game Drives with Theo were fantastic and we all got to see and enjoy the incredible wildlife. Nothing beats the early morning sounds of Lion roaring. Back at the lodge the food and service was excellent.
Thank you Darren, Kate and the team at Compass Odyssey, we will definitely be back
Email Andrew and Diana Pearce | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service and advice to make our initial safari an outstanding success
We used Safari Bookings to get ideas about planning a bucket list safari for June/July. I received ideas and quotations from three holiday companies and selected Compass Odyssey as their standard Zambezi-Chobe-Okavango safari seemed to fit the bill.
We added an extra night in the Okavango Delta as we liked the idea of spending more time in the bush, closer to nature and away from too many fellow travellers. All contact with Darren was through email and we quickly agreed on the safari timetable. The documentation from Darren and Kate on the itinerary, local flights and general travel advice was excellent.
We booked our own flights from UK to Johannesburg and after flying to Victoria Falls were met by Ruth who took us to the excellent Batonka guest lodge. Through Ruth we also arranged two excursions whilst at Victoria Falls - the first a river boat dinner was a peaceful introduction to Zimbabwe after a 12 hour flight; the second was white water rafting which was exciting and sometimes scary. The rafting company we were with were very professional and made sure we kept to the safety procedures. A second raft in our group overturned which added to the excitement - with the river in full flow, the whirlpools and rapids were at their best!!
Seeing the falls on both sides is a must and Ruth as Compass Odyssey's local rep was excellent at sorting out the passport stamping etc. She then drove us to the Chobe River Lodge at Kasane, Botswana. The river and vehicle drives were excellent being spoilt for the variety of animals and birds we saw at close quarters. One pleasant aspect of visiting at this time of year was the lack of congestion seeing only a few fellow vehicles. The lodge was good with excellent food and a resident hippo and her baby plus warthogs visiting the garden.
We then flew to the Delta with Mack Air from Kasane - flight on time, clear skies and a great way to view the land below. Met at Khwai airstrip by the camp guide - drive took over two hours as there was a lot to see in the bush. The staff at the Nokanyana Camp were excellent - our tented suite was spacious, hot water bottles provided at night as quite chilly. Food and drinks were excellent, especially the breakfasts. Great to be able to have a G&T in the afternoon after a drive. We were pleased to have added an extra night to stay at the camp due to its location close to the river with hippos and we could hear elephants, buffalo etc wandering through he camp at night. The highlight of the game drives was seeing so many hippos, elephants, zebras, antelope etc plus two young cheetahs. We also viewed at close quarters an unusual sighting of three female hyenas with young living next to warthogs in peace together. We had a bush walk with Gerry which was fantastic - he was very keen to share with us his huge knowledge of living in the bush in many countries - we learnt a lot about the animals and birds during this walk. Again the area around the camp was not busy and we did not see too many other vehicles which was a big plus unlike some other safari parks.
Far too soon we had to leave the delta and fly to Maun by Mack Air - again on time. We then flew to Cape Town for three nights that we had arranged ourselves. We had a hire car and stayed at Camps Bay. We soon realised that we needed more time to explore the region but we were lucky to have great weather and were able to visit Table Mountain, climb Lion's Head, drive to the Cape of Good Hope, Simon's Town etc and visit the Groot Constantia wine estate. On the final morning we went into Cape Town, the V&A Waterfront before driving to the airport to catch our flight to London.
Compass Odyssey arranged a super safari holiday for us with all accommodation and flights going to plan. Not sure when we might be having a second safari but will certainly call Darren. Living in the UK with a history of travel company failures, we were a little wary about sending the holiday monies to a small South African travel company as we were unsure about the effectiveness of the South African bonding scheme but all arrangements went through as planned. One bucket list holiday well and truly ticked off - thanks to Darren and Kate.
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Email Ana and Ronald Tuckman | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfectly Seamless Adventure
Our experience with Compass Odyssey with Darren to design a 5 night/6 day private tour of Namibia was very productive and congenial. There was always constant communication and clarity for key itinerary suggestions and decisions. Elvis, our experienced guide, smoothly negotiated the wonderful accommodations and activities. Highlights were the Carnivore Trail, the Caracal walk, trecking through the Namib Desert and enjoying the comfy hotels and delicious meals throughout. We look forward to another visit to Southern Africa using Compass Odyssey.
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Email Peter Turchin | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very smooth, professional team
Compass did a great job organizing my trip. All transfers went smoothly, the lodges where I stayed ranged from terrific to simply very good. The Compass team was constantly in touch in case anything went wrong (but nothing did). I had a fantastic trip. Highly recommended.
Email Shlomit and Zvi | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great planning an execution of trip with Compass Odyssey
Our experience with Compass Odyssey was excellent. We booked a trip to the Zambezi, Victoria falls and Chobe NP in Botswana. The communication with Darren beforehand was smooth and helpful. The local guides in Zambia and Zimbabawa, Mortimer and his wife Ruth, were very nice and helpful. When I was unwell one afternoon, the activity was resceduled to the next day, with a lot of effort from Mortimer and Ruth. The Guide at Chobe, Tifo, was fantastic and we saw amazing things. The hotels were all at a very good level.
Thanks to Darren and Compass Odyssey we had a great trip.