Kate & Darren Humphrys with Henry, Olive and Hume
Compass Odyssey
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $300 to $1,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
US
Email Lauren | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Couldn’t possibly have been any more wonderful!
I was originally supposed to take a safari with my husband as our wedding gift from our family and friends, but he tragically passed away in 2018. In 2019, I read so many great reviews about Compass Odyssey and decided to go on a safari even though my husband was no longer with me. From the very beginning, Darren was absolutely incredible to work with!
My original safari was booked for 2020, and then had to be postponed multiple times. Darren was so helpful throughout the entire process, ensuring that I was well informed and that all my questions were answered. Once the final dates were selected after things settled down from COVID, he sent me every single detail I could’ve possibly needed, preparing me for a meaningful trip that I will remember for a lifetime.
Every single element of the trip was perfect, from the transportation to the bookings to each and every safari activity. I felt so well cared for, and Darren had even shared some of my story with my guides and accommodations so that they knew about me before I even got there. The places that I stayed were beyond anything I had ever experienced before. Such luxurious spots, kind hosts, and AMAZING food! And the animal sightings were incredible.
Don’t hesitate to work with Compass Odyssey if you are considering going on safari. They provide everything you could possibly need and you will treasure the memories forever!
US
Email Eve and David | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I doubt a better tour organizer exists!
From our first contact a year ago to now post trip, Darren has been absolutely the best tour organizer we have ever worked with (and we travel A LOT!) He is incredibly detail oriented and highly knowledgeable about the areas where we traveled (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana). There was not one step of the way that we were not treated like honored guests and everything we might have wanted was already in place at every stop we made. We had not even finished our trip before I was looking where he could send us next. All of our accommodations were lovely and all of our guides were absolutely top notch. (I must make a special mention of our guide Garth in Cape Town. He was so wonderful that we were sad we were not taking him along with us on the rest of our trip. He is incredibly kind, warm, friendly, and has an amazing wealth of knowledge of the area.) It is very apparent that Darren is well respected and liked as everywhere we traveled the hosts at the lodges/guest houses and the guides talked about how wonderful he is and how they wanted to treat his guests as extra special. And indeed we felt extra special the whole way. Can't wait to plan our next trip with him!
US
Email Tor | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Honeymoon thanks to Darren
Darren and Compass Odyssey were perfect for helping us plan and experience the best that Africa had to offer. Great service before, during and after the trip. Incredible surprises and constant upgrades throughout the adventure made this once in a lifetime experience.
Starting with the trip planning, we were able to take advantage of Darren's experience with the area and accommodations to plan the ideal two week adventure. He made it so easy to create a completely customized itinerary with all the random side trips we wanted, all the last minute modifications we came up with, and all the crazy ideas my wife and I could throw at him while at the same time keeping the costs down and within our budget.
We were extremely surprised to find that every one of our room accommodations had been upgraded or moved to what was truly the best room in each hotel. Turns out this was 100% thanks to Darren calling ahead and working with his contacts to ensure that our trip was truly one of a kind. There was even a surprise special dinner out on the hotel veranda in front of our own private fire all reserved for just the two of us.
Darren was in contact with us throughout the entire trip and did everything possible to ensure our trip was perfect.
US
Email Tim Richards | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Family Safari & Adventure
Cannot say enough fantastic things about entire 17 day (total including flights to/from USA) experience! Compass Odyssey did an outstanding job for us! Began working with Darren (Crusty) Humphries at Compass Odyssey about 20 months before trip, but it was worth it. 8 of us travelled together. Guides, food & Lodgings in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa were outstanding. (Even weather was cooperative!) All guides were fantastic and showed real interest in our family.
Everything was executed PERFECTLY!
Prior to trip, Darren personally responded very quickly (via email) to all my silly questions, requests and itinerary changes. Could not have requested better service, responsiveness or help planning! We would highly recommend utilizing them any time!
Tim & Kathy Richards
US
Email Victoria Durden | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Perfect Trip!
I can’t thank Darren and the Compass Odyssey team enough for the perfect trip! I knew what I wanted to do, I just didn’t know how to make it happen and that’s where Darren came in. Traveling solo I had a lot of questions and concerns and Darren was very patient and helpful in answering all of my numerous questions during the months long trip planning process. He always responded quickly & cheerfully. The trip itself was amazing. The guides in each location went out of their way to ensure my experience was the best. The accommodations were top notch. Darren checked in on my travels every leg of the trip to ensure that everything was going as planned. It’ obvious that his priority is that his clients have an incredible experience. I highly recommend Compass Odyssey for all of your travel needs. They can't be beat!
Email Cathy and Nigel | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, honest, generous team….dreams come true
This is not a short review but please bear with me…..
I first got in touch with Compass Odyssey after reading a number of reviews way back in 2019. Their bio was encouraging given that Darren and Kate are both Australian expats with travel, tourism and nature based backgrounds. My background is travel and tourism and Australian so I knew what i was looking for in an agent to handle our booking (namely good knowledge, great level of service and efficiency). What I discovered very quickly was I had found exactly the people upon whom I could trust.
Initially the plan was to visited South Africa in March 2020 …… and we all know what happened that year!
Granted I had some ideas of what we wanted to do for our trip but Darren spent time (over email) getting an even deeper understanding of our style of travel (independent), standard and type of accommodation we preferred and how we saw the trip unfolding all of which was evident when Darren presented the initial itinerary to me. Not much changed from then in terms of itinerary structure which looked like:
3 nights Cape Town, self drive along the Garden Route to the Eastern Cape and the Drakensburg Mountains to Hoedspruit for 2 weeks (approx 3500 kilometres), 3 nights our at a private game reserve in Greater Kruger, flights to and from Victoria Falls (2 nights) and 3 nights back in Johannesburg ….just a little over 4 weeks.
Things were ticking along nicely and the nasty little bug called COVID-19 struck, Australia closed its international borders on the day we were due to depart! This is when Darren and Kate really earned their stripes with us. Our travel insurance was problematic, we still wanted to go to South Africa and we’d paid in full. What to do? Darren and Kate negotiated with the various accommodation properties whom agreed to hold our monies until late 2021. Excellent! But our borders remained closed and more negotiating saw monies being held until the end of 2022.
Our borders opened at the end of 2021, I changed our dates to Aug/Sep departure, Darren weaved his magic with the operators and we have just completed an amazing 4 weeks in South Africa. Granted a few places had closed their doors due to the pandemic but Darren was able to find same for same in most cases so there was some out of pocket but it could have been a whole lot worse.
Compass’ communication is professional, timely, courteous and efficient. No question is too small or silly and in fact is encouraged throughout the process.
Compass’ product knowledge is excellent.
Compass’ customer service is outstanding ….nothing I’ve not experienced in many, many years.
Compass’ final documentation to you is unbelievable….everything you need to know before you go.
Compass Odyssey are not about churning the customers through but rather befriending them and really getting to know and understand expectations with genuine care and understanding.
Whilst in Sth Af Darren communicated with us a few times to see how things were going, making sure the accommodation properties were expecting us. Again I’ve never experienced this level of service.
The trip was memorable, so well planned and executed….they even timed a nice luxury 2 day break in the middle of what was a very busy trip….so well timed and appreciated.
Even though the pandemic delayed our trip for 2.5 years the end result was so well worth the wait and I’m so grateful to Darren and Kate for everything they did to ensure that this was possible.
You can’t go wrong in using Compass Odyssey as your African travel agent and yes I have already recommended them to friends and will use them again should we venture to back Africa (there’s so much more to explore!)
5*+++