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
DE
Email Zhizhou Fang | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great customer service
We've planned a 3 week holiday in South Africa. Usually we do all the vacation planning completely by ourselves, but this time we've asked Darren to provide an offer for our 1st week, which we wanted to go on safari. In the beginning we were sceptical about the benefits of asking a tour operator, but from the first day of establishing contact, Compass Odyssey has turned out to be a great choice. Darren was very proactive in planning the safari, paying close attention to all of our specific needs and designing the itinerary, accommodations, tickets, cars etc. according to our requirements about what to see, what kind of accommodations we would like to stay, answering our many question promptly, even tried to help to plan a birthday surprise for my girlfriend during the safari. He contacted local pharmacies and phone shops in order to provide us information how to get SIM cards, what to do in case of malaria etc.
In conclusion, we can recommend Compass Odyssey unconditionally.
US
Email Julie and Madison | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Cape Town, Kruger, Victoria Falls,…Above and beyond what we had hoped for
Traveling of any sort - but especially international travel - comes with its own headaches. In my experience, it's simply an unavoidable part of the whole package. Traveling with Compass Odyssey, however, defied that assumption from day one.
I was extremely impressed with my first contact with Darren and Kate about possibly setting in motion a trip to South Africa for my 24 year old daughter and I. The emails were answered promptly, professionally, and always with the kindest banter. We quickly hammered out the details, and once tickets, lodging, and regional flights were booked by Compass Odyssey, Darren helped us find and book our international flights.
Just as he patiently expressed over and over again, prior to our setting foot into South Africa, Compass Odyssey had every little detail worked out, and there was absolutely no reason to stress about our upcoming trip. The pre-trip information packets we received wholly covered every aspect of our trip, and I swear I read all the information 3 or 4 times, yet a few issues - visas, money exchange, tipping, cell phone - kept me up at night. Within the first hour of arriving in Cape Town, with Darren’s guidance, and helping hand, I knew my only job was to turn everything over to him, relax and enjoy!
From our early conversations, it was obvious that Darren loves what he does, and does it extremely well. Coming into this trip, my daughter and I were especially interested in the history of South Africa, especially as it pertains to Apartheid. We are walking away from this trip with a massive amount of knowledge that is grounded in the impact the nation's history still has on the country today. Darren knows South Africa so well that he is able to offer his guests the full range of experiences - from the best lookout points along the coast to learning the local lingo, from history lessons over shared meals to surprise tickets to see "The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek" at the Fugard Theatre. Darren not only understands the complexities of Cape Town and South Africa at large, but he also understands his travelers and is quick to regularly offer multiple options to make their trip even more enjoyable and educational.
While in Kruger, Compass Odyssey booked us with Senalala Luxury Camp, a wonderful extension of the personal care we received from Darren while in Cape Town. The adrenalin filled drives, the bush walk, the meals shared around one table with guests from all over the world, combined with the lazy afternoons watching animals visit the watering hole…perfection.
The final leg of our trip was Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Victoria Falls. Darren once again lined up the perfect local guide for us, Mortimer. We were able to tour the Falls on both sides, attend the Boma Feast, take a beautiful sunset cruise down the Zambezi River, and learned an immense amount about the natural history as well as the local history from our guide. He was knowledgeable, helpful, and kind, and allowed us the free time to explore the area as we wished.
We are exceptionally grateful for the attention to detail that Darren and Kate put into their work. It truly shows, and it made our trip one beyond our wildest dreams.
Darren planned a great, kid-friendly, Southern Africa safari for my family of four.
I reached out to Compass Odyssey in fall 2015 to plan a safari vacation with my family (including kids aged 10 and 13) in summer 2016. I had some ideas about what we wanted to do/see, but I was a bit overwhelmed by the options, especially the travel arrangements within Southern Africa. Darren took my ideas and came up with a few different itineraries, and we chose to go with a self-guided trip to Greater Kruger, Victoria Falls, and Chobe. The lodges and activities he booked us in to were all first rate, and given our advance planning, we were able to get flights between South Africa/Zambia/Botswana that minimized travel time. Darren also arranged for travel assistance at the Zimbabwe border crossings to ensure that everything went smoothly. The entire trip, including 3 different lodges, numerous travel transfers, many new friends, and countless amazing wildlife sightings, went off without a hitch, thanks to Darren’s expertise and planning.
US
Email Mariangela | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beyond my expectations!
I recently returned from a trip to southern Africa. I went with my 12 year old son. At first I was very nervous considering I was traveling alone with my son. Darren put my thoughts at ease and answered all of my questions patiently. The trip was amazing, we felt very safe and comfortable. Everything was perfectly organized and went very smoothly. Darren was very nice to my son and patiently explained some of the South African history and the places we visited while we were in Cape Town.
I highly recommend this company, this was a trip we surely never will forget.
US
Email Chris | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kruger/Victoria Falls/Chobe safari
We used Compass Odyssey to book our 11 day safari in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana and they were outstanding to work with. Within a day of sending an inquiry, Darren had responded with some initial thoughts and got to work putting together a draft itinerary. African safaris are not cheap and we had a budget, which Darren worked with to get us an incredible experience. We worked back and forth with Darren for several weeks narrowing hotel choices to fit our price range and include the experiences we wanted. After getting an itinerary in place, we decided to split time in Kruger at two different places and Darren quickly rearranged lodging so that we could experience different parts of the park.
The lodging options available to Compass Odyssey are excellent and we were able to have very different experiences at all four of our locations. While we chose more budget oriented options, Darren placed us in excellent accommodations that put us right in the middle of greater Kruger. He also chose accommodations that were run by great people that treated us like family. Where else in the world would someone make you a patriotic cake for July 4th (we are from the US)? Several of the lodge owners knew Darren personally and it became clear he had done a lot of leg work to get us the best experience to fit within our budget.
The safari itself was great and we saw every animal we set out to see. I recommend staying in different parts of Kruger or visiting several different parks because the terrain and animal viewing differs and it maximizes your chances of seeing everything. Food was excellent, accommodations were very safe and staff took good care of us. An African safari had been our dream for years and we it was even better than we had imagined.
My wife and I travel a lot, but this was our first time in Africa and the first time I had ever prepaid for an entire trip (other than a cruise). I was nervous about putting everything into the hands of someone I had never met on the other side of the and Darren was very patient with my questions and nervousness. Having completed a trip planned by Compass Odyssey I can say in complete confidence that you have nothing to worry about. Compass Odyssey will have all the details planned out from lodging to transportation. Darren is based in Cape Town, which we did not visit, so we did not get to meet him personally. On our next trip we plan to visit Cape Town/Namibia and go on one of the tours Darren personally leads.
I definitely recommend using Compass Odyssey for booking a safari in South Africa and surrounding counties.
PE
Email Guglielmo Rocchiccioli | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect trip for South African wineries and for a real safari tour
Darren is a very competent, prepared and professional person: he helped us in every moment we needed assistance and information about our trip (during the preparation of the travel and all over our stay in South Africa).
As regards our visits to the wineries (Constantia, Durbanville, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek) the wine specialist of Compass Odyssey was very nice; she has fulfilled all our needs. As a matter of fact, our travel across the South African wineries was great, even we have considered that the experience has got over and overcome all our expectations. Surely, an experience to repeat, sooner or later.
As concerns our safari, Darren has made a reservation in a tented camp in which we have lived to the best the experience of a real South African safari. Our ranger has guided us brilliantly to see all the animals expected to encounter (we have only missed the lion), maybe another reason to come back to South Africa in the future, but only by making a travel organized with Compass Odyssey.
In conclusion, I think that Compass Odyssey is, by far, one of the best travel agencies for organizing safaris and trip to South African winelands and Darren is a very reliable and professional person.
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Email Zahra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Family Vacation!
I had been in contact with Compass Odyssey since November of 2015, planning this family trip for June. Darren was great to work with, he listened to what we were looking for and made a lot of suggestions and the end result was an amazing itinerary that left everyone very happy. He was full of information and when we had last minute changes to the plans he was right there to help us and to make sure there were no issues. When we finally met at the airport in Cape Town, it was like meeting an old friend and he made a most excellent tour guide! The accommodations that he helped us choose were excellent and more than lived up to expectation. We felt well looked after the entire trip and knew that if we needed any help, it was only a phone call away.
WOW
My son and I just returned from a tour of Namibia and I can only recommend Compass Odyssey, all was perfect. Darren is an excellent guide, he was very attentive to our needs and full of local knowledge. A great sense of humour as well, which is a plus. Everything was perfectly organised, I didn't have to think for 2 weeks.
Will recommend to my friends and family for sure.
NZ
Email Betty | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I can highly recommend them for their expertise - nothing is too much trouble
We had the services of Darren Humphreys for 6 days while in Capetown.
He is an exceptional guide and took care of every detail from the time we arrived at the airport until we left
He was available to us day and night and we can only rate Darren and Compass Odyssey as "the best"
NZ
Email Jan | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Spent a fantastic few days with Crusty exploring Cape Town and around.
Having toured with Crusty in Morocco I knew what to expect and wasn't disappointed this time. He is a great guide and so well informed. He goes out of his way to satisfy his tour party - nothing is too much bother.