Africa Zim Travel & Tours , Victoria Falls
Africa Zim Travel & Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $115 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Sandy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Perfect 8 days!
My husband and I took the 8 day Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, Elelphant Sands, and Okavango Delta trip in July 2016. It exceeded our expectations in every way. We knew we wanted to visit those places, but we had no idea what would do at each location or how many days to stay. Andrew and Zim Travel arranged every detail. They were so knowledgeable about each destination, the culture, places to eat, where to take the best pictures, border crossings, sightseeing-----you name it and they knew where and what to do.
Andrew picked us up and delivered us to each event. He either personally guided us or arranged for an excellent guide.
As we drove from place to place, he filled us in on so many interesting details. He informed us of the currency to bring, where to exchange the currency and drove us there.
At Chobe, we sat in a boat 30 feet from a herd of elephants and watched them drink, play, eat and "wrestle". It was unforgettable. On the safaris we so many animals! Each day was amazing and different! Vic Falls was incredible. We walked the entire length of the falls and viewed each lookout point. Andrew guided us personally and it made a difference to hear his commentary.
Andrew took care of every possible detail. We wholeheartedly recommend Zim Travel!!!!
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Email Jane | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointed with the Hwange Day Trip
I would not recommend the Hwange game-drive. It may be better at a different time of year or with a different guide. We did not mind the drive to Hwange from Victoria Falls. We had a very nice driver, but the guide that we had for the game drive was not very good and our vehicle was so noisy that we did not see much except for animals running away. All the animals that we did see were from a distance. It was suppose to be a full day game drive, but it basically ended at lunch time. At lunch time, we drove a long distance (at a very fast rate of speed over a very bumpy road) to the Kennedy Picnic Site. Once there we had lunch while fighting off the many bees and trying to keep them out of our drinks. After lunch, we got back in our game drive vehicle and headed out. We were thinking that we would be seeing more game, but again we drove a very long distance at a fast rate of speed and found ourselves back at the main camp and our game drive was over. Very disappointing.
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Email Waverly | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Trip to Remember- Excellent Value & Service
My husband and I took the 5 day/4 night Victoria Falls/Chobe National Park tour in May 2016. It was absolutely wonderful. Pamela at Africa Zim was great with answering our questions and even helping us make changes to our itinerary at the very last week before trip. Blessing, our tour guide, was fantastic. He was very dependable and likeable. He answered our many questions about Zimbabwe. On the way to Botswana, as there was little traffic, he would stop his van in the middle of the road so we could take photos of elephants, baboons, and warthogs crossing the road. On our last day, he even showed us a very special spot with a 360 degree of Victoria Falls City. Visiting the Falls in May was magnificent. The water volume was at its maximum. He met us at the airport and took us to our destinations in a very timely fashion. The Boma Dinner and Show was outstanding. We had so much fun trying African food, drumming, and dancing. Botswana Safari Lodge was excellent. The accommodations and food were excellent. We also recommend taking the optional afternoon game drive. We were very lucky to see lions up close. There were plenty of other animals to see too, like elephants, impalas, giraffes, kudos, guinea fowls, baboons, hippos, mongoose, crocodiles, birds, and other animals.
Definitely, we got good value for our money!
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Email Parker | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
3Dqay/2Night Safari in Chobe NP
Very pleased with Africa Zim travel. They made arrangements for the two of us to be picked up in Livingstone and transferred to Botswana for the safari. Logistics were superb with the hand off from shuttle to boat (to cross the border) to the safari leader seamless. Africa Zim was even able to accommodate a last minute change from us to be returned to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe instead of the originally agreed upon Livingstone, Zambia at the end of the safari at no additional charge.
The safari itself was sub-contracted out to Cape Fig Safaris based out of Kasane/Chobe in Botswana and they were excellent. I would 100% recommend that you request that Africa Zim books your trip to Chobe with this operator.
Three small notes:
1) The itinerary provided by Africa Zim mentions time to stop in Kasane to shop for some last minute supplies or curios. We did not get this chance. Wasn't a problem for us, but probably something Africa Zim should communicate to their sub contractors or remove that item from the itinerary.
2) I paid 25% upfront using PayNow (kind of the Zimbabwe version of PayPal), which does assess a fee for making payment, just something to keep in mind.
3) The final 75% was requested in cash, which may be a lot for people to be carrying on there person (and difficult to obtain in Zimbabwe currently). You may want to ask to make other payment arrangements.
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Email John | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Chobe river cruise/game drive.
My wife and I did the one day Chobe river cruise/ game drive. It was most enjoyable! Our driver, Blessings, picked us up from our hotel promptly from our hotel in Victoria Falls, and we saw African wildlife on our drive to Botswana. Culture, our boat captain, did an outstanding job in pointing out wildlife and gave us a lot of information about the game. The lunch buffet was delicious and was served at the Chobe Lodge. Captain, our driver on the game drive, gave us the opportunity to observe and learn about the elephants and hippos in their natural habitat. We would recommend this tours to others.
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Email Nancy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari in Zimbabwe and Botswana!
Where to begin?! Our adventure with AfricaZim was an absolute whirlwind, and of the best kind. Everything from the booking process to the safari itself was efficient, organized, and customized to every one of our points of interest and budget.
My husband and I booked an 8-day, 7-night tour (27 March to 3 April, 2016) with two nights in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, two nights in Kasane/Chobe, one night at Elephants Sands, and two nights in Maun, all in Botswana. Breakfast and dinner were included every day, and lunch was included on the two travel days. Not only were they kind and professional through all communications, but were extremely accommodating to changing the number of guests in our party from two to three when we decided invite our daughter who has been studying in Cape Town, a decision we made less than a month before the start of the trip. We had fully expected her to have to sleep on a pull-away bed during the week since it was such a last-minute change, but Sheila, the booking agent we worked with throughout most of the process, worked her magic and found our daughter a separate hotel room at each of our accommodations. Thank you, Sheila!
Our guide was Blessing, a wonderfully friendly, easy-going, and experienced tour guide and native Zimbabwean. From pick-up on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border, to drop off at Maun's airport a week later, Blessing was an outstanding host, driving us many hours across the bush and veld in a private minivan, with only Sheila accompanying us (she tagged along as a training session to learn more through experience about the trips she books). Besides the game drive, all transportation was organized and performed by Blessing - he would even get up early in the mornings to fill up on petrol and replenish our stock of drinks and snacks so that the long drives were made as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Scheduled activities included a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, a visit to Victoria Falls (we understand why it’s a wonder of the world - and got soaked to prove it!), dinner at The Boma in Victoria Falls, which is a must-try for African cuisine - the warthog was especially delicious, an early morning game drive in Chobe National Park and sunset cruise along the Chobe River, elephant viewing at Elephant Sands (which isn't technically an activity but sure is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!), and a Mokoro boat ride and game walk in the Okavango Delta. They went above and beyond to accommodate some last minute (the day we arrived - booked for the following day) requests for my husband and daughter to go whitewater rafting along the Zambezi and for me to do a “lion walk”. The rafting company chosen by Blessing (there seem to be many outfitters) was excellent - great guys and lots of thrills, though my daughter was disappointed the boat didn’t flip. My lion walk was amazing, though I’d never heard of the activity before - it was recommended by Blessing amongst a list of other potential activities to do while the other two were out rafting. I was able to walk with and even pet wild lions for about an hour! While reviews of these two experiences are not relevant to our interactions with AfricaZim, the flexibility and promptness shown by Blessing and Sheila to accommodate all of our needs was fabulous.
The accommodations organized by AfricaZim were wonderful, and any issues we had with them were the fault of the hotels themselves, not AfricaZim. For example, one of our rooms was clearly a smoking room, but that was quickly rectified when Blessing spoke to the front desk for us and we were promptly moved to a different room. Other than that, the localities and rooms of all of the hotels were beautiful and clean. One of the hotels had vervet monkeys climbing on tree branches outside our rooms and amazing sunset views over the Chobe River, while Elephant Sands of course meant elephants trampling past our tented cabins at all hours of the night, an exhilarating, fun, and unique experience. Service at our Victoria Falls hotel, Guest Paradise, was especially outstanding, and we were warmly welcomed by all of the staff. Food throughout the trip was excellent, and we tried lots of different kinds of game meat (though there were always more traditional and vegetarian options for those who are so inclined).
Overall, we could not have asked for a better experience. A huge thank you to Blessing and Sheila and the rest of the AfricaZim team who made this experience possible, as it is not one we will soon forget. The people and places made it the experience of a lifetime.
NZ
Email Edwin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3 day Chobe safari
We had a great time in Chobe. Simon was a wonderful guide, very knowledgable, friendly and great at tracking the animals. The rest of the team were great as well, with wonderful food and accommodation, we were very well looked after.
Email Antoinette Parker | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
What an awesome experience!!
Wow from beginning to end! The thing that really stood out for me was the personal service we received. My partner and I were collected by the most warm and friendly tour guide Blessing. We had the kombi all to ourselves - no squashing and trying to fit in with others. The tour really was all about us and what we wanted to do and when we wanted to do it. Africa Zim Travel are focussed on being flexible and accommodating and prefer to take small or well acquainted groups - that really does make for a far more enjoyable trip. This really was a trip to remember and I would highly recommend using Africa Zim Travel to plan your next memorable experience.
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Email Mary-Anna | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderfully accommodating tour guide!
I am most grateful that we found Africa Zim. Traveling with a group of friends, each with different date requirements and all with very specific locations we wanted to explore, we appreciated how accommodating Africa Zim was. Our guide, Blessing, was responsive by email during our trip planning and very flexible during the tour when changes needed to be made. He found wonderful guides for us on our game drives and river cruises. It was clear that we were getting a much better experience than the other groups we would meet and talk with during breaks. Best of all for any birders out there, all the guides were excellent at identifying and pointing out the local birds. Be sure to ask the river people to tell their creation stories - I especially liked the explanation story for why hippos leave the river to take care of their business ;-)
Email Deanna Anderson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful to Experience the Real Africa
How fortunate that I found Africa Zim Travel early this year when looking for a Botswana, Vic Falls Safari. We booked their budget safari, mostly camping and an excellent value. Not realizing how hot it would in Oct., we upgraded to an air conditioned lodge room a couple of times with no problem. The tour company is great, totally flexible as to start date and what you do along the way. We needed to accommodate several peoples' schedule for this trip and being able to choose our own start date was invaluable.
Service was excellent. Follow up and communications during planning was good.
My favorite site on the tour was Elephant Sands, an elephant oasis in the middle of a very dry area, hope the rains start soon!
The best part has been our wonderful tour guide, Blessing, giving us a chance to know a black African, learning about his life, family, his country of Zimbabwe plus many aspects of African culture. Almost all of our guides for game viewing have been local people, who bring their rich knowledge of the land and animals along with a great sense of humor. We visited a traditional village and have experienced some of the real Africa, not just another fancy resort.
Highly recommend Africa Zim Travel.