JDA Founders Patrick & Victoria Shah on safari
Journeys Discovering Africa
- Located In:
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United Kingdom
United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- Travel Trust Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $382 to $2,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Sandra K | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
My Third Excellent Safari Experience
I have now worked with Journeys Discovering Africa three years in a row for my safari trips to Uganda and Rwanda to see Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Golden Monkeys. Each experience was excellent, and the communication and attention I received from Journeys Discovering Africa exceeded my expectations each time. They were easy to work with, friendly, professional, and got all of the details right. The integrated my preferences to the itinerary while using their own experience in the field to design a trip of my dreams.... three times!!!
AE
Email Jamison | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent and thoughtful service
We had the pleasure of Visiting Rwanda and Uganda this past Aug (2018). Journeys Discovering Africa helped us to tailor our trip to exactly what we desired to do. Our trip consisted of 4 four hotels, 4 major activities, 2 countries (Rwanda & Uganda), 2 regional flights, and 2 guides (one in each country). Our admin contact did a great job to inform us of what to expect at every step, sent us briefings of how to prepare and followed up with us (by phone) after each activity. At every stage of the trip we felt well looked after and very comfortable.
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Email Holly | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Trip Ever! Perfect Planning From Journeys Discovering Africa
BEST trip ever! We are fortunate to be able to travel a lot due to our line of work and we always plan fairly independently. However, Africa was proving to be very tough to plan independently, so we enlisted Patrick from Journey's Discovering Africa. He was awesome. He listened to what we were seeking, presented options with good details on each option, and is actually the reason we ended up seeing the Wildebeest migration! My husband really wanted to see that, and once Patrick learned that, he suggested pushing out our travel dates by a few weeks for maximizing chances. He was excellent in his attitude and advice and expertise. Even if we hadn't seen the great migration it would have been a phenomenal and best trip, but the great migration was icing on the cake!
Our guides, (Raphiele for Tarangire and Ngorongoro) and Jairo (for Serengeti and Lamai Serengeti) were fantastic! Raphiele was our guide up until we went to the Serengeti, and he was great: energetic, enthusiastic, respectful of nature, got us up and out very early, fun to hang out with, good attitude, and very knowledgeable about the animals and behavior and finding the good spots. Same goes for Jairo... he really knows the Serengeti! It was fantastic to be with him: he literally found us amazing sitings with no other people around ... and he knew how to get us into the heart of the migration and was spot on for timing with the wildebeest crossings, which we witnessed in full! It was absolutely surreal and incredible to witness, both thrilling and heart-wrenching. I've never seen anything like it, and never will again. Just a once in a lifetime. Jairo was also really good about being super respectful to the animals and nature. He really knew how to give the animals enough space that we weren't totally encroaching or making the animals wary. He knows animal behavior very well and was so good about explaining it. He just knows so much about the Serengeti, it was obvious he knew how to survey the land, and what circumstances were happening that suggested what animal was nearby. He had an incredible instinct and eye for detail. We really appreciated that he let us witness some amazing sites (lion feedings etc.) but he also didn't do things that would make the animals skittish, so we got to enjoy watching and photographing without being disruptive. Nomad really was the perfect outfitter for us, from guides to lodging and the people hosting at the lodges. We loved it. We really felt like we had the "best guides ever" :).
We absolutely will touch base with Journeys Discovering Africa again for a future trip we hope we are able to do (Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, etc.) in a few years, should we be so fortunate. And I've already recommended Journeys Discovering Africa to friends who saw my posts on social media and started asking who we planned our trip with. You really nailed it for us with Nomad as guides/lodging and the itinerary, thank you so much! Special thanks to Patrick at Journeys Discovering Africa, and to Raphi, and Jairo from Nomad!
Botswana was wonderful & would not have been possible without help of Journeys Discovering Africa
Everything was well organised and well communicated. So much so we need to reconsider our definition of 'African timing'.
We just had an amazing trip to Ruanda, everything was perfectly prepared and choosen.
Thanks to the Team who hepled us to organise a perfect short trip to Kigali and the volcanoes mountains in Ruanda. We were very happy about the Service and the whole trip. We just had an amazing time and we come back - for sure!
CH
Email K + R | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Uganda, Safari, Chimpanzee-, Rhino- and Gorilla Trekking
We were absolutely happy with Journeys Discovering Africa. They whole staff was amazing and Patrick set up a great programme for our Honeymoon in Uganda. We can really recommend to book your Trip with them, it was perfectly organized and nothing to complain about! We felt very safe all the time and had our best experiences with them!
Email Bev | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Botswana birding
We spent the first 4 days of our holiday at Royal Tree Lodge in Maun. This lodge has a private game park with antelope zebra and giraffe wandering freely in the estate, with no predators so we were able to walk out safely by ourselves and introduce ourselves to the delights of Botswana birding. This was a lovely restful and relaxing part of the holiday. We then joined a trip with Letaka- a company who specialise in birding tours. We did an 11 day fully serviced mobile safari to Moremi, Khwai, Savuti and Chobe. The vehicle was an open sided 4WD-it was perfect for the terrain and gave us easy open viewing. The vehicle had a refrigerated box for drinks which was much appreciated, as were the daily morning stops for coffee and evening sundowners-always with good bird and animal spotting opportunities. The camping was comfortable and well equipped. We were surprised to find we were the only travellers on this particular trip. Our guide was fantastic-he was knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly and the other 3 camp staff were also great-organised, efficient, cheerful and accommodating and we had a wonderful time. We had plenty of opportunities for photography as well as watching the animals and birds and observing behaviour. Overall our holiday was well organised and lived up to our expectations. We recommend this trip to keen birders and wildlife lovers who might be looking for a different sort of holiday to the usual lodges and hotels.
Email Sue Ridley | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
This was our second trip with this company and it meant that Patrick already had a feel for what we
This was our first road trip, just we two and the guide. This meant we were in one another's company most of the time really. Early morning starts, chatting at the accommodation, eating meals together, travelling 1,700 miles together. Fortunately we related to one other very well and with good will on both sides, we had an amazing trip. We enjoyed every minute of it. It was my second trip to Namibia, the first with Exodus. With the quality of guiding, the Toyota Fortuner, the standard of the lodges, the food, the climate, I felt I was seeing Namibia through different eyes. Judging a holiday by how long it stays with you when you return, we came back knowing we were to face quite a difficult time. Our holiday is helping us through that, which was the purpose of the trip in the first place.
Nico is an excellent guide, chatting away, spotting wild life and driving, multitasking with ease. He was as excited as we were when we saw something special, very committed to his country, passionate about Namibia, it's infra structure, very knowledgeable. The trip would have been totally different without him, so much depended on us getting on.
Downside, missed the early morning drives in a safari truck with coffee stop in the desert. The holiday couldn't offer us that, we know. The room at Olive Grove was a disappointing start, as was the meal in town that was recommended at the desk. A simply wonderful holiday, thankyou Patrick and Nico.
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Email Sandra K | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
My Dream Trip with Flawless Service and Support
Right from the planning stages, my experiences with JDA was perfect. Grace was wonderful, and really got to know me and my preferences as we planned my trip. The activities and accomadations were simply perfect. My guide Henry was respectful, knowledgeable, and friendly. This was my second trip with JDA and once again I am so pleased I am planning a third.
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Email Anne Jenkins | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorilla Trekking- My Dream Trip
Gorilla trekking coupled with time in the Serengeti- a dream trip! The wildlife along with wonderful guides- not to mention the good food & South African wine were splendid! The tented camps in the Serengeti set the scene for truly being away from the stress of life. The mountains of Rwanda- the home of the mountain gorillas- completed the trip. The Five Volcanoes Lodge was the perfect setting for "base camp". Our guides got us to the the areas of the very famous families of gorillas. I had the time of my life on this trip. Thanks to "Journeys Discovering Africa Limited" for helping me fulfill this crazy dream!