65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nairobi National Park is a wonderful introduction to East Africa - beautiful animals & environment.
I was pleased to find an area with abundant visible African mammals, birds and reptiles so close to Nairobi. It was easy to arrange transportation and a guide who drove me through the area pointing out large mammals and typical east Africa birds. My rhinoceros sighting in Nairobi National Park was the best of the trip. I also saw zebra, lions, bateleur, and many more often in a nicely photographable setting. I have recommended this area to friends traveling to East Africa and will continue to do so. I hope to return.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Okavango Delta by Ross
The Okavango is a beautiful place, and there's nothing like a boat ride through all the twisting waterways where crocodiles lurk and elephants munch the fibrous stalks on shore. I think the high season (July-August) is probably not the best time for birders to visit here -- I imagine there's more bird life during the migratory seasons.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Moremi Game Reserve by Ross
Moremi is a great place to see wildlife in its natural setting -- we camped right next to a lagoon with hippos grazing and snorting within 10 feet of our tent at night.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Makgadikgadi Pans National Park by Ross
Let me qualify this review -- I went to the pans in the winter (July) which is not the height of its wildlife season. If you can get there in the African summer when the rains are falling and animals are bearing their young and the birds are migrating, I think it would be a very different experience.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Chobe National Park by Ross
Chobe is the jewel in Botswana's wildlife crown -- just take a trip down the Chobe RIver and you'll see why. There are animals everywhere here, from swimming elephants to lounging leopards. Don't expect to be the only one watching that pride of lions, but if you can eschew the luxury lodges and do some camping out in the wilderness, that's the way to experience Africa. Try to stay two days or more, since every day you'll see something different. And one more thing -- be ready to feel very depressed when it's time to leave.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nxai Pan National Park Is Well Off the Beaten Path...Which Is Why You Want to Go There
There are two great reasons to visit Botswana’s Nxai Pan National Park east of the city of Maun.
First of all, you’ll see wildlife here on this baobab-dotted salt pan that you may not see elsewhere in Botswana. First on my list is the Oryx or Gemsbok. These shy, stocky antelope, incredibly well adapted to life with limited water, roam this sandy wilderness where their long, sharp horns and striking black-and-white faces signal their presence in the tall grass. Two other “boks” of note are the small and light-footed springbok, with facial markings reminiscent of kabuki dancers, that graze the dry pan in significant numbers, and the even smaller Steenbok, a Bambi-like creature with markedly oversized ears that lives a more solitary life. I also saw hartebeest here, as well as bat-eared fox, honey badger and brown hyena – these in addition to the more familiar attractions: giraffe, elephant, kudu, lion, cheetah, wildebeest, zebra, jackal, et al. And for those more keyed into the feathered set, you’ll be wearing out your binoculars for sure. You won’t need them to see the many ostriches, but you will want a closer look at all the eagles (including brown snake, booted, tawny, martial and bateleur) and the pale chanting goshawk, lanner falcon and Dickinson’s kestrel. I can drop plenty more names – kori bustard, red-billed quelea, ant-eating chat, northern black korhaan, double-banded courser, swallow-tailed bee eater, African hoopoe – but need I go on? And one side note – park management keeps the Nxai Pan waterhole supplied with water all year round, so you can always find wildlife there taking advantage of this government handout.
And second of all, though in the high season (Botswana’s winter) you may not see as many animals here as in a park like Chobe, for instance, there is one species you’ll be happy to see less of, and that’s people. In Nxai Pan, you’ll often feel like you’re the only one who thought of taking a safari in Africa. Part of the reason for this is Nxai Pan’s relative inaccessibility – once you drive through the gate, expect at least a two-hour drive along a treacherously sandy “road” to get to the campgrounds (I say at least two hours since you may spend a third hour or so helping some unfortunate fellow visitor get their mired vehicle moving again). But don’t let this scare you off – after all, this is why you came to Africa instead of some safari park in Florida.
All told, if you’re in northern Botswana and feel like getting off the well-beaten path to Chobe and the Okavango, visit Nxai Pan – it’s well worth it.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Kenya by Melody Lytle
Scenic beauty and bush vibe suffered a bit from the Nairobi skyline visible throughout much of the Park.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Botswana by Ross
Botswana is Africa's Costa Rica -- the country is genuinely engaged in saving its wildlife for posterity. After all, they've banned all hunting -- period -- a bold statement that every tourist who would rather see animals than shoot them should support. And Botswana is full of animals -- maybe not the mega-herds of East Africa, but a stunning variety thriving in landscapes that, in many cases, are relatively untouched by people.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Responsive and reliable. Helped maximise my short trip.
I didn't know much about Victoria Falls, other than that there was a lot of water and that I wanted to try my hand at fishing on the Zambezi, so I contacted Vayeni to enquire about fishing trips.
I wanted to maximise my short stay there so I asked Suzanne for advice on what else there was to do and how to squeeze everything in.
By chatting through options, I soon ended up with a itinerary packed with new ideas, all travel sorted and a stay at a much more luxurious lodge than I had initially planned, due to Suzanne's knowledge of the best packages available.
On arrival at Victoria Falls, Chenai was very welcoming and made sure I had a good first evening. Suzanne was very responsive when weather caused a change to plans, enabling me to change activities at the last minute. Similarly, she was also very flexible with my transfer arrangements when I was informed of my flight cancellation upon arrival at the airport, allowing me to find my way back to somewhere safe to stay.
I got a lot more out of my experience by booking through Vayeni and felt very comfortable there as a single traveller by having all travel planned in advance.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Detail oriented professionals, who made us feel taken care of, at the right price.
For my 50th birthday my family and I traveled to Tanzania for a combination of Humanitarian efforts and Safari. All of our arrangements were made by Born Free Safari, a US based company.
I wanted to visit a few orphanages while there, and their contacts in the area, arranged for visits to two local orphanages which matched the criteria I had in mind. This experience, added so much more richness to our already awesome trip.
The Safari, was truly amazing and I might be biassed, but I was convinced we had the best guide, Martin the Lion whisperer!!
It was very reassuring to be in such a remote part of the world, and feel that all details were handled and you are taken care of.
A few weeks before the trip, we received a comprehensive package, which included detailed daily trip itinerary, luggage tags, notes with contact info. to be placed inside our luggage in case our bags got lost, a list of animals to expect to see, a notebook and pen to write down our memoirs.
I can't thank Born Free Safari enough for making this trip of a life time so much more memorable.
With much gratitude,
Shadi