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 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 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 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 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!!!!
Email Laura | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari
They arranged a great safari for us in Chobe National park with Cape Fig safaris. All our pick ups, drops off and border crossings were very smooth with Africa zim and our safari was really great.
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Email AP | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Trip
Africa Zim handled our trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana very professionally. They were very prompt in responding to our queries about the safari. The payment process and transportation were well managed. They also made arrangements for vegetarian meals for us. Overall, a great experience.
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Email LKang | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly recommended
This was my first safari ever. Kalahari Tours in Botswana runs the actual safari, Africa Zim Travel & Tours sets up the booking and provides transfers to and from the border.
First, Africa Zim Travel & Tours. Professional e-mails and meetings with the staff. They drove me Vic Falls to the Zim / Bots border but failed to pick me up for the ride back into Vic Falls. But the driver from Kalahari was able to arrange a ride back on another tour company's van with no delay or problem as a professional courtesy.
The actual safari was excellent. We saw four of the Big 5 (Chobe doesn't have any rhinos) and lots and lots of other animals. Several people on our safari had been on other safaris right before this one, and they saw the most animals by far at Chobe.
I can't say enough positive things about our guide Jensen. He is very knowledgeable about all the animals and very good at spotting animals in the distance and in the bush and at following tracks. He also speaks with an excellent grasp of American idiom. Finally, one advantage of Chobe is that there are a lot of guides from different companies and they are good at sharing information about animals.
The camping itself is no problem. We roughed it only in the sense that we slept on bed rolls in tents and had only 1 shower over 3 days. A two-man team set up and broke down everything, and they also cooked the meals. The food was plentiful and delicious for anyone with a Western palate.
Email Willem | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The accommodation provided (charged by operator at 13 X lodge rate) was an absolute disgrace.
I recently participated in a tour by this operator. It was tented camps. The accommodation was appalling. The operator charged us 13 times the amount a "walk in" customer from the street would have paid for the same accommodation. We were paying top dollar for the most basic old tents, broken beds, thin matresses, mouse droppings, broken zips, dirty toilets, no hot water, pigeons in the roof, no towels, filthy showers, etc etc. Never again. For the same amount of money you can get much, much better. The operator is a classic rip-off of foreigners who have no idea of prices and what is available.
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Email Terry and Darrel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing tour, safari, and guides !
We travelled this past August from Canada with our 3 teenage sons and 76 year old Dad. We were also accompanied by another Canadian family and their 3 sons. From beginning to end we had an amazing tour with our guide, Blessing, and our van driver, Innocent. Blessing and Inncocent picked us up at Vic Falls and brought us to our campground. I will not forget the huge smile Blessing had when he picked us up. It was comforting and it set the tone for the tour. We booked a camping tour as it was both economical and we wanted a vacation that we could truly experience Zimbabwe and Botswana. Along the way, Blessing upgraded our Dad to a cabin. The tents were large enough to hold two small cots with linen on top. All cabins were within close proximity to showers, toilets, and the restaurant/bar. Three of the campsites also included generous size pools which were great for the kids. Our tour included a trip to Elephant Sands in Botswana. This was a great area. Not only were we treated to incredible views of elephants, our tent had a washroom ! It was awesome having Blessing with us along the way. He was very accomodating to our families needs, knowledgeable about local customs in both countries, and knew where bank machines and commercial areas were. It is to be noted that this is NOT a five star resort. While our guide and driver were "5 star", the tour and camping were more rugged. If what you want for your family is an experience of a life time where you really get to know the people and their communities, then this is for you. I highly recommend Africa Zim Travel and Tour.
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Email Stephan and Annelie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Experience of a lifetime: Tented Safari
Our group (15 people) consisted of 3 families. Their reviews (Terry, Darrel and Willem) also appear on this site. I organised the trip and was very impressed with the prompt and friendly response I received throughout the booking process. Blessing and Sheila were very easy to deal with and provided me with all the details and requests we required.
Blessing was our guide. We were so happy to have him and Innocent(our driver) with us throughout our trip. They are knowledgeable, friendly and just great people to hang out with.
This was a budget tented safari. Anyone expecting luxury hotel beds and air conditioned rooms should not do this type of safari! We stayed over in tents at rest camps. The tents, beds and bedding were clean and comfortable. The washrooms were typical of campsites. They were clean and if something was amiss, the rest camp staff were quick to help. Our boys (16, 18, 22) loved every bit of this trip as much as we did. We saw Africa in all it's splendour on the 2 river cruises and the game drives. Chobe, Elephant Sands and the Okavango Delta mokoro outing were absolute highlights! Anyone that wanted to upgrade to a cabin were accommodated without a problem. I can honestly say that this was a fantastic and very well organised trip. I will travel with Africa Zim Travel and Tours any time again!