Professional, friendly company to deal with
We felt fortunate to have discovered Marco and his lovely team after reading the reviews on this website.
I gave Marco a wish list of the places in Namibia that we would like to visit, and he came up with 14 day itinerary.
Windhoek - Sossuvlei - Swakopmund - Twyfelfontein - Etosha - Windhoek.
It was a late booking for July, which is a busy time of year in Namibia, but Marco managed to get us into some excellent lodges sometimes by tweaking the date of the stay or wait listing us for one of the nights.
The itinerary was completed within four days, with emails exchanged promptly. My partner delegated decision-making, which speeded up the process. Additionally, Southbound’s local presence was an advantage.
Once the trip was paid for, I sent Marco a list of questions and small requests for each lodge that I had read about on TripAdvisor, and he patiently took everything on board. These tiny details made such a difference to the trip and highlight the level of service that Southbound offer.
Marne and Desiree, Creative Safari designers welcomed us when we arrived at our hotel in Windhoek and went through our itinerary so that we knew what to expect, and it was good to meet Marco too after all the work that he did for us.
We needed to use soft bags for our flights and we were going to be limited to 20 kilos of luggage. Southbound kindly offered to store our hard travel cases whilst we were on our trip, enabling us to also leave some travel clothes in Windhoek.
At the start of the trip, we joined a WhatsApp group for communication with the team.
The level of accommodation was mixed, so we were able to stay in an amazing suite at Camp Kipwe and less expensive accommodation when it didn’t matter, for example, in Swakopmund.
With the exception of Etosha, the food was excellent wherever we stayed, very imaginative, with a high level of service.
We particularly wanted to stay at Okaukuejo Resort within Etosha National Park so that we were close to the wildlife, which proved to be a good choice for us, although it may not suit everybody !
We used flights and road trips with Boyki as a guide from Windhoek to Sossuvlei and George, another Southbound team member who drove us from Etosha to Windhoek.
Marco came up with the idea for us to stay at a quirky place on the drive to Sossuvlei at Namibgrens Guest farm, Villa 1 and combined it with watching the sunset at Spreetshoogte Pass viewpoint, which was an unforgettable experience. It was also an honour to get to know Boyki and learn about his family during our two days together.
Driving allowed us to experience the scenery from the car, and it had the added advantage that we arrived at the lodge earlier in the day, meaning we could take part in the lodge’s afternoon excursion.
Despite sometimes opting for more expensive accommodation, we considered this trip to be highly worthwhile in terms of value for money, considering the “from” prices available in the UK for significantly shorter durations.
This trip was different from any adventure that we have booked previously.
Each destination offered a distinct experience, landscape and new friendly people to meet.
Southbound are a professional, friendly and lovely company to deal with.
Thank you for a great trip!
Steve and Jane
From the UK
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Calvin was the best guide I could hope for! I had an excellent experience!
An experience that I will never forget!
I’m super happy with the organization, the overall experience, but mostly with the tour operator (Calvin)! I definitely recommend!
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It couldn’t be easier
Loved our Kenyan safari trip right from the time we requested a quote till the very end . Mr Moses was extremely helpful in answering all our queries. Coming to the Kenya experience we were warmly greeted at the airport by Mr Moses and his colleague Mr Simon who took us on our breathtaking experiences around Amboseli , Lake Naivasha and the much awaited Masai Mara . I honestly didn’t think that it would be so much easy for us much thanks due to the support of Moses and Simon. Words can never do justice to what we experienced . The best Safari of our life .
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect, big 5 check!
Together with my boyfriend, we did the 6-day safari. We had David as our driver, a kind and friendly man. He made sure we spotted both the rhino (from a distance) and the leopard, which are both hard to find in the wild. The accommodations were good, especially the tented camp in the Serengeti — it was beautiful. Lovely surroundings. Definitely recommended if you want to book an unforgettable safari.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent
Money is worth spending nice service
Provide by both driver Alex and his friend they help us everything we need
we recommend to others in Canada whenever Going to Kenya use your safari address
Thanks
Norman mistry
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service that meet all your needs
I had the most amazing time on this safari. The guides were knowledgeable and kind, the scenery was breathtaking, and we saw so many incredible animals up close. Everything was well organized and felt truly special. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!
IT
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
excellent assistance during the tour
Together with 2 friends, we contacted GoGiraffe to organize a 10 days trip in western Tanzania. Our goal was to visit Katavi National Park, Mahale and Gombe.While defining the Tour, I greatly appreciated the quick replies of Luice: easy to access and fast in responding to our request. The area we wanted to visit, is the less visited in Tanzania and the Parks are difficult to reach but can guarantee a very low presence of tourists. In the 3 parks visited, we were almost alone all the time!We met Luice at the ferry arrival from Zanzibar and immediately appreciated the capacity to be on time and of have constant communication via wupp which allowed us to feel safe and well followed.We flew to Mpanda where we met the local driver and the guide. We agreed on a medium budget tour, so we slept in the Bandas of the Park. The accommodation was simple but fair, same thing for the food provided at the Bandas restaurant. The Park is fantastic, and we saw all the animals expected with the only exception of the lions. We never met other tourists and really loved the 2 days of safari.From Katavi we moved to Mahale. It is almost impossible to go straight there as the road conditions are extremely poor, but the trip is a great opportunity to observe local life and people. So, we stopped in Kigoma, were we really loved the beautiful Kigoma Hilltop Hotel with its view on the lake, a beautiful swimming pool and a very good restaurant!Early the following day, another long and beautiful drive to reach Mahale including a very picturesque ferry, an amazing experience of local life!! Finally, we arrived to the Park with a final 90 minute ride on a boat on the Tanganika lake watching the superb and uncontaminated nature of the coast. The landscape in Mahale is extraordinary: I felt like I was in Jurassic Park movie! In the Park we were under the supervision of Hussein Mavumila: a great, experienced guide and very nice person. Bandas was ok and the food better than in Katavi. With Hussein, the following day, we started the trek seeking for chimpanzees which we met and observed for all the morning. Amazing!The following day, long trip: back to Kigoma to catch the boat to Gombe. The transfers in this trip were always long and not necessarily comfortable but, to me, those are the best moments in Africa as allowed us to see real life, including the fisherman’s villages with the Tanganika Lake always in our sight. The Gombe National Park was founded by Jane Goodall to preserve and study the Chimps. The Bandas there are very poor so, if you can, reserve at the tent at the camp very close there: little more expensive but by far cleaner and more comfortable! The following morning, another long trek in the forest watching several chimps relaxed and very busy with eating and delousing. Great day! After lunch, we decided to accelerate our trip back to Kigoma so to join the comfort of Kigoma Hilltop Hotel! This decision allowed us, the following day, to be at 8 am at the fishermen arrival from the fishing night and spend a couple of hour admiring the local women selling the sardines. Such a colorful and amazing show!! The morning was completed with the visits of the Kigoma Train Station (a very important piece of history for Tanzania), the Slave Road surrounded by huge mango’s trees, and the very interesting Livingston Museum, built in the place were Dr Livingstone and Mr. Stanley met.Our journey ended with a comfortable night in Dar where we had the opportunity to have a pleasant dinner with Luice, learning a lot of things on Tanzania and future opportunities of other trips!Overall, our experience has been very positive, knowing that this trip is not for everybody but mostly for experienced travelers. Visiting the less touristic part of Tanzania, can create some discomfort but the constant assistant of Luice via wupp helped to solve all the issues and the reward is fantastic: we will keep in our heart the beautiful images of people, nature and landscapes for the rest of our lives!!!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good attention to detail
We found them to provide reliable and good service and support. We would recommend them without hesitation
TW
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Take action, I recommend my tour guide: Daniel (JockyTour)
Growing up, I could only discover the appearance of animals from the Discovery Channel on TV, so coming to Africa to see them has always been one of my dreams. I was lucky to meet my guide, Daniel (JockyTour), who took me to see the Big Five and got me home safely. I can tell you all about my questions at the time. First, there was clean bottled water, and second, there was a place to charge your phone/camera so you could take pictures. I ignored the weather, thinking it would only be hot there, but it can actually be cold too. If you are planning a trip, I recommend my guide, Daniel, to everyone.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional planning of the tour & great driver + guide!
When I started looking for African safari, I was not sure which tour company to pick. I have researched and requested quotes from many tour companies from Safaribooking website. We wanted someone with local knowledge and expertise. I researched hundreds of safari companies, reading reviews, looking for any bad reviews or experiences people shared. Now you don’t have to the search. Just in case if you are searching Topy Tours reviews and company info, " Quaggay Topy Tours was the original name and to keep it simple they now known as Topy Tours. I am so glad that book with Topy Tours and you’ll have a top-notch safari experience! Everything was perfect for our 9 day tour.
Communication was very easy with JACKSON prior to and during our tour. Everything was made easy from inquiry to booking till the very end of our tour. Tour Coordinator Jackson was extremely helpful, informed and an excellent communicator. We were able to customized our own, private Serengeti safari within our budget. I changed my mind on our dates & itinerary multiple times, so that my family get to see the most in given times frame before finally booking and Jackson was incredibly patient and helpful. Cost of tour is the best I got when compared to different quotes I received from other companies.
We tour almost all the world famous National Parks in Tanzania, customized all in one Safari trip - Arusha, Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, North / West / Central / East / South Seregenti (chasing great Migration ) , Lake Natron and Ngorongoro Crater. At the end of the trip we added at the last minute and decided to visit Wild Life Sanctuary near Arusha and it was the best decision of our trip. At the sanctuary, we got to feed and pet the fully grown wild animals including Giraffe / Zebra / impalas / Antelopes / Lion. We had no idea how completely unique and stunning our tour will be. The lodges were carefully selected and also very good, well maintained and exceeded our expectations. It was a unique experience for us to stay overnight in the wild. We experienced wild life outdoor night experience and saw many animals around the tent lodges. The tented lodges are very safe and security all the time provided you stick to the rules and regulations.
Our driver & guide AMOUR was exceptional, extremely knowledgeable about the Safari National Parks, friendly, relaxed and open to whatever we wanted to do & wherever we wanted to go. On one occasion, we spend long game drive time n the park and it got dark. And when is dark in serengeti, it is really "dark and scary". Our driver had exceptional GPS skills and we found the lodge which was newly built and had no visible directions. nOur safari was a magical experience thanks to our wonderful guide, We couldn't have asked for more. During our 9 day trip, we were able to see BIG FIVE, although RHINO was difficult to see and only found in Ngorongoro crater, we were able to view from distance but we managed it. We even saw LEOPARD, which is the rarest of all the animals to see as they live on trees. Overall we did approximately 3000 km ( 2000 miles) cross country game parks
We did not visited Tanzania only, but in fact we made friends for long lasting relationship !!
