Reviews
CA
Email Cherie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Julius was friendly, informative and trustworthy
Spent a wonderful time with Julius on my one free day in Maun. We went to Elephant Haven together, an elephant orphanage for baby ellies under 5 years old. We fed all 16 of them and learned so much. It's a MUST if you are in the area!
Best of all I made a great friend in Julius. He works tirelessly in his local community and donates selflessly from his Company "Go Bold Adventures".
We intend to go back later in the year to do a safari with him and spend more time in this beautiful place, assured that we will be well looked after.
BE
Email HarvardAntwerp | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent
I had the best time on Safari. Julius is an amazing guide with an excellent eye for spotting the animals.
In 2 days’ time we saw the BIG 5, and a big pride of lions eating an elephant.
The camp was nice and safe, the food was excellent. We were well taken care off.
When I go back, I’ll definitely go with them again!
DE
Email Chris | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I would only book elsewhere if Go Bold could not take my party during our time window.
GoBold Adventure Tours ten-day tour, September 2022: Review
Summary: we thoroughly enjoyed our ten days with GoBold and would heartily recommend Julius Maswikila – an excellent guide and a friendly, helpful person - and his team (Gee, Oti, and Gau) to anyone desirous of seeing the abundant wildlife and interesting countryside of the north-eastern corner of Botswana. Should circumstances permit, my wife and I would be very happy to undertake another tour with GoBold. A more detailed description of the tour follows.
Julius took our group of five adults on a ten-day camping tour from Maun via Nxai pan, Moremi (Xini lagoon), Khwai, Savuti and Chobe National Park to Kasane in September 2022. The experience was unforgettable, both as far as the game viewing and as far as the touring/camping aspects were concerned. At the planning stage, Julius suggested a route and activities based on his knowledge of the area; his proposals proved to be very satisfactory. He also sent the proposed menus for each day of the tour well ahead, so that any particular requirements could be met and preferences catered for if possible. Julius suggested we meet for a meal together the evening before the trip started; this proved to be worthwhile, as it gave us a chance to get to know each other and for him to give us an overview of the tour, information about what we could and couldn’t do, and answer any questions. We had arranged a booking for an early morning sight-seeing flight over the Okavango Delta for day one of the tour and Julius went the extra mile in paying our departure tax at Maun airport for us so that we would not have to worry about it on the day. He met us at the airport after the flight, showed us the way to the 4x4 hire depot where we returned our vehicle, and our unforgettable tour started from there.
As far as the game viewing is concerned, by the end of the tour I had come to the obvious conclusion that I had had a better game viewing experience, both in terms of the number of sightings and in terms of the “wow” factor of the sightings, than I had during any of my tours or foot trails through game reserves like Kruger, Mountain Zebra or Karoo over the last six decades. Julius has excellent eyesight, and his watchfulness did not flag. Although he was sitting lower down in the driver’s seat than we were in the seats behind him, he was generally the first to make a sighting. He was also constantly in touch with colleagues in other vehicles by radio; they informed each other about the whereabouts of interesting animals/occurrences so that we could decide whether to go there or not. Added to all this was his knowledge of the behaviour and predilections of various animals which allow him to make intelligent guesses about where an animal was or what it would do.
During the tour, we spent two nights at each campsite before moving to the next. The animals are most active during the early morning and the late afternoon while it is cool, during the heat of the day they are more likely to be sleeping, so we rose early and went to bed early. Each day we were woken just before sunrise by a soft call from Oti or Gau and the sound of warm water being poured into our washbasins. After coffee and rusks, we set off on a morning game drive, followed by a light breakfast when we got back to camp. We occupied ourselves until afternoon tea time, with a break for lunch some time after midday. After afternoon tea we would set off for an evening game drive which ended when we had to head back to be in camp by sunset. Dinner was served shortly afterwards, and after relaxing and chatting over coffee or a drink we would head for our tents and have an early night. On the days on which we moved camp, we would vacate our tents after getting up so that the team could start taking them down, have breakfast, and then set off on a morning game drive, the length of which depended on how far the next camp was, and which ended with us taking the road to the next camp. We would stop under a shady tree for our lunch break and enjoy our packed lunches. On arrival at our destination, we would, sometimes after briefly stopping at the camp, go on the afternoon game drive, getting to camp at sunset as before.
The accommodation and catering of the tour were also well organised. A camp was simply an unfenced group of tents: double sleeping tents for the guests, one for Julius and, nearer the fireplace, a tent for each of the support staff. A dining tent fitted with charging points for cameras and smartphones, and a toilet and a shower enclosure completed the camp setup. The camp was set up and equipped by the support team by the time we reached each new camp.
The sleeping tents were in good order and equipped with two comfortable beds with bedding, mosquito netting and a covered entrance with a groundsheet and washbasin. The toilet facilities met our expectations: two canvas enclosures at appropriate distances from the sleeping tents with, in the case of the toilet, a suitable seat over a hole in the ground, and, in the other case, a bucket with a shower head suspended over a duckboard within the enclosure; the bucket was filled with warm water whenever anyone wished to take a shower. During the tour we drove past a camp where each sleeping tent had its own integrated toilet and shower enclosure, a suite, as it were; Julius said that they are available but need to be requested at the booking stage because they do put the price up.
The meals were tasty and the portions, if anything, too generous at the beginning, but Gee the cook adapted the quantities to our appetites. A variety of hot drinks were available, as were tea and coffee. We had been informed that we should supply our own alcoholic beverages, and Julius was happy to stop at suitable shops for us to stock up when the occasion arose. The team was happy to accommodate our wishes if possible. For example, we initially had breakfast before the morning drive, but the part felt that coffee and rusks would be plenty at that time, so breakfast was moved to our return to camp.
Email Mike Davison | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Went the extra mile to look after us
We had the most wonderful camping safari in Naxi Pan. Saw all the animals we wanted to, but it was the care and attention of Julius and his team that shone through. Couldn’t recommend them more highly.
DE
Email Birgit | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Ten days filled with wonder
If you want to see wonderful landscape and now and then some elephants and impalas, you can go by your own car on safari. But if you want to get really close to the wildlife of Botswana, you MUST book Julius and his Go Bold Adventure Team, because he is the best. We had the best days of our lives with him, living in tents in the bush, every second day set up at a new place by his very pleasant and helpful team (thanks to Oti and Gau; we even had roomservice in our tents ;-)), spoiled with breakfast, lunch and a three-course-dinner every evening thanks to the chef Gee (how could she manage with only one fireplace?) and filled with wonder by Julius, who showed us the wildlife in all its beauty. We came near lions and leopards we could never have dreamed. Julius knows all about the animals and because of that he knows where to find them. Every question we had he answered. He saw the animals, when we only saw grass, by the movement of one ear. We could trust him in every way and felt very safe in his presence. So we had a wonderful, unforgetable time.
US
Email Michele | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Go Bold Adventure Tours – THE best in Botswana!
My husband and I spent 4 days and 3 nights in Moremi with Julius and his Go Bold team in August. It was fantastic!
Julius is an outstanding guide. He has an uncanny ability to spot animals, even very far away with barely an ear tip showing. He is extremely knowledgeable about wildlife and their habits and shares this knowledge. And his experience allows him to accurately read and judge animals. Our time was well planned and well spent, getting the most animal sightings out of our 4 days, thanks to Julius.
Our accommodation was a beautiful tent at Third Bridge, deep in Moremi, which Julius organized.
Along with Julius we had G, our wonderful chef, and James, our waiter and helper. All three were always pleasant, patient and accommodating our every want or need.
Chef G prepared menus in advance and brought all the ingredients to prepare variety of beautiful and delicious meals for us, fully accommodating our dietary restrictions and tastes.
Separately, Julius also organized Mokoro boat tour and bush walk for us which was fun and informative with lots of hippos, zebras and birds.
Julius and the team at Go Bold Adventure Tours came highly recommended and they lived up to it in every respect!
