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
KW
Email Laurel Parr & Justin Dupuis | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Compass Odyssey is focused on customer satisfaction over their bottom line.
Darren was wonderful to work with! He did not put any pressure on me at all to book with him and issued me multiple itineraries without any guarantee that I would end up becoming a paying customer, consistently reminding me that I had no obligation to but rather to make the best choice for myself. It’s a husband and wife team that own this operation and they are very caring and supportive at all times! At the same time, they are very professional. They provide comprehensive and detailed itineraries, as well as tons of additional information to help you through all the planning that comes with travel to Africa. They always provided prompt responses and were incredibly supportive and caring. We would book with them again in a heartbeat! The trip itself was absolutely amazing and they take great care when choosing their guides, lodges, etc. Everything was exceptional for us!
CA
Email Eliana and Laura Marengo | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Compass Odyssey surpassed our expectations from beginning to end!
Compass Odyssey was highly recommended to us, by 2 family friends who had used their services on 3 separate occasions. As we had never been to Southern Africa or on safari, we had to trust Compass Odyssey to plan every aspect of our trip; to tailor it to our specific wants and needs; and to execute it according to plan. Mission accomplished, with patience, kindness, RELIABILITY and the utmost professionalism! This trip was a dream come true! We were taken care of from beginning to end. In the planning stages, no question was too big or small for Darren, who always went out of his way to make sure that our questions were answered promptly and completely, and to ensure that we had all the information we needed to make informed decisions. He walked us through every aspect of our trip, ahead of time, which made for a smooth transition upon arrival. In Africa, everything was perfect: the choice of hotels/camps; the attentive staff; the superlative and personalized service; the excellent food; the dependable transportation; the magical game drives and knowledgeable guides etc etc etc. It was wonderful to know that we could count on Compass Odyssey's services and attention throughout our trip! We felt pampered and taken care of, every single day. Our journey covered 3 countries, and we were excited, happy and grateful to see and experience everything we did, at every location (the magnificent animals; the culture; the wonderful people; the visual stimulation; the choice of activities ; and always someone to assist us and organize those activities and accompany us everywhere, including to airports and at border crossings). If you want to have an experience that will continue to make you smile long after you're back home, trust Darren of Compass Odyssey to make it happen! We will be going back to Africa and using Compass Odyssey, again, as soon as we can! Darren, if Laura moves to Africa, it'll be your fault :)
US
Email Kevin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding 3-Country Tour Package
Our experience with Compass Odyssey has been outstanding. The process of getting a quote, booking the trip, getting confirmation, and receiving support documents, were transparent and efficient. Darren and Kate were very responsive and attentive in answering our questions, checking up before, during, and after our trip. We always felt were were in good hands and could contact them for any matter. Thank you so much for providing an excellent tour for us.
The Garden Lodge in Boswana was a gem. It was the best lodge experience we ever had. The staff there were friendly, accommodating, and helpful. They took great care of our needs and gave us the best welcome every day. As part of their lodge tradition, one of their staff would join us at dinner every night and we had such a wonderful time with each of them as we learned about their work and life there. Both the game drives and river safari in Chobe National Park were fantastic.
The Bartonka Lodge in Zimbabwe was likewise nice and within easy walking distance to Victorial Fall city center. The ride to Victoria Falls was short and was all part of the tour, and that made it enjoyable.
Overall, we really enjoyed our safari tour with Compass Odyssey and will highly recommend it to our friends.
US
Email Sue and Joe Greiner | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our Trip of a Lifetime was Smooth as Silk
Our Compass Odyssey trip to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Botswana was a fantastic experience!
Compass Odyssey organized every moment so well that it flowed perfectly! We had no problems with connections, flights, or border crossings, and every detail was covered.
We enjoyed all of our safaris immensely. The Hide in Hwange National Park was great! We saw so many animals every day, and the staff was so gracious, the food terrific, and our tent really fun. We enjoyed going down into the hide itself to watch the elephants drinking in the evening. What a special perspective. We saw several groups of cheetahs and lions, lots of elephants, buffalo, impalas, warthogs, water bucks, bush bucks, birds, zebras and more, including a large and majestic herd of sable antelope, and even a leopard! Even some wild dogs and a pride of 10 lions. The night drives were fun, too. And we got to go on a walking safari where we got up close and personal with some curious bull elephants!!! We loved this place!
We enjoyed the boat trips in Chobe very much. It was fun to watch the hippos in and out of the water, and to watch the elephants drink and play.. Crocodiles, buffalo, and birds, like the fish eagle, too. The Garden Lodge was very nice, and we enjoyed the owl who lives upstairs in the loft and the mongooses and warthogs who live in the yard. On our games drives, we saw loads of game animals, lots of elephants, and a beautiful male lion!
And of course, our trip to the Okavango Delta was fantastic. We enjoyed Rra Dinare. Our "tent" was luxurious and looked out over a large plain that was teeming with wildlife at almost every hour of the day. We twice saw lions from camp, once from our porch and once from the deck at the lodge. At camp and on safari, we saw lots of giraffes, elephants, zebras, kudus, and new antelope species we hadn't seen before, like Tsessabes and Red Lechees. We also saw hippos, secretary birds, cheetahs who had literally just brought down an impala and hadn't even killed it yet, lions, and a pack of 10 wild dogs finishing up a recent kill. Wow. The staff at Rra Dinare was superb. We felt very pampered and cared for. It would be fun to go back during wet season and see how different the delta is then. Maybe someday we will do that!
Our stay in Victoria Falls was also very memorable. Mortimer and Ruth were so helpful and took wonderful care of us. We loved the Zambezi Family Lodge. The staff there was excellent and very attentive, the room nice, and the grounds immaculate, lovely and comfortable. It was only a 10 minute walk to town. We bought food at the store and had our breakfasts and lunches at the Lodge.
My husband's Zambezi river trip went well, and I enjoyed my safari with Charles Brightman. He was a wealth of information and we saw lots of wonderful animals. It was so much fun. And I really enjoyed the visit to the Wildlife Trust, too. Although there weren't very many animals there when I visited, I learned a lot about what they do and I was able to talk with the veterinarian for a few minutes.
We loved the elephant cafe, the sunset cruise, the devil's pool, the Boma restaurant and the tours of the falls. The rhinos were great to see, too, although it was so hot that the poor things were sacked out under a tree napping!
Chic did a great job of showing us around Johannesburg on the last day of our trip. Our visit to Soweto and the Apartheid museum was eye opening and we learned a lot. The Rutland House was great, and Delia was a lovely host. She showed us her photos from her rafting trip in the Grand Canyon in 1983, sharing her happy memories of one of the best times of her life, and we shared ours from that wonderful place, too.
We want to thank Compass Odyssey's Darren and Kate so much for putting this spectacular trip together for us. We couldn't be happier with their efforts. We happily and enthusiastically recommend Compass Odyssey.
US
Email Sandra Garren | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything was taken care of in an excellent manner.
The service was excellent and exceeded expectations in all areas. The accomodations, safari tours, guides, flights, transfers and everything could not have been better.
NZ
Email Sharon Dobson & David McLachlan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African safari trip in Soutrh Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana
Our experience using Compass Odyssey was great - from the interactions in the planning stage, deciding particular aspects of the trip, through to communication during out trip was all handled really well. Great to have invite to contact the team both before and during our trip just in case anything went wrong - although nothing did. We left it up to the team to make recommendation on the lodges etc to visit and we were really satisfied with the places we stayed at and the level of service, quality of game drives and the professional service provided by liaison people and guides we had throughout our trip.
SE
Email Jenny & Neil | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fabulous safari in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana
The company gave excellent service from the offer to the end of the safari. They listened to your wishes and came up with a suggestion. They answered our questions promptly and adapted the trip according to our needs.
The accommodation where of different types which added to the experience. One was more like a normal hotell, apart from being close to The Victoria Falls. The second was tented accommodation in Zambia on the river bank. Where breakfast, lunch and a three course dinner was included. I didn't expect such good food out in the wilderness. The wildlife was literally outside the tent. The last accommodation, in Chobe, was a smaller very friendly lodge. We had private safaris. Which was really worth it as the ranger only had to adapt to our wishes. The service and food there were outstanding. I have a few allergies and they thought of everything throughout every meal.
All the rangers we went with showed the animals great respect which some of the others didn't to the same extent.
I can really recommend Compass Odyssey and if we ever go again I will definitely book through them again.
US
Email Nedra Howard | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Trip Ever!
We couldn't be happier with the communications, services, and experiences our safari tour provided. Darren responded immediately EVERY TIME to our e-mails. Our trip was fabulous. We saw and did everything we wanted and more. Our accomodations were wonderful. The staff at each place was marvelous. The food and dinner experiences were great. Our tour guides were knowledgeable, friendly, and worked to make sure we had the best experiences. If I could give more stars to this review I would. There wasn't a single thing that I would have changed!
US
Email Kimberlee Jenne | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Compass Odyssey did an exellent job creating an itinerary that fit our requests.
I would highly recommend Compass Odyssey, they created an itinerary that went way beyond my expectations. They listened to our group and kept in constant communication. For example we had one night planned in Johannesburg, unfortunately their were riots due to an election. They were concerned about our safety and were willing to help. The accomadatons we chose were in a safe area and so our trip was very safe. The places we stayed were gracious and friendly. The food was delicious. Above all the guides were friendly and excellent educators and we were able to view so many animals, birds and plants. I would definitely use this company again!
US
Email Mala and Ramesh | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding Trip!
This was our first trip to Africa. We traveled to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe and Zambia), Chobe, and Okavango Delta in Botswana.
Throughout our journey of planning, communicating, providing detailed information, and the various trip options, Compass Odyssey was with us all the way.
Traveling from the US, we had no clue on what to expect and was expected of us - medical, social, travel reservations, lodging, insurance, etc. Darren and Kate guided us with all these aspects. No question was too silly for them to answer, and we received responses within 24 hours.
Our baggage got delayed and did not arrive in Victoria Falls. Mortimer, Ruth, and Collin helped us shop for basic necessities. They were patient, friendly, and also gave us good vegetarian food options. Collin was our guide and he gave us lot of interesting info about the Falls. We also had a wonderful time in Chobe and Okavango Delta. The lodging facilities reserved by Compass Odyssey were excellent.
We would definitely go with Compass Odyssey on our next trip to Africa, and highly recommend them to others. Thank you Darren and Kate!