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Jagruti Godhaniya
GB
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Oct 3, 2019
Email Jagruti Godhaniya | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Real life Lion King experience
Best Safari experience ever! Cannot believe some of the things we saw. food, guide and transport was all perfect! no complaints
Kelsey B.
US
Visited:
June 2019
Reviewed: Oct 14, 2019
Email Kelsey B. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I HIGHLY recommend booking a safari experience with African Bush Lovers!
Before we committed to booking with African Bush Lovers, we were in touch with Kenewang (goes by Kenny), the co-owner of the company. From the moment of first contact, we knew we found the PERFECT safari company. African Bush Lovers is locally owned and operated by Kenny and her husband, Stanza (more to come on this GEM of a human!). Both Kenny and Stanza are natives of Botswana and they are super helpful and very friendly.
In late May, our party of 6 flew into Maun to meet up with the African Bush Lovers team. The moment we got through customs, we were greeted by our fearless Professional Nature Guide, Stanza. Stanza is a veteran nature guide with over 10 years of safari experience. Our group wholeheartedly agreed, Stanza
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was the BEST guide and we trusted him with our lives.During our safari experience, we went to the Moremi Game Reserve, Savuti and Chobe National Park. Stanza’s safari vehicle (lovingly named the “Gods Must Be Crazy”) was incredibly comfortable and spacious. In addition, Stanza’s off-road driving skills were impressively good!
Stanza WOWED us daily with his knowledge about all of the nature and wildlife. The volume of wildlife we saw during our game drives exceeded ALL of our expectations. Some highlights include: 1 male leopard, 4 male lions, a pride of female lions (on a hunt!!), a handful of crocodiles, dozens of giraffes, a couple herds of zebras, at least 50 hippos, and at least 500 elephants. By the end of the safari, we were all convinced that Stanza was part eagle due to his amazing long-distance eye sight. Also, his ability to identify tracks/dung/bird calls was next level! In addition to the wildlife, Stanza shared a lot of information and great stories about the history, culture and people of Botswana. Such a treat!
Stanza and his team were quick to accommodate every need and desire we had while on safari. We had great camp sites, comfortable camping equipment (we opted for the semi-luxury accommodations), AND plenty of drinks and delicious food. Stanza and his team even included a tea time during our game drives! They planned for EVERYTHING. For meals, our chef Moffatt and his sous chef, Simba, prepared delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. Every dinner was a decadent multi-course meal. It seemed like Moffatt was on a mission to make us gain weight
Imran Pirwani
US
Visited:
September 2019
Reviewed: Oct 21, 2019
Email Imran Pirwani | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic place for a safari
The Okavango Delta, it seems, is run in a way which limits visitors, thereby limiting the impact on the environment. There are strict limits that are imposed on how many people can be in any given concession, and it's not possible for casual guests to just show up and stay in the Delta. I stayed in three different camps: Footsteps across the Delta, Duba Explorers Camp, and Chitabe Lediba. Footsteps specializes in bush walks, which is an activity which I enjoyed immensely while in Kruger Park. The walking
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experience in Shinde concession in which Footsteps is located, was absolutely amazing. We got to see some lions while on foot -- this this generally quite difficult to do since lions take off the moment the sense human presence on foot. We also got to follow a large pack of wild dogs for a while as they tried to hunt. Duba Explorers Camp was quite a bit more luxurious than Footsteps. It had running hot water and electricity. The game viewing was quite incredible, too. We got to stalk a mid-sized elephant herd for about 3 hours whom we followed for about 2 miles to the river. We stayed about 60-70 meters from them, and when the elephants stopped, we approached to about 30 meters. We took a bunch of photos of them. Due to the skillful guide, the elephants were never aware of us stalking them. Later, we also followed a small pack of wild dogs on a hunt, who cornered a reed buck. It was quite a gruesome sight watching the dogs rip the poor buck to pieces while it was still alive, but I guess that's how dogs scrounge a living. We saw quite a few other predators, too, including lions, cheetahs, leopards, and hyena. At Chitabe, I spent 3 nights. The area was quite dry and was rich in predators. There was a lion pride that'd specialized in hunting the abundant giraffes in the area; they'd killed one just a day before I'd arrived. There's an area called "the river" which is about an hour's drive from the camp, bordering the Moremi Game Reserve. The area is so rich in game that no matter where I looked, I could see 7-8 species of large game in large numbers!I found Botswanans to be such friendly and peaceful people. I've travelled a lot but have never come across a people who have such a strong sense of national pride. I am sad that my trip only lasted 10 days. I can't wait to go back there!
Derek and Angela
GB
Visited:
September 2019
Reviewed: Oct 30, 2019
Email Derek and Angela | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great fauna and flora on River Chobe and Okavango Delta in spite of the drought.
My wife and I had a really wonderful trip at an easy pace, experiencing good accomodation, friendly and informative hosts, especiallty the bush walks in the delta at Oddballs Camp. The game viewing was excellent, and the bushcraft and skills of our guides was first class.
Whilst staying at Kasane on the River Chobe we watched an elephant frolicking in the river and at times being completely submerged; we saw a pride of lions with some cubs devouring a kill before they came down to the river edge to drink. The following day, we saw the same pride totally relaxed and sleeping off their meal in the shade of the bushes. Fantastic
Pippa
TZ
Visited:
September 2019
Reviewed: Nov 4, 2019
Email Pippa | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A perfect few day get-away to see the delta
Marvelous Mobile Safari answered our many questions and many emails making it an easy choice to put our trust in them - they even tried to help sort out a flight issue. And when flights didn't connect, were still there to meet us, quick to adjust the itinerary so that we could still make the absolute most of our few days. The delta was just stunning, and our guide was careful and informative and helped us track a number of animals. We did well in terms of seeing wildlife, but learned so much as well. It was incredibly hot and dry, so we rested during the heat of the day and went animal spotting in the morning and late afternoon, as well as a dip in the delta. The sunsets were dazzling, so the team always made sure we were somewhere special to watch from. The camp itself was luxurious but rustic - the comfortable camp beds and hot showers were unexpected and, as a vegetarian, I cannot say enough good things about the food.
Ana
PT
Visited:
October 2019
Reviewed: Nov 25, 2019
Email Ana | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unforgetable safaris
It was an amazing wildlife experience. We made day and night game drives and despite of the drought and being the end of the dry season, we could make water and mokoro safaris in a beautiful place with very few tourists. One of the highlights was to see a mother cheetah with a group of 8 young cheetahs. It was amazing! We also made a walking safari where we saw lots of animals that we didn’t expect to see. It was a great experience to feel the natural environment of these animals.
The ambiance of the camp was very exclusive and the staff, the guides, the accommodations, the food were absolutely fantastic.
Keith
CA
Visited:
November 2019
Reviewed: Dec 12, 2019
Email Keith | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The safari was well organized and everything went very well; we were extremely satisfied.
Everything was very well organized from the moment we arrived in Maun to our departure. The wildlife was excellent, the scenery in the Okavango Delta is what you would expect for flat sub-topical Savannah. The weather was hot in the day but we expected that from the time of the year and it did cool off at night. Accommodations were excellent and the drivers and trackers were knowledgeable, informative, and did an excellent job. Despite the remoteness of the camps, the food was amazing and presentation and service was very professional. All the staff in the two camps we visited were pleasant, helpful, and polite. The whole experience was amazing and I can highly recommend Botswana as a destination.
Kasumi
JP
Visited:
November 2019
Reviewed: Jan 4, 2020
Email Kasumi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stunning scenery with so many beautiful wildlife everywhere.
The scenery was just amazingly beautiful and was lucky to see so many wildlife including lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, hippos, and wild dogs. The transportation was smooth and the guides and the hotel staffs at both camps (Kanana and Okuti) were so friendly and knowledgeable. They have made my first visit to Africa an unforgettable experience!
Karmen Reid
US
Visited:
December 2019
Reviewed: Jan 12, 2020
Email Karmen Reid | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Safari Bookings helped me contect with Zambezi Tours which developed a superb trip for my husband and me. Wonderful, well-equipped tents, excellent food and drinks, and exciting wildlife viewings. All transport, including small planes from Maun to safari sites was well-coordinated. Thank you!
Arne
DE
Visited:
January 2020
Reviewed: Feb 14, 2020
Email Arne | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing price for value!
About safari in Botswana: it is a bit more expensive than e.g. Kenya but therefor you are not one of a billion vehicles surrounding the animals. I really appreciated the sustainable way they are dealing with the animals and the tourism.
Animals: we saw maybe a hundred giraffes, up to 200 elephants, 25 lions, ... all of them with babies, never would have dreamed of seeing so many! Note: we were in rainy season, you can google the differences.
About Tony / our guide:
Besides Tony there is another guide in the company called Vincent who was responsible for us. He was able to tell a lot about animal behavior, made us feel safe and it was always a laugh. Really cool guy, I really liked him!
Price:
Compared to staying in lodges (excluding those with privates reserves which are way in a different price league) you will see the same animals as everyone is doing their game drives
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in the same area of the park. The reason his offers are much cheaper is (as far as I can guess) due to being camping instead of staying at a fancy lodge. I didn’t mind it in any way as it made the trip so much more intense.Staying in the bush:
For the camping we did go for the ‘luxury version’ which allows you to go toilet at night and gives you more time to relax. The latter was appreciated by all of us due to having to take in all the impressions.
The food was basic but well prepared. So there is nothing wrong with some good Spaghetti Bolognese, most food was actually really good.
The car was in a very good condition. I think up to 5-6 persons per car is comfortable, though Vincent said they usually don’t take more than 5 anyway.