African Travels founders Will & Marijnke
African Travels
- Located In:
-
Netherlands
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- GGTO, VvKR & Calamiteitenfonds
- Tour Types:
- Self-drive budget & mid-range tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $27 to $537 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
SE
Email Fiona | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Reliable organisation with great communication and listens carefully to your wishes!
Amazing self-drive Botswana!
We are very satisfied with our safari organised by African Travels! The communication during the planning-phase was very effective, quick, and personal and within no-time they had turned our wishes into a realistic travel plan through Botswana and South-Africa. They choose great lodges and campsites, and the itinerary was varied and aligned very well with our wishes. We had an amazing time and really enjoyed the self-drive safari! The river cruise in Chobe was one of our favourite activities and we had the most fun time driving through the deep sand.
Overall, a very reliable agency that we would very much recommend
CH
Email Gerlof | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very flexible and personally engaged organisation with a lot of local know-how
African Travels is a small organisation that is very personal and engaged. With a lot of local knowledge. We were traveling with 6 persons. Last minute change in people was managed quickly. Communication was easy and frequent trough mail and WhatsApp almost 24/7. Even during the travel, they know where you are and ask if everything is still okay. The value for money is clearly at at high level. A.T. was very flexible in changes to the trip. Also from their side they advised changes, so we could visit the best lodges. Highly recommend African Travels.
NL
Email Yvonne Coolen | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organised, great service
We travelled from Johannesberg to Capetown in almost 4 weeks with our children aged 22, 20, 18. We visited Kruger, the Wetlands near St Lucia, Tsitsikamma and drove the Panoramaroute, the Gardenroute, Route 62 and Chapmans peak. It was a really great experience! Everything was well organised, nice accomodations, clear communication. Thank you, Marieke Jennings of African Travels
NL
Email Anneke en Martijn Bonkenburg | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good vibes only!
African Travels was a excellent choice for us. Our trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar with our children was an excellent experience. We have seen more than 40 different animals in our 12 days game drive. We had an excellent driver and Gide (Lucas). The loges were clean and beautiful and the (staff) people are very kind and helpful. Next time we will book our trip again with African Travels!
NL
Email Jesper | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent tour operator with a great personal touch.
As former Airline personnel I travelled a lot to Africa, more specifically Kenya. As our family grew (both in age as in quantity) and was about to travel abroad themselves and my wife and myself were celebrating our 25th honeymoon anniversary (more on that later) we decided to make one last (for now) trip together, and it was quickly decided upon that it had to be Kenya.
My wife took it upon herself to start planning the trip using desktop research. We contacted several tour operators which all, but one (African Travels), said that our planning could not be done. Fortunately we had a great zoom-session with Marijnke (at that moment situated in Kenya) which ended in a very positive way. As we wanted to explore multiple game reserves (Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo East) and travel by car to soak up the local smells etc. our plan meant travelling a lot. However travelling by car means meeting a lot of people and seeing the country in all its aspects which is what we were after. We basically asked Marijnke to come up with a travel scheme matching our original plan whereby the only restriction was that we did not want to sleep in the big tourist resorts, but stay in small, personal and hidden gems. Boy did she succeed!
The days before our departure from Amsterdam where somewhat troubled due to some check-in ticket issues. After contacting African Travels via WhatsApp it was however swiftly dealt with and we were assured that the issue was with the computer system of the airline and that all tickets were valid and good-to-go. This was confirmed during the check-in at the airport.
After arrival at Nairobi we were met by Richard which immediately suggested a change in plan which would save us some travelling time back and forth through Nairobi. Great suggestion Richard, much appreciated. Thnx! We now had some time available to scroll through (a small part of) Nairobi and do some shopping.
The next day we were met by our guide/drive and what would become a good friend Jeff. As we would be travelling together for the next 8 days this would mean spending a lot of time together in close quarters. After driving a few miles Jeff asked if we liked Rock&Roll, well not specifically but some music is always nice. This was the start of a musical underlined journey
NL
Email Mara | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Caring!!
We booked our overland tour through African Travels, as we had a great experience with African Travels before and we trusted them with our 31 day adventure. The communication pre-, during and post- safari was very complete and very kind. African Travels was always available when we needed support and even reached out proactively to ask if we managed to book a taxi from our last campsite to the airport. The East African Overland Safari is an amazing safari that I'm happy they offer and I'm sure most of their tours will be great experiences, which we yet have to experience. Wouldn't hesitate to book through African Travels again!!
NL
Email Wouter Stemerdink | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dream safari trip - everything we wished for
We traveled for 3 weeks self drive through Namibia and Botswana with a family of 4, including two teenagers 15 and 17 years old. Intake with Marijnke was to the point, good advice after she asked for our desires. Great proposal which we adjusted a bit here and there. Swift communication, reliable, service oriented. All bookings went well, smooth checking in everywhere. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, camping in both the wild and in more organised environments, small scale campsites, not busy at all (very important) so no feeling of mass tourism whatsoever. Only the Okavango delta trip from Maun appeared a bit like mass tourism with helicopters swirming around and ridiculous pricing USD760 for 4 people simple day tour.
During the trip we realised we would have wanted more resting moments than planned - quite a few nights we stayed only one night. Learning point for us. Also the USD cash appeared unnecessary, as we could pay border fees and park fees in local currency, and also mostly by bank debit/credit card. Also navigation advice for self-drive could have been more extensive, e.g. advice to use the MAPS.ME app instead of Google Maps. The driving on soft sand tracks took way longer than indicated so we spent quite some time travelling, some more than anticipated. All in all fantasic work bij Marijnke and team, big thanks!!!!!
NL
Email Tjeerd | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent tour of National parks in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lake Malawi
Good information about the tour, what I was going to see, our means of transport and the size of our group (6).
Towards the day of departure African Travels kept me informed about some small changes in the itinerary and helped me with my visa
application. All my questions were answered without much delay.
The tour went past Victoria falls, 4 national parks in Zimbabwe and Zambia and ended at Lake Malawi where we spend some time at
the beach before flying home from Lilongwe.
We had one guide/driver/cook from Zimbabwe who knew a lot about the parks we visited and its animals and flora.
All in all the tour was worth every Euro I paid
Email Tariq Ali | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Helpful, reliable, contactable, I wouldn't hesitate to use them again, Highly recommended.
You drove a self hire camping Toyota from Johannesburg to Botswana. We mainly camped in National game parks or community camps. We saw great sites and lots of animals as we were generally staying in unfenced sites.
It was an unforgettable experience. Botswana is one of the last places of true wilderness. I have been on Safari elsewhere but there is no experience like self drive unfenced camping amongst the wildlife
NL
Email Simone & Bas | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Reliable company, they know how it works Africa.
Everything was well arranged. The car was as it should be for Africa, locations and food were good. It was a wonderful trip through Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Also during our trip we had instant reaction from Marijnke via WhatsApp if we needed assistance.
All was much appreciated.