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
CH
Email Florian and family | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect support for our safari in the Okovanga Delta
We booked our first safari with Compass Odyssey and can recommend it 100%. Based on a tour offered here, we customized our trip completely. Darren supported us perfectly and provided us with competent information.
We were provided with all the necessary information before the trip. During the days in Victoria Falls we were comprehensively looked after by Mortimer and his team.
The absolute highlight was the days in the middle of the Okavango Delta. We stayed at Kanana Camp, which was absolutely perfect in every aspect, and we would highly recommend it. The service, and especially the safari experience, is as authentic as it can be. We saw all the major animals living in the Okavango Delta up close. Since it's not a publicly accessible area, we were able to calmly observe leopards feeding and lions playing, all by ourselves with our jeep and guide.
It's worth mentioning that Compass Odyssey even advanced us money in Zimbabwe to pay the bills because none of our credit cards worked (6-digit instead of 4-digit PIN!). That was service far beyond the usual!
IT
Email The Mazzoldi family | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
nostalgia for Africa
Our annual family trip had Namibia as its destination this year.
Unfortunately, like every year ,before deciding where to go, we arrive a few weeks before departure.
I'm the travel family organizer and when we made the decision for Namibia ,i started calling all the italian tour operators to see the availability, but unfortunately for the month of august ,the month on which all italians are on holidays ,i did not find anything .
I started looking at all Namibian tour operators' websites
. I wrote to 5 of them but none of them convinced me enough ,except Compass Odyssey.
I started writing to Darren all my requests, doubts,fears and i always found a helpful person, attentive to every detail to create an unforgettable holiday
I booked with Compass easily and i trusted in them
The trip was magnificent not a problem, the organization at the top, good standard of hotel and safari tents
Our guide Raymond was a friendly , helpful and discreet man and when he left us a little free we missed him.Every evening for dinner we organized the following day about the departure time and what we wanted to see and Raymond always gave us excellent advice.
Everything was perfect even for my skeptical husband who before leaving said what we are going to do in Namibia and when he returned he spoke of Africa sickness and not of african massage as Raymond said when he was driving on unpaved roads
thank you to Darren ,Kate and Raymond which made us cry before leaving
CA
Email Line Descoteaux and Georges Ward | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Compass Odyssey teip to Namibia
Unbelievable trip of a lifetime. We had the best service posssible. Compass Odyssey offered a quick reply whenever we had a question. They answerded all our wishes and provided amazing guides both in Namibia and for our short stay in Cape Town, South Africa. I strongly recommand them for a personalized trip to a beautiful country.
Email Pascale | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, exceeding expectations
We had a wonderful private Safari to Namibia organised for four people.
Landed in Capetown, spent the day to visit with a guide, flying to Windhoek the following morning.
Also half a day on the way back.
Then our Namibian guide took over in Windhoek and looked after us for the next 12 days.
We had a very comfi 4x4 car, 8 seats, air conditioning.
Drove through the Namib desert. Our guide made the most of it. We were the first ones hiking the orange dunes at sunrise, then running down to the petrified trees.
We were the last persons climbing the Dune 45 at sunset, amazing colours and landscape.
We then drove through Namib desert to Swakop. Wonderful cruise experience watching Flamingoes, Dolphins, Seals....
Then a few days in Damaraland desert, watching wild elephants and learning from desert plants, animals, and engraving stones 4000 years old.
Finally a few days in Etosha park, watching so many wild animals : Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Spring box, Cheetas, Lions, Rhinos, Oryx, Hyena,Chacal.....
Our guides were fantastic making the most of it, very attentionate, organised and knowledgeable.
We can't thank enough Darren and Kate who have organised our trip and given us excellent advices.
The Hotels and guesthouse were very comfortable.
We came from London and had a stop in Capetown. We then flied with Airlink to Windhoek.
US
Email John and Emily K. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Compass Odyssey provided us with a truly memorable experience for our safari with our grandson.
This is our second trip to Africa with Compass Odyssey, to a different part of Africa than the first time. Just as before, the trip was amazing, the accommodations were very comfortable, the guides were knowledgeable and friendly and the safari experiences were top-notch. We have no hesitation in recommending Compass Odyssey to anyone and will absolutely use them again for any future trips to Africa!
HR
Email Renato and Thea Kunstek | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The organization was perfect, nothing was left to chance and everything that was agreed was fulfille
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Darren and his team at Compass Odyssey for organizing our safari, the organization itself was amazing from meeting at the airport to transportation to our accommodation. The proposed accommodation was superb, the people who looked after us were beyond amazing , the itinerary itself that was suggested to us and that we accepted was absolutely amazing starting with the breathtaking Victoria Falls and then the fantastic Chobe National Park and the absolutely amazing Okavango Delta. I have absolutely no complaints about any segment of our trip. We saw absolutely all the animals that we wanted and more than that, we met wonderful people and created a memory for a lifetime. I hope we will have the opportunity to return again.
RS
Email Marijana and Daniel Boskovic | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The journey of life
As we stated in the title. This was the best trip of our lives so far. Darren and all the co-workers were fantastic. Every wish of ours was fulfilled and organized and carried out down to the smallest detail. Darren's every suggestion if we weren't sure what to choose from excursions or other events was a hit. During our trip, we visited many places and countries: Doha, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Mauritius, and in each country we were greeted by a fantastic guide who went through the entire itinerary with us. The accommodation units were excellent, the entire staff and the food. Everything was really perfect. I wholeheartedly recommend cooperation with Daren and his associates and we will definitely continue to travel with their organization.
IE
Email Tom and Rhona Coman and family | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Compass Odyssey are the best Safari tour operator we have come across
We were recommended Compass Odyssey by another Irish family so we were already assured of the diamond service we were going to receive. Darren was able to surmount the initial challenges presented by an age diverse family particularly in terms of scheduling as we were set in the dates we could travel to Zimbabwe and Zambia. The itinerary was exiting and sold our family from the outset. We found Compass Odyssey to be very attentive to our needs, flexible in delivery and trustworthy in handling the large outlay.
We arrived in Victoria falls after a long journey from Ireland to be met by the Compass Odyssey man on the ground , Mortimer. He was worth his weight in gold over the next week transporting us here and there, booking activities and restaurants, and was generally a great source of information on the country. We stayed 3 nights in the 'Hide' at the Hwangi National and we loved every moment of it from the morning walking safaris with our expert guide Adam Jones ,to the chats around the fire watching the watering hole sipping a few beers. Our accomadation was suprisingly comfortable with a hot water bottle to combat the African cold nights.
Victoria falls ,the adrenelin capital of Africa was everything we hoped for. Firstly the Falls are so beautiful from both the Zimbabwe and Zambia sides. The kids loved the Gorge plunge .We all did the White Water Rafting which was thrilling until we found that we had a 30-40 minute ascent to the top of the gorge at the end.(Not for the faint hearted)
The Elephant Cafe was special. We fed the elephants and enjoyed a top class meal.
All it remains to do is thank Darren and Kate for really looking after us with our trip.It remains among the best we've been on.
US
Email Tony and Tina Ezzat and family | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime Indeed!
What else can be said about Compass Odyssey that hasnt been said in all these reviews?
It was our pleasure to work with Darren and Kate to set up our inaugural trip to Africa. We ended up doing a trip which started off with Capetown (3 nights), Victoria Falls (2 nights), and 3 camps in Botswana (8 nights). Throughout, Darren's meticulous communication and planning made the entire trip seamless. I note some highlights below:
* Excellent and prompt email communications in the early stages while plannng the trip
* Superb dossier right before the trip commences, which includes all the details of the trip. It's very helpful to have this printed out with you while on the trip.
* Darren's "feet on the ground" in the various cities are wonderful and knowledgeable. These included Garth in Capetown and Ruth/Mortimer in Vic Falls
* Seamless intra-botswana flight and transport arrangements
...and I can go on and on.
Thank you Darren and team for helping us have a trip of a lifetime, and we look forward to more trips in the future.
Tony Tina Theo Nicholas
Email Steve Ford and family | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Extremely knowledgeable, very professional and always on hand to answer (and solve) all queries.
Darren was introduced to me by a good friend in SA. Compass Odyssey's reputation it seems, was well established.
They lived up to that reputation over and over again!
We wanted a safari experience in Greater Kruger, Zambia and Zimbabwe and, although I had previously worked in Southern Africa for many years, we decided to let CO (Compass Odyssey) put together a trip of a lifetime. They did not disappoint!
Once Darren and I agreed on a budget (in our case, upper mid-scale) he went ahead and developed a wonderful itinerary, the experiences from which, we will talk-about and reflect on for the rest of our lives!
Darren was very patient with our needs. Initially, friends said they would join us on the trip, and Darren spent many hours trying to find lodges that could take a group of nine! In the end, we just travelled as one family which assisted the process immensely. Not once did Darren show any frustration at the number of people, which was changing constantly in the early planning.
CO also has a great advantage in being able to provide ground support teams for airport transfers, safari transfers and support expertise at national borders; Alan in Johannesburg, Mortimer and his family who assisted us in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Wonderful people and so less stressful when one has local expertise to assist with these processes!
If ever we have another opportunity to travel to southern Africa, I would not hesitate to call CO again to put something together. The trip was spectacular, the value excellent, and they are fantastic people to deal with!