Discover Africa Safaris team
Discover Africa Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, SATSA, CTT & IGLTA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $450 to $2,000 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 Stacey | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best vacation experience of a lifetime!
Incredible experience! Diane Du Plessis was our consultant for two South African safaris, one at Umkumbe Bush Lodge (Sabi Sand Nature Reserve) and the other at Motswari Game Reserve (Timbavati Private Game Reserve). Transfers and in-country flights all went off without a hitch. Everywhere we stayed was beautiful and elegant, including our last four days at the Winchester in Capetown. On safari, we got to see lions, leopards, wild dogs, hyenas, rhinos, hippos, Impalas and more. At both reserves, we saw animals with their kills and got very close without disturbing them. Guides were great at both locations. The bungalows at Umkumbe were brand new and very comfortable. The food was particularly good at Motswari. Motswari has an early coffee and treats before you go out on safari, which is nice. Highly recommend Discover Africa!
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Email Susan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best itinerary, best price, best customer service.
This was the most amazing trip to Cape Town and Botswana. There are no words to describe how wonderful it was. It went seamlessly and could not have been any better. Megan Warrington arranged our trip and we really can’t say enough good about both Discover Africa and Megan. Megan was so attentive, always available and graciously responded to all our questions and inquiries. When we first started planning our trip, we requested information from many different travel companies. Discover Africa rose above the rest in many aspects. It had the best customer service (Megan), was one of the only companies to offer a mobile safari (Letaka Safaris – which are also amazing), had the same itinerary as another highly rated travel company however Discover Africa was much cheaper and Megan was much more responsive and helpful from the very beginning than any other representative. We highly recommend this company for your safari.
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Email Shelley Rideout | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome!!!!!!!!!
Charmey our guide was amazing. He was knowledgeable about the area and he showed us everything we asked for. It will definitely go back and use this company and ask for Charmey. One of the best trips I have ever experienced. The migration portion was amazing.
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Email Sharon | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Discover Africa's expertise is invaluable. Highly recommend.
First of all, we highly recommend Discover Africa. The service they provide is invaluable. Our travel planner, Vihann, gave us expert guidance on our accommodations and tours. He arranged for all of our transports including internal flights and he even checked us into our flights! Everything went like clockwork and we had the comfort of knowing Vihann was available to us if needed. We will definitely use Discover Africa for our next trip.
Here's a summary of our trip: For our first trip to Africa, we wanted to focus on South Africa. We started in Cape Town and stayed at the Victoria & Alfred on the waterfront which is an excellent location. We went on a city tour, tour of the Cape and also visited the wine country. We had the same tour guide for three days providing continuity. Cape Town was a great way to start our trip. We then went to Timbavati Private Reserve (at Vihann's recommendation) and stayed at Kambaku River Sands. We arrived in the early afternoon and went on our first game drive. Within 24 hours, we saw the big five and much more. The accommodations, food and staff at the lodge exceeded our expectations. Next, we traveled to Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, Arathusa Safari Lodge. Our suite faced the watering hole where hippos reside plus elephants, giraffes, etc came to drink often. Again, the lodge staff, food and accommodations were excellent. Between the two reserves, we went on 11 game drives. We ended our two week trip in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, at the Old Drift Lodge located on the Zambezi River. The Lodge staff helps put together an itinerary from the list of numerous activites available to you. There are morning and evening game drives offered as the lodge is located in the Zambezi National Park, but we chose other activites such as the sunset river boat safari, tour of the falls, and breakfast at the Lookout Cafe. With Vihann's help, we also booked white water rafting with Wild Horizons on the Zambezi and Devil's Pool. All activities were fantastic and again, the staff, food and accommodations at the Old Drift Lodge were outstanding.
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Email Joann | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect
Megan was always accessible and answered our questions. She really understood what we wanted and did an excellent job. she got us in with the finest tour guides, which is really important and makes a huge difference. Everything ran smoothly and you cannot ask for more on a vacation, I highly recommend Megan
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Email Rainer | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great company. You cannot go wrong choosing them.
Very attentive and patient. Our advisor Dev was in constant communication with us all the way. Vendors that were provided on our trip were all very good.
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Email Amanda | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience of a Lifetime
This truly was an experience of a lifetime! Everything was smooth, organized, affordable, and so much fun! Megan was amazing!! She helped us every step of the way! Readily available for any questions or concerns we had leading up to and through the entire trip!
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Email Yana | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
No detail left undone
Susan helped us organize a trip to Rwanda for Gorilla trekking and safari in Maasai Mara. She was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and attentive to every detail from start to finish. From the moment we landed in Africa, it never felt like we had to worry about a single thing. Everything was arranged and thought through. Susan was always available for any questions that we had before and during the trip.
We had a magical, worry free vacation and I can’t recommend her enough for anyone planning their African vacation. I cannot wait to start planning my next trip already!
Email Robert Lefebvre | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
What a Great Customer Experience
I found Discover Africa via a web search and connected with Diane Du Plessis one their safari travel experts. As this was my second trip to Sth Africa I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted for my family this time around and specifically I wanted to return to Honeyguide Mantobeni in the Manyeletti private game reserve for the first leg of our safari, and I needed Diane to help us find another lodge for a different experience on the second leg of the holiday. Diane listened to what we wanted out of this holiday and put together a trip that was brilliant, including the lodges organising internal flights and transfers from airports to and from the lodges, all of which ran like clockwork. Diane even texted me while we were in transit from Singapore to Johannesburg to remind me that our internal Airlink flights were open for on-line check in. So, she was still working for us before we even got there. Absolute 5 star for her attention to detail.
Diane booked us into Honeyguide at my request. As I said I'd been there before and really enjoyed it. I would describe Honeyguide as a 4 star Lodge with very nice tented accommodation. Tents are elevated, have a nice seating area out front, shower, bathroom and good bed. If you want to feel like you're in Africa it works. The staff are very attentive and the meals are plentiful. It's not fine dining but more than adequate. If needed, they will cater for dietary requirements, in our case Dairy-free for our daughter. Drinks are not included in your package but beer wine and spirit prices are so reasonable it doesn't matter.
The lodge is situated on its own waterhole which attracts loads of wildlife. Zebra, antelope, wildebeest, elephant. Elephant roam the camp daily and come to drink from the lodge's swimming pool giving you a very up-close and personal experience. We had lion roaming through the camp at night and one large male lion came through during the day. So, you'll get wildlife in spades.
The game drives in Manyeletti make this the ideal first stop on a safari holiday. I would rate the game viewing 5 Star because of the variety and sheer numbers of animals and the landscape itself which is more open plains or savannah than bush. So if you are out on a drive looking for Lion, you will see herds of elephant, Zebra, Wildebeest etc along the way. We came upon 2 Cheetah enjoying their fresh kill one morning. As for Lion there are 2 or 3 Prides so no issue in terms of finding them. There's nothing quite like being eyeballed by a lioness as she strolls past your vehicle at a very intimate range. What are less prevalent in this reserve are Leopard which are just establishing themselves and Rhino which are at the far southern end of the reserve. The reserve is some 24,000 Hectares which is massive and the dirt roads are not kept in the best condition. They do not use trackers at Honeyguide so the Guide is playing a dual role. I suspect this is because of the abundance of wildlife and the radio communication with other lodge vehicles who operate within the reserve. I've been twice and I'll probably go back again. It's a wonderful experience which will not break the bank.
Diane did some research based on what we wanted and what we had experienced the yr before at Honeyguide and another Lodge in another province. She suggested Inyati in the Sabi Sands Private reserve which was about a 90 minute drive from Manyeletti. We went with her suggestion and were delighted with the whole experience. First the lodge is 5 star, the accommodation is individual chalets and the staff were amazing. Again food was plentiful with enough variety to suit any palate. The Lodge overlooks the Sand river with its resident Hippos and crocs antelope by the hundreds, elephant etc. This is a totally different experience than the first lodge, which is why Diane suggested it. Rather than open plains it is more bushland. The reserve is famous for Leopard and they roam freely in and around the Lodge. (had a leopard kill literally 3 meters from our chalet front door one night).
Upon arrival our guide asked us what we'd like to see that afternoon, we said Leopard and within 10 minutes our tracker found one. Saw Leopard cubs, saw Painted dogs with a litter of 10 pups, saw a painted dog running down an impala, lots of Rhino and rhino calves, Elephants, baby elephants Cape buffalo Lion and lion cubs. So the big 5 as well as the baby 5. Lions were more difficult to find at Inyati and it's probably because of the bushland setting and the Sabi Sands is another massive private reserve and the animals roam. Totally different experience, more tracking involved and not the masses of Zebra and Wildebeest along the way as you track down whatever it is you were looking for, but a herd of Giraffe running down the sand river and having your path blocked by Rhino or elephant is also quite the experience. The guide and tracker were excellent with amazing knowledge about every animal you came across including the wide variety of birdlife.
All drinks were included in the package and the staff couldn't be more helpful and delightful. The lodge has a gym but we preferred sitting on the lodge's main deck soaking up the view of the sand river and the wildlife with a cold drink in hand.
Great lodge, much more upmarket, tons of wildlife--a definite yes. Thanks Diane Du Plessis for putting together a holiday we'll talk about for years. Look forward to talking to you about what's next for us.
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Email Dino | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding
Matthys handled our entire trip. Recommended a ten day trip based off my interests. The trip was flawless. Every detail from transportation to lodging was handled and well documented.
We visited Cape Town, Victoria Falls, and Kruger. Everything exceeded our expectations. Six out of five stars. We even seen the Big 5 at Kruger National Park