50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful for birds and elephants.
This was a one-day visit from our base at Victoria Falls. We love birds so that was a priority for us. We have seen the bigger animals in Zambia's South Luanga NP. The tour was arranged from our hotel and was with Bushtracks. The organisation ran like clockwork - courteous staff who helped us through the border crossings which looked intimidating but were easy. There were just 6 of us in the party. We started with the river tour which was quiet from a wildlife point of view to start with, however an hour in and we started to see lots of birds - which our guide was pleased to follow and get good views of. Our guide knew all the birds we saw and was informative but not intrusive to the experience. A woodland kingfisher and carmine bee-eaters being highlights. Great view of elephants coming down to the water to drink, then the hippos and crocodiles completed the morning. Lunch at a lodge was an excellent buffet. The afternoon overland safari gave us great views of more elephants, giraffe, impala and warthogs. No big cats seen - and the zebra had migrated to Namibia. Weather was cool - low 20s, overcast and dry. There were a lot of other safari vehicles all following the same route - our guide explained they had to keep to set tracks so we couldn't go and see what was attracting the vultures a couple of hundred metres away. However he did try hard to keep us away from from the larger group and we had great views and enjoyed our day.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A day jaunt to the Pilanesberg
We have an American friend in Johannesburg and we wondering what to do with the weekend after New Year. We decided to take him to see Sun City and the Pilanesberg. It's close by, has the big five and some great lodges. It was late at night and very spur of the moment when we decided - could we get accommodation? A search on the Internet revealed some options - most places were full but we found a lodge with two rooms - and it turned out just perfect. We spent the next day in the sun re-living childhood as we hurtled down the water slides at SunCity's Valley of the Waves. That night we stayed at the Bakubung Reserve. We ate supper on the terrace with the bush sounds and starlit sky as companions. The next day we drove through he reserve - we left a bit late in the morning but still saw plenty of game. All in all a great way to spend two days!
GR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
fantastic
They were no communication barriers everything was on track as schedule it is six o’clock. Breakfast at six thirty and you will go on your walk at six forty-five.” The man places a tray with coffee, warm milk and breakfast cookies on the table etc. The services were up to expectation just as we expected to notch.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hwange provided wide open spaces with no other people in sight and only animals as far as we could see.
The accommodations, service and food at Davidson's Camp were superlative. It was more like staying in a fine hotel than in a camp. I have never been so comfortable while being so close to nature. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and accommodating. When we asked to spend a little longer time at certain places, rather than constantly moving, it was not a problem. The enthusiasm of the staff seemed to reflect a genuine appreciation of the wildlife around them and their dedication to preserving it. At the end of the rainy season the grass was tall and it may have made it a bit more difficult to spot some of the animals, but everything was green and lush providing a beautiful background for what we saw. We saw plenty. We kept returning to one watering hole for sundowners that was surrounded by open savannah with grazing animals all around us as far as we could see. The elephants parading by us in large groups never got boring.
Review about Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park by Jean Rogers
Beautiful with Victoria falls
A really wild and wonderful experience.
We arrived in an overland truck and made it through the muddy road into Wildlife camp on the banks of the luangwa River. Wildlife camp truly lived up to it's name. There were hippos and crocodiles in the river in front of our comfortable hut and elephants, mongoose, monkeys, squirrel, and Impala roamed the grounds. I was pleased to view the abundant bird life around camp and on safari, even seeing a Giant Eagle Owl during spotlighting one night.
There had been some rain so the park was partly flooded, which made it harder for the safari guide to get us around, and the vegetation was thick so it was more difficult to spot animals, but we saw lions, giraffe, Impala, and such. Some of our group saw leopard. The safari guides didn't have radios to communicate sightings so we saw less than in other parks like the Mara where they share information freely between safari groups.
The lush green scenery around the park is beautiful. The pool is refreshing and though it didn't look a nice colour, no one got sick from swimming in it. The only negative was some of our party had money stolen out of their huts when away on safari.
I would definitely recommend this park for its wildlife experience and peaceful setting.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Patricia Bates
Lake Manyara is a beautiful place to stop by for a visit. It is located in a populated area so the feeling of wilderness and isolation is not there. It is however, a very beautiful destination and worth a visit.
NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Five stars on most aspects
We chose Encompass to plan our African holiday because it was so highly recommended to us by a couple we met on another trip. We mentioned this on our first contact with Encompass. Unfortunately, they assumed that we wanted the same type of trip as our friends, when in fact we didn't even discuss the trip with the couple at all. The outcome was that we had a month in Africa that was about 2/3 of what we wanted, and 1/3 what we didn't.
We saw some amazing things, stayed at some great places, and had wonderful guides. Most everything went like clockwork. That all deserves 5 stars for the Encompass team, including their attention to my husband's health issues the night before we were to depart for Africa.
So why not 5 stars? We arrived home exhausted, having completed around 25 game drives (and having sat out about 8). We spent 16 nights in total at 5 camps, travelling mostly by safari vehicle between them . We were envious of those who were moving on to other activities and countries for non-safari adventures. Of the 30 nights in Africa, 16 were in camps, 6 were in transit, and one was a day of rest.
When we arrived home, we would have given Encompass 3 stars on this review, but instead we contacted them with our feedback. We have added one star because of the team's sincere response to and disappointment with what we expressed to them. They immediately gathered all the information we gave them along with that from the entire planning process, discussed it, and decided there were some mistakes made. We believe that they learned something from this experience, and that means a lot to us. Although everyone else gave them 5 stars, perhaps now some other couple in the future will not have the problems we experienced and they'll never get below a 5 again.
With over a month having passed since our return, we now look on our African experience in a positive light, enjoying and sharing our photos, talking about the great experiences we did have, and being very pleased with the response from the Encompass team.
We have no hesitation in recommending them to others, with the recommendation that you research Africa yourselves, read review of the places they suggest you stay, have a good understanding of what 3 days in a camp means and how many of these days you are prepared to sign up for, and finding out about all the other activities and adventures there are in Africa.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by geospace
Not as spectacular as Serengeti or Ngorongoro but good close up views of elephants. Close to Arusha too
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve by U. Adophis
Great park, but lots of private vehicles everywhere and our ranger decided to harp on about her positive views about hunting for an hour -- so ironically I wished I was in a private vehicle! We saw fantastic rhino, but sadly KZN has a significant drought at the moment which was very noticeable and meant pretty poor game viewing in areas.