65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Chobe National Park by Iain in Pagham
We stayed in Chobe Elephant Camp - it 's new - absolutely brilliant great food, accommodation and the staff are incredibly helpful. I have to mention Dorcus she was just wonderful, full of fun and really good at helping us. The Camp is high up with lovely views over Namibia and is totally open so it feels light and spacious. The area has a range of habitats from woods to grasslands to the river forming the Nambian boundary. As it says on the tin there are a lot of elephants here and one could never trie of watching them. One thing we had never seen was two elephants rising out of the river having crossed from Namibia on the bottom totally submerged using their trunks to breathe. We took a boat trip on the river - not to be missed, lots of elephants and birds and just peaceful not being shaken about in a 4x4. We only had two nights here which was just enough, given how lovely the camp was another night would have been good. As with the other camps we were pretty much on our own and met very few people when we wer eout - a real opportunity to feel part of the environment.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Central Kalahari Game Reserve by Iain in Pagham
We had three nights in the Kalahari and loved the range of animal and birdlife we saw. We stayed in Tau Pan which was excellent - food, accommodation and guides all first class. One highlight was th ebushamn's walk where we saw him making a fire from two sticks (!), Making animal traps, finding ways of getting drinking liquids and getting a soap solution to wash in - all from shrubs or roots. Kalahari itself - three nights was enough for us, we had seen pretty much what was around, the scenery was less varied than other areas (naturally as it's a desert scrub). We could have gone on a long day out but were warned that was more of the same. I wouldn't have missed going there especially for the excellent camp, the birds and animals but I' wouldn't go back again.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Getting back to Nature
Okavango Delta had an amazing range of habitat from savannah to wetland to woods. In most other areas we found that after 3 days you had "worked" an area. In the Okavango that is not true, there is just so much to see. We deliberately went in the wet season to increase our chances of bird/animal spotting and to enjoy the scenery more. We were very fortunate in that we only had one evening's rain and one overnighter so it was an excellent choice - not too hot either. We stayed at Kwara Camp which was excellent, yes it looks a little tired but that didn't matter, it blended in with the habitat. In with nature - being woken at 3am to hear Lions "purring" just outside the tent wall was quite an experience ( I took my hearing aids out so you can imagine how loud it was) - but you are quite safe inside. One night we had to be taken by Landrover to the main tent (100 metres) because of lions prowling around. The food was varied and all excellent - something for everyone I would think, I thought I might lose weight - wrong so good and so much I put plenty on... Off on the trips we saw the usual suspects hippo, elephant, lion, giraffe, warthog (my favourite), zebra, Antelopes and a tortoise. Painted Reed Frogs when we went out canoeing and an Ostrich family with 8 youngsters. Bird life - well with the range of habitat there is a large number of species you can see. Carmine Bee-eaters, Crested Barbet, openbills and plenty of raptors. How much you see does depend on your guide as well as your knowedge, in particular who you are out for the day with - if you are with people uniterested in birds and only in chasing for wild dogs then you'll see much less bird or insect/butterfly life. We were lucky on our whole Safari in that only once were we in a group that wanted to chase, other times we were on our own and could take our time (saw more birds and animals that way). Another advantage of the wet season when the camps aren't so full. I've just looked back over my Flickr album of Okavango Delta and am amazed at what we saw.
Just go - you won't be disappointed - we spent 3 nights in Kwara and so had the best part of three (two whole plus two half) days, I'm glad we didn't do any less.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Botswana by Iain in Pagham
A vast range of habitats - we visited the Kalahari, Okavango Delta and Chobe all three were entirely different but captivating. Botswana is quieter and you feel more at one with nature as there aren't the hordes of vans viewing every Cheetah or Leopard you come across, you really are out in the country but feel totally safe, well fed and watered.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing family experience
I took my family on a safari with John and Anton. They were so knowledgable about the wildlife and the culture of the area. We saw every animal there was to see and we're not disappointed in the experience. Anton and John took care of my family as it was their own.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Kilimanjaro Tour
thank you very much for professional Kilimanjaro Tour on Machame Route. We were a group of 4 with two 18 year old boys. The guides were very kind and experienced. When I felt sick, on the third day, they really looked after me and gave me helpful advices. The cook was perfect an prepared delicious, meals for us, with some traditional dishes. The guides always set the best pace for us and we all reached the peak without any problems. They were very flexible and agreed to our plan to leave the night camp at 4am in the morning, instead of midnight. We enjoyed the final climb because we only had do walk 3 hours in the dark, the track was completely ours and we had to share the peak (at 10am) with no one else. The whole tour we felt very well looked after. Thank's to all of you, the porters, the cook, the waiter, the toilet guy and the guides for this outstanding experience - I will never forget.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had a very nice trip with Nyati Travel
On our 4 day trip we went from Mutare to Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Lake Muturikwi (Lake Kyle) Recreational Park, Chivero Recreational Park and back to Harare. We really had a great time. The driver provided, Alec, first of all was a very good driver. He was also kind, helpful and patient. He listened to what we wanted and had some good suggestions himself. We enjoyed the beautiful landscape and the wildlife. We will be sure to recommend Nyati to others!
NL
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Tanzania trip
Last december we visited Tanzania for the 2nd time. Africa Tried and Tested organized our safari to Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We ended on Zanzibar, 2 days Stone Town and 5 days at the beach at Fumba Beach Lodge. Wow. It is hard to use any other word than perfect to describe our experience.
From the moment that our guide picked us up from the airport to the minute we left absolutely everything went flawlessly. Not to mention the absolutely excellent correspondence from Karin, whose prompt, friendly and incredibly informative emails were the motivation for us picking Africa Tried and Tested for our safari. We were not disappointed!
As for the safari itself, we saw absolutely evrything one hopes for on a trip. The Big Five, including two separate leopard sightings (South of Tarangire), and a lion kill (Ngorongoro) werw more than we could have hoped for!
Throw in the rhinos we encountered in the crater and the vast array of other animals and birds you really have an unforgettable experience. The guide was wonderful, friendly, funny and impressive, we could not have asked for more! He was particularly great at finding the right angles to allow us to take some great photos of the animals, and at making quick decisions when action was happening ( e.g. whether to follow the lion kill or stay put.......we followed and got to see the whole thing!!). Zanzibar was a splendid ending. We loved to walk through the small Streets in Stone Town, and the beach, just wow, total relaxation!
There is little more praise I can give but I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who is considering a safari in Tanzania.
Visited December 2014
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantasic Family Safari Experience
Our Southern African holiday was initiated by my father-In-law who thought it would be a great experience for our 2 children. He came upon Darren and Compass Odyssey from mutual friends in Perth. All arrangements were made via e-mail. Darren suggested several itineraries that would suit our family, including my Father in law and 2 young children 7 and 5. Our final arrangements included Cape Town, Kruger NP, Victoria Falls and Chobe NP.
All our accommodation was superb. From a beach House in Kommetjie, Cape Town to the quirky rondavels in Kruger NP. All accommodation was arranged to be self catering so we had flexibility when it came to feeding the kids.
African Safari's with young children can be challenging as many operators do not allow children as young as 5. Darren had arranged and drove our own private mini van which meant our youngest could be a part of the experience.
There were several internal flight between Kruger and Zambia as well as Botswana to Johannesburg airport not to mention less than straight forward border crossings between Zambia and Zimbabwe. These all went of smoothly.
As our group consisted only of us and Darren as our guide ( for the entirety of the trip) the days and scheduled events were very flexible. As a parent himself to 3 young children, Darren had a good sense of how much to fit into one day, never did we feel rushed and plenty of rest stops were catered for on the longer drives.
Darren's passion for South Africa is evident through his extensive knowledge from politics and history to the bird life and wild life which he is more than willing to share.
Our holiday was one that will not be soon forgotten. From the initial contact to the final goodbye everything went smoothly and without any hassle. I couldn't recommend Compass Odyssey and Darren
highly enough. Especially to those thinking about travelling with a younger family.
20-35 years of age
Best Value Safari!
John our guide picked us up from Nairobi, ad after an 'african massage' we arrived at our very comfortable tent.
With each safari drive we saw different animals with our guide stopping for perfect picture locations. Great value for money with a smiling guide for a recommended budget trip. We saw 4/5 of the big 5