Kate & Darren Humphrys with Henry, Olive and Hume
Compass Odyssey
- Located 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
Email Steve and Lauren Wilson | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Meticulously organised, honeymoon trip of a life time!
We started our enquiry about our trip back in 2019 but due to COVID and our wedding being delayed multiple times we eventually got to go in 2023. From the moment we contacted Darren (Compass Odyssey) we felt as though we were in good, capable hands, and this faith was entirely justified. Always on hand to give speedy and helpful responses to any and all questions, Compass Odyssey took us through many iterations of our itinerary until we settled on our ideal trip. Then, throughout COVID, Compass Odyssey were always in touch, keeping us updated with the latest protocols in each of our selected countries (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe & Botswana) and ensuring that our bookings were seamlessly transferred to our eventual dates.
As for the trip itself, words cannot begin to describe the amazing time and experiences that we had, thanks to Compass Odyssey's meticulous planning. We set off on our trip confident that we knew all the relevant and important details, and this turned out to be correct - all processes and procedures were flawless and took what could have been a huge amount of stress out of the trip. All of the reserved lodges were perfect, the arranged transfers hassle free and the activities sensational. Even when we did have a small hiccup with one of our activities (outside of Compass Odyssey's control), both Darren and Mortimer were available instantly to swiftly resolve the issue.
Our honeymoon trip was absolutely everything that we could have wished for, and more, and for that we cannot thank (and praise) Darren, Kate & the rest of the Compass Odyssey team enough.
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Email Beverly and Mike | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Darren listened to our wishes and planned a seamless and very personal itinerary.
We communicated with Darren or Compass Odyssey exactly what we wanted and he was very thoughtful and precise with the planning of our trip. We began with 4 nights in Capetown, which was just perfect. Our personal guide, Glen, was fabulous! We saw all of the sights, plus a couple that we requested, as well as a day of wine tasting at some beautiful wineries. Our entire trip was very personal, in that there were only the 5 of us on all of our tours and Safaris, except for 1 camp in Kruger, where another couple joined us, who fit in perfectly. No big crowds or tours! All of our accommodations were very nice, and our safari hosts and guides were extremely knowledgable. All of our accommodations had very comfortable beds, and nice baths with good showers. Queen Victoria in Cape Town was a boutique luxury hotel, as was The Peech Hotel in Johannesburg. Highly recommend both! The Victoria Safari Lodge had the feeling of a real African setting and we enjoyed sitting at the outdoor bar each evening watching the sunset and the animals at the watering hole. After having dinner one night at the famous and historic Victoria Falls Hotel, we were quite happy with our choice of accommodation, feeling the VFHotel was a bit stuffy. LOVED the Chobe River Lodge, and the Pom Pom tent camp in the Okavango Delta. Senalala Lodge was nicer than expected and the hosts were very nice, knowledgable, and accommodating. The trip could not have been better planned by Compass Odyssey, and we thank you for truly memorable experience.
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Email Eve and David | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I doubt a better tour organizer exists!
From our first contact a year ago to now post trip, Darren has been absolutely the best tour organizer we have ever worked with (and we travel A LOT!) He is incredibly detail oriented and highly knowledgeable about the areas where we traveled (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana). There was not one step of the way that we were not treated like honored guests and everything we might have wanted was already in place at every stop we made. We had not even finished our trip before I was looking where he could send us next. All of our accommodations were lovely and all of our guides were absolutely top notch. (I must make a special mention of our guide Garth in Cape Town. He was so wonderful that we were sad we were not taking him along with us on the rest of our trip. He is incredibly kind, warm, friendly, and has an amazing wealth of knowledge of the area.) It is very apparent that Darren is well respected and liked as everywhere we traveled the hosts at the lodges/guest houses and the guides talked about how wonderful he is and how they wanted to treat his guests as extra special. And indeed we felt extra special the whole way. Can't wait to plan our next trip with him!
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Email Cindy T. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experienced, trustworthy, detailed , quality tour operators.
I was a bit nervous to plan an African safari trip for two women, traveling alone. But when I found compass odyssey, all my worries faded. Darren and Kate helped us create a personalized 10 day trip of a lifetime. We began in South Africa and travel to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. They took care of all the logistics from start to finish. Including flights, and quality accommodations with top notch guides, and amazing food and staff. They took care of our dietary restrictions, our transfers and last minute changes were made without issue. They provided a detailed dossier with all the information we needed for our travels and more! You won’t be disappointed with Compass Odyssey and Darren and Kate’s team. We look forward to our next adventure with them!
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Email Patrick and Christopher Toalson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Professional communication at all times
Working with Darren at Compass Odyssey was a great experience, his communication is excellent keeping you informed of all arrangements along the way from inquiry to booking to final itinerary and documents for your trip. They provided us with good information on what to expect about the area we were visiting in the Okavango, the lodging, plane flights into the delta, weather, etc. You won't go wrong choosing to work with Compass Odyssey for your trip arrangements.
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Email Natalie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Compass Odyssey is fantastic!
Compass Odyssey was highly recommended to me by my cousin. I wanted to take my daughter to Botswana but wasn't sure we could afford it. Darren worked with me over a couple months to find the best safari experiences. His suggestions, and our flexibility with dates, resulted in a trip of a lifetime. The trip went off without a hitch thanks to Darren's attention to detail.
We went to three "Roots & Journeys" camps: Great Tsau Hill, Mopiri and Nokanyana. Each were fantastic with wonderful and knowledgeable staff and great accommodations and food. Because Great Tsau Hill was in the Kalahari Desert, Mopiri was in the flooded area of the Okavango Delta and Nokanyana was near a private game preserve, we saw a variety of wildlife and vegetation. At Great Tsau Hill we spent almost a day and a half with the San (Bushmen) and learned about their culture.
Because of Darren, our guides BT, and Mr X and the Roots & Journeys staff at the camps, we had an incredible, life-changing, educational and fun adventure in Botswana. I highly recommend both Compass Odyssey and Roots & Journeys.
SG
Email Atikah & Cyrill | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime !
We had overall a great experience embracing nature at its purest coupled with amazing food and people that further enhanced the experience. Compass took care of everything and made us feel 'at home'. This started already before the trip, where received a lot of info/advice. The guides were warm, passionate and knowledgeable. Compass put together a fantastic itinerary for us which left us with memories that will last a life time !
Was our first trip to the continent, and I am sure it wont be the last. We can highly recommend Compass.
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Email Patrick and Ryan Kenny | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing recommendations and customer service for first trip to Africa
We found Compass Odyssey during the pandemic when, like many people, we were dreaming of trips we wanted to take, but couldn’t. We exchanged emails with Darren many times and knew, when the time was right, that we had found the company we wanted to book through for our first safari. His knowledge of the areas we were interested in, experience with booking these trips, and easy going personality were a good fit for us.
2023 rolled around and the timing was right. We originally had hoped the entire family would go, but for a few reasons it turned into a father/son trip. Darren quickly was able to adjust from the prospects of a family of five to just the two of us. My son and I were looking for an adventurous safari, not caring about staying at high end resorts. Darren understood this and, for each of the three locations we were looking at, sent multiple choices of lodging for us to choose from, along with descriptions of each and his recommendations. All along the way, Darren was there to answer any questions we had, and promptly too, despite the 6 hour time change. I knew when I sent questions to him that there would be answers waiting for me when I woke the next day.
The quality, and amount, of pre-safari information supplied by Compass Odyssey was just amazing! Almost every question I would have had was answered in these documents - Covid requirements, mosquito and disease concerns, how much to tip, what type of money to carry, luggage limits on bush flights, what documents would I need because I was traveling alone with my 16 yr old son - everything was answered. Compass Odyssey even supplied a step-by-step set of instructions on navigating through the Johannesburg airport from arrival, to immigration, to luggage claim, to checking for our connecting flight. It was so detailed that I knew what to expect every step of the way (something that turned out to be very valuable).
When we were looking at booking our airfare from the US to Johannesburg, where our trip would really start, Darren’s experience really shined through, strongly recommending two nights in Livingston, Zimbabwe, to start us off - just in case of flight delays and to give us time to adjust to the time change. It turned out to be a great piece of advice as our flight to Johannesburg was delayed enough to cause us to miss out connection in Johannesburg. If we had not booked two nights we would not have seen Victoria Falls (on my son’s must-see list!). As our flight from London to Johannesburg was taxiing for takeoff I was texting Darren saying I was concerned we would miss the connection, but our pilot said we may make up time in the air. I switched my phone into airplane mode not knowing what to expect when I landed in 11 hours. When we did land, I had a text waiting from Darren telling us we would miss our connection (he had talked to the airline), so he had changed our flights to the next day and already arranged a hotel for the night. This was a life-saver - we are experienced travelers, but this was our first time to Africa, and Compass Odyssey looked after us well.
The trip was amazing, more than I could have hoped for. The lodging was perfect for us. We stayed at Pioneers Lodge in Livingston, Chobe River Lodge in Kansane, Botswana (amazing lodge, staff and location), and Nokanyana Lodge in the Okavango Delta (the staff, the food, the guides were great and the hyenas laughing in the camp and elephants rubbing up against the tent as they walked by at night are things I will never forget). The transportation that Compass Odyssey arranged was smooth, giving us peace of mind and helping us get across borders where necessary - thank you Mortimer! Their recommendations were perfect, making this a trip exactly what we were looking for and wanting us to go back for more. (When we do, we will definitely book through Compass Odyssey again!)
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Email Irene Fleshner and David Hill | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
We travel all around the world and Compass Odyssey was the best tour operator we've ever worked with
From our first contact with Darren at Compass Odyssey, we knew we had found the ideal tour operator. He is the ultimate professional. Competent, knowledgable, pleasant, responsive and best of all he listens to the customer. The pre-trip communications were highly informative and thorough. Darren created a perfect trip for us to southern Africa.
Our entire trip was stress free because we were in good hands with our guides and Darren was just a text away if we needed anything.
Our accommodations, guides and itinerary were all great and as described in the documents from Darren.
We highly recommend Compas Odyssey to anyone planning a trip to Africa.
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Email Melissa Mona | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Easy to work with
The very first thing we did was go to a place to book excursions, felt like high pressure sales on the guide's part. We hurriedly pick a few and asked to go to check in at our accomodataions so we could freshen up from traveling. The next day we were a bit surprised to be handed an invoice for transport to and from activitites. We almost missed one activity because our guide told us to be ready at one time and the transport arrived over an hour and a half before that time. Fortunately that driver waited for us to hurry and get ready, we did almost miss the boat for the excursion, they held the boat since there were so many people from different places on the bus. May have made the actual boat ride shorter, I have no idea.
The transfers to and from countries with the guides seemed seamless. We always felt safe. transferred from Zimbabwe to Zambia and back, then to Botswana later.
the host and accomodations in Botswana, and the guides there were beyond amazing. I would do this part of the tour again in a heartbeat.
The food at all accomodations was great.
Reply from Compass Odyssey
Posted on Aug 4, 2023Hello, Melissa and thanks for the review.
We always prefer to pre-arrange our travellers' activities for their time in and around Victoria Falls so that upon your arrival, there is no need to visit the activities office and make your choices on the spot, as happened in your case because you hadn't asked us to arrange anything. We're sorry that the activities consultant made you feel pressured and we've asked our guides, Ruth and Mortimer to ensure this doesn't happen. We're also sorry that it seems that the collection time for your sunset cruise was incorrectly advised to you by the activities consultant. The activities are booked/operated by a third party. Two of the activities that your group of six travellers chose did not include transfers in the cost, so you were transferred by Ruth. We mentioned this scenario in your safari documentation and also mentioned that Mortimer and Ruth are not your full-time guides and that any extra transport or services may require payment, as happened in your case. We're glad you enjoyed the hospitality of Anja and her team at Chobe River Lodge.
Darren and Kate