Clients Trip Reports East & Southern Africa: Apr – May 2025

Tanzania Tented Group Safari

Where do I even start to describe this wonderful, amazing trip! Asante sana! It was all that I hoped for and more!

Israel, our guide, was second to none!! He was helpful, professional, kind, funny, outrageously knowledgeable and with an uncanny instinctive ability to find and get soooo close to so many animals! Several truly unbelievable experiences with animal behavior. A “Mexican standoff” between a leopard and cheetah! Amazing male lions – too many beautiful moments to describe. I simply cannot say enough wonderful things about him.

Our travel mates, Noreen and Glenn, were awesome! We all became fast and, I truly believe, lifelong friends.

Lodges and tented lodges were amazing! The variety of experiences was perfect – from the Sheraton in Arusha, to tented stays, and the Tloma Lodge (my favorite) were the perfect safari experience. Andrew particularly loved the Serengeti tents (hyenas, gnus, lions heard at night). Staff were all attentive and so helpful. The food was excellent and the service truly exceptional.

The Serengeti hot air balloon was another unforgettable experience. Beautiful from beginning to end and just an excellent time!

So, what would I change? Hmmm…Andrew would want more Serengeti tenting and I would want more Tloma lodge but for clearly different reasons! lol!

Thank you again for an unforgettable amazing and wonderful adventure!!
Cheryl Bean, May 2025

 

Iconic Visions Safari to Southern Africa

Dear Megan,
Our safari was Fabulous, Magical, Spiritual and Awe-Inspiring, far beyond anything I ever imagined. I have emailed all my friends about your company.

The locations that you recommended were by far my favorites. The ThornyBush Lodge was like a 6 Star resort from the rooms to the meals to the staff. And our guide Sarah and her tracker Kenneth were an amazing team. They tracked the Big 5 our first two days. The staff even planned a Surprise Birthday Party our last night to celebrate our 75th birthdays. It was all so wonderful.

And we so enjoyed Pom Pom Camp! I am so glad that you insisted as we were a bit reluctant with the tents built on stilts. But what an experience, from the Welcome Song to the food and accommodations and the guide OD and Jonah. And we so enjoyed our Jeep companions, newlyweds from Spain.

We so appreciate all your hard work and professionalism and follow up on all the details. I can tell that you must love what you do and it shows. Thank you so much for helping us plan this magical Safari! I will continue to recommend The Africa Adventure Company to everyone I know.

Be blessed,
Kathy Boyd, May 2025

 

Wilderness Wing Safari to Botswana and Victoria Falls

We had a fantastic trip!!

Elephant Camp was lovely, and our tour of Victoria Falls was excellent.

Savuti Camp was outstanding. Our guide, Pro, was excellent. He worked very hard to track animals. Saw a leopard at night, and a juvenile during the day. Food was outstanding.

Little Vumbura was great. The tent could use a little updating but overall fantastic. They surprised us and served lunch on our deck on our full day there. Our guide, Bonno, was terrific. Food not as good as others, but still very good.

Chitabe was outstanding. We were surprised by the luxury. Our guide, Ebs, was wonderful. We appreciated his calm, quiet, intelligent demeanor. What a kind and lovely person. Food was outstanding.

All charter flights were on schedule, everything ran smoothly.

Really was an outstanding trip in every way. We were not ready to leave. Hospitality every step of the way was incredible.

Thanks for your help in planning this trip. We’re already dreaming of a trip to Rwanda and Tanzania.
Cathy Brown, May 2025

 

Best of Southern Africa

Hi Alison and team,

We had such a fabulous time! Everything was amazing, a true trip of a lifetime! All the hotels and lodges were wonderful (including Ngoma Safari Lodge, Palm River Hotel, and Kirkman’s Kamp). Every person we interacted with from the hotels, lodges/rangers and guides were very knowledgeable, personable and accommodating. Our guide, Howie and Precious, were great, we really enjoyed them. The drivers, Menzies and Wilderness were so helpful and made the trip stress free. Thank you for putting together such a great trip and itinerary. It was nice to have the hotel stays between the lodges. We had some incredible and beautiful experiences throughout the trip. Such beautiful countries!

Julie and Chris Cook, May 2025

 

Safari to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe

Mark,

Cathy and I had a wonderful African adventure which we will never forget.

Everything was absolutely perfect!…

We are recommending your company to all our friends and relatives.

Thank you, thank you!
Mario Costantini, May 2025

 

Private Safari Exploration of Tanzania

Hi Kyle!

Thank you for the welcome home email! Africa Adventure Company and your team on the ground in Tanzania were great! Emmanuel Mkenda as our guide, knocked this trip out of the park!

For my sister and her 2 boys first trip to Africa, it could not have been more perfect! The lodges we stayed at were all great, especially Lion’s Paw. I will definitely check out their other locations on my next trip! The cottages were beautiful and the staff were exemplary!

Emmanuel was absolutely amazing- the best Safari guide I have had yet! His warm personality, knowledge and care towards our experience made this trip the best it could be.

Thank you for helping to plan this amazing trip!…

I am sure you will hear from me when I plan the next trip- so many friends have already contacted me or have taken AAC information from my FB posts.

Thank you again!
Jennifer Feldman, May 2025

 

Best of Southern Africa

Dear Alison,

Got home Saturday and already miss Africa! Thanks to AAC, our trip to Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa was absolutely spectacular!

Thank you for the lovely dinner at Notten’s Bush Camp before we came home. It was hosted in their library and it was such a nice setting. You people know how to make us feel special.

All of our camps were perfect, each different from the other. Some more rustic than we had stays with Desert and Delta but we had everything we needed. Our guides were great.

Our connections were easy and convenient…there was always someone waiting for us with big HURST written on a card…

Thanks for helping us have another dream come true trip.
Jane and Henry Hurst, May 2025

 

Botswana Wilderness Safari

Kyle, just wanted to thank everyone at Africa Adventure for an amazing experience. No words or pictures will ever do it justice.

All three camps and staff were amazing (Savuti, Tubu Tree and Chitabe). Chitabe was our favorite.

Our guides Kevin from Savuti and Ant from Chitabe were phenomenal.

Your company exceeded my expectations. Everything was seamless. Will tell everyone about you guys.

Thank you for an experience of a lifetime.
Scott Lesko, May 2025

 

Birthday Celebration Safari to Southern Africa

Hello Alison and Shelley,

We want to thank you for planning a trip of a lifetime for us. This trip exceeded any expectations we had. We were blown away by the wonderful people we encountered, everyone was so accommodating, soft-spoken, and always had smiles on their faces. The accommodations were outstanding and more beautiful than the photos, we loved all the camps (MalaMala, Ilala Lodge, Kwara and Tswalu Motse) and the Residence in Johannesburg. We appreciate you moving us there for the two nights. The food everywhere was so good, we loved trying all the different antelopes. And it was so sweet as a couple camps celebrated my birthday with cakes, special dinners and a gift! The dinner at Boscia was truly a wonderful night, great food and service, we are happy to see they are getting back on their feet. I’m glad we were able to make Tswalu our last stop as it was so wonderful and relaxing!

The wildlife… we were in such awe to see all of these wonderful animals in their natural habitat, the timing was perfect to see so many babies! I Loved tracking the animals and watching them… I could have watched them all day!

We will never forget all of these wonderful experiences, it was so fun and educating. Really, I am at a loss for words… everything was just amazing and this was such an experience, we hope we can do it again…soon!

Africa and its people have our hearts!

Thank you again for everything,
Lisa Perri and Greg Bersie, May 2025

 

Best of Southern Africa Safari

Hello,

I want to thank you very much for fulfilling my bucket list. My experience exceeded my expectations. The trip was perfectly executed. I fell in love with Africa, its people, the beautiful wildlife and scenery. The food was amazing and the most beautiful sunsets, like balls of fire I have ever seen. Africa is magical and no picture I send you would do it justice. Suffice to say , when I got off the plane for my first safari and I was greeted by the guide and driven through the dirt road and animals were on either side of safari vehicle and in front looking at us as they were looking into my soul, tears of joy were streaming down my eyes (and I am not a crier) I was so grateful to have been able to have this magical experience . Thank you for listening to me and providing exactly what I requested. All the lodges, camps and tents and their staff could not do more to please all the tourist.

Wow, wow. Wow.
Miriam Rodriguez, May 2025

 

‘Big 5’ Safari to South Africa

Hello Alison,

Thank you so much for planning our amazing trip. We had an incredible time. All of our transportation was handled perfectly. We loved all three of our lodges.

Notten’s Bush Camp – We felt instantly welcome at Notten’s. They made us feel at home from the beginning. We had room 1 with a gorgeous view of animals from our deck. The game drives were wonderful. We saw wild dogs, rhino, and lions on our first drive! We enjoyed going on a bush walk and learned a lot.

Kambaku Safari Lodge – Another beautiful property! Our first dinner was served outside lit by lanterns and fire pit. It was gorgeous. On a morning game drive we came upon a large open area with so many animals – 20 hyenas, 9 lions, 7 giraffe, and an elephant. Seems like we had just missed a fight between two lions and hyenas. We will always remember this sight! It still seems like a dream.

Inyati Game Lodge – A third beautiful property! We loved seeing the Sand River. Our guide Gabriel was fantastic. He has a great calm demeanor. He taught us a lot about the animals during our drives. We had several amazing sightings of leopards. We really enjoyed our bush walk with him. The food was outstanding at Inyati. We loved that the property is not fenced. We saw many animals from the deck.

Thanks again Alison!
Michelle and Scott Jones, Apr 2025

 

Exploration Safari to Southern Africa

Hello Shelley and Alison,

Our trip was fabulous! Speaking for myself, it couldn’t have been more perfect. We loved all the lodges, the wildlife was jaw dropping, and the food and service, for the most part, excellent! All the camps went out of the way with gluten-free foods for Bradley – much better than we can get here. Bradley is very spoiled! We had laundry service everywhere, as well as, important to me, blow dryers. Each camp put on an amazing surprise birthday celebration for Julie and/or Laurin. It was so much fun!

to be specific
Savanna Lodge:
Our guide was Ruvan and the tracker was Life. We couldn’t have had a more perfect introduction to Africa. Both were very knowledgeable and our first drive was the best of the trip in terms of the number and types of animals we saw. In the first hour we saw a cheetah with 3 cubs, a lion family (eating a freshly caught impala), and a leopard, not to mention zebras, elephants, wildebeests, warthogs, impalas, a puff adder and more. It set the bar high to say the least. Our room was lovely and the staff very friendly and attentive. The food was good. I had a massage and it was excellent. We would recommend this camp to everyone.

Matetsi Victoria Falls;
We arrived pretty late after a great visit to Victoria Falls. Dinner the first night was fabulous and our rooms were amazing. The drive the next morning was good. Bradley, Rob and I went fishing in the afternoon – the biggest fish we caught was about 2 inches long, but it was lots of fun. The sunset cocktail cruise was a nice change. Dinner the second night was a barbeque which was a blast – the musical group had us all up and dancing by the end…The food that night was ok. Our guide was Courage. He was great…

Little Vumbura:
What to say? The setting was amazing. They’ve had so much rain, they had to build a walkway out of sandbags to get to the real walkway leading to our tent. It was our first accommodation with just screens. There were lots of animals and lots of noise at night – hard to sleep but fascinating. The bird concert each sunrise is something I will always remember. Our guide here was Lucky. The food was buffet style which was a nice change. Lots of choices. The other guests were very friendly and we enjoyed meeting them…Our drives were good. We were all so tired the night of our cocktail cruise that we just took a short boat ride and returned to camp.

Chitabe Lediba:
A beautiful camp!! The lounge area was stunning and our tent was gorgeous!!! We all wanted to pack up the accent pillows in our tents and bring them home with us. The fabrics were fabulous and each tent was different. Goodman was a terrific guide. There seemed to be fewer animals at this camp or they were just harder to find. We did see the most amazing concentration of elephants – as best we could count, more than 150++ all in one group. Even Goodman was surprised. Another treat as we were driving to the airstrip, was to see two lionesses nursing 7 cubs with the lion nearby. The food here was also good… I had a massage here too and it was the best I’ve ever had anywhere. We got to take a tour of the newly refurbished Chitabe. It is pretty, but I have to say, we all thought our accommodations were much more charming and not so generic. I hope they keep it the way it is.

Cape Grace Hotel, Cape Town:
Back to civilization! As much as we loved the camps, it was nice to be back in a hotel room. Our guide, Howie, was wonderful, answering all our thousands of questions which had accumulated over the trip. He saved us from a mistake, I had made reservations for dinner one night – unknowingly, more than an hour away – and recommended a place we could walk to from the hotel. We loved Cape Town and wish we had had more time there…

All in all, the trip far surpassed our expectations and we can’t thank you enough for making our adventure so special. You can be sure we will send anyone we can your way!

Best wishes,
Gaylord Lummis, Apr 2025