US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nxai Pan National Park Is Well Off the Beaten Path...Which Is Why You Want to Go There
There are two great reasons to visit Botswana’s Nxai Pan National Park east of the city of Maun.
First of all, you’ll see wildlife here on this baobab-dotted salt pan that you may not see elsewhere in Botswana. First on my list is the Oryx or Gemsbok. These shy, stocky antelope, incredibly well adapted to life with limited water, roam this sandy wilderness where their long, sharp horns and striking black-and-white faces signal their presence in the tall grass. Two other “boks” of note are the small and light-footed springbok, with facial markings reminiscent of kabuki dancers, that graze the dry pan in significant numbers, and the even smaller Steenbok, a Bambi-like creature with markedly oversized ears that lives a more solitary life. I also saw hartebeest here, as well as bat-eared fox, honey badger and brown hyena – these in addition to the more familiar attractions: giraffe, elephant, kudu, lion, cheetah, wildebeest, zebra, jackal, et al. And for those more keyed into the feathered set, you’ll be wearing out your binoculars for sure. You won’t need them to see the many ostriches, but you will want a closer look at all the eagles (including brown snake, booted, tawny, martial and bateleur) and the pale chanting goshawk, lanner falcon and Dickinson’s kestrel. I can drop plenty more names – kori bustard, red-billed quelea, ant-eating chat, northern black korhaan, double-banded courser, swallow-tailed bee eater, African hoopoe – but need I go on? And one side note – park management keeps the Nxai Pan waterhole supplied with water all year round, so you can always find wildlife there taking advantage of this government handout.
And second of all, though in the high season (Botswana’s winter) you may not see as many animals here as in a park like Chobe, for instance, there is one species you’ll be happy to see less of, and that’s people. In Nxai Pan, you’ll often feel like you’re the only one who thought of taking a safari in Africa. Part of the reason for this is Nxai Pan’s relative inaccessibility – once you drive through the gate, expect at least a two-hour drive along a treacherously sandy “road” to get to the campgrounds (I say at least two hours since you may spend a third hour or so helping some unfortunate fellow visitor get their mired vehicle moving again). But don’t let this scare you off – after all, this is why you came to Africa instead of some safari park in Florida.
All told, if you’re in northern Botswana and feel like getting off the well-beaten path to Chobe and the Okavango, visit Nxai Pan – it’s well worth it.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Kenya by Melody Lytle
Scenic beauty and bush vibe suffered a bit from the Nairobi skyline visible throughout much of the Park.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Botswana by Ross
Botswana is Africa's Costa Rica -- the country is genuinely engaged in saving its wildlife for posterity. After all, they've banned all hunting -- period -- a bold statement that every tourist who would rather see animals than shoot them should support. And Botswana is full of animals -- maybe not the mega-herds of East Africa, but a stunning variety thriving in landscapes that, in many cases, are relatively untouched by people.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Responsive and reliable. Helped maximise my short trip.
I didn't know much about Victoria Falls, other than that there was a lot of water and that I wanted to try my hand at fishing on the Zambezi, so I contacted Vayeni to enquire about fishing trips.
I wanted to maximise my short stay there so I asked Suzanne for advice on what else there was to do and how to squeeze everything in.
By chatting through options, I soon ended up with a itinerary packed with new ideas, all travel sorted and a stay at a much more luxurious lodge than I had initially planned, due to Suzanne's knowledge of the best packages available.
On arrival at Victoria Falls, Chenai was very welcoming and made sure I had a good first evening. Suzanne was very responsive when weather caused a change to plans, enabling me to change activities at the last minute. Similarly, she was also very flexible with my transfer arrangements when I was informed of my flight cancellation upon arrival at the airport, allowing me to find my way back to somewhere safe to stay.
I got a lot more out of my experience by booking through Vayeni and felt very comfortable there as a single traveller by having all travel planned in advance.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Detail oriented professionals, who made us feel taken care of, at the right price.
For my 50th birthday my family and I traveled to Tanzania for a combination of Humanitarian efforts and Safari. All of our arrangements were made by Born Free Safari, a US based company.
I wanted to visit a few orphanages while there, and their contacts in the area, arranged for visits to two local orphanages which matched the criteria I had in mind. This experience, added so much more richness to our already awesome trip.
The Safari, was truly amazing and I might be biassed, but I was convinced we had the best guide, Martin the Lion whisperer!!
It was very reassuring to be in such a remote part of the world, and feel that all details were handled and you are taken care of.
A few weeks before the trip, we received a comprehensive package, which included detailed daily trip itinerary, luggage tags, notes with contact info. to be placed inside our luggage in case our bags got lost, a list of animals to expect to see, a notebook and pen to write down our memoirs.
I can't thank Born Free Safari enough for making this trip of a life time so much more memorable.
With much gratitude,
Shadi
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thank for an amazing adventure
Eight of us boarded a bus at Nairobi airport unsuspecting of the amazing trip that lay before us. We must thank Joseph and Michael for organizing such an amazing experience. I wanted to get photos that will make my friends jealous, what I got we the experience of a lifetime. From the migrating wilder beast, to the hot air balloon ride, this trip was truly one of the best adventures I have been on. My highlight was stopping at the school as we left the Masai Mara and being able to give much needed school supplies to the children.
Thank you for making our trip to Kenya so amazing!
QA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A trustworthy and flexible tour organisor who pulled together a super safari and beach holiday.
Maturaf and Regional Tours did an excellent job of customizing a 2 week break for us, including a safari through Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Serengeti with a connection to Zanzibar and a stay at a beach lodge there. He subcontracted the Safari to Savannah Tours, and safari accommodation to Tanganyika Wilderness Camps, and booked our choice of beach lodge in Zanzibar. The financial and administrative transactions were very straight forward and satisfactory, and the airport connections were faultless, with quality, clean vehicles. His service was great, right up to and including the very last day, when we changed our return travel plans, and he kindly arranged and had delivered to us, ferry tickets to Dar es Salaam without batting an eyelid.
Savannah Tours ran the safari extremely well - Emmanuel (driver/guide) was the consummate professional: punctual, friendly, extremely knowledgeable and courteous, even pressing his own powerful binoculars on us when he saw ours weren't up to the job of spotting a far-off rhino in the Crater or a leopard in an acacia tree. His Landcruiser was far from new, (and we missed the seatbelts and air-conditioning on some of the roads), but it didn't miss a beat and was clean/tidy every morning, facing the trials of the distance and rugged tracks with confidence. The Game Drives were absolutely spectacular, and he clearly knew where to find what we were looking for and get us up close.
Our only real disappointment on this whole tour was on arrival, tired and dirty after a long journey, for our first night in Arusha, at Zawadi Guest House, which proved well below the standard of everywhere else we stayed in terms of location and amenities. The staff were polite but in the face of Tanzania's (renowned) recurrent power outages, were unable to keep their generator online for most of our stay, and this inhibited, in addition to the air-conditioning, lights and beer fridge (!), the water pumps - and so the shower and lavatory flush ... First impressions!
By contrast, the subsequent, more remote accommodation exceeded expectations - Ngorongoro Farm House and Tloma Lodge were completely delightful, and the Kati Kati Tented Camp in Serengeti a truly fantastic adventurous experience. Food and staff faultless.
So overall, very happy to recommend Regional Tours and would choose them again.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Trip of A Lifetime
Are you considering a Safari to South Africa?
If the answer is yes - go not further - read this review
For years we had dreamed of a trip to South Africa.
That dream became a reality in the summer of 2015. After extensive research we made our decision to seek out a private safari opportunity. Our research continued and we found ourselves continually being drawn back to a certain web site. That site was Moriti Private Safari.
We corresponded with the owner - guide frequently prior to our arrival, we specified preferences/hopes and our thoughts on what would best suit our group of six - four adults and two children ages 5 and 8.
At each step of the planning Shaun incorporated our preferences into the safari plan. Shaun brings with him an unbridled delight for the bush. This delight mixed with a knowledge base to match a bush encyclopedia and an eager view for the upcoming day is quite simply the best Camps/ private chef/secluded camps/and more. No matter what you decide to schedule as part of your trip to Africa Lindsay ( the private chef) must be included. Every day we looked forward to her creations and masterful culinary delights.
We had planned that this trip to Africa would be the trip of a lifetime - we were so very wrong - we will be back. We will travel with no one but Moriti Private Safari
Plan your trip
DE
Excellent help was given on this safari... very happy
We had only been to Uganda before to visit the Gorillas so this was our first animal experience anywhere else. We are birders as well as being interested in the animals you may see.
For 4 days we had a private camping safari in the Delta area and then we were met and flown to our first of 3 lodges. I would say that our experiences were just wonderful and we got very good advice from Dee at the Safari Lifestyles office.
We are very particular about what we do and we did send them many emails and all of them where answered within 24 hours. We would recommend them as a very good company to use for your holiday.
IS
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Masai mara and lake Nakuru
Had a wonderful time on this three day journey. I would recommend it to anyone.