December 2008
Now back in England I hasten to thank you for all your excellent work in organising our trip in and from Cape Town to Victoria Falls.  
Despite arriving 24 hours late courtesy of Lufthansa - and experiencing the "Black South Easterner" which almost blew us away - we had a wonderful time, enjoying the delights of Cape Town, The Winelands, The Cape Peninsula, and especially the Rovos Rail "Pride of Africa" trip up to Vic Falls.   The Ambassador Hotel at Bantry Bay was excellent and their Salt Restaurant a delight (85 wines on their list, all available by the glass!).   The beautiful old Victoria Falls Hotel, set in beautiful gardens close to the gorge and falls, was wonderful but sadly running out of supplies due to the politcal and economic situation in that country.   The wine list for instance was reduced to one bottle of white and one of red!.   The hotel staff were delightful, trying their best to make our visit memorable but they are fearful for their future and that of the hotel - and the country.   
Believe it or not, after postponing our outbound flight by 24 hours, Lufthansa then cancelled our return flight from Frankfurt to Bristol yesterday morning (for "technical reasons") forcing us to wait in Frankfurt Airport for almost 12 hours until the next flight in the evening!!   You can imagine how we felt about that, after flying overnight from Cape Town!   You can also imagine which airline I will never fly again..........
However, your organisation was faultless:   All the transfers, hotels and trips worked perfectly and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Thanks and best regards,
Trevor Brooker

December 2008
Everything was perfect.  We loved Pom Pom and want to return to the Delta - even though I believe Pom Pom to be lower end - we loved it!.  Muchenje was also wonderful and Stanley Safari was a special treat.  safari club was nice as was Franschoek Country House.  No complaints on the Guesthouse either as we had a nice room not attached to the main house - lovely with a good location. .....all excellent
 
I am now trying to think of a return to the delta,  adding the Kalahari, Namibia and Mauritius ....need to think on it.......
 
 
Love Love Africa....
 
Thanks
Linda Moore

December 2008
I think you did a fabulous job on our behalf.  I had no idea of how to organize a trip in Africa and you made it happen painlessly and with great success.  I would like to give you feedback because I so appreciate your efforts on our behalf.
 
First of all, the service we received in setting up the tour was first rate.  The Delta air transfers were perfectly organized and occurred without a hitch.  Everyone knew when we had to leave one lodge for the next and they moved us right along as though they were employees of Island Safari. 
 
We loved Deception Valley.  We are crazy for Adrianne and Vanda.  Everyone we met who had been to DV had the same response.  We had an experience at DV that was unavailable anywhere else with the bushwalk and the experience with the bushmen.  The food at DV was the best ever and the hospitality was first rate.  In its way, DV was unique and unlike any other experience in Botswana.
 
We had the most exciting animal spottings at Little Kwara.  We found some interesting other people there, enjoyed the physical accommodations a great deal and found the staff accommodating, friendly and responsive to inquiries and requests for assistance.  The food was good.  The staff at Little Kwara were especially concerned about my husband and really put themselves out to make sure that he was fine.  High marks for Little Kwara.  One guest in the travel industry repeatedly said Little Kwara was the best lodge in Botswana.  We  would return. 
 
Mapula was perhaps the most attractive lodge and a fabulous setting but we found it a bit boring.  The staff were nice -- very nice and very hospitable -- but lacked the personal appeal and the personality and knowledge of the animals and the bush that we found elsewhere.  This limitation was especially obvious because we were the only guests during a good part of our stay.  We would hesitate to return to Mapula. 
 
Muchenje was the most "efficient" operation.  Clearly, the manager had the lodge well under control and the lodge was lovely but it had too many amenities for a bush experience in Africa.  We were very surprised that the food was subpar as well.  There were a number of interesting guests which was nice but I still would not chose to return.  I like an outside shower which Muchenje did not have; I like less electricity and more parafin lamps.  I did not appreciate that their laundry would not do socks and underwear.  I did not adjust to a schedule which served breakfast at 8:30 and dinner at 8:00 and no food in between.  My sense was that we paid the most for our stay at Muchenje and we appreciated it the least.  Compared with the food, the schedule and the warmth and hospitality at Deception Valley, Muchenje comes up very short in our opinion.
 
We have already been asked about who arranged our trip for us and I have recommended your company without reservation.  Thank you again for your efforts on our part!
 
All the best,
Marjorie Bloom  

December 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour - very efficient
The transfers you had - transfer were good
Your stay at Indigo Bay Lodge - this place is fantastic, we will be back.
Bradley Storer

December 2008
I must say Mandy was fantastic, everything ran smoothly and efficiently, even last minute changes where handled professionally without fuss. We met a couple at Xakanaxa Camp from the UK who had also dealt with Mandy and they also commented on her quality of service. The transfers went smoothly and efficiently, everything where it should have been, very professional The camp was fantastic, it was everything Mandy told us it would be, it makes a difference when someone speaks first hand of the camp as it assures you of what to expect. What a setting, stunning luxury and fantastic memories, certainly one of my most memorable holidays and will certainly go back.  
Thanks once again Mandy you made our trip very special
 
Kind Regards
JOHN MARSHALL

December 2008
Well back home we are please to forward our comments as per your request:
The service we received from your office, Mandy, was absolutely first class. We will contact you again for our next trip which will be to South Africa or Mauritius.

 When we arrived your taxi took as to the hotel as well as back for the return home in time and without any problems.

The staff at Le Telfair Golf & Spa Resort was very nice and helpful.
The accommodation and the beach were perfect as well as the Golf Course which was top class.
 Spa was OK.
 The breakfast buffet' was not much compared to Belle Mare Plage, which we visited 2007. We had many times problems to get coffee and tea served. In fact, twice we had finished the breakfast, before the coffee and tea was being served. This was irritating. Nothing wring with the staff, but we believe that the system for bringing it should be changed.
 The dinner which according to your information was supposed to be 5 courses was 3, which was OK. However it should be noted that if you wanted to have e.g the beef or lamb filet, you had to pay extra 8 Euro, which we are not used to do when visiting a first class hotel with all included. The alternative restaurants was OK, but do not keep the high standard of the alternative restaurants at Belle Mare Plage.

Generally speaking, we would like to say that the accommodation, beach, golf etc are excellent, while breakfast and dinner do not reach the Belle Mare Plage standard.

Looking forward to co-operate with you again
Best regards
Lars-Erik and Ingrid Wilhelmsson

December 2008
no problem.  I thought that Louise did a great job of identifying suitable lodges in the Kruger as I was finding too many choices to work through myself.  Arathusa Lodge was excellent.  Really nice rooms, an excellent driver and spotter, good meals and good company.  The wildlife spotting was exceptional (couple of photos attached). 
 
Overall, I was very happy with the service and would use your agency again in the future,
regards,
Nick Waters

December 2008
As last year - we are wholly satisfied with our stay & transfer arrangements. This year we recommended Island Safari to our Swedish friends who also booked their trip through you (Mr & Mrs L - E Wilhelmsson).
 
We were among the first guests at Dinarobin - back in 2001? - and chances are we will go back (12 vacations in Mauritius since 1993 so far).
 
Our best seasonal greetings & a happy new year to you & your colleagues.
 
Best regards
Vivi Muinthe
Anders Öhrn

December 2008
We had a great holiday in South Africa. It was absolutely amazing
We are more then happy to send Island-Safari some feedback.
 
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour. Cara Lloyd was our advisor and she was a great help. She gave us all the information we needed and also some great Tips for our journey She was really nice and gave us the feeling nothing we asked was too much. Of course we were afraid in the beginning to book via an online provider and pay to a strange banking account, without some personal face to face contact, but Island-Safari always gave us a trustworthy feeling

Your stay at Blue Jay Lodge. What a beautiful place and the owners Filip and Margi really gave us a place to feel home away from home. Lovely welcome, beautiful rooms and everyday in the afternoon they took the time to chat with guests. Really great recommendation by Cara

Your stay at Arathusa Safari Lodge. Again recommended by Cara and what an experience. Nice Lodges, really nice dinners around a bonfire and the rangers and trackers were great. They can tell you so many things about so much and they really love what they are doing and the animals in the Sabie Sands. We saw 3 different leopards in 3 days to see them so closeby with your own eyes ... just WOW!

Your stay at Mountain Inn. This hotel was just a stop for us along our trip. Hotel is nice, clean and simple Your stay at Simunye Lodge. Here we really experienced the Zulu culture (dance, tasting and games). The staff is amazing and the lodges are good, but 1 night will do, as Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are the same every day. We stayed two nights, but the location is perfect. If you want to escape city life for a few days, this is the place to be...

Your stay at Kelway Hotel. It is a nice hotel, with nice rooms. Only a lot of complaints by guests with regards to the rooms they have booked. The same for us. We booked a 4**** sea facing room and we got a rock facing/ trash bin facing room. They told us all the sea facing rooms were fully booked. We told them we already paid for the sea facing room. We don't know with whom they checked this, but when they came back after a while they told us we were right and they switched us. No complaints by us, but during our stay a lot of guests were complaining about the same.  

Your stay at Thorntree Country House. Lovely guesthouse with beautiful rooms We only stayed one night. 

Your stay at Bloom Estate. Amazing little place, really a place were you can relax. The rooms are very modern and trendy. the owners are really nice and helped us with everything. We had a late arrival and they already made a reservation at a lovely Italian restaurant, just to be sure we could get some nice dinner. Also a place were you can get lovely massages  

Your stay at Klein Olifantshoek. To be honest, it was a little disappointment to arrive here. The new Italian owner didn't even knew we were coming... The guesthouse itself is beautiful and the staff as well, but we missed the personal touch. No welcome and no information about the area. We ate a Bouillabaisse, the restaurant of the previous owners of Klein Olifantshoek and they were really nice, so we are not to sure the new owner is as nice as the previous.

Your stay at Maartens Guesthouse. Nice little place to end our holiday. Maarten the owner is really nice and more then willing to tell you everything about the area Lovely rooms and great breakfasts.
 
So you can see we only have positive feedback. A big thank you for Island Safari and especially Cara Lloyd.
If we return to Africa, we will sure use the expertise of Island Safari again
 
Kind Regards,
Chantal Hemel

December 2008
was very much satisfied with all services provided by I-S.
The transfers at Victoria falls and stay at Kingdom hotel were excellent.
Stay at Sun city was also very good.
2 remarks:
- as during this time of year Vic Falls hotels are almost empty of tourists and level of negotiation shall be high, I would expect a bit lower prices.
- the voucher at Sun City hotel was not there on my arrival, what took long time for check in. I-S handled it on line in a very efficient way and it ended ok.
 
As I am traveling on a constant basis on business trips, I will definitely try to work with you in the future.
 
Thanks a lot,
 
Best Regards,
Arie Klebaner

December 2008
We spent a fantastic and unforgettable trip in Zambia and then in Botswana.
Claudia who helped us for the booking was very professionnal and answered to us very quickly for all our concerns.
The transfers between the different lodges where on time and provided us a very good service. All the three lodge were exceptional and the best one was Stanley's camp!!!
The only thing that wasn't planned in our trip was the park fee we were obliged to pay to realize the elephant back safari in Zambia.and we thought everything was paid!!!!!
Then in Stanley's camp, one day we forgot to put our money in the safety bank and some money disappeared....
 
But really we enjoyed our trip and we appreciated ISland Safari and we hope we can travel again with you!
regards
Caroline Jouvenel

December 2008
Dear island safari - I was intending to email and thank you all for a wonderful holiday. We have done a lot of travel in africa and thoroughly enjoyed the combination of camps. Our friends were amazed with it all.
Patricia who put our trip together was fantastic and with our little knowledge of botswana and hers we had a great itinerary. Safari lodge was fine - great food in the evening. Left luggage at Joburg was also fine for anyone who has any reservations. All our flights were great and seemed to be very well organised. The only slight hiccup was at Livingstone. The company were waiting to pick us up at kasane and patricia changed our flights to livingstone. But they put it right very quickly.
All the camps were wonderful. Our favourite was Delta - not for the game - but atmosphere. The staff were lovely and what a treat when we boarded the mokoros from the landing strip and 'poled' to the camp. One of our party burst into emotional tears after that arrival!!!
The variety of camps,rooms etc was great. Sussi Lodge was beautiful. Game drive there was a bit of a waste of time but we enjoyed the falls and the sunset cruise.
The standard of food was fabulous and everywhere we went we felt very well looked after.
I tried to speak to Patricia in Cape Town to thank her and was amazed to discover she works in Australia!!! Please send our thanks to her. I would not hesitate to use Island safari again.
Our friends would like us to organise a trip to gorillas, serengeti and zanzibar in two years time. Do you deal in those areas?
Again many thanks from a very satisfied group.
Annette Sinclair

December 2008
We’ve been back in Canada for a week now after a wonderful three weeks in Southern Africa – and only just over the jet lag!
 
I wanted to write and tell you how pleased we were with the itinerary that you arranged for us in Botswana and Zimbabwe and how much we enjoyed our holiday. We were taken care of by your staff every step of the way, from being greeted in Johannesburg until we returned from Victoria Falls. The lodges at Sandibe and Mapula that you recommended were amazing, the accommodations, the food, the game drives and the courteous staff were all above expectation. The light aircraft flights were all on time and fun. Victoria Falls and the Hotel were amazing. We felt safe and in good hands all the way, especially crossing the border from Botswana into Zimbabwe where the driver who had met us at the airport, drove us to the border, escorted us through passport control and walked us to the border gate where we were met by another driver in an air conditioned bus and driven to Victoria Falls. All round, a wonderful holiday and experience – Thank you for making it all possible!
 
Please feel free to use this letter or part of it in any promotional material.
 
Thank you and best regards,
Michael (and Signi, Bill & Terry)

December 2008
I had already sent Michelle an email to thank her again for all help with my bookings. I received great service from Michelle. We were in touch for almost six month and she was always fast replying and very friendly, professional and helpful.
 
Canyon Village – great place, good service, nice rooms, great price for what you get. Very nice surroundings!
 
Sossuvlei Lodge – nice “rooms”, great food every night with a lot of choices, great location of course, I really liked this place!
 
Nkwazi Lodge – very friendly owners, very nice atmosphere there and really good all the projects they work on for collecting money for the orphans, we stayed in one of the newer chalet which seems to be less cozy than the older ones.
 
Muchenje Safari lodge – great service from the couple running it, unfortunately we stayed in the family chalet that was just about to be renovated. Actually some renovation had already started, of course Botswana is expensive if you compare to what you get in Namibia for less money. The normal chalets are really nice. You get to meet people here since you are having dinner all together which is fun.
 
Ilala lodge – great service. I was surprised that they were so service minded and polite there, great breakfast buffet and nice rooms, good location, I was surprised that the hotels cost so much at the Victoria Falls. I mean 300 USD is a lot for a room even in the US or in Europe and this is Zimbabwe. I guess I just did not know the prices there J .
 
We were happy with all lodges. It was fun to stay in so many different types.
 
Kind regards,
Viktoria Nystrom

December 2008
I found the service provided by your staff whilst booking first class with very prompt response to e-mails and in trying to resolve accommodation availability.
 
Transfer from Livingtone to Chobe went like clockwork. Unfortunately return from Chobe to Livingstone was not quite as good as we had to get the hotel to phone to ensure our pick up as no one arrived at designated time.
 
Stay at Chobe Safari Lodge could not be faulted with extremely good accommodation and meals – extremely good value for price paid. Excursioins were also excellent.
 
Would have no hesitation in recommending the Chobe Safati Lodge and also your services.
 
I want to return to Africa in 2010 and visit the Serengeti  and will look and see what you have on offer.
 
Regards
David snow
 

December 2008
herewith feedback from my client.
Another job well done by you guys......

We had great time at Mateya Lodge (except weather, cold, rain...) and we will go back to Madikwe with the kids. Some key feedback: The pick-up at the hotel to go to the airport was much too early, we had to wait nearly 2 hours which doesn't make sense for such kind of flight. If you enjoy light aircraft, Fed Air was good, on time both Outbound and Inbound. Mateya Lodge is very nice, as it was our first one, hard to compare but I would recommend. All staff was very friendly and supportive. Very good food and drinks, unfortunately due to the weather we haven't been able to enjoy the private swimming pool and terrace. Clearly the plus is the limited number of suites (5), for the first night we were just the two of us. Game drive were great, we have seen a lot of giraffes, antelopes, elephants and the last morning lions at very, very close range. I have outstanding pictures including 4 cubs two weeks old. Unfortunately we haven't seen buffalo and rhino. Ranger and tracker were good, really enjoy there company for three days. The big plus is to have your own Land Cruiser and the same ranger and tracker for two days. Overall setting of the game reserve and lodge is very nice, not too many cars from others lodges which is believe is a big plus compare to Kruger.

In summary we had great time, a unique place to cut off from day to day work, no cell and no emails. Thanks for the advice, we will comeback to you one day.

Regards
Eric Boileve

November 2008
Just wanted to say thanks for organising our trip in Botswana. Everything worked out really well as regards transfers etc all on time and nice helpful people. Mapula was excellent and Muchenje was great, a good contrast between the two. Vic Falls hotel is fantastic place but the food was dissapointing but they have problems understandably.
All the best
Phil Glynn

November 2008
The Wild light tour was absolutely wonderful! It still fills me with joy.  It was the best trip I have ever been on, and I've been on some really good ones. Africa on the ground, as it were, is magic. The aromas and sounds had as much impact as the views did...and there is something about the hot sand....

We had many unusual, even rare, opportunities for photography as well as abundant "standard" chances. Every drive brought new surprises.

The camp staff were very good.  Things were always in order, even when there were reasons for them not to be.

Dean was endlessly patient, helpful and ingenious in solving totally unexpected problems with equipment..and people. He needed his break after the trip! I learned a lot from him.  He's very good!

It truly was outstanding.  Thank you so much for all of your help getting the trip together. You make a great team.

My Best Regards,
Susan Isgar

November 2008
we would like to tell you that we have very enjoyed our trip in botswana and vicfalls. ALL was very good organised,and make unforgetable hollydays...thank you very much...
frederique and michele Gerst

November 2008
Sorry for late replay. I was our off office for WTM in London.
And after return had very busy time.
 
Re Le Prince Maurice.
My clients were very happy.
They liked everything and I did not receive any critical comments at all.
 
Re Island Safari
I would like to point out the very professional assistance of Carien Simons from your team in Johannesburg.
I am working with Carien since 2004, and never had been disappointed.
 
Thank You and best regards
Gita Rozentale
Baltics Online

November 2008
i m sorry i never called you after the trip(safari) but i can tell you i ll never forget the experience thanks to you and your organization.
it was really wonderfull,i will definitely pass your agency to my friends.
we enjoyed every moment of the journey and there was no minus moment at all.
i m greatfull and tracy also to you.
 
i would like to ask you a small question:since we adored the experience with wildlife and it happen to ba that because of the crisis we have some weeks off,would you be ableto recommend me (if you know) organiztions or centres where there take volunteers to help takingcare of animals....or work on a project?maybe you can suugest me something i could combine with an adventure,any ideas?
 
well,hope you are fine and looking forward to hear from you and more;hope to meet you personnaly very quickly
 
take care
all the very best
ken weinberg

November 2008
We just got back from the trip and I'm very busy at work but I hope to email you soon, everything was great by the way! Will certainly recommend Island Safari and your team in the office and on the ground are to be highly commended. Many thanks for a great experience,
Dave and Jane Quinn.

November 2008
Thanks for the email. I have cc’d my travel companions, and I am sure they will email you direct if they have anything else to add / comment on.

Elize provided me with outstanding service. I emailed almost daily for about 5 months, and she replied promptly and helpfully to every email / question. She also helped my travel companion out with his own travel arrangements at the last minute. The itinerary she put together was perfect for our requirements. We didn’t really need to contact her during our stay as everything went smoothly apart from flight home (out of Island Safari’s hands) – although I did call Elize on the Saturday evening from Botswana and she answered / assisted.

Transfers. They were perfectly adequate for what we needed. The crossing from Chundukwa to Elephant Valley Lodge was only problematic because of the storm, and we weren’t prepared for an open boat / open sided vehicles at the Botswana end, so we / bags were soaked. All other transfers were on time. The transfer from Elephant Valley Lodge to the Kasane airport was also hampered by the weather / open sided vehicle; and the guide maybe was a little reckless in getting us there so quickly in the rain.

 Chundukwa was lovely. It was perfect being the only guests. Food was great. The two excursions were fantastic (white water rafting & elephant back safari). We were told, after the event, that the safety record of Saf Par wasn’t particularly high, but am not sure if any truth in that. Felt a little pressured into the option of paying an extra $60 per head at the falls to trek to Devils Pool. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to do everything. The guide went out of his to show us some local, non-tourist sights so we felt we saw the real off the beaten track in Livingstone.

Elephant Valley Lodge – only ‘complaint’ was the raucous noise of all of the frogs at night!! The food was less home-made than both Oddballs and Chundukwa, but was still better than expected. Our guide really went out of his way to find us sightings of the animals we wanted to see; and took us out earlier in the morning than he was scheduled.

Oddballs – very different experience to the other two lodges; the light aircraft flights and the camping / animals in the campsite. But that only added to the experience. Until we actually started walking on the walking safaris, it then only became evident what a walking safari was – and how close we were to the animals / possible dangers.

The staff in all of the 3 were extremely helpful and accommodating.

Other useful feedback: prevalence of South African electrical plugs throughout, and none of the International adapters fitted. Eventually bought an adapter / relied on lodges charging appliances for us

Wasn’t clear which currencies we could use in which country. Were advised that we could use Rand (as we were arriving from SA). Materialised that US Dollars were better in both Zambia & Botswana

The return journey home – with flight from Maun to JHB being delayed; and the subsequent delayed luggage, and stuff stolen from locked/wrapped back at JHB – was a sad way to end trip, but out of your hands.

Biggest criticism was that 6 days wasn’t enough!!

I would happily recommend Island Safari’s to anyone that asks; and all 3 of the accommodation (along with clear expectations of what to expect etc).

Hope that this helps.
Thanks again
Regards
Jon Gordon

November 2008
WE ARE TO RETURN FROM TRIP IN BOTSWANA AND WE ARE VERY HAPPY.
YOUR ADVICE AND YOUR ORGANIZATION OF OUR JOURNEY ..... EXCELLENT !
(THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN FINDING OUR BAG !!!).

EVERYTHING  WAS WONDERFUL.

CIAO A PRESTO
PIETRO E GRAZIA

November 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.  Excellent, Cara did a great job and everything worked out very well
The transfers you had. Transfer from Hoedpruit was fine   - We were picked up by an retired couple which was fine – they got us safely there
Your stay at Tanda Tula Game Lodge. Excellent lodge and met our requirements exactly
 
I trust this is of use to you
 
Regards
Tony Carlsson 

November 2008
I had a great time overall and I'm very satisfied in general. Please find the answers below in blue for the varoius categories
best regards
Gianluca Cecchini
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour. excellent, Patricia was always very timely in sending me the info and all the documentation, and the payment process went very smoothly. all in all a very efficient process
The transfers you had. all transfers were excellent, always on time and well organised
Your Wildlight Photographic Safari excellent, Grant is a great guide and a great naturalist (and also a great photographer!), his knowledge of the bush and animal behavior allowed us to see things that we never would have seen otherwise. The staff guys were great, service was excellent starting from camp set up to the food (compliments to the cook!). Dean provided a great deal of photographic guidelines that really helped me in taking better pictures, his ability of reading the light was crucial in getting good images

November 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
excellent
The transfers you had.
very  good
Your stay at Metcourt Laurel Hotel
excellent
Your stay at Victoria Falls Hotel
very good
Your stay at Chobe Safari Lodge
excellent
Your stay at Savute Safari Lodge
excellent
Your stay at Mapula Lodge
excellent
Tatjana Radikovic 

November 2008
The service provided IS staff at all stages was exemplary.
 
All accommodations provided the level service, comfort and friendliness expected and we would return to all of them.
 
Transfers all worked well.
 
The only disappointment was the weather whilst we were at Hartford House for which I do not hold IS responsible!
 
Regards
Chris Bull

November 2008
Home today.
 
Oddballs was great all worked well.  Our guide was TK
 
We also had a 14 day birding tour with Tutwa Tourism and Travels Guide Sean which was super went well together with Oddballs
 
Thanks
Kay White

November 2008
Our trip was the wonderful experience. Now I can tell that everithing was organized excellent and we did not have any delay or problem during our trip.
What I can say is that you had right than you proposed 2 days in V. Falls- there is  no need to stay more than 1 night bescause the country is very expensive, all activities are too expensive and their value is not what tourists have to pay.
Our best meal was in Ilala lodge. Hotel was good but need to be refurnised. It is sad to see that people in Zimabwe has nothing.
After that, allready at border post to Botswana we find the difference- a lot of young people, smileing and enjoy their contacts with the guests.
All lodges were excellent- I adore Savuti, but  each  was special. Stuff very kind and proffesional.
We met nice people on our trips, and we realy enjoy in activities, free time and meals.
I hope that I will have occasion to recomended your agency to my collegues who can do this kind of trip, and I hope that in the future I will be able to visit South africa as well.
My husband love very much our hotel in Joburg, and restaurants we find all around.
Shortly we can recomended You and you efforts to make our trip so exiting and unforgetable.
 
Kind regards
Tatjana Radikoviæ Rimac  and Niko Rimac

November 2008
Thank you for your enquiry.  I had been planning to e-mail you to thank Island-safari for the excellent organisation.  Cara was very helpful with the initial booking and the transfer arrangements were superb.  Someone was always there to meet us on landing and there were never any delays with the flights.  The accommodation was first class and the staff were always friendly and helpful.  We were very impressed with Namibia.
 
If we decide to return to the continent of Africa in the future, we will certainly check your website to see if you cover the country of our intended visit.
 
Many thanks
Ken Lindsay

November 2008
Returned home to Australia yesterday after a wonderful holiday. Happy to provide feedback on our Botswana experience.
 
Patricia was very helpful and prompt with her suggestions and we built up quite a rapport in putting the itinerary together. We had no hitches or frustrations with any transfers except some elephant roads blocks on the river between Xakanaxa and Little Kwara (scary!) Enjoyed also the small planes between camps.
 
The Safari Club was perfect for an overnight stay being close to the airport especially after the long flight from Australia. The proprietor did mention that October and November were the "suicide months" with the heat but we ticked all the boxes with some wonderful animal experiences and apart from the mobile CC Africa camp we coped really well for a couple of oldies.
 
The Stanley Lodge was the pampering place and a chance to get over any jetlag before heading into the bush. Meals were special although the mosquitos did bother us moreso there than anywhere else.
 
Lagoon Camp provided excellent sightings especially wild dog, cheetahs, elephants, hippos and leopard and big herds of buffalo. Accommodation and very friendly people was a trait throughout.
 
Savute under Canvas was probably the wrong choice for us given the heat and such a dry dusty time of year. The camp site lacked enough shade and vehicles almost bogged in camp from overuse of the site. Temperatures reached 46c on the last day and we needed to leave camp early that day without returning because they needed to pack up the camp to allow others onto the site. We could not escape the heat during the middle part of the day which was tiring. Given the negatives we did see some excellent game but unlike the concession areas of Lagoon and Little Kwara we needed to share these sightings with several vehicles including self drive campers.
 
Xakanaxa Camp was a welcome release from Savute given the excellent creature comforts and surrounds. First class accommodation, food and Bob, Flo Flaxman, Lettie etc just made this a very special place. We would have appreciated at least another night here.
 
Little Kwara was probably the pick of the game viewing although we had highlights at all camps. Again first class accommodation and staff.
 
Lots of memories to share with family and friends and hopefully a chance to return to Africa again if the share market bounces back again before we get to old to shake around in the vehicles. We have some recommendations to consider from the Safari Guesthouse proprietor which I'll ask Patricia to do some initial homework on even though it could be sometime off. This was our third trip to Africa and undoubtedly the best!
 
Thanks again,
Allan Schuback

November 2008
This is the comment about your agency I have sent to Tripadvisor. "I would like to report a good experience with a travel agency: Island-Safari.com and giving testimony that they are a very reliable travel agency. I made a program to Mozambique including a stay in Benguerra Island. Everything has been planned and one month before departure the LAM airlines changed the flights scheduled. Island-Safari.com, offered me the possibility to cancel the trip and I have been full refunded. I really appreciated their attitude and hope that in same time I may book another trip with them"
Best regards
Carlos Pina Vaz

November 2008
Summary: we had our perfect summer vacation. We will recommend Island Safari to everyone.
 
We also hope to repeat the experience in the near future.

See my comments embedded in your mail.
 
Thanks a lot to the team.
 
Kindest regards.
Jose Bernard
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour. [JB] Service was superb since the very first moment. Cara first and your hotline later provided the best service.
The transfers you had.
[JB] Apart from the rush of our very difficult connection to arrive to Mfwe in Zambia, someone was waiting for us as planned.
Your stay at Kapani Lodge [JB] Considering Kenyan Airways lost our luggage, our stay in Kapani was excellent Kapani Staff take care of us. Even they provided some clothes till we recover ours. 
Your stay at Kakuli Bushcamp [JB] Excellent again
Your stay at Luwi Bushcamp [JB] ....Excellent. Finally we got back our clothes in the most remote of the bush camps.
Norman Carr Safaries provided the best service. All the guides were very professional and very close. We felt like home. Steve, Lucinda, Theresse, Sam, Saadani, Lawrence, Nick  and some others. All  of them contribute to our experience. We have been several times in Africa. Food was superb, cakes even better.
Your stay at Bushbuck Bushcamp
[JB] Very exciting experience. It is a place in the paradise . We were alone in the Bushcamp. Guides once more very good.
Your stay at Chongwe River Lodge
[JB] Very good stay. We did enjoy the last two days fishing, walking. They provide all the support when we decided to anticipate the fligh some hours.

November 2008
Thank you so much for contacting us as I really wanted to thank Island-Safari, Elize in particular and all the team for the wonderful organisation, advice and handeling of our recent holiday.  Elize recommended the perfect lodges for what we were looking for and the activities she pre-organised were most enjoyable.  Our children have defintely been biten by the African bug and should we ever be travelling back to Africa we shall not hesitate in contacting you, similarly I would definitely recommend Island Safari to my friends and family.
 
Unfortunately on our outward flight with British Airways, we incurred a 3hour delay which meant that we subsequently missed the connecting flight to Livingstone.  British airways were most unhelpful and unco-operative.  Luckily for us Elize and her team certainly proved their weight in gold and helped us to sort the problem in a most satisfactory way.
 
Many thanks again,
kind regards
Mrs Tace Riche

November 2008
Here we are again (sigh….!). First of all, I want to thank you so much, because our trip has been really WONDERFULL!!!!
Everything has been perfect and totally respondent to our aspecatatives.
As promised, I send you a feedback on the single services.
Kambaku lodge is absolutely the top. Fantastic lodge, wonderfull the assistance of people working there, great cuisine. One special mention for the superlative professionality of the ranger. Magic atmosphere!
Summerfields river lodge is very charming, good assistance of the staff, high level of restaurant and of SPA.
If we want to find something non totally perfect, is about the Honeyguide Camp. The lodge is nice, the tend confortable and charming. But the staff isn’t adeguated. The manager but in particular the rangers are not professional at all, they don’t have enthusiasm, and are nearly arrogant and too cool. This is the unic negative note.
Also the drivers for the transfer has been good, punctual and very professional.
So, we want to say you that we will recomand your organization to every friend of us that will travel in Africa!
Thank you for everything, Cara, and I hope to contact you as soon as possible for a new trip!
Bye
Maddalena and Renato Bertello

November 2008
Hi there, we are back after a great trip. The service from Island safari was very friendly and efficient during the booking process , Carien was very good at answering our queries.
Transfers from Maun were fine except our flight to Oddballs had been arranged for either 10am or 11am - cannot remember now but when we arrived at the Delta office we were told it had been changed to 1pm. apparently they had tried to contact us the previous day - but not sure how? So we had to wait around a while. Apart from that the flights were fine.
Oddballs was great, especially the "honeymoon suite". The staff were excellent and our 2 guides very good, they looked after us very well particularly on the bushcamp which we did for 2 nights.
All in all good service received.
Sue Mason

November 2008
I was a bit scared in the begining when i was booking my tour with you Because i had to pay everything in advance.But once when every thing gone through.
During my holidays I must have to say that I have seen the best time of my life while staying Oddballs camp.
I am very pleased with all of the arrangement which I got from your side. I dont think so that I faced any problem from your side.
I must have to say special thanks to Ms. Verona for making all of the best possible arrangements for me and my wife.I am pleased by the cleard pricelist I got from your side without any hidden charges.
I am also pleased with the transfers to and from Oddballs made by such a reliable company
At the end of my mail i must have to say special thanks to all of the staff who made my holidays unforgettable.In future I would really want to book my holiday with your organisation.And I would recommend your company to all of my friends and relatives.
Thanking you,
Eduardo Da Costa

November 2008
Our holiday was absolutely fabulous.
 
Although our flight from the U.K. was delayed by 12 hours your representative was at Jo'burg waiting for us with our tickets for the flight to Maun. I believe her name was Natasha (could be Natalie) and she was most helpful and friendly.
The transfers to Maun and then to Oddballs was good and staff were ready and waiting at the Oddball's landing strip to greet us and take our luggage.
 
The stay at Oddballs was lovely, the food absolutely wonderful and everything was kept so neat and clean, it couldn't have been better.
 
We went bush camping for 3 nights and again I can only say how magnificent it was. Our guide Kogishi (KG for short) was a true gentleman to 2 females. He looked after us, was knowledgeable, helpful and great with the Mokoro and walking. We even saw a lion. If I was pushed to make any criticism it would be to say that that instead of the chairs we had to sit on it would have been wonderful if there were 3 fold basic loungers so that you could rest in the heat of the day more comfortably. However I know that space in the Mokoro is at a premium but maybe that could be something to be considered in the future.
 
The entire booking procedure was most helpful. All my questions were answered quickly and efficiently and I don't think it could have been bettered.
 
I would have no hesitation in saying that as my first experience of this kind of trip it was wonderful and I had a truly remarkable holiday. I would love to return one day.
 
Kind regards
Jenny Warren

November 2008
We had a fabulous time on our trip,  it was exactly want we were looking for.  Patricia really understood our needs and obviously knew the area and lodges extremely well.   I had had trouble finding anything that suited us as we are a family of 5, with children aged 13, 11 & 9. 
 
The transfers went very smoothly and all the people who meet us were very friendly and helpful.  My only complaint would be that the drive from Maun to Planet Baobab  could have been a lot more comfortable if the vehicle had had some aircon, as it was extremely hot and we were 4 across the back seat,  although our driver Moses was a very pleasant man.
 
The Safari club, again perfect -- it was exactly what we needed,  close to airport very comfortable large rooms, quiet , good food and they again were very helpful as we needed to leave luggage, which they stored and then delivered to us a the airport on our return (no extra cost, although of course we did give a tip)
 
We loved Oddballs,  again it was exactly what I had asked for, some camping in the bush.  The guides looked after us very well,  we had 3 guides to our family of 5.  The guides were very knowledgeable and we great with the kids.
 
Planet Baobab was another excellent adventure and we were lucky to have a very knowledgeable guide who was great with the kids,  we went out on the salt pans on the 4x4's, a real highlight.
 
Muchenje Lodge was amazing - just beautiful,  excellent game viewing, guides,  food and helpful management. We had a bit of a lost bag drama,  it got left at Kasane Airport - how that happened, who knows.  Maybe because we had quite a rough flight from Gweta,  2 of the kids got airsick as it was a pretty windy day.  Anyway, the driver took my husband back to the airport and there it was, phew.  
 
The game viewing in Chobe Game Reserve was amazing, particularly the boat trip.
 
Songwe Village actually burnt down,  it happened after we had already left on our trip, so Patricia kept us well informed and we were more than thrilled that we ended up at Stanleys Safari Lodge in Livingston instead.   It was again just amazing and the managers there were really great people too.   It was unfortunate for Songwe but wonderful for us.  The excursions that Patricia put together for us again, excellent and just exactly what we were looking for.
 
Overall,  we had an absolutely brilliant time,  I can't thank Patricia enough.  Our once in a lifetime Safari experience was everything we had hoped it would be and more (can't wait to go back). 
 
My only comments re: booking with Island Safari's was the rather nerve racking wait for confirmation of receipt of payments.  These were extremely large sums of money, for us, and it was scary to just Telex it away to an offshore account and have to wait for over a week for an email from accounts.   
 
Although, now of course I can without doubt recommend Island-Safaris and Patricia in particular.
Thank you for some wonderful, irreplaceable memories for our family
 
Kind Regards
Dorothy de Lautour and the Jacob family
 

November 2008
Everything was fine and the Victoria Falls Hotelstaff professional  
Thanks
John Contini

November 2008
I am extremely happy with the service I received from Island-Safari.com. I made this booking at the last minute, just prior to my departure from Jersey and I was very impressed with the expeditious way my booking was processed. I also appreciated the fact that the  e-mail enquiries I made  prior to making the booking were dealt with in a similar manner.
 
My transfer from The Victoria Falls Hotel to Livingstone Airport went smoothly and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to deal with the long queues. The drivers and the transport provided were excellent.
 
My stay at the Victoria Falls Hotel was memorable. It was an amazing experience particularly being British. I found that the hotel had retained more of it's splendour than I had anticipated. The room was comfortable and the service was very good. Unfortunately the food left a lot to be desired. It was very expensive and in some cases barely edible. I am aware of the situation in Zimbabwe and realise the difficulties in obtaining provisions and as such allowances can be made.
 
However I visited the other hotel that I had considered staying at :- The Ilala Hotel and I ate there on a couple of occasions. The food at this hotel was extremely good and the price was very reasonable compared with the Victoria Falls Hotel.
 
Despite the awful food if I return to Victoria Falls and I hope to, I would choose to stay at The Victoria Falls Hotel and eat at the Ilala.
 
I would certainly use Island-Safari.com in the future and have already recommended your services.  I plan to return to Africa in 2009 and I hope you can help me on that occasion.
 
Thank you for organising the hotel which provided a special ending to my trip on the Shongololo Express
 
Best wishes
Dorothy Woods

November 2008
I am pleased to give you feedback from our wonderful safari vacation in Zambia.  We arrived back in Boston this past Sunday.  The most grueling part of the journey was our own plans to get from Boston to Lusaka and back.

The service we received was generally very positive, starting with an e-mail relationship with Mandy of your staff, including you providing a better price for our vacation with the Bush Company than they could provide to us directly themselves.  During the tour we did not have any direct contact with Island Safari so it would be difficult to comment on that. 

The issues with transfers related to getting out of Mfue after our Bush Camp experience and getting from Livingstone back to Mfue.  As to the former, we were to leave Mfue, eventually to arrive in Livingstone, the afternoon of 10/29.  Zambian Airways, we were told, stopped flying from Mfue so there was difficulty rebooking us and we ended up leaving at 9:30 am or so in the morning (on Proflight), a very different situation than we had anticipated. I was particularly concerned that my wife would miss her tour of Tribal Textiles we had anticipated before departure.  As it turned out, the Bush Camp Company (Georgie, Lucy and Katie, in particular) were very accommodating and we were able to leave early enough to arrive at Tribal Textiles shortly after their 7 am opening and my wife had plenty of time to browse and buy (perhaps too much time to browse and buy!).  Given the change in plans, we were not charged for the tour of Tribal Textiles as it sometimes the case (since, in our case, it was deemed to be part of the transfer.  That was nice.) Our departure from Livingstone was changed to an hour later but that was not much of an inconvenience. The Bush Camp Company was also good about informing our hotel in Livingstone (which we had booked ourselves and was to pick us up) abut the change in flight time.

Our stay at Mfue Lodge was fine.  As I had mentioned above, Georgie, Lucy, Katie and others were lovely and accommodating. We had an interesting time trying to get to our lodging at night when our chalet was surrounded by elephants but that is what we were in Zambia to experience and the staff knows how to deal with such things very well.  The staff was very helpful enabling us to use the internet to let our children know we had arrived safely and to touch base after six or seven days out in the Bush.   For us, Mfue Lodge was a way station on the way to and from the Bush so it was not a significant part of our trip. We did go on one sundowner Land Rover excursion and that was fine.

The Bush Camps themselves were extraordinary, each in its own ways.  We first arrived at Chamilandu, finding Wayne the Manager warm and welcoming along with all of the staff.  We felt well taken care of.  Gilbert, the guide, was very helpful and knowledgeable.  Among other things, his expertise made it possible for us to experience a lion kill of a puku the first night, really extraordinary.  Some of our fellow guests were particularly hard to please, beyond reasonable from our perspective.  One in particular kept making reference to another safari which delivered morning tea and biscuits to his door.  This was somewhat ridiculous from our perspective as all we had to do was walk down from our second story chalet and everything was spread out before us.  Still, we knew Wayne would accommodate him and he did.  Wayne stopped by our chalet that evening to say he was going to provide the others with this special service and to ask what we wanted him to deliver the next morning.  When I hike I use two walking sticks to get a little upper body work out (left over from winter snowshoeing) and the staff cut a large bamboo stalk into two pieces since I had not brought sticks on my long journey from home.  And the meals, wonderfully planned, cooked, delivered and presented.  This was the case, in very different ways, for all three of the bush camps we visited.  In addition, I had let you know that I had special dietary needs because I have diabetes.  Again, at all three camps, staff could not have been more solicitous.  They were caught short a bit, especially at Bilimungwe, our first camp, because they knew about the lack of sugar but did not understand what a high concentration of natural sugar things like orange juice have and that my diet is very limited as to carbohydrates.  Wayne responded immediately and very well, cutting down on the carbs and providing additional meat, etc.  He then let all of the other Managers at the Bush Camps I was to visit know and they all wonderfully followed suit, in a number of cases altering the preparation of the meal to make it easier for me to eat properly.  A+!  Chamilandu's chalet was spectacular, the accommodation, the view.  Our morning walks and evening sundowners were great with Gilbert as guide but also given the wonderful scout and tea boy we had.  A great experience.

Bilimungwe seems somewhat more modest than the other camps we visited.  It is the only one not on a river, the lodging is totally enclosed (rather than the others which always had one side totally open to the outside (though gated).  But from the moment we were met with cold, wet wash cloths and cold drinks (which was great and was the case at all of our bush camps, including those we stopped at to pick up other people during our transfers) by Mike, the manager's smiling and welcoming greeting, we felt excited, at home and, again, well taken care of.  The room was fine.  At each camp, we appreciated and used the mosquito netting around the bed.  The observation area around the shared reception and dining area, with a watering hole created by pumping river water from a good distance away, was a great meeting spot and place to view wildlife, the ever present warthogs, baboons and various antelope, kingfishers and occasional other visitors, including elephants.  Again, the meals were great, in preparation, presentation and delivery, and the accommodation to my dietary needs was exemplary. In particular, Manda Chisanga, was the best of all guides we met.  Expert and passionate, he pointed out things large and small and made the experience especially worthwhile and significant.  I cannot speak highly enough about him. Mike, our manager, was very accommodating and sweet, around to talk when we wanted to and not intrusive in any way.  I noticed two wonderful walking sticks when we first arrived.  They were simple but striped from a process of leaving on part of the bark while removing another part.  I asked if I might use them and Mike said to keep them.  It would only take 45 minutes for one of the staff to make two more.  I managed to get those two sticks back to Boston upon our return and they serve as a lovely reminder of our trip and how well taken care of we were.  Unfortunately, after our first of two days at Bili Mike received word that his brother had died (in Amsterdam).  The news was delivered sensitively by Andrea Bizzaro of the Bush Camps away from we guests.  Manda told us during our tour.  The Bush Camp Company brought one of their fill-in Managers, Privity, to Bilimungwe and she took over admirably for Mike.  We were all sad for his loss but the Bush Camp Company did not let it affect our vacations.  Manda asked if we wanted to walk to our next (and last) bush camp, Kapamba.  We did and he made that walk our morning walk.  It was lovely.

And so we walked to Kapamba, again a very beautiful setting (on a very dry river).  We were greeted by the Manager, Ollie, with cold wash cloths and drinks, very refreshing after our long walk.  The entire camp was lovely as was the staff.  The over-sized sunken bathroom tub (and double shower) was as amazing as described, cooling us off during the siesta afternoon as we watching wildlife come to the Kapamba River. Dean, our guide, was particularly clear on what he wanted to do and accomplish. He seemed expert and passionate in and about all areas of nature.  It may be repetitive but the staff was lovely and made us feel well taken care of and the taste, presentation, delivery and setting of the meals and food was exemplary.  A particular highlight was that at Kapamba there was a morning walk and a combined afternoon/evening/night walk and ride.  My wife and I really enjoyed that.  On our last night, our afternoon walk crossed the Kapamba River (shoes off!) and went on from 4:30 until about 6:15.  At this point we were all hot and tired but we knew we were approaching a return to the camp.  We talk off our shoes one more time to recross the river and, as we approached, could see kerosene lanterns and then director chairs set out for us in the shallow water of the river by the camp.  Drinks were served. It was a particular treat, especially for our last night in the Bush. I attach a photo of my wife and the couple we befriended in the director's chairs set up at the edge of the Kapamba River.

One other thing of note, there is something unique about the small number of accommodations at each Camp.  You feel a focus on you but it also encourages lovely interaction with other guests.  One does not always feel totally compatible with others but we were very fortunate to meet and befriend a lovely couple from London with whom we will stay in touch. We kept staying at the same camps at the same times and struck up a nice friendship.  We also particularly enjoyed two younger couples, one from Galicia, Spain (two biologists) and one from Tamil Nadu, India (Sunthil had won the safari as a photography prize from National Geographic). It was mutually enjoyable, I think.  And another note, all of the Zambians we met were gracious, among the loveliest people we have met in any of our travels.  The fact that their elections were late in our tour (10/30) and ours less than a week later (11/4) made for some interesting and intense discussions and sharing.

So, all in all, I would say that my wife and I had a wonderful time, rivaling only two extraordinary trips we have made to India in our lives.  I will blind copy her on your request and my response in case she wishes to respond as well.  Thank you for your great work and attention to detail.  We would highly recommend Island Safari to others.  And we would most highly recommend The Bush Camp Company to any and all. 


Sincerely,
Gerald M. Tuckman

November 2008
I give Island-Safari the highest marks for preparing a well planned and organized itinerary for us. Everything went like clockwork. We were always met on time and transferred to our next destination where we were welcomed by hosts anticipating our arrival. There was not a single glitch or any confusion during our entire tour. Island-Safari did a perfect job. We will definitely use Island-Safari in the future and recommend Island-Safari to anybody asking for a tour agency to plan an African safari.
 
All transfers were on time and expeditors and drivers were very friendly and helpful.
 
The Safari Club SA was a very comfortable place to stay and rest up from 24-hours of non-stop travel before heading to our safari camps in Botswana.
 
The Mapula Lodge was our favorite. It is a bit off the beaten track and has a very comfortable remoteness. The staff are very friendly and after a few short hours at the lodge it started to feel like family. Our guide and tracker (Patrick and Joseph) worked well together, making our tours especially interesting and fulfilling.
 
Elephant Valley Lodge is a luxurious tent facility, clean and comfortable. Because the lodge is more than twice the size of Mapula Lodge, it does not offer quite the same level of personal attention. However, we were personally greeted each day by the manager, Shawn, who made sure everything was as we wanted it. We had the same guide, Eugene, all three days on virtually private tours (thanks to advance arrangements by Island-Safari). Eugene was excellent. My only complaint about Elephant Valley Lodge is that it is 40 minute drive from the park (Chobe) and river boat launch so each day considerable time (almost 3 hours) is spent just driving from the lodge to the park and river. But that said, it was nice to not be in Kasane or at a large resort. Elephant Valley Lodge made a nice transition from the quite remoteness of Mapula Lodge to the Zambezi Sun.
 
The Zambezi Sun was very nice, but our least favorite. It is a large resort, rather impersonal, noisy, and very touristy. After 7 nights in small, quiet, open-air lodges, the Zambezi Sun was a bit of shock. I don’t know what other upscale options, other than the Royal Livingstone, are available in the Livingstone area, but we would have preferred something quieter and more personal, perhaps one of the lodges upstream of the falls along the Zambezi.  This is not to say we did not enjoy our stay at the Zambezi Sun. The food was great and the location relative to Victory Falls cannot be beat. High tea at the Royal Livingstone was fantastic.
 
Again, thanks to the superb efforts of Island-Safari, we had a wonderful time and are already starting to think about our next adventure.
 
Best regards,
Andy Keller
 

November 2008
Booking was perfect and followed all ours needs.
Tranfers perfects!
D'Oreale Grande Hotel excellent, clean, well organized and comfortable.
Victoria Falls Hotel is very nice and beautiful but rooms are old and dirty (baths particularly).
Chobe Chilwero Lodge is perfect.
Lebala Camp the super-top!!!  The place is still in ours hearts. Tents are magnificent both architecturally and furnishing. Guides are professional, very well prepared and love their work.
Xakanaxa Camp is a very good place to stay, very good organization and food, but unfortunately we had a theft. Someone stole my portable phone and the recharger in our tent!
Eagle Island Camp is in an extraordinary natural place, tents are magnificent but not so clean and full of nocturnal big spiders. The G. Manager said us that they are not dangerous...but it is not so good find them into our bed every night!
Matemo Island Resort: We loved it so much. The staff is very kind, very good food and beautiful place.
The tour of Johannesburg was good but very quick. At 3.00 P.M. we were at the Hotel.
In conclusion it was a real pleasure travel with your organization and surely if we'll plan another trip in south Africa we we'll contact you.
Many many many thanks to Mandy!
 
Regards
Marina Biffi

November 2008
Our trip was super great and I do have some comments.
 
1.  Mandy was very good to work with and our trip was exactly what we expected. 
2. Every time we were to be met, it all worked out perfectly including the river transfer whick was very interesting.  I was so glad to see your representative in johansburg on the way to Cape Town.  First off I don't remember her name but on both meetings she was full of good information and help.
3. Safari Club was comfortable and the dinner delicious.
4.Sausage Tree was a real treat.  So much to do.  Luckily we were there three nights. Lunch on a sand bar in the Zambesi river, dinner in the game park complete with loo, and a lovely 12km canoe trip down a small stream with all sorts of interesting items like lilies, butterflies, et.  The managers are leaving after they close in Nov but the seconds are returning.  Very well run.
5
the royal Livingston was a hoot.  the problem we had was in getting to the falls.  We should have taken a helicopter ride.  Our guide who picked us up did drive us as close as he could.
6.Muchenje was a simplier lodge in a great location.  The owner Shawn was there which made for an interesting stay.  Getting to and back from the Park every day was interestin-trying to get out before 7pm.  the day on the water was a great experience.  Food good.
7Mapula was somewhat worn.  We did not see many animals.  Our first experience in a private concession and it was huge.  We met a couple who had been with us and they saw huge numbers of animals after we left.
8.Xakanaxa was a very good experience.  Great animals and alovly camp.  good food too.  We had a leopard in the camp for two nights.  Much to do.  Good guides,
9.At Waterfront Apartments we arrived very late.  It took the next day to sort out how to get into the apartment.  We were also told that we were to have breakfast  at the Cape Grace.  This was incorrect but we did enjoy the Cape Grace.  One disappointment was that we never got to Robben Island.  No tickets were available  John was a very good guide to the Cape.
10Klein Ofifanshoek was very comfortable.  good dinner at the restruant they recomended
 
We will definitely recomend island safaris and thank you for agreat trip.
Virginia Ennis

November 2008
Thank you Island Safaris for another great job.  We enjoyed our trip and everything went without a hitch.  All of the accommodations were great.  The only accommodation we would not return to is the Schulphoek Guesthouse.   The accommodations were fine there, but we felt like we were "company" and not welcomed as "family" like we were at all of the other accommodations.  Dinner was formal and no one visited at the table other than within their own travel group.  The hosts showed their wine cellar, lit the candles and left.  Everyone at the other accommodations made you feel very welcome and visited with us.
 
The tour with Ecotours were all enjoyable and worked around weather and schedules to fit everything in.
 
Thanks again for a job well done.  This is our second successful experience utilizing your services and we won't hesitate to call on you folks again when we return.
 
Patti Cole

November 2008
Island Safari’s service was excellent and Mandy’s efficiency, understanding and thoroughness in her dealings with our requests were outstanding. We were very impressed and would certainly consider using the company again were we to be coming back to Southern Africa.
 
Ilala Lodge: Fine hotel with very good rooms; good food and staff; convenient position for activities and falls but its one drawback would be its situation facing the road carrying all the border traffic.
 
Muchenje Lodge: Mixed bag: we were so excited to be going there but there were some disappointments, including the outlook from the lodge across Namibian farmland and cattle rather than wildlife! One guide was rather slow and temperamental and the game driving was hard work because of the distances involved and the very dry conditions (not the lodge’s fault!); no vegetarian dish was provided at supper despite advance warning, just the vegetables that the meat-eaters were eating which was extraordinary (not what we’re used to in Europe!); room was fine but very hot at night; nice lodge with friendly atmosphere otherwise.
 
Mapula Lodge: Lovely setting and our favourite lodge: excellent, spacious, authentic room with great outdoor shower; lovely staff who were very attentive and helpful; fine guides; excellent home-cooked food. Again game-driving was hard work in the conditions but some great moments; they need the fence removed from the concession by the government which spoils the feel of the place.
 
Savute under canvas: good fun: nice tents, genuine, if quite upmarket camping experience, and great staff who created very friendly atmosphere; best guide of trip and lions roaring through the night…!
 
Transfers all worked perfectly except for one brief wait at Kasane Airport to go to Muchenje; all very efficient and enjoyable thanks.
 
Noah Wood
 

November 2008
Everything worked out perfect. I am always concerned when traveling that someone will not pick us up and we won’t know how to contact someone to help us out. That was definitely not the case here. All transfers showed up. All of the flights worked out perfectly. The Mapula Lodge was our favorite.   The guides are professional and the staff took time to get to know us. The food there was delicious. I like the fact that the guides and staff eat meals with the tourists. The Elephant Valley Lodge was a bit of a disappointment because the Mapula Lodge was so attentive we expected the same thing. When we arrived at the Elephant Valley Lodge the game drive was out on the road and no one planned to take us out. All of the other places we stayed we got taken out as soon as we got in even if someone was gone. The lodge had planned for us.  We had not eaten since breakfast and didn’t get lunch since we were flying and had to wait until 8 pm for dinner. We never had a guide introduce himself to us and we did not know where to sit for dinner. We almost missed a game drive on our last day because we were leaving early and no one told us we could go out on a game drive but some other tourists mentioned they were going and we could go with them. None of the staff ever tried to get to know us and we were sort of left on our own. We were not given an orientation with information and we sort of picked up by asking other tourists.  All in all though, the tented room was nice, the food was good and we had a great view of the watering hole. I could not tell you one persons name at this hotel but I could name the whole staff at Mapula.  The Zambezi Sun Hotel was very nice as was the staff and our room. Mfuwe Lodge was also very nice and we had a great view of the lagoon. The food was good and the staff was very attentive. The guides ate with us and the so did the staff. They were very attentive and took time to get to know us. The Safari Club was nice but we were only there for one evening. I liked their rooms a lot.
Please let me know if you have questions. Thanks for setting this up for us and taking care of so many tiny details that could have caused us problems if not taken care of properly.
Have a great day!
Denise Wells

 

November 2008
No problem.  Everything went extremely well so I’m happy to provide feedback.
 
         The service I received from Island-Safari was great: Verona was very helpful, professional and speedy in assisting me.  I was very impressed with the customer service I received.
         Transfers were good.  The driver was waiting for us on both occasions and was prompt dropping us off too.  He was very friendly so we were happy with the transfers too.
        The Royal Livingstone was fantastic.  The hotel is beautiful, the service was great and what a location!  I will definitely be going back next year and we were thrilled with our time there.  We only wish we’d had longer.
 
Hope this helps, let me know if you need anything else.
 
Many thanks
Leo de Montaignac
 

October 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
Great! Patricia provided what we asked for, offered helpful suggestions, accommodated our last minute changes, made independent changes to respond to changes on the ground in Africa and corresponded with me. Excellent!
 
The transfers you had.
OK - they were at the appointed spot at the appointed time and got us to our destinations.
 
Your Wildlight Safari with Letaka Safaris
All in all this was a terrifically positive experience. The camp staff was superb. The guides were good. Occasionally the driver needed direction on positioning for photographers, but was superb at finding and getting us in view of game.
 
But, we were let down by Lataka by unforeseen problems and by problems which should have been anticipated. Scott, the first guide had an epileptic seizure and had to be flown back to Maun. This was hard to foresee and Dean and Lataka responded admirably.
 
On the other hand when the camp vehicle broke down and the staff had NO hand tools or basic knowledge to fix the problem we were stuck for two days and missed one of the destinations in the tour. I recognize that the African bush is not downtown USA, but with some basic tools the guests might have been able to fix the problem with some used gear which was on the vehicle. And, better preventative maintenance would have detected the problem.
 
There were also vehicle problems caused in part by the guests need for charging batteries. However, if Lataka is going to offer safaris for photographers then recharging is as necessary as tents. It there have been one more photographer there would not have been enough capacity to get charging done. And, aging batteries might have also been detected by regular maintenance.
 
Your stay at Meno A Kwena Tented Camp
  Excellent - a great place to spend the last two days. If the rainy season has started a little earlier it would have still been a good place to be. The neighboring park offered some good game drives but not comparable to our experience at Kwai
 
Your stay at Zambezi Sun Resort Hotel
 The hotel and grounds are very nice and provide a very nice environment for ending a trip. However, we preferred the camps in the bush. When we bring future trips we will offer Livingston as an individual add-on and not as part of the tour.
 
I hope this helps. If you have any additional questions please let me know.
 
Peace,
Tom Isgar

October 2008
We booked our tour from Ali, she was great, our whole tour at every camp was wonderful , the staff at each place was so friendly the food was delicious,  and the guides were great in locating all the animals. Our favorite camp  was Baines and our favorite guide was Kot.
 
We think it was the best vacation we had ever been on.
 
Lou and Glenn Davis

October 2008
Happy to provide feedback.

Mapula Lodge was magnificent.  It was a real stand-out for us.  The people were so warm and welcoming, as well as knowledgeable.  The accommodation was terrific there, too.  We loved the timber construction and the African feel about it.  Also, the game drives were incredible.  Our guide, Dicks, and our spotter, Simon, worked really well as a team and they managed to track the most amazing animals for us, including leopards, lions and jackals. They were also terrific with my young son, Jack.

Chobe Safari Lodge good, but very different to Mapula.  I think it would work best for people to go to Chobe first, rather than Mapula.  We did it the other way around because Mapula was booked out at the time that Alison originally tried to book us in.  The accommodation at Chobe was excellent (we had a large River Room), but the game drives were nowhere near as good as Mapula’s, mainly because they’re shorter and the guides are required to stick to the tracks as it’s a national park. This means that they can’t really do any animal tracking. In short, what you can’t see from the road, you just can’t see.  The sunset cruise was good, though, as was the visit to a nearby Namibian Village (which was hosted by a man who works at Chobe, but lives at the village so he was really able to provide us with helpful insights into village life).  One of our activities (fishing) was less impressive as the guide was standing in for someone who was sick and he forgot to bring bait which meant that we didn’t get a bite.  But never mind...these are minor criticisms and overall Chobe was good.

The Kingdom at Victoria Falls was very good.  The people were friendly, the hotel was very clean, and the food was good.  The only real difficulty is finding somewhere to eat as all of the restaurants in the casino complex were closed down while we were there (ostensibly by the Government for overcharging).  This meant that we could eat only in the hotel restaurant (which was pretty expensive) or go into the village (which was not safe at night, particularly for a woman travelling alone with a young boy).  Hopefully they’ll have re-opened the casino restaurants by now, but it was a bit of an issue for us.  The actual Falls were spectacular and we really enjoyed spending a few hours in the park wandering to the various vantage points.  The pool at The Kingdom was closed for maintenance so we were advised to use the neighbouring pool at the Victoria Falls Hotel.  This was a blessing in disguise as the gardens and pool at that hotel are spectacular, as was the view.

Alison’s organisation of our trip could not be faulted.  She was incredibly efficient and reassuring.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous about booking a trip through a travel agent I’d never met or even spoken to, but it all worked out perfectly.  The whole service was thoroughly professional.

The transfers were also fine.  They were on time and very friendly.  I was a little unclear, though, about who I needed to tip as we had both a driver and a guide in each transfer in Zimbabwe, even though they were only transferring the two of us.  In the end, I tipped both.  In fact, in Zimbabwe, I tipped just about everyone I came across – even the lady who made eggs at breakfast!

Overall, we had a fantastic holiday and are very grateful to Alison for her help and advice.

Hope this is helpful.  Let me know if you need any more details.

Kind regards
Jan Saggers

October 2008
The trip was fantastic, everything went according to plan.
 
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour. - good
The transfers you had. - good
Your stay at The Safari Club SA – good, close enough to the airport, with quick connections and good transfer availability
Your stay at Victoria Falls Hotel – good, as expected
Your stay at Elephant Valley Lodge – very good service, very good food and good safari experience
Your stay at Mapula Lodge – excellent service, very personnel, good location and good installations
Your stay at Azura Lodge – excellent service, food, installations, etc… perfect to complete the holydays.
Overall the trip was fantastic!!
Thanks a lot.
 
Expect to hear from us in the futures.
 
Regards,
Pedro Sousa

October 2008

The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.  Absolutely perfect    

The transfers you had.  Good

Your stay at Stanley's Camp Good

Francesca Favini

October 2008
Just wanted you to know we had the best vacation ever.
 
All the camps were wonderful, but Baines Camp was our favorite.
 
Lou and Glenn Davis

October 2008
Thank you for your inquiry about our experience in the Okavango Delta.  It gives us the opportunity to express our praise for both Island-Safari as well as the camp staff at Delta Camp.  We could not have been more pleased.  Patricia at Island-Safari is professional and personable and provided good insight as to our options regarding camps in the delta.  All transfers were handled efficiently and punctually.  I was concerned that our return flight from the landing strip at Oddballs did not allow enough time for the connecting flight to Johannesburg, especially when the other two passengers  were late boarding the plane. But it all worked out. 

The staff at Delta Camp are wonderful.  The food and accommodations were excellent- though guests need to be aware the chalets are open to the environment.  We had an ant problem at first, and we were visited by a squirrel and a harmless snake.  Elephants fed frequently near the chalets, as well.   The camp staff are very proficient in dealing with such issues, and guests need to heed their advice.

Guests should also realize that the game viewing experience  will be very different from that of viewing from a motorized vehicle.  The wildlife are nomadic, and  a visitor on foot can not cover as much area when viewing game.  More game will probably be seen from a vehicle, though game spotted while of foot can be viewed for a longer period of time, and in a more natural behavior.  You are more likely to find the shy creatures, such as the Pel's Fishing Owl.  The  guides are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and showed us how to look more closely for signs of wildlife.

We were very satisfied with our stay at Delta Camp.  It was difficult for us to leave. Thank you for all that you did in helping to plan such a rewarding experience.

Best Regards

Allan and Terry Craig
visitors from California

October 2008
Here some feedback remarks about our safari in Zambia:
Our overall impression was excellent; we particularly appreciated that Zambia is a safe and peaceful country, which enabled us to move around without problems.

We were very satisfied with the service we had everywhere; according to my partner, who had been in Zambia 10 years ago, a huge improvement can be seen. So we really can't complain; compliments to all the local managements!

Thanks also to Cara and your whole team of Island-Safari. The only thing we were a bit confused about, was that change of flights (from Zambian to Proflight), about which we couldn't be informed any more, but when that was sorted out, we were very pleased with all the domestic flights, including the small "taxis".
The transfers worked well, we were expected everywhere.

The Holiday Inn in Lusaka, now called Southern Sun Ridgeway, was okay, normal international standard.

Mwaleshi, Wasa and Shoebill Camp were all wonderful. Mwaleshi was out of the beaten tracks, but could still be easily reached. It is also an excellent place for walking safaris, a good place for spotting animals like lions and elephants on foot. Drinks and food were delicious!

In Wasa and also one night in Luwomba Lodge, we were the only guests, had therefore an excellent service. A Dutch couple, very enthusiastic, with a lot of engagement and great knowledge works in Kasanka. The place is particularly interesting for birding people, Frank is a professional PHD birder. We spotted 156 species in one day! And of course the Sitatunga we saw there were marvellous. The disadvantage for European tourists at that time is definitely the high number of tsetse-flies in some areas of the park, a thing that should probably be mentioned to tourists planning to go there.

Shoebill Camp was the least comfortable, but actually the most friendly camp and perfect for the bush! We spent a lovely time there. The camp is situated in the middle of thousands of Black Lechwe antilopes. Impressive! And there are of course thousands of waterbirds to be seen, a lot of different species. According to the guide, Frank from Kasanka as well, there are plans - basically settled with the local chiefs -to establish a National Park, Shoebill at its centre, with a corridor to Kasanka. And then of course that whole area will become one of the best places for birding in Africa, or even worldwide!

Taita Falcon Lodge corresponded to all the descriptions in the guide book. The different chalets with a private little garden are really nice and of course the whole lodge is beautifully situated, a perfect place for a few relaxing days. We particularly appreciated the private atmosphere; not to be compared with the big hotels. Electrification is planned within the next year.

Our whole trip was mainly due to animal watching, nature and the landscape. The contact with the local people is hardly possible that way; it was only the contact with the staff working at the different lodges. It is certainly good if European tourists are aware of that.

There is one other thing we would like to mention: European people, especially those with no experience in travelling in remote Africa, are definitely not recommended to do a self-driving trip!! We met European people underestimating time and distance, losing their way and then driving at night and even leaving the car in an area with lions, hippos and other wild animals...

So much about our trip; on the whole we were both very satisfied; for me, who was in Africa for the first time, it was  a thrilling and good experience and probably not the last trip...

Thanks again and all the best
Fritz Ledermann and Barbara Reichert

October 2008
Since I was about to write to Mandy anyway, I thought I'd just CC her to this feedback.
 
When I started planning my trip and got in contact with Mandy, there was one thing that quite scared me, and that was the lack of reviews on Island-Safari.com on independent tourism websites, such as TripAdvisor.com and others. The only thing I managed to find were 2 references on tripAdvisor and an old post by one of your customers on the Lonely Planet forum, who have mentioned using your services, but didn't really say if she was pleased with the service she got. I sent her a private message, but she never responded.
I've noticed that island-safari has the most significant web presence in everything that has to do with tourism in Southern Africa, but the only customer reviews I could find, where the praises you published on your own website.
Now, when you're talking about transferring thousands of dollars to some bank account overseas, of a website you don't know, and find no independent information about it, it takes a lot of trust to go for it.
So my last resort was to email Chobe Safari Lodge and Oddballs Camp and ask them about you. When they assured me it's not a scam, I went on with it, and transferred the payment.
 
And I couldn't be more satisfied!
 
Mandy was just tremendously helpful and kind all along the process. I bombed her with a thousand questions and emails, with weird requests and with a really tight budget, and she managed to book us a dream vacation. Her organization was spotless, and I cannot thank her enough.
 
Oddballs Camp was exactly what I was looking for as my first safari experience. The guides were extremely professional, and we had a couple of lovely days there (and they have great food too). Chobe Lodge was also beautiful and we had our share of wildlife there. Flamingo Bay is a true gem.
 
So, regarding the only problem I had during my booking process, I'm writing a few blog posts telling about our trip (those will be up in the next few days on http://blog.gkamin.com), and of course mentioning island-safari's part in this great trip. I also intend to mention you on my Yahoo! Trip planner opening for our trip (also up in a few days on http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-view-1714909-southern_africa_2008;_ylt=A9j8e3mYawVJOs4AtgifItAF ), and write a detailed review on island-safari on TripAdvisor.com. Once I finish uploading all this text, I'll email you with the links to those posts so you can use them as you like. If I have some more time, I'll add a post about you guys at the Lonely Planet forum and in Israel's largest tourism and backpackers' forum.
 
Thanks again,
Gaby Kaminsky
 

October 2008
The service received by Patricia was great; quick, professional and customer friendly.
 
The transfer from Maun to Delta Camp was a great flight.
 
Planet Baobab was a stunning place and very relaxing after a few days in the bush. The Quad Bike trip into the pans was the high-light of the trip, but we found the rest of the Meerkat Manor package (village visit, game walk and lunch) not worth it.
 
Delta Camp was beautiful and staff was very friendly. However, I would not recommend Delta Camp in the hot season, as their Eco-friendly bush walks and mokoro trips are limited to only once a day (early mornings); due to the walks couldn’t start before 4.30 and the mokoro’s had to be back before 18.00 due to the Hippo’s. Also it maybe good to clearly advertise the eco-aspect of the lodge, as we had not expected it; we were looking forward to a bit more relaxing game viewing, after 9 days in the bush.
 
Mashatu tented camp was an excellent way to end the trip; great accommodation, service and professional game viewing.
 
Hope this helps!
Evert Kamphuisen

October 2008
All in all I can say we had a fantastic time, and we are very satisfied with the whole tour. An unforgettable experience, very well organised and courteous and efficient people throughout.
Some comments below.
Best regards
Walter Braun
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
Perfect service and good advise, quick response to all communications from Claudia.
The transfers you had.
All transfers, Lodge flights etc. perfect and on time
Your stay at The Safari Club SA
Nice place, friendly and courteous, put is in the "Safari mood". Good place to rest for a night before travelling on to Botswana.
Your stay at Sandibe Safari Lodge
The most "African" of all Lodges, remarkable and unforgettable. Very well run and very impressive game-viewing. This lodge was the most personal of
the lodges in terms of individual service and overall staff/guest interaction.  We specially enjoyed the staff singing.
Your stay at Xakanaxa Camp
Another excellent place, probably the best for food. Total satisfaction in all aspects.
Your stay at Deception Valley Lodge
Also very good, a total change from the Delta. A small comment to the dinner arrangements: Dinner a bit late in the evening (21:30 is too late after a full afternoon of game viewing), served instead of buffet which delays things further.  As Claudia first suggested (but was not possible in our case), it is preferable to begin a safari in DVL, instead of ending it there.
Your stay at Waterfront Village Apartments
A beautiful flat, all in best order, except it was advertised as "harbour view" but it was "construction site view". But we can live with that - no problem. Perhaps a footnote on their webpage, or yours, informing people of this - at least until the immediate construction is completed.

October 2008
Thanks for your follow-up – indeed worth it, but there is little room for suggestions for improvement from me as everything was done so well and professionally, that Island-Safari’s service and results simply exceeded expectations.
 
The service was superb – both in handling our bookings and our restrictions to find  the right timing and price to enable the holiday and the “Meet & Greet” service including transfers to and from Sun City, all done with unexpected dedication, commitment and care.
 
The transfers were a huge headache-saver as I understand that the alternatives are less personal and people are inconvenienced somewhat.  However this service was reasonable priced into your package and made it that much more valuable.
 
The stay at the hotel was fine – we were suitably warned (I did read the small print!) of the renovations going on and they did not affect us much.  I would suggest that this be done a little more clearly, but it was mentioned and the hotel made efforts to ensure it did not affect the guests much.
 
The facilities, activities and possibilities at Sun City were not fully known to us and we did not discover many of them, leaving something for another time.
 
Our special thanks to Louise and Fred who were instrumental in finding us the right holiday plan and following it up with great service.
 
Best Regards
Shimmy Belikoff

October 2008
just quicke.

Michelle who booked my trip has been tremendously nice and helpful and understanding. I had problems with bank which caused delay in payment but all was handled perfectly fine.

All transfers and stay at PomPom was wonderful.

bye
Irma Pirmpie

October 2008
I would just like to say how wonderful Patricia is! She has helped me so much and been so patient and understanding with all my requests for my trip to Africa. She is professional and compassionate and you are so blessed to have her working for you.   She has put together 2 fabulous tours for me and I am so excited about each one. I can hardly wait until next year to begin my journey. I look forward to booking more tours in the coming years and referring all of my friends to Patricia to plan their adventures.   She is a great asset to your company and I am so lucky to have been put in contact with her.  
Kind Regards,  
Charlotte Wheeler

October 2008
1.  First I would like to say that Mandy was absolutely amazing.  I was 100% pleased with the service she provided.  Mandy responded to all of my e-mails usually the same day, the next day at the latest.  She organized the perfect trip for us.  My boyfriend had a last minute delay.  The day before our trip, Mandy was able to change our itinerary.  Overall, I would recommend Mandy without hesitation.  She was a pleasure to work with and did an amazing job.
 
2.  The logistics of our trip were quite complicated, with 4 commercial flights and 4 additional "puddle jumpers."   We were very pleased that all our flights and all our transfers went off with out a hitch.  In both Botswana and Mozambique, the smaller flight transfer companies were there to meet us with clearly marked signs.  Our transfers could not have gone any more smoothly.  We were in three African countries and the logistics of this trip were perfect.  We could not have asked for better.  Again, Mandy did an excellent job of organizing the flights and our itinerary.
 
3.  Kwara Camp was lovely.  The reception was easy and well organized.  The game drives were amazing and the amount of wildlife we saw was incredible.  The tent was clean.  The food was nice.  Our only disappointment was in the fishing.  With Mandy's help, we chose Kwara Camp specifically because they offered fishing.  The fishing was a total disappointment, the camp wasn't really set up for fishing, the equipment was poor at best and the guides weren't really prepared for it.  The camp is a wonderful safari camp.  And, I can recommend Kwara for that whole-heartedly.  We had no complaints about the safari aspect of the camp at all.  However, Mandy, I don't think I could recommend "fishing" at Kwara again to anyone.
 
4.  Little Kwara was amazing.  Mandy, it was everything you promised and more.  The transfer between the two camps was seamless.  We loved Little Kwara and my boyfriend is saying we would go back.  I can recommend Little Kwara and I actually already have to friends back home.  The tent was amazing.  The view spectacular and the food was great.  Little Kwara was great.
 
5.  Finally, Matemo was the gem of our trip.  I can not say enough wonderful things about Matemo Island Resort.  (The only complaint we did have was the additional and quite high price for drinks.  5 USD for a can of local soda we felt was quite expensive.  Next time, we would be willing to pay a bit additional to not have to pay for drinks.)  The transfer from Pemba to Matemo Island was easy and the views were amazing.  We were met and taken directly to reception and to our room.  The "room" at Matemo - well room does not do it justice.  We felt like we had our own little house.  And, our own little house was perfect, simply beautiful.  The air conditioner worked great.  The room was cleaned twice daily.  The front little porch with a hammock was perfect for naps and sun downers.  The common areas of Matemo, reception, restaurant, bar, pool, are fantastic.  Matemo Island Resort is a beautiful place.  The food at Matemo was fantastic, simply fantastic.  The menu was well thought out, varied and perfectly prepared.  The staff were wonderful as well, very helpful, fun, friendly and just a joy to be around.  We went sailing several days on the boats provided by the resort.  And, we did book a half day fishing.  While the fish were not biting, the trip was well organized and the equipment and guide were very good.  Overall, Matemo Island Resort was a wonderful experience.  We will be back next year for sure and I can recommend it 100% to any one who is looking for a quiet island get away.
 
Again, overall, our trip was perfect.  And, Mandy has everything to do with that.  Mandy did a wonderful job and I am very thankful for all her help.
We will be using Island Safari again, but ONLY if we can work with Mandy!
 
Thanks so much for an amazing holiday,
Lauren Beatty

October 2008
Everything was good! Booking process, transfers and Chobe Safari Lodge.
Thank you!
Dmitry Valdov

October 2008
100% satisfied with every aspect of the below criteria.
The service from yourselves was fantastic and will be highly recommended.
thanks
Steven Gilchrist

October 2008
We had a fantastic time and brilliant service from all concerned.
 
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour. Excellent, very helpful. There was some concern about the turn around time on arrival at Johannesburg airport, so we went through transit rather than meeting The Traveller's Friend. Mandy supplied us with our e-tickets to Livingstone and we had a contact number in case of any difficulties.
 
Transfers
All went remarkably smoothly, although the final one from Deception Valley Lodge to Maun took 45 minutes rather than 30, but we got there in time to check in.
 
Your stay at The Kingdom Hotel
The service was excellent, they're doing a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances. Everyone very friendly and helpful. Incidentally, I'd recommend the Lion Encounter.
 
Your stay at Muchenje Safari Lodge A perfect start to the safari experience. Lovely, relaxed atmosphere; the guides were superb and we saw so many animals. On the second day we did and early morning drive and then an all day safari starting at 10.30, as advised by the owner, it was brilliant and to be recommended; the hottest part of the day was spent on the Chobe River.
 
Your stay at Delta Camp
Again, excellent and completely different. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learned so much about the plants and trees. The food here was exceptional and the company fantastic.
 
Your stay at Xakanaxa Camp
Wonderful again, but perhaps lacking the intimate atmosphere of the first two camps. We particularly enjoyed our early wake up call from the hippo passing our tent!
 
Deception Valley Lodge
Fabulous, great fun and superb game spotting. The walk with the Bushmen was fantastic, an experience not to be forgotten.
 
We felt this was a great mix and two nights at each lodge seemed just right. The only down side was waiting for four hours for our flight from Deception Valley to Maun, but hey, it was all worth it.
 
We'll definitely use your services again, credit crunch permitting! Thank you to everyone.
Chrissie Collins
 
 

October 2008
Thanks for you assistance with the below booking. We had an excellent stay. The service from Cara at island safari was friendly & very helpful through the booking process. The transfer were all on time & drivers were very informative & friendly. Bushwise Safari Lodge was great- a great location, with great views, food & staff!
 
We really enjoyed our stay & hope to return some day!
 
Thanks!
Susan Dunne

October 2008
Patricia was a delight to ‘’ talk” with over the net.  I will be contacting her soon to thank her! I had clear ideas about what I wanted and she provided the detail and filled in the gaps.  I felt she understood my needs and what I wanted.  I have to admit feeling nervous transferring large amounts of money to somewhere in the ethers, and a receipt of sorts seemed to be a while coming.  She reassured me but I was still nervous.  Everything went like clockwork!
 
The transfers everywhere were great…smooth, easy, efficient, friendly and welcome!  One hick-up at the end when a closer look at the itinerary showed the transfer from a small airport to an international airport had been overlooked was efficiently dealt with a phone call to Rob in Cape Town and privately organizing the transfer.
 
Waterfront Appartment was great location but a less than welcoming welcome.  Mind you we did arrive at 22 30
Kulala was great… very warm and personal place to stay.
Wolverdans.. as above. Quirky too!   (Both fabulous places to visit!) 
Safari club…glad I was in a compound.. But felt safe and it was a good spot to trip along to Petoria or Johannesburg from. 
Zambezi Sun quirky with a great location.  Staff and food very good.
Elephant Valley Lodge was great too…though one member of the party was ill – water maybe should have been avoided?  The food was just ok but the game drive and our driver more than made up for that!!!
Safari game trails were fabulous.  Sammy our driver was super; the team looking after us fantastic our only complaint was the weather was unseasonably hot… hardly any ones’ fault.  Great experience for us all and a good group to be with... Phew!
Nkorho lodge had great food, fabulous shower (most welcome after bush showers) lovely manager  but I was unimpressed by the driver/guide who did not seem to even attempt to get to know us…even with a four day stay…maybe he was having a hard time- but he seemed not to like us.  And there was something just not quite easy with the people working there… but I may be wrong.
 
I hope this is enough.  Each place was a highlight… Even Nkorho was what I thought it would be… that it the tame part of the experience and a bit of ‘down’ time before home!
 
The family was impressed!  If you need more you can contact me again.
Regards
Jan Baker

October 2008
The service was just perfect, quick answeres and precise instructions, good information and a very nice programm to be printed out ! I liked it!
The transfer to Oddball's was just very pleasent and they respected everything I had asked for! they did their best to satisfy our demands!
We liked Oddball's even more than last year, the food was better and the service nicer! Our friends who came for the first time were delighted.

Thank you and I hope to be back again.
Yours sincerely
Karin Muller

October 2008
The service received from Claudia in advance of heading off was extremely professional and I can not praise her enough (Thank You Claudia!!). I didn’t need to get in touch with anyone during the tour as it all ran like clockwork!!
The transfers were perfect with Delta Air – had a fun time with them – a good bunch of guys
The Xakanaxa camp was brilliant – I would encourage anyone to stay there with Bob and Flo and will recommend the camp and yourselves to anyone I speak to!
 
Thanks once again and hope to be back to book something else with you in the future
Thanks
Rob Webster

October 2008
it was a real pleasure both the booking process with your company and the stay at Camp Okuti. So I will remember on you when planning my nexr trip to Africa and I will recommend you to my friends in Germany.
 
Best regards,
Armin Gierling

October 2008
Strongly recommend Island Safari.  We just picked them off the net and were rather nervous given that they are not UK registered.  We did everything you are not supposed to do in terms of sending money to strange accounts on strange places.  However we found the holiday set up, bookings, transfers and border crossings all went flawlessly.  Our longest immigration wait was about 15 minutes arriving at Joburg with a Jumbo full of other people.

Islands of Siankaba: Accommodation, location and food were excellent.  Not a huge amount to do on site but that suited us for the first couple of days of a holiday.  Half an hour to Victoria Falls where there are lots of action activities like rafting.   Its not a safari location but other guests who had safaried elsewhere in Zambia said the parks were very good.

Mapula Lodge: Again great accommodation and very good food. Very good safari, lots of animals (lions with cubs, wild dogs with pups, serval, caracal, elephant with young, giraffe, zebra etc) and fantastic birds although quite spread out because of the abundance of water.  Small groups and very good guides who are flexible about what you do for the day eg off road tracking of lions and following a pack of Wild Dogs.  As with Islands of Siankaba dinner is at a single large table.  Most other guests either Brits or Americans and pleasant company although some of the Brits seem to specialize in adventurous holidays and have a tendency towards telling competitive holiday anecdotes "of course if you really want to see lion you need to be in Namibia".  And if you are at all insecure about your masculinity you will need a very large lens on your camera

Makgadikgadi Camp: Not as good as other places I have been for animals, at least in the dry season, but we did get in, on foot, amongst a small group of meerkat which i haven't seen elsewhere.  Still a fascinating environment, we had a memorable quad bike trip including overnight on the pans under the stars. Great Baobob Trees, which were my partner's particular reason for wanting to go there.  We were the only guests which was good and bad. Very comfortable, if not as luxurious as the other camps

The Safari Club SA: OK for an overnight – good accommodation if rather noisy.  It gives the impression of being a nice place that’s been swallowed up by the city as it has a motorway outside and a scrap yard across the road.

Flamingo Bay Water Lodge:Excellent accommodation and food.  Fellow guest mostly South Africans, and therefore friendly and unpretentious.  The nearest town is small and fairly undistinguished but as you see there are plenty of activities although we mostly read, swam and beachcombed and had a thoroughly relaxing time.   

Jonathan Letchfield

October 2008
safe and happy we are back again. As usual masses of things to do after being away for so long. I can´t believe, that´s now nearly a 
fortnight ago.

In all the tour was a perfect mixture to make the experience of  Namibia´s  different and characteristic natures.
The different deserts, coast, water and rocks.  When we were not in  lodges which gave us a feeling for it to touch, we saw it from up in 
the air. And get used to that Taxi and to the bumps ( specially at  midday) and thought of being in a jeep on a unfinished road. The 
flying- in - safari was the best thing to realize our ideas.

At Etoscha we were really lucky , we know, to have seen nearly all  animals you can see. This was followed by Botswana to be more special 
and completed.

Nigel was a big help for the problems with Namibia Air and the pilot  Sandra Fahrbach from Westair Wings with problem "Fish River Canyon 
Lodge" ( Fish River Lodge/Grand View).

That Namibia Air canceled our flight to Vic-Falls was bad luck. 

Best wishes
AngelikaFischer-Hensel

 

October 2008
Just back in work after our ten days in Botswana.  We send you a Big Thank You for organising an unforgetable trip for us.  Everything went smoothly and all transfers were on time.  Mapula Lodge was excellent, we were well looked after by Doctor and his staff and the patience and knowledge of our guide Josiah and his tracker Simon really turned a good holiday into a memorable one.  Many many thanks.
 
PS:  for info purposes - We did not have to pay for the entry visa to Zambia - seemingly Irish citizens are currently exempt from the USD50 charge.
 
Best Regards 
Ciarán O' Keeffe

October 2008
I send you our commnents required for you about your island_safari.com services...


The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.

Very satisfied. Your attention was excellent. We didn’t have any problems.
Payment was a concern and so was booking confirmations at the different sites,  but everything worked out amazingly well. We met other people, who booked with a different company, that had such problems.

 The transfers you had.
Transfers were on time, and people were very helpful when crossing borders
between countries. They also accommodated us for a couple of extras, such as
getting to a teller in Botswana to get some cash, as we ran out in Zimbabwe.
Flights were also good, on time and everybody was where they were supposed to
be on cue. We enjoyed the experience.

Your stay at Victoria Falls Hotel
The hotel is beautiful and the rooms were very comfortable; service at the
restaurant was good and the meals were great. The location is great as you can
walk to Victoria Falls. Of course there were some limitations (no credit card
use), but our stay was excellent particularly considering the situation in the
country. Recommended

Your stay at Mapula Lodge
Mapula Lodge is paradise found. What a site! The lodge is beautifully
conceived and well maintained. People were so helpful and accommodating with
everything and everybody, and the safari tours were very professional. You
know you are in the wild with all the elephants, hippos, lions, etc., but you
are safe as the guides are very knowledgeable. Every trip was different.
Morning drives gave the opportunity to find lions, while the afternoon drive
was always and adventure with beautiful sunsets. Night drives were
interesting. You never knew what to expect. Meals had a great home cooking
flavor, and the ambience with everybody on the same table exchanging
experiences was great. We loved it. Didn’t want to leave.
 
Your stay at Elephant Valley Lodge
Elephant Valle Lodge has a relaxed feeling about it, like a weekend resort.
Great for people that don’t want the “extreme” safari experience, though you
are staying in tents. We enjoyed the restaurant/ dining areas, as they
surround a watering hole where animals relax and you enjoy the experience a
lot. The meals were ok. One annoying thing is that every time you asked for a
drink they had to ask for your tent number to make the charge, instead of
either ask you at the end, or just bring you the bill to sign. (This could be
easily corrected with proper staff training).

Chobe National Park gave us the impression that it was too crowded, as there
were so many safari trucks on the site (very different to Mapula where you
feel isolated). However, once we got on the trail, or on the boat, the
experience was amazing. Everyday we found the experience to be brand new. If
anything, it would have been nice to have the opportunity to have a morning
boat ride and afternoon drive, and then reverse the following day (morning
drive and afternoon boat drive). This was not possible with the Lodge.


All in all, a very enjoyable, highly recommended, value for money, must repeat
experience for us. We certainly recommend Island Safari to anyone needing a
top notch professional company.
Kind regards
Berenice Hernandex

October 2008
Our feedback on Le Canonnier would be, on behalf of all 12 of us, that it was a long-weekend of a life time!    EVERYTHING WAS WONDERFUL!
Many splendid memories have been deposited in our memory banks.   Even the weather was fantastic.   We saw the Lord’s hand in everything too.
 
Thank you so much for your wonderful attention to detail.   Your services are greatly appreciated.   Thank you all so very much.
 
Joy(Connie) Varrie and Family.

October 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.

Cara was very helpful in looking at our budget and giving advice as to the various accomodations. With her help, we kept to our budget (pretty much) and were happy with all our lodges in the areas we wanted to visit. No disappointments at all. She got back to me the same day with all my inquiries and arranged our transfers that went flawlessly.
Your Johannesburg staff are excellent. We just whizzed through the airport both times, being given stacks of information by your staff.

    The transfers you had.

We were picked up at the exact time we were told, and the transfers were very efficient and the staff very helpful. No hitches at all. Your Johannesburg airport staff wonderful.

    Your stay at Ilala Lodge

We were at the Ilala for a one night stay before heading to Botswana. It was a good choice and if trying to describe it, I would say it is equivalent to an upper grade Best Western. Very nice public areas and dining room too. It is not a Hilton (which I didn't want anyway), but still was very suitable and comfortable for us, and it was very convenient to walk to the Falls. The rooms pretty large, patio doors to the lawns, good beds, good bathroom, staff very friendly and accomodating. Several group tours were staying at the hotel when we were there. We felt safe at all times. So would recommend for anyone looking for a comfortable place without the bells and whistles of some of the more luxurious lodges in the area.

    Your stay at Muchenje Safari Lodge

My favorite overall lodge for the animal viewing, game drives, friendly managers and staff, good food and comfortable accomodations. And to say nothing of the spectacular view from the lodge and your own balcony. I am glad we chose this lodge for Chobe. We saw the Chobe Game Lodge from the river and although it certainly looks like a 5 star resort, we loved the intimacy of Muchenje and our guide, Leon, at Muchenje.

    Your stay at Mapula Lodge

My adult son's favorite lodge. The manager and staff wonderful. The guides excellent, a very relaxed atmosphere. We were thrilled to see the two dens of wild dogs. Food: very good. Rooms: very good and comfortable in a more rustic kind of way. Outside shower that I would only use in the daytime because of mosquitoes. But a tub in the room for baths. One day was very, very hot (in the mid 90'sF) and we had no fan in the middle of the day, as the generator is turned off in the middle of the day. So there was absolutely no relief from the heat. That was my only complaint.The staff goes out of its way to make sure you are taken care of. An excellent choice for the Delta, remembering how far you are from everything.  
   
 Your stay at The Safari Club SA

A good choice for the money for an overnight stay. Large clean rooms, nice grounds, friendly staff. Very restricted for dinner as the hotel has no restaurant. The hotel offers a set dinner (about $15 each) which is just OK, but the breakfasts excellent. We ordered from a take-out menu the second night we stayed. Food still just OK. Recommended.

    Your stay at Jatinga Country Lodge

Recommended by Cara. Thank you Cara! What a delightful surprise. Beautifully decorated rooms (really like a duplex), afternoon tea (tea and scones), appertiser brought to our room with sherry, very good dinner and breakfast. Just a treat to stay there before we headed by car to Sabi Sands.
A suggestion that your directions to the lodge should be updated, as even with a GPS we had difficult time finding the lodge, and the railroad track in your directions that we were looking for is no longer there.

    Your stay at Kirkmans Camp

Wonderful atmosphere with an old colonial house which is now the lodge. Rooms again decorated like Martha Stewart had stopped by. Food: the best of the whole trip. Five star restaurant meals. Excellent guides and great animal viewing. Very happy with this choice. We drove through Kruger when we were leaving and agreed that the cost of a private concession had been worth it in comparison with Kruger.

Thanks for Cara's help and will recommend Island Safari.
Carol Barringer

October 2008
The service we received from Louise at Island Safari was excellent.  I would certainly recommend the service to friends and use it again myself.

The transfers we had were fine.  The first flight we took from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit was excellent as it took us to within a short drive of Kapama itself.  The second transfer wasn't great, though I don't know that there would have been any other options as we had to fly to Vilanculous.  We didn't know we were going to have a two hour drive to the Kruger International airport and we also got a flat tyre which added more time to the journey.  Having said that, we got there in time and the drivers were very friendly so this is not a major complaint.  Perhaps just warning in advance that this would be the case would be a good idea.  Otherwise all our connections were excellent and well organised.

Kapama River Lodge was excellent.  The drives themselves were absolutely brilliant and our ranger (Brett) was superb.  The service there was overall excellent though a couple of times one or two of their staff let the rest of them down.  Late on the night before we left one of the people of the front desk was very rude and patronising to another man, who appeared to be a contractor or delivery person of some sort, which did not impress us.  Generally though we had a fantastic time.

Indigo Bay was superb also.  No complaints at all, in fact it was one of the best holiday destinations we have been to.  We have already recommended Kapama, Indigo Bay and Island Safari to friends who we expect will be in touch in the near future to book their own holiday.

Thanks very much to Louise for all her great work. We really appreciated it and had a truly memorable experience.

Kind regards
Jon Armour

October 2008
Thanks for the reminder.  It is a pleasure to provide you with the following feedback:

The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour:
The service from Island-Safari was at all times friendly, prompt and informative.  Patricia assisted us with our booking.  She was able to provide us with all the answers to our questions and assisted by making valuable suggestions to our itinerary.  I will most certainly recommend the service of Island Safari in future.  Also a special thanks to Patricia for suggesting Oddballs as a destination - see below. 

The transfers you had:
We travelled from SA by car so we did not transfer at any point.  However, the flight with Delta Air from Maun to Oddballs and back was good, service friendly and the planes on time.

Your stay at Audi Camp
We did not spend much time at the camp as we arrived late afternoon and left early the next morning.  The luxury tented accomodation was very comfortable and the dinner was fine.  Unfortunately we had to forfeit our breakfast (which we had paid for) as our flight was scheduled at 8 and Audi Camp could not acommodate us with an "early" breakfast. 

Your stay at Oddballs Camp
Oddballs Camp is fantastic.  We had a wonderful stay at the camp and our three day bush camping was an unforgettable experience.  The camp is managed in the most professional manner and the management - Joyce and MD  - as well as all the staff  members are excellent hosts.  I can recommend this camp to any traveller as it is the most perfect bush experience.  The camp is comfortable and the catering exquisite.  We had elephant in the camp on a daily basis and the birdlife was great.  I would also like to mention that our guide Kagiso (KG) was brilliant - he is an excellent guide and person and very knowledgeable on both animals and birdlife.  He tracked a variety of animals including lion - which we saw, another highlight!  Without Kagiso, our bush camp experience would not have been as memorable.

Your stay at Planet Baobab
Thanks for suggesting that we overnight at Planet Baobab instead of attempting the drive from Maun to Kasane and the border crossing at Kasane in one day - this is virtually impossible!  Out stay at Planet Baobab was good.  We booked an en suite hut but upon arrival was told that none of these huts were available,  We were then refunded and allocated a normal Baobab hut with communal facilities.  It later transpired that the hut which we reserved became available. 

Our accomodation was comfortable, neat and clean. 

Unfortunately, we had also missed an afternoon activity as "they had left already".  I would suggest to Island Safari to provide tourists with a time line of when morning and afternoon activities take place at the camps  as well as the associated costs.  We would then have known that if we arrive at a certain time, we would be able to attend the activity (which is included in the package)  or rather only take up the accomodation - excluding activities.  It would also be good to know what can be done on these activities i.e.  that their drives not really include game watching, it’s just a game drive.

All-in-all we had a good stay at Planet Baobab although I must confirm that there is not much to do; it is a pleasant stop over. 

Your stay at Zambezi Sun Resort Hotel
Pleasant.  Good service and good food, not much more than what one would expect from a resort of this nature.

Thank you very much for assisting with our itinerary and reservations.  We had a fab time and will definately return to Botswana.
Regards
Marisa Meyer
 

 

October 2008
I was very pleased with all aspects of our tour, including the assistance from Island-Safari.com, the transportation provided by Falcon Safaris, and our stay at Ilala lodge.
Pamela Remboski

October 2008
Please excuse very much that I am answering so late. My daughter stayed until 3rd of October here in Mozambique and I had to show her many nice parts of this country on the Indian Ocean.

We made together with her the Botswana tour, which you organised. So I will answer your quetions now:
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
The service we received was excellent. Elize was a good partner and she answered all our questions we had.
The transfers you had.
The transfer from Maun by plane was in time and very good. We saw a lot from above and had a save flight. Even later when we started from Oddballs to Moremi by plane. This was a good decision to go on by plane.
Your stay at Oddballs Camp
The camp is really nice and worth to visit once more. Joyce was an excellent manager, the mokoro trips were fantastic. The food was ok, the guides were friendly.
When the camp is fully booked, the lounge is a bit small and you don`t know where to sit, because the ladies, who prepare the dining place, chase you away. The skyopen bathrooms are fantastic, we know that from East Africa, and it is always an adventure.
The surrounding of the camp is great and you see fantastic sunsets.

Your Mobile Safari
Our safari with Africa Calls - let me better say with William and his group NT and Edwin- was the best of the whole trip.
They had the right way to present the african bush ( we are very much experienced from Kenya and Tansania). Everything was great:
The food in the middle of nowhere, the bush shower or bushtoilet, the tents and best of all the driving and finding of so many animals.
You see, we had a nice time on our trip, we are grateful for that. I hope you have a good success and many clients like we were.

Best regards to Elize!
Sybil Scholz

 

October 2008
I would first like to say that my experience with Claudia and Island-Safari was way beyond my expectations. It was absolutely the trip of a lifetime. Since the pricing was so much less that I was quoted by other companies, I was not expecting to receive the very best in customer service but I was wrong. My trip went off perfectly and the customer service was 5 star. Every transfer went smoothly and since it was a complicated itinerary and we were in Africa, this was quite a feat. We went from S. Africa to Botswana to Zambia and back to S. Africa, staying in 10 different hotels and camps over one month. Every time we arrived at any location, someone was already waiting for us. The transfers went smoothly, we had excellent guides and they even walked us through and expedited processes at the airports. Claudia did an incredible job and even came to meet us in Cape Town with her husband. I will book with her on all our future trips. (I do want to express my desire for you to work in Madagascar as that is a trip we are planning on and would like to use her)
The Westcliff Hotel was lovely and would be my choice for future trips in Joburg. The service was excellent and we had a great room with a beautiful view. We ate dinner at the hotel twice and the food was excellent.
We didn't stay at the Dewildt Guesthouse but we had a private tour of the Cheetah Center and it was fantastic. I would highly recommend this for any animal lovers, especially the opportunity to pet and be photographed with their Ambassador Cheetah.
Londolozi Tree Camp was our first safari camp and it set the bar very high for all future camps. The suites are huge and extremely comfortable. With all the amenities, one might even forget they are in Africa until you sit on your deck (with private plunge pool) and hear all the animals surrounding you. Our guide, Tom, was superb and we saw the Big 5 within our first 24 hours. Londolozi is know for its leopards and we saw leopards up close and personal on every single game drive. The food and service was impeccable and I cannot recommend this camp highly enough.
Singita Lebombo is straight out of Architectural Digest and the suites are magnificent. However, Singita Lebombo did not live up to my expectations as to service since they are listed number 1 in the world. Our guide seemed rather bored with his job and rushed through all the sightings and was not considerate of our photographing. They were also very unorganized on our last day and did not warn us of a special bush breakfast. Between that and not being prepared for our check out, we almost missed our flight.
Singita Boulders, however, is another story and this camp does deserve to be number one in the world. First off the suites (one should really call them a house as they have to be close to 2000 square feet) are beyond compare. We have stayed in a lot of 5 star resorts around the world but this was by far the most beautiful, comfortable ever. The service was incredible. Somehow they manage to wait on you hand and foot and anticipate all your needs but still maintain a warm, homey atmosphere. The food and wine was excellent and I would definitely recommend their wine tasting with Chris in their fantastic cellars. When you find wines that you like (and you will), they will even arrange the shipment back to your home. As if all this wasn't enough, the wildlife viewing was out of a dream. Our guide, Sean was so incredible that I am arranging for him to meet us at the Singita in East Africa on our next trip. We had one day there that I call our Baby Day as we saw a lion pride with the cubs playing, a mother leopard playing with her cub, baby elephants and a hyena den with 5 cubs of different ages. I really hated to leave this camp and I definably plan a return trip. I thing you could spend a week there and do and see everything you would want in S. Africa.
The Saxon is beautiful and the rooms are fantastic but the service was just okay. It could be that anything would have been a let down after Boulders. We did go to Moyo at Melrose Arch for dinner on Claudia's suggestion and we loved it. They have food from all over Africa and it is a great experience as well as great food. Claudia had them book a special alcove table for us and it was very romantic. I can't say enough good things about Claudia, she really went the extra mile to be certain that we had a special trip.   
Abu Camp was a very special experience and one I will always remember. I dithered over this one as it was so expensive but I am so glad that I chose it. This is not the place to go for the Big 5, it is all about your experience with the elephants and travelling through the Okavango Delta on an elephant. I adored the elephants but I did have to hound the mahouts to let me have more interaction with them. They are used to people just wanting to ride them. Again, the service was excellent and the food was some of the best we had. The only problem with all the great food is that you don't get enough exercise! Our guide, Jacko, was awesome and gave us the best night drive we had.
Eagle Island has a beautiful location in the Delta and the tents were very comfortable. We loved seeing the Delta by boat and mokoro and having the different safari experiences. Again this wasn't the best place for the Big 5 but was fantastic for birds. Our guide, Molemi was great and when he found out that we liked birds, went out of his way to find rare species for us. We saw the Wattled Crane and the Pele's Fishing Owl, two very rare and endangered birds. This was the one place that we were disappointed in the management. Tobias and Simone were not up to the standards of Orient Express service and pretty much ignored us the whole time until the last day as we were leaving. Molemi and the rest of the staff made up for their indifference though.
Jacks Camp was another fabulous experience. We had another excellent guide in Cyrus and spending time with the meerkats was a real thrill. The Quad bikes into the pans was a blast and we enjoyed the Walk with the Bushmen.The only negative here is that it is VERY warm without air con.
Toka Leya was a pleasant surprise for us. We weren't sure what to expect as it just opened in May and it is listed as a Classic camp rather than a Premium. With the addition of a few small amenities, I feel it would qualify as a Premium and we were very pleased with the tents and the service. Lurika and Richard were fantastic hosts and took incredibly good care of us even going so far as to come check on us one night when I wasn't feeling well and stayed in. Richard had dinner sent to us and in fact, he was even present one morning at 5:30 when we went down to breakfast before an early trip across the border. Wilderness has found a couple of gems in this couple!  They were great at making arrangements for all the activities we wanted as well.
Our last stop, the Cape Grace was a great way to end the trip although I wish we had more time there. The hotel and rooms are beautiful and again the service was fantastic.
Beyond the wonderful experiences, fantastic people we met and the excitement of being on safari, I would like to add one last word about the service in Africa. I was really surprised at the incredible service we received and the warm nature of the people in Africa. When people asked "how are you?", you felt that they truly meant it. In some countries you get good service but it seems obsequious. In Africa, the service was warm and welcoming.
I know that I read these reviews when I was trying to decide whether to book with Island-Safari, so if you are doing the same, I recommend that you use them and put yourself in their hands. I could not have asked for anything more on all the arrangements they made. I am sure that all the agents are great but I do have to give Claudia the highest accolades possible. I never expected that a trip in Africa could run so smoothly.
Thanks for your masterful organization skills
Laura Kaufman

October 2008
Thank you for your e-mail.
 
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
I have satisfied very much about your service especially for your prompt reply during the booking process.
I have also satisfied the tour.
 
The transfers you had.
No problem.
 
Your stay at Oddballs Camp
Guides and staff are well trained, and food supplied there were pretty good.
I thank you for their hospitality.
 
Best wishes
 
Yasuo Sumita

October 2008
I am glad to receive your e-mail as I had intended to e-mail Island Safari.com this week with feedback.

We had the most wonderful, memorable trip and are so so grateful to Island Safari.com for such excellent organisation, everything went so smoothly.

In relation to your three specific categories:

-           The only staff member I had contact with was Michelle, she was really fantastic, promptly answering all queries and questions by e-mail.  She was so helpful with everything including practical advice and all her e-mails had a cheerful undertone, I was so happy to be dealing with her and look forward to dealing with her again in the future.  I also received an e-mail from your accounts department to say the lodgement had been received, I was very grateful for that too.

-           The Transfers:  This was the best part of the trip, we were transfer on our own at all times in air-coned buses on the Zambia side and open toped jeeps on the Botswana side.  We had no delays except when the first driver was caught in traffic, however he kindly phoned our hotel to let us know so it was not a problem.  The drivers were friendly and they helped us with our visa forms etc.  Our boat transfer again was on a boat just for us, it really was so efficient and I was so glad I had booked with you.  Boarder crossings can be difficult at times however it all went so smoothly with no time delays, we were delighted with this.

-           Chobe Safari Lodge was a wonderful experience, the lodge is beautiful, the staff are friendly, the food was amazing and the excursions were action packed.  We saw so many animals and again the atmosphere in the lodge was great.  Our room was really nice and we enjoyed our time there so much.

Lastly I just want to say thank you to everyone at Island Safari.com for making our trip a lifetime experience.  I moved to Lusaka, Zambia from Ireland in March this year and will be working here for the foreseeable future, my first visitors were my Mum and sister and our holiday together was unforgettable, the best days being our days with Island Safari.  I will be receiving many more visitors over the next year and so will be contacting you again for all their tours etc.

Your sincerely,
Emma Gilchreest

October 2008
Everything for our trip was perfect. The booking process was professional and easy. The Kingdom Hotel was great. The tours were just right. My only complaint was three dollars for a small bottle of water which had nothing to do with the booking. I would definitely use Island Safari again.
 
Regards,
Robert Williams

October 2008
I was very pleased with the level of service that was provided for my trip.  I got to admit that I was a bit nervous about booking and paying for such an expensive trip over the internet but everything turned out fine.  All of the transfers went very smoothly as the operators were always at the designated place and time for us.  The lodges at Mapula and Chobe met my expectations.  The stay at Ilala was fine as well but I got to admit that we did not feel comfortable doing anything away from the hotel grounds in Victoria Falls.  Whenever we did venture slightly away we were always confronted by locals wanting to sell this and offer the services.  I know this is not something that would have been under your control. 
 
The only other area that you might need to look at is that we had a total of 4 activities at Chobe Safari prepaid with our tour but only used three of them as the choices available were either an afternoon river cruise or an early morning drive through the National Park.  If I had known this I would have asked that my package only include 2 activities.  We ended up doing two river cruises but got to admit the second one was actually kinda boring. 
 
Other than that, the whole experience was very nice and would recommend your Company highly.
 
Regards
Terry Gwinn

October 2008
We had a marvelous trip with courteous, timely, informative information and support at every point.  The game camps were extraordinary experiences with knowledgeable and gracious guides and staff.  I especially  appreciated the guides at Mapula and in Capetown.  While they were all knowledgeable and forthcoming, Josiah at Mapula and Andy and his associate in Capetown were exceptionally personalble as well.
 
The one accomodation I would not recommend is the Waterfront apartment.  While the rooms were clean and spacious, I was uneasy without 24 hour telephone or concierge service.
 
I will certainly recommend Island Safari as I enthuse about our trip!!
 
Anne Hort

October 2008
Thank you for your inquiry and we are very pleased to provide some feedback. The holiday overall was excellent and we enjoyed it very much.
Where the following points contain criticisms please accept them in the spirit of constructive criticism in the hope that they may be useful to you:
The service received from Island-Safari was excellent throughout the booking process and during the tour.
The transfers provided by Travellers Friend were excellent. It was great to be met by such friendly and helpful people.
The transfers provided by the hotels were adequate although we were not met at Gabarone airport by the Walmont Ambassador. Their shuttle went without us while we were waiting for our luggage and we needed to phone for it to come back and pick us up.
The Walmont Ambassador Hotel is big and impersonal but has good facilities. However it does not seem to be well managed: despite our delayed arrival from the airport our room was not ready for us when we arrived and it was necessary to wait for an hour in the lobby. Checkout was also incredibly slow and to start with they could not trace the prepayment from Island-Safari. All in all it was a rather stressful start to the holiday!
Our drive from Gabarone-Francistown-Maun was problem free and we enjoyed gaining a sense of what the rest of the country is like (as opposed to just flying to Maun). Georgina enjoyed the visit to Francistown and seeing how much it has changed in the last 35 years!
The Cresta Marang Hotel comprises both the main hotel and the Cresta Residences. The main hotel is very attractive so we were most disappointed to find that our reservation was in the unattractive Residences which look more like a prison! Please see the two attached photos. We were not impressed with the (buffet) food in the restaurant although it turned out to be much better than at Riley's!
Riley's Hotel seems to be very efficiently run and with excellent reception staff. However the room was shabby and very noisy and the food was appalling! If we go back to Maun we would try to find somewhere better to stay!
Lagoon Camp was great; it is a beautiful location and all the staff were wonderfully friendly. We had an excellent guide and tracker and saw plenty of animals. If we were to be picky about anything it would be the food which was OK but nowhere near as good as camps we have visited in S.Africa or Kenya.
River Meadow Manor was lovely and the management were very helpful. As we had some spare time they organised a guided tour of Pretoria's main attractions for us.
We very much enjoyed the Rovos Rail experience although we would dispute that it is "the most luxurious train in the world". Maybe the suites are more luxurious but the public rooms are not when compared for example to the Orient Express. The food was very good but the sense of occasion was diminished by the service being rushed, as if the staff were in a hurry to get off duty. And the bar/observation car was badly in need of being made more attractive and romantic. We have no regrets about travelling on it but we would not go back for one of their longer trips.
We had a good time in Cape Town and enjoyed Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope and the Waterfront, as well as a very good  lunch at Buitenverwachting estate. The apartment was quite glamorous although we could not make the heating work so it was jolly cold. With hindsight, for such a short visit we would have preferred to stay in a hotel rather than an apartment. We were not there long enough to appreciate the apartment's amenities, and because it was just a bit too far from the cafés and restaurants on the Waterfront it would have been better to have had access to hotel facilities.
Klein Olifantshoek was very nice; the ideal place to stay in Franschoek. We had dreadful weather, raining and cold, but we tasted plenty of wine and enjoyed Franschoek's restaurants so we had a good time.
It was a very varied and interesting trip and you did a super job of organizing it for us. Thank you very much!
David & Georgina Erskine

October 2008
As I wrote to Mandy upon our return, we were extremely pleased with the job Island-Safari had done for us. Your help with planning and booking was responsive, timely, and efficient. All transfers were there to meet us and all went smoothly. As to specific accommodations:

Safari Club - a fine choice near the airport. Served the purpose of an overnight stay.
Mapula - charming cottages, wonderful staff - especially our guide, Josiah
Lebala - new, extremely comfortable and luxurious platform tents, also fine staff. The only criticism here is that the Lebala airstrip is out of commission which resulted in landing at the Salinda strip and a 2 hr. drive in the heat of the day to and from Lebala.
Chobe - Romantic tents made very comfortable and an extremely attentive staff. Somewhat disconcerting was the fact that the camp must move every few days (a huge amount of work for the staff) and was half packed up by our last morning there. Nevertheless, a lovely sojourn.
Stanley Safari Lodge - Gorgeous site and accommodations, fabulous staff that was extremely helpful with booking activities in the area, a top-notch experience!
Waterfront Apartments - very comfortable and well located. The only complaint is that the reception desk closed at 7PM and it was, therefore, sometimes difficult to call a taxi.

I would also like to note that the tours you set up for us in Cape Town were wonderful and the guides, Andy Rice and Thabang, were both a wealth of information and very engaging.

Thank you for facilitating a very memorable trip to Africa.

Sincerely,
Lois Perlman

October 2008
We enjoyed every minute of it, especially the Elephant ride and the Helicopter ride over the Falls and the eleven turns down through the gorge.

Extra Especially the Safari Camps.

The Elephant ride was something that Joan and I will always remember.
They called him the Dancing Elephant as well as "Garbage Guts" and we found out why.
He would put his head in a bush and pull pieces off and stuff them in his mouth,when the rider would force him to move,he would rock and roll, before pulling off some more and hold it in his trunk for afters.This happened several times,it was good fun when you got used to him.
So if you get someone who would like something different recommend the Dancing Elephant it's great.

The Safari camps were wonderful,the facilities, food and people were excellent.

However the overall vote was for Selinda, even without air conditioning,it was head and shoulders above Savute and Kwai.
Apart from having your breakfast around an open fire with the hottest tea and coffee, let alone hot toast cooked at the fire and beautiful porridge.With wonderful service from the staff.
We had a great guide who managed to find everything we wanted to see,even an Aardvarrk and also mating Lions.
All in all it seemed to us that it was easier to view animals at Selinda, maybe it was because you can go off road, which you can't do at the others.
When you realise our guide Peter was on probation as a guide, it makes it better still.

Everything worked like clockwork and Bob and Brian were on time all the time.

Bob talked us out of going to Roben Island, as he said that most of the artefacts have been stolen and they were having problems with the ferries.I don't know if this was a good or bad thing.

However I enjoyed Capetown and the places Bob took us.
He probably told you we brought the sunshine with us and took it away when we left.We were very lucky.
A very nice and accommodating man.

Sun City was fantastic. What an experience,The Palace Hotel is really something as are all the other Hotels and places around there.
The Palace Reception(Booking) was strange as they booked each room under( Irvin  Party). I think they thought my first name was Party.

Sorry, nearly left out "THE ROVOS TRAIN" what can I say, in a word "PAMPERED".

We've travelled The Rocky Mountaineer and toured from Berlin to Moscow by train and it is up there.

Every one of us thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Island - Safaris and would recommend you to other travellers.

We especially THANK YOU PATRICIA for a job well done.

I will send you some of my photos seperately.

Fond Regards,
From All of Us,
Terry,Joan,Jim,Carmel and Anne - The Irvines

October 2008
Firstly I would like to say that Alison was great to deal with and even though we have never met, her emails were always so friendly and helpful, I feel I have known her for years!

All our transfers went like clockwork and were very satisfactory.
Oddballs camp was a wonderful experience, I would recommend it to anyone and particularly the wild camping which we enjoyed for two nights. The meals at oddballs were fantastic and the food provided for our camping experience was great with lots of variety! The people running the camp and our guide could not have been friendlier or more helpful. I would certainly recommend it to all my friends and would encourage people to camp wild for at least two nights but maybe more.
 
Our next stop was Mapula Lodge. What a beautiful lodge!! We were really taken by such luxurious accommodation. In Mapula we first encountered a few problems. On our first night drive we had to go a pick other guests up from the airstrip and this really meant that we lost out completely on the drive. Next morning was like something out of a comedy show as first one jeep broke down and then another, so we were all piled into one which to say the least was a squeeze, however we were all on holiday and made the best of it. We had a good laugh and actually had a very successful game drive. By evening, the other jeeps were repaired and we enjoyed a wonderful night drive where we even had a pride of lions circle our jeep.
The staff in Mapula were lovely and very friendly. I think of the three lodges the food in Mapula was not as good as the other places. Dinner at night was always a little cold and was no way as inviting as in the other two lodges. It was not bad but you just felt it could have been better and hotter!
 
Muchenje was great. From the moment we arrived we were welcomed as if it was home. The accommodation was lovely and we were even provided with hot water bottles for the cold nights!! The food was fantastic in Muchenjie and there was a wonderful air of hospitality. Wine and drink were provided on a very generous level each night and there was always a lovely party atmosphere!
 
The Victoria Falls Hotel was such a lovely experience. It was really like stepping into another world. The staff were lovely and the security people were so protective of all the guests, they would think nothing of escorting you into the town at night, if that is what you wanted. We were so pleased that we stayed there. Breakfast was really good but food in the other restaurants was very expensive and not very good. We had lunch one day but decided to eat out any other day. There were better restaurants nearby!!
 
So as you can see we had a wonderful experience and would recommend Island Safari to anyone. You certainly know how to please the customer!!
 
Heres wishing you lots more customers!!
Daireen Caffrey

September 2008
We are still enjoying all our memories from our trip to Botswana and SA. Thank you, Louise, for putting together a truely unique trip for us. Everything went without a hitch - transfers went smoothly and we were ALWAYS made to feel welcomed as special guests everywhere we went and stayed.  All the pre-trip instructions were very good - we learned a few tricks even though we consider ourselves experienced world travellers. We were appreciative of Louise's suggestion to Ubag one bag to Capetown, that gave us some extra flexibility along the way.
 
We have recommended Island Safari to several friends already. If you're interested, I am attaching an on-line photo book to show you what a great time we had!!! (I hope the link still works).
 
Elephant Valley was our first stop and we hit the trail with our fabulous guides Craig and Joe. Saw Big 5 and so, so, so much more! Loved our Leopard Suite and everyone at EV.
 
Delta Camp was just magical, Jesse and Amy welcomed us like family, and our guides Poison & Bafana shared their knowledge, love of the Okavango and their hearts with us.
 
At Chobe, Ran gave us his max - our first night along the river was just astonishingly rich with game viewing. When my husband left our camera case in the charter plane on our way to Chobe, the pilot got it to Elephant Valley and the EP manager mailed it back to the USA for us. Now that's service!!!
 
The Quartermain (we were transferred from the Fallstaff, but no problem for us) in Johannesburg was perfect for us, as was our lodging in the Waterfront Village Apartments (great location, we were so happy to be there). The Devon Valley Lodge was lovely, although it was under construction, we had a pretty set of rooms and were treated very nicely!
 
Thanks to Louise for setting up all the National Guides who met us along the way. The SA National Guide system is remarkable and we benefited each time we spent time with one of our guides. All the guides from  The Tourist's Friend were particularly accomodating. When our plans fell apart in Johannesburg (my friend's mother had to be hospitalized and she couldn't spend the day with us as was originally planned), Rob at Tourist's Friend set us up for a day's outing with Brian to Maropeng. I wish we had more time to see more of Jo'burg with Brian as our guide.
 
If I were forced to come up with one thing to improve, it would be a shorter time waiting in Johannesburg between flights - but that's only because everything went so well and we didn't have any delays or bad weather that could have resulted in a missed flight.
 
All our best,
Robin Bradley

September 2008
I had a fabulous time on my safari, and have been attempting to organize some photos and do a review for you and for the Lodges -- but I am back to work and it may take me a little while to get my reviews finished.  Louise will be getting a special package from me too to thank her for all she did to get me to the places I wanted to go.  I found a family of cheetahs at Phinda!!!  It was incredible, and I am very grateful to Island-Safari, and to the Lodges -- they were perfect.  I will get a detailed review to you shortly.
Terry Tucker

September 2008
I have answered your questions below.
 
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
I have nothing but praise for Island Safari & Claudia. She was very helpfull and answered a horde of questions always promptly and enthusiastically. I was a *little* annoyed back during the booking process when I was not informed than LAM had changed their flight schedules to different days and I had to re-book my flight to Cape Town at relatively short notice which cost me 2 new return tickets. Apart from that the entire holiday from booking to return went faultlessly.
 
The transfers you had.
 Our transfers worked fine, A little trouble in Victoria falls with a bus breakdown but that was all.
 
Your stay at Metcourt Laurel Hotel
 The Metcourt was exactly what we needed for one night after an 18 hour flight, a hotel close to the airport for a good nights sleep, I would not particularly want to stay there any more than overnight.
 
Your stay at Stanley & Livingstone Hotel
 The Stanley and livingstone is quite possibly one of the best hotels I have stayed in, it is a little pricey for incidentals but the staff there bend over backwards to make sure you have everything you could possibly need. The location is great and the food (especially the private table they put for us out on the veranda) was fantastic. I would recommend it to anyone.
 
Your stay at Oddballs Camp
 Again, very friendly staff and excellent food. I did however find Oddballs a little 'dull' as there is nothing to do between the hours of 10am and 4pm.
 
Your stay at Planet Baobab
 Planet Baobad was another very friendly hotel, our guide was great fun and the salt pans trip is most definately not to be missed. The fact that the road transfer to Gweta takes so long there and back could be better emphasised, especially when there is a 'fly in' option posted on their pricing brochure.
 
Your stay at Derwent House
 Derwent house fully deserves it's #1 position as tripadvisor.com's most recommended hotel in Cape Town. The service was fantastic.

Your stay at Flamingo Bay Water Lodge
 Flamingo bay was the only place we were slightly disappointed in. The local Mozambiquean staff were fantastically friendly but there were certain others who's attitude is not helping the hotel. I most certainly did not appreciate being referred to as "106" (our room number) on a daily basis, incidentally, the waiters / bar staff etc all knew our names from the first night. Our deep sea fishing trip that we spent over $200 on was more like a water taxi ride, the captain spoke no English so there was no real fishing done by us, only him setitng up his lines and driving the boat and I think It should DEFINATELY be stressed on the Flamingo bay brochures that there is no beach! A fairly MAJOR point considering that was what we wanted to go to Mozambique for!!
 
Your stay at The Safari Club SA
 The Safari club was again basically just somewhere to sleep on our last night before flying home, friendly staff and good location.

I seem to have gone on a bit of a rant about Flamingo bay but I fully understand that these are factors outwith Island Safari's remit. Overall we were very happy with your service and would most definately use Island Safari again.
 
Regards
Peter Regan

September 2008
I had been meaning to email Louse to tell her how happy we were with all that Island Safari organized but, having taken a couple of weeks off work, was just buried last week when we got back.
All the places we stayed at meet our expectations and the transfers were excellent.  I have the following comments to make:
 
The Waterfront Village Apartments were extremely comfortable, great location. I would like to make some constructive criticism -
There were no instructions regarding the heating and cooling system and the washer and dryer were in German.  We did find the front desk staff a bit unhelpful in this area, they didn’t know how to use the appliances either.  Suggest owner of apartment provides better instructions. 
Maintenance leaves a lot to be desired – all the taps were loose, difficult to use the sink in the kitchen as water faucet broken.  Sink in master suite did not drain and the shower unit needed insulating as when used water leaked all over the master bathroom. 
It was a great location though and we really enjoyed the restaurants and shopping in the mall. 
Suggest that if you have other Americans coming over, tell them food and clothes cheaper than in the states and if going on safari, wait and buy clothes in Cape Town – great selection.
 
Timamoon Lodge – what a place, food was amazing.  We loved it.   Only request, more light in the rooms, very dark at night and maybe screens on the windows as could not open at night due to the bugs. 
 
Kapama Lodge – again an amazing place. The ranger we had, Westley was so knowledgeable, the safari’s were incredible and we did not find the camp too crowded at all.  The rooms were very comfortable, clean and well designed.  The camp has a beautiful lounge and very comfortable areas to sit outside and enjoy the ambiance of the place.  We loved the very attractive setting on the lake and would highly recommend for reasonable price and great safari’s.  We were not so keen on the food, felt that could have been better.  Maybe we were just spoiled as the food at Timamoon was exceptional.   We got to know the various rangers and staff and were all friendly and helpful. 
 
Camp Jabulani – the highlight of our trip.  What a place and what service.  The chef here was more than amazing, the food incredible, the height of luxury. He would come out before each meal and explain what he was cooking that day.   Gorgeous setting and beautiful lodges.  We thoroughly enjoyed the elephant safari, only issue being they decided to do it at night instead of late afternoon, we would have preferred to have one it at dusk so could have seen more but it was an amazing experience. 
 
We had a vacation of a lifetime and were very pleased with everything that Island-Safari organized for us.  I am more than happy to recommend your agency and provide more detail if you need it.  Thanks.
Regards,
Elizabeth Russo

September 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
The service was excellent and professional with the minimum effort required to get the bookings done. All arrangements were arranged as promised which made the trip effortless. Your staff (Michelle) was very definite in her recommendations and I am pleased to report that her referral to the Ichobezi Houseboat turned out to be precisely what we needed.
Your stay at Ichobezi Houseboats
Excellent, we felt like kings. Nothing was too much for the staff on the boat and they were always friendly and very professional in their approach; especially Ernest who was a host extraordinaire! It was a wonderful stay, one we hope to repeat with our families in the not to distant future.
Andrew Crocker

September 2008
First we must say that we were more than satisfied with all the services during our booking process - Mandy always answered our queries promptly and her advice proved to be very sound.
 
TRANSFERS  we were always met and transferred smoothly and were particularly impressed with our transfer from Meno Kwena to Chundukwa River Lodge.
 
AIRPORT GAME LODGE   Although this lodge was conveniently placed in relation to the airport and therefore met our needs as a place to rest before a longish flight and prior to our long holiday we were somewhat disappointed as it did not have a restaurant for the evening and the garden wasn't quite what we expected.However that was our choice not suggested by Island Safari. Must mention Natasha here as it was so good to have her meet us and transfer us from and to the airport .
 
ODDBALLS   as our first location in Botswana this was magical and the honeymoon suite delightful.The guides very knowledgeable and thoughtful .Food excellent and there was a lovely relaxed feel to the place .Our two nights out in the bush were exciting and very worthwhile.
 
MAPULA LODGE   this place was excellent in every respect from the accommodation to all the game drives.Our assigned guide was again very good and managed to please a mixed group very well.The only criticism is that having been at ODDBALLS the mokorro trip was poor.
 
MENO A KWENA TENTED CAMP   again a very enjoyable experience and living in a tented safari camp was very good .The food and times around the camp fire were great.We enjoyed the local walk  but found the distances to travel for game viewing longer than desirable but what we did see was good especially the trip to Baines Baobab tree.
 
CHUNDUKWA RIVER LODGE although the accommodation was very authentic and pleasant this was our least favourite .The atmosphere at the lodge was not quite as relaxed as the others and not quite so much to interest us.However we had a very enjoyable and informative visit to the adjacent village meeting the families of the guides and many other interesting people.
 
Do hope our comments have been helpful and we would certainly recommend you as a tour organiser to others and in fact already have.
Best wishes to all
Sarah and Michael Smith
 
PS Have only returned home yesterday as we continued travelling after Zambia hence the delay in replying to your request .

September 2008
We had a fabulous time and all of Mandy's suggestions were very good!  We especially loved the Lanzerac-it was our favorite place of all the places we stayed.  The Alfred Victoria had a great location and a wonderful breakfast.  The Stanley Safari was very nice-very personal.  In retrospect, I might pick something on the Zimbabwe side of the falls, since most of the activities were on that side as well as the better view, and saved the expensive visa fee into Zambia. We did arrive without some of our luggage, which was disappointing.  We were able to recover it three days later on our way back through Jo-Berg in a pile of lost luggage.  The tag had come off it, so I don't think we ever would have seen it again.  The lost luggage thing seems to be a common occurrence there- you may let future travelers know that, especially since they don't have any computers in the baggage claim area-it's a very slow recovery.  That was really the only glitch that we
 had.  Flying everywhere else with SAA was easy and on time.  We did have a bad experience with Delta  Airlines, both coming and going-not that , that had anything to do with your agency, as we booked that ourselves.
All and all we were very happy with everything that Mandy booked for us.  Our driver, John, with Eco Tours was very knowledgable and we really enjoyed him.  The Cape Pennisula Tour was great and we were fortunate to have a wonderful weather day-well worth the money.
Thanks again;
Gretchen and Scott Long

September 2008
We have returned from our wonderful trip to Africa and I want to thank you for making it such a pleasure. All transportation and transfers went without a hitch (the only surprise was the closed Lebala airstrip, resulting in a two hour drive to and from the camp in the heat of the day) and the accommodations were lovely. Mapula Camp had a particularly warm and wonderful staff, especially our guide, Josiah. The comfortable tents in Chobe were what one envisions with the word "safari" and were staffed with another great crew. Stanley Safari Lodge was spectacular and the apartment in Cape Town was very comfortable and well located.The only (small) inconvenience was that the office closed at 7 PM and it was a little tricky calling a taxi. The two tours were terrific, as were the guides, Andy Rice and Thabang.

We met a couple from near Greenwich, England - Cindy and Jonathan - for whom you had also put together a trip. We agreed that you have done a top notch job. Again, many thanks.

Warm regards,
Lois Perlman

September 2008
We are all back safe and sound and had a great trip. Everything went according to plan. We were exceptionally lucky with the game viewing at Mapula and Josiah managed to spot a lioness from about half a kilometre away the one day and we spent some time watching the brother and sister from the pride (about 3 years old) playing around. The very next morning within a kilometre or so from the lodge we came across the mother with two small cubs and an older daughter on the road and spent about an hour watching them waking up and playing. Very special. We were also very lucky that a Korean film crew were in camp specifically to film the wild dogs. So the Doc would take them out each day with a few trackers and they were able to locate them on two days (even though they had moved about 15kms over night). The wild dog pack had 12 puppies and 5 adults and we saw them on two days. The second day they had eaten an impala in the morning (unfortunately did not see that) and so they were very full and just spent the day lazying around in the shade playing etc. We thought the two guides (Josiah and Matt) were exceptional and the Doc was great fun.
 
The mix between the driving at Mapula and mokoros and walking at Delta suited us tremendously. I was initially worried that we would not see any animals whilst walking (and not having rifles!) but we saw plenty of animals each day. The one morning we tracked a lion who we believed was only a few minutes ahead of us and just kept moving out of our sight.
 
One of our group is a keen bird watcher and he counted over 120 different birds between the two camps.
 
The Okavango is definitely one of the worlds wonders and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Botswana impressed us as a well run country, with a stable government that is keen to preserve the bush.
 
Patricia, thanks once again – great choice of camps and we would recommend both Island Safaris and Botswana to anyone who asks. Peter was also in camp whilst we were at Delta and he is looking forward to seeing you in October.
John Dickinson

September 2008
Everything was perfect, the service I receved from island Safari, all the transfers.
Your stay at Oddballs was also perfect, the food is ver y good, and guild is very profesionel.

Regards,
Stéphane Chertier

September 2008
Our trip to Botswana was wonderful. We were very impressed and had the time of our lives. During the booking period, Claudia was very helpful and gave us useful tips (such as the order of the lodges, which we were quite happy with).
All of the transfers (air and land) during the trip were always on time and extremely comfortable.
 
Deception Valley Lodge: Very friendly people, comfortable accomodation. The food and wine were excellent. It was a good desert experience, and a good introduction to Botswana.
 
Mapula Lodge: We loved the accomodation, the setting was beautiful and the game view was outstanding. Very friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The food was good.
 
Delta Camp: Probably the best 'jungle' experience! The rooms were beautiful (including the tree house!) and we liked the opportunity of meeting the owners; it felt like a guest house. The food was very good. Both Mapula and Delta Camp were the lodges that most suited our family group.
 
Elephant Valley Lodge: Maybe the only disappointment in the entire trip. It was too big for us, the tents were dated and it lacked the more intimate atmosphere of the other three lodges. The food was alright, but it lacked sophistication. This felt more like a hotel than a lodge. Whilst in the other lodges we felt the freedom of tayloring our time, in this lodge we felt the pressure of keeping to a timetable.
However, our guide was very friendly, and the game view was very good.
 
I hope this helps, and I look forward to book future trips with you.
 
Best wishes,
The Horta e Costa family  

September 2008
Patricia was great. In retrospect I should have done all my reservations through her. We had a less pleasant experience at Mankwe Lodge which we reserved ourselves on recommendation of a friend
We had no problems with the transfers to Oddballs and back. The Delta Airlines ware very professional
Oddballs is a very special place and Joyce is one of the best managers I’ve come across. Her staff is also very professional
Savute is in a class of its own and so is the manager Kobus. The staff just could not do enough for us. Pleasant experience for a South African who is used to a lack of service back home.
 
I would love to to back to both lodges and will again make use of Delta air
 
Regards 
Erik Crause

September 2008
most gladly I give you a feedback on the part of the tour Island Safari organised for us.

In the booking process it was a pleasure to deal with Michelle. She responded very fast and competent and helped me tremendously to put together a quite difficult tour arrangement. Everything worked out well.
In Johannesburg we were met in time by your representative to hand out the tickets and guide us to the Maun check-in counter. One thing a bit confusing to us was the name of the meeting point beeing described as " Tourist`s kiosk ". It would be better to call it " Tourist Information", as kiosk means in Germany a little hut selling cigarettes, news papers, drinks ect., and there were some of  them outside the Arrival Hall.
Arriving in Maun the flights into the Delta were after a  short waiting time of about 1,5 hours, which was fully acceptable.
Oddballs is a nice place with friendly Management, good service and it is close to nature. The Mokoro Trail was beautiful experience in the bush. Our main guide, KG, was excellent, had good knowledge about animals, birds, flowers and trees, and we had in TIM a bird spotting specialist  for our bird watchers in the group.
At last we enjoyed Ilala Lodge, a very comfortable, nice place with spacious rooms and good service. The breakfast buffet was excellent, the different meals on the dinner menu were in general good, e.g. fish, cokodile meat, the stews, not so good e.g ostrich and warthog steaks. But all in all recommendable.
There was not any complaint of any member of the group about the services and arrangements provided by Island Safari. We are pleased to recommend your company to any of our friends in future or use you again for further trips to Southern Africa.
With kind regards
Heinz Peter for the group

September 2008
We were very happy with the service island-safari provided and had an absolutely fantastic honeymoon at bazaruto lodge - couldn't recommend them enough!

All the best,
Daphne Roycroft

September 2008
Your level of service was excellent and you arranged changes to flights from Mapula to Kasane with minimum fuss and a reasonable cost- thank you.
 
Mapula Lodge was wonderful, great people dedicated and committed to the region and to the guests, you would not call the chalets and facilities Hyatt Class but they were unique, more than comfortable, right amongst the big game animals with great food – I offered to bring the chef back here to Lobatse and replace our cook!  The game drives and gliding in the Mokoro brought new experiences every day. Within 2 minutes of getting off the Delta Air flight at the Mapula airstrip and within 50 metres we were viewing 2 lionesses and 2 cubs feeding on a Zebra – if Island Safari arranged that- thank you!!!!!  All in all, the memories of our stay will remain indelibly printed in our minds.
 
Best regards
Maureen and Malcolm Harvey

September 2008
Many thanks for your effort in getting us a booking at the Elephant Valley Lodge, it was an experience,that even us that were born and bred in Africa would not want to miss.
 
From crossing the ferry and having us met and escorted to the lodge and being met there like Royalty with complimentary drinks and big smiles was something special that we did not expect and from there on we were pampered by all the management,staff and guides up to the moment that we got into our vehicles to leave(which we all did not want to do).
The accommodation,service and meals were second to none and we will( and have) told friends of your lodge. We will definitely be back to visit you again,but will ensure that we get our bookings in early and not leave it to the last minute as we will be extremely disappointed to miss another experience and visit with our other family in Elephant Valley Lodge.
 
Once again Michelle thanks a lot for your time and effort in getting us a booking at such short notice,its greatly appreciated. And also many thanks to the staff and management for such a great experience.
 
Best wishes,
The Horton family from Zambia and the UK

September 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.  The service from your staff was exceptional. Efficient, courteous and every need was catered for - including a wheelchair for a 90 year old granny and birthday cakes at each resort!
The transfers you had. the plane transfers were all on time, no delays and comfortable
Your stay at Madikwe Hills excellent - ate too much!
Your stay at King's Camp excellent  - the quality of the rangers was outstanding
we rated this as our best trip to South Africa ever!
Rose De Bruyn

September 2008
I apologize for the late reply, however I did want to provide you with feedback as we were extremely happy with all of the arrangements and accommodation.
 
The staff were all extremely helpful during the booking and the organization of transfers were exceptional. Both camps exceeded our expectations and provided us with an experience we will cherish forever. Initially we treated this like a 'once in a lifetime' trip, however given the incredible time we had we have every intention to return in the next two years.
 
Once again, a sincere thanks to the staff, it truly was a magnificent trip!
 
Warm Regards
Jennifer Smith

September 2008
In a few words everything was great!

Service - Claudia was our contact and she was very helpful and prompt with her replies. Can't fault the service

Transfers - on time by road, aircraft were delayed sometimes. It really went like clockwork. We were met at Jo'burg as promised and all the road transport and the ferry were on time. Delta air were a bit late a couple of times but nothing serious.

Chundukwa - brilliant. Food was good, room fine. Rustic but certainly to be recommended

Chobe Safari Lodge - big modern hotel but with rustic eating area. We got transferred to a slightly better room as ours wasn't ready and smelt of smoke when we found the maid cleaning it. We had an upstairs room in one of the adjoining blocks superb! Suggest you always try to get one of these rooms for your guests. Food was good with plenty of choice and hot! Only weak point were their deserts, fruit salad was tinned and puds were a bit tasteless - a "chocolate" tart for example was almost tasteless. You booked us four trips and this was ideal. There was some confusion over the "private" boat trip but we had a second trip on the large boat and have no complaints.

Mapula - what a place! The brochure is exact! The food was good. Only problem they have is their "bridge" which has holes in it! They do need to do a bit of work on it fairly soon

Makgadikgadi Camp - tents, but clean and quite acceptable. Wondered why you included it on the itinerary when there isn't much game in the area - other than a large and I mean large herd of zebra. All became clear when we read other peoples notes in the visitors book and we drove out onto the pan in the late afternoon. What a night sleeping under the stars and what a lovely end to a brilliant trip!!!!!!

General - at all the camps we had good informative guides who really looked after us. The Botswana people are so friendly and helpful they just put the seal on an excellent trip. Would recommend the trip to any one. Could of course be a bit biased as we saw plenty of lion, a leopard, wild dogs with their pups, civet, plus all the normal small game and some buck we had not seen before - puku. Perhaps if we hadn't been so lucky with the game I might not feel so highly satisfied.

For my wife and I it was a superb trip that lived up to expectations and to be recommended to others.

Do you have any other trips of this calibre?

Colin Stewart

September 2008
Thank you for your interest. All the tour was wonderful because Botswana and the people were wonderful!

About your categories:

The service from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking was very good: fast and precise.… The stay at Planet Baobab was good: perfect the accommodation and the meal, good the service but not really fast (one hour and half to have four cheesburghers!). We had some problems with the activites because your programme and your voucher were different from their programme.
The first day we arrived early from Meno a Kwena  but the bush walking started at 4 p.m.; during the second day we went to Gweta in the morning (the guide was good but the tour not excellent because we thought a visit at a bush village that we saw during the way from Meno A Kwena) and to the village for dinner (a very good experience). In the afternoon we went to the desert: trip, guide, landscape, service, food, fire, night, sunset, sunrise, merkats…all was wonderful! Meno A Kwena Tented Camp is a paradise! The location is unique and also the hospitality, the service, the atmosphere during all our stay. Only one big regret: one day is not enough for Meno a Kwena! Also why we moved early in the morning to go to Planet Baobab where we found a different programme … But no problems:: all ok!

Thanks again for all your services and kindness!

We hope we contact you soon for another tour!

Sincerely
Stefano Lazzaro, Miriam, Moreno e Lucia

September 2008
We were very pleased with the service received from Island Safari, being quite easy to book the transfers and accommodation in Vic Falls.
 
The transfers worked out great. Waiting for us at the airport we had Vusani and Newton, who were extremely nice and always available and helpful during our stay. They provided us a great deal of activities to participate in, having their full support, at all times.
 
Victoria Falls is a wonderful hotel, a quiet and luxurious place with a magnificent view over the bridge and (sometimes) over the falls. The hotel personnel were very nice, and we had a wonderful stay at Vic Falls. I would like to mention that we did not feel any disturbance resulting from the political instability the country is facing.
 
Yours sincerely,
João Queimada

September 2008
Thank you so much for all the arrangements for our Okavango trip. We had the best time, and everything went extremely well. I wanted to write you sooner, but I went to Angola right after the trip and did not have good access to internet. Now I'm back to Joburg, so I'll later send back the "feedback" too.

I am particularly grateful for your advise concerning Pom Pom. Although it was only one night, we had such a good time there, I am so glad we went. Xakanaxa was superb, but I just simply fell in love with Pom Pom. Everyone was so friendly and accommodating. Loved the atmosphere, food, people, settings and everything else. The staff really went out of their way to make our short stay memorable, we were able to do the mokoro as well as the night drive and saw leopard cubs as well as mating lions. I really appreciate your coordination to make them possible. If I had a chance, I would love to go back to Pom Pom.

The guides' tent at Xakanaxa was very nice too. The fittings were simple but with good taste, I can't think of anything extra that we would've wanted. We also liked the location with the tent being in the edge of the camp, more privacy and nice walk to the dinning.

One thing for future information, Pom Pom says they usually do not do mokoro in the afternoon because hippos are active. Their mokoro activities start at 8am, so we were told that it would've been better if we moved to Pom Pom early in the morning (like 7am) and spend the whole day in Pom Pom instead of being transferred after a morning activity at Xakanaxa. Still, they did find us guides to take us out for mokoro in the afternoon, so we did not miss out anything.

Anyway, thanks again. We had a wonderful wonderful time.

Best,
Shiomi Kadoya

September 2008
Many thanks for your message and of course I am very happy to provide feedback - actually I have been meaning to write to Louise to thank her for all of her efforts because she was truly amazing (so I am copying her in on this email).

As regards specific feedback:

i) Island-Safari.com was amazing. Louise can fill you in on the details - but she essentially planned an entire trip to the Kruger and Mozambique for us and then helped up re-arrange everything at the last minute because my doctor changed his mind about letting me take malaria pills. I really cannot praise her enough - and it was so easy and stress-free to deal with her via email. It was also very nice to be met in Johannesburg as a friendly welcome to South Africa!

ii) The Cowrie Cove Guesthouse was fantastic. We were the only guests - and the owner was absolutely charming and the guest house (rooms, breakfast, etc) was absolutely beautiful.

iii) Amakhala Safari Lodge was great (however, Blaauwbosch was absolutely incredible so it was nice to have the two to compare). Amakhala was lovely and they are making a big effort - but the rooms are quite small and dark which I suppose is not a big problem in summer because you can open up the canvas windows and let some light in - but it was too cold to do this when we were there! The grounds are gorgeous, but it does slightly detract from the overall impression that the Safari Lodge rooms look out over the fence that separates Amakhala from Shamwari (it makes it feel more like a zoo). Also, I know that they are planning on introducing the lions to the main reserve this year, but it is slightly odd to have them kept in a separate area for the time being. My only other comment is that I think the set-up at Blaauwbosch is much better - where you go on a morning game drive and have tea and coffee on the drive and then return to the camp around 10.30 for brunch, followed my afternoon tea before the next game drive followed by dinner. At Amakhala, they call your room very early and insist on you having breakfast before the game drive which is slightly annoying if you are not that hungry!

iii) As you can probably tell from above, Blaauwbosch was simply unbelievable and I have already started recommending it to anybody considering going on holiday to South Africa. The wildlife and grounds are stunning, the rangers and trackers are fantastic and they are extremely accommodating and flexible and listen to what you want to do. Also, the main lodge and the rooms are beautifully designed and so relaxing - lots of games and books to read.

iv) We were not very impressed with Belvidere Manor. The grounds and setting are beautiful but the cottages are not very luxourious. We stayed at Laird's Lodge in Plettenburg Bay which was absolutely gorgeous - I don't know if you have an arrangement with them, but I would definitely recommend Laird's Lodge over Belvidere Manor for guests looking for somewhere to stay in the Plettenburg Bay / Knsyna area.

v) Finally, Winchester Mansions was a good base for Cape Town. As you know, it is very much a business hotel but they were very kind and gave us a lovely room with a view over Robben Island. On our last night in Cape Town, however, we moved to O on Kloof which is very much a top-notch, luxury boutique hotel. It is more expensive than Winchester Mansions, but they really focus on personalised services and the rooms and grounds of the hotel are amazing - we had a jacuzzi on our rooftop terrace! I would recommend Winchester Mansions as a good base - but O on Kloof if customers are looking for luxury.

I hope this feedback helps and I want to thank Island-Safari many times over for their fantastic service. We had a superb holiday and I am already looking forward to planning our next trip to Botswana and Mozambique!

Please do let me know if you require any further information.

Kind Regards
megan newhouse

September 2008
Just back from a marvelous trip from Botswana!
 
In answer to your mail: The service was great. My contactperson was Patricia (the Dutchie) and she answerd my emails at once. She helped me a lot also with suggestions f.e Planet Baobab. All contact was via email so during our tour we had vouchers. I persume you mean the transfer to and from Oddballs? This was Delta-air. I have to say that their equipment is very old but the flights were fine. Our stay at Oddballs was suberb!! Very scenic, friendly staff, very good food. It was one of the highlights of our trip! This place was also reccommended by Patricia. So to say we are very satisfied about Island-Safari and we will certainly contact you again if we are visiting Africa again!
 
Kind regards, especially to Patricia.
On behalf of my family:
Jacqueline Anderson

September 2008
I can happily report that we were more than pleased with the services rendered by Island-Safari and the Oddballs-Team.
 
Patricia of Island-Safari was a huge help for our travel planning and was really nice whenever we had any question. Thanks again for the assistance!
 
The transfer with Delta Air was fine, the staff very friendly. As to the staff of Oddballs we felt that we received outstanding services, we felt very welcome and at home and as to our guide, TK, he was incredibly skilled and well-informed. We were also delighted with the food and the facilities there.
 
It was a real pleasure to stay at Oddballs, so if occasion arises, please tell the staff again, how happy we were with our stay.
 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Mag. Barbara Herget

September 2008
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.     - Very good
The transfers you had.  - Very good, only once mistake by nature wings, didn't inform me in advance for charter time change.
Your stay at The Safari Club SA - Very good
Your stay at Villa Mushara - Excellent, the very best experience I had .
Your stay at Namib Naukluft Lodge - poor
Your stay at Elegance Guesthouse - Very good.
Your stay at Chundukwa River Lodge - Excellent
Your stay at Chobe Safari Lodge - Good.
Your stay at Oddballs Camp - Very good.
Your stay at Planet Baobab - Very good.
Youmei Wang

September 2008
This is Cheryl, Klemens' wife. Sorry for the delayed response. We've been absolutely swamped since we got back. However, we felt that our trip definitely warrants a proper feedback.

First of all, Michelle, our planner at Island Safari, has been amazing in helping us plan this portion of our trip. Since this was our first time in Africa, we had to rely on her insights and advise in many respects. She was very responsive, patient (we had loads of questions) and attentive to our interests and specific needs. The plan worked out smoothly and although we had many stops and transits along the way, everybody showed up like clockwork. There were no hiccups! We were very impressed by the efficiency and how well everything came together.

Michelle suggested Kwara for the Delta, which was a good choice for us since we were coming from the Masai Mara in Kenya. It was more remote than what we were used to but it offered us a very different experience. Our guide was very knowledgeable and very enthusiastic in explaining anything from wildlife to the constellations. Unlike the Mara, the animals at the Delta were a little harder to come by but the hot porridge at the crack of dawn and driving out to the sunrises and sunsets, made up for the absence of game. The boat ride to see the hippos was great. One caveat, the boat broke down after sunset (from lack of use or servicing) but the guide got it working again after many attempts and since the light on the boat was busted too, he expertly manoeuvred around the river in the dark! Thank God he had x-ray vision or we would be stuck out there with the crocs!

Kwara Camp itself was intimate, quiet, basic and comfortable. It had the rustic feeling of real 'camping'. The dinners were excellent although I did take a bite into one of the chicken skewers at tea time and realized that it wasn't cooked through! I stuck to crackers after that. In any case, the people who worked there were pleasant. At the time that we were there, there was a changeover in the camp management and we got to meet the new camp managers. The camp gave us a surpise present for our honeymoon which was very thoughtful and sweet. :)

Muchenje was a suggestion from someone we knew. It was a more lively camp and the atmosphere was more conducive for the safari enthusiasts to mingle and get to know each other. The view from the lodge was beautiful! We loved the fact that it was a lodge/cabin rather than a tent, which added another interesting aspect to our trip. They were very comfortable. Our stay at Muchenje was more relaxing than at Kwara. The river cruise was fantastic and the main reason why we went to Chobe. We enjoyed the drives we had with our guide who was very witty and had a great sense of humour.

The transfer to Livingstone at the Kazungula post was interesting. We believe that it would be helpful to advise your clients about the potential hassles of crossing the border here. We had not anticipated having to stand in line in the hot sun for almost an hour to get our passports stamped. We were very lucky because our guide was very proactive and he managed to get our passports processed so that we would not have to stand there for another hour.

The Zambesi Sun was a disappointment. The hotel was expensive (~$500) for what it was and the quality of the rooms and service were not up to par. The rooms were very basic, showers leaked water into the dressing area and there were limited comforts of what we would expect in a hotel of its category. We called for water to be delivered several times, and in the end, no one came to deliver them. We ended up having to go downstairs to the bar to buy water at night only to find that the bar was closed and they could no longer sell us any water! So, no water for us in the room during our stay!!  We also had to change rooms because they gave us a noisy room even though we requested for a quiet room. We took a shuttle to the Royal Livingstone and after looking around, we concluded that we would have paid the difference to be more comfortable than we were at the Sun. Although we requested for better rates, we would have gone for the R. Livingstone had we realized the vast difference in quality and standard between the two places.

The Safari Club SA was decent enough for a transit hotel. Since the hotel was pretty isolated, it would have been nicer if they had more choices for dinner than the two small set items they had. The breakfast was very good, however.

Overall, the planning and transfers were very efficient, Kwara and Muchenje were great but we would not recommend Zambesi Sun unless your clients understood what to expect from it. Typically, a $500/night hotel would be four or five-star standard in most places but we did not realize that it was not the case for the Z. Sun. We think that the R. Livingstone would be a worthwhile experience, especially for those who are making an epic trip to Africa. The sundeck there was stunning! It would also be helpful to receive more information on any potential 'hassles' during the trip.

In conclusion, we had a great time and would recommend Island Safari! Thank you!

Warm Regards,
Cheryl and Klemens Loeffler

September 2008
Today I am just back in my office and I would like to send you an email anyway.
 
My husband and I are more than satisfied about your lodge and tours! We really cannot find any complaint, so you can consider this as a big compliment. It was very nice to meet Vusani and also your driver during our trip to CHOBE NP (and other pick ups) was very pleasant and kind and has a lot of humor!!! You can be proud of such a staff!!
 
Please give our regards to both of them.
 
Kind regards
Carla Nijenhuis

September 2008
I have just got the informations from my clients.
20/20.
They had an unforgettable experience and they enjoyed every second or their stay.
Perfect timing for the transfers and they loved Xakanaxa Camp (which I must stay, I never worked with ; it won't be the last time).
Thanks again for your great help and we'll stay in touch.
 
Jean Yves Bouchet
Managing Director. 
Les Voyages sur Mesure de Xanadu

September 2008
You will find below my remarks regarding our trip to South Africa.
Overall we were extremely happy with our trip.
In more details:

The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour. Louise did a fantastic job. She has been very helpful and reactive. She perfectly organized the trip even though we did everything on very short notice.
We almost did not have to call her during the tour but when we did, she answered immediately.

The transfers you had. It was good. We had a rental car. There was just a small misunderstanding with Budget because it was not written in the voucher that the one-way fee was already paid for. But Louise fixed that problem.

Your stay at Outlook Lodge Very nice. Just f     or one night on our arrival. Good breakfast, nice host.

Your stay at Otters Den Very nice and friendly. Excellent spot, quiet and cosy. We loved it.

Your stay at Kapama River Lodge We were a bit affraid it would be too big but it was very nice. The game drives were exceptionnal (we saw everything but a leopard), the ranger and the tracker were good and friendly. The room was very nice. The swimming pool was sometimes a bit noisy (lots of children).

Your stay at Ematjeni Guesthouse Very nice room, beautiful surroundings, very nice host, but a little bit hard to find (especially when arriving at night).

Your stay at Leopard Mountain Lodge Very nice hotel with very friendly hosts and excellent service. But the game drives were really average, especially after Kapama. So we went to Hluhluwe and Santa Lucia Wetland Parks which was great.
But the trip to Santa Lucia (via Hluhluwe) and return was really long. It might have been a little better to stay one night in Leopard Mountain and the otheer one closer to Santa Lucia.

Your stay at Rose & Rooster Country Lodge Very beautiful guest house with a very nice room. We were all alone, which is great, but had the feeling that the hosts were a bit annoyed to remain open just for us.

Your stay at Granny Mouse Guesthouse Excellent. The fireplace in the room is just great.

Your stay at Bosavern Guesthouse One of the best guest house of our trip. The hosts were incredibly nice, excellent breakfast, amazing view on Plettenberg Bay and very nice room. We were all alone as well. Really excellent.

Your stay at Knysna Log-In The only hotel we did not really like. Too many rooms, lack of charm, not a very good location. We would have preferred a small guest house by the sea, in the bay of Knysna or even better in Wilderness or Buffalo Bay.

Your stay at Ocean Eleven Guesthouse We loved Hermanus and the guest house was great. Very nice rooms, excellent location, and fantastic view over the sea and the whales. Excellent address.

Your stay at Le Ballon Rouge Very nice room, good breakfast, good spot to do the wineries. Really better than the busy Stellenbosch.

Your stay at Abbey Manor Another of our favourites. Extraordinary location, near Table Mountain, amazing room (very nice bathtube and beautiful terrace).
Last but not least, the manager Judy is incredibly friendly and very helpful when it comes to chosing what to do and when in Cape Town.
A very very good hotel as well.

Overall, as you can see, we are very happy of our trip and our hotels.
Many thanks and congratulations!

Jeremie Noel

September 2008
My experience in Botswana and with Island Safari.
 
SERVICE
The service we received was excellent. We were in contact with Mandy for the organization of the trip and actually we chose Island Safari within a list of other tour operators due to the fast and precise answers we received from her by email.
 
TRANSFER
We didn someone was ready to pick us up.
Delta Air flight was 1 hour late one time and we understood from the lodge that Delta is often in late, even compared with other airlines. But that is probably due to the big luggages the pilot has to load once arrived at the airstrips.
 
STANLEY SAFARI
It is a wonderful lodge and the staff is super, the highest level we found during our trip. Each room has its own waiter! The food is excellent and it is a very relaxing place, even if we couldn too much due to the activities we planned on the falls.
The only remark is about a problem we had with the payment, just at the end of our trip. It seemed that they had a problem with credit card authorization, not a problem related to our card but to the overall connectivity of Mastercad terminal. Well, we had to wait for 1 hour, with a bus waiting outside the reception to take us to Kasane and then Chobe. We risked losing our connections and actually we arrived 2 hours late in the following lodge.
 
MUNCHENJE
Excellent accommodation and room, very clean. Excellent game and ranger (the full day game on Chobe was the best experience ever).
The food is acceptable, but much lower quality than other lodges.
 
MAPULA
Excellent games and very good and friendly driver (Joseia), the best ranger we found during our trip, it was incredible how many small animals he could find throughout the safana!
The food also is excellent, much better than what we could expect, the chef are Batwana women with a great passion for cooking!
We cannot be so happy about the accommodation, the level of service and the staff. The room was not very clean and full of mosquitos. The nets dirty and full of holes. It is a pity because the lodge was build just 5 years ago, so it is not a old building, it would just need a better management.
About the service. It is unbelievable in a lodge like that that there is only 1 generator in the central building, active in the morning and in the evening, since the only time when all the guests are inside the lodge is during the siesta time (from 11am till 15am). It was not even possible to dry the hairs after the shower nor use the fan in the room during the hottest time of the day.
Also, we had a problem during the siesta time, we tried to call someone of the staff, looking for them in the central building, but for 1 hour (from 1pm to 2pm) none answered. No staff all around the lodge, everyone was at their own home to rest! That is unacceptable. When we explained the situation to the manager, he didn 'everyone needs a break during the day'. Maybe he didn't like Italian. By the way, all the guests we met there agreed with us and they were not happy about the level of service and the cleanness of the rooms.
Mapula has a great potential, but please advise your clients in the future that they cannot expect a service level like in the other lodges. The initiative to give the management to local people is really full of praise, but I think those people in Mapula are not ready yet to guarantee the standard of service tourist expect from them (paying so much money).
 
XAKANAXA
Wonderful staying, tends were very luxurious and clean. All the camp was full of charm and created a intimate atmosphere during the evening among the guests.
 
 
After all, we are very happy about our trip, if I could come back maybe I would change only 2 things: I would make the tour in the reverse order, to leave Vic falls at the end of the trip, to relax after safari. I think that would be a better solution for the trip. I Xakanaxa because they aree too much similar in terms of environment; I substitute one of them with a lodge in the middle of Okavango, to make a 'water experience'.
 
Best Regards,
Nicola Morzenti


 

September 2008
Your service was excellent The transfers worked well.  At the end, flying from Baines Camp to Maun appeared to leave too short a transfer, but it was speeded up by 30 minutes and it worked well Little Kwara Camp did a good job.  The guide, Hobbs, was excellent.  The roads were perhaps too beaten up for guests to be reasonably comfortable Baines Camp was very good.  Superior accommodations and facilities.   We saw a number of wild animals.  A bit like fishing; you can go for long periods without catching anything and then you see a lot.  We think that 2 nights in each camp would be sufficient and then take in three camps instead of two. 
Regards
Poul Hansen

September 2008
My wife and I returned home yesterday from our trip to Africa.

        Overall, we are extremely positive about the safari and Island-Safari.com. Everything went smoothly and as described in the itinerary, and the lodges we stayed at exceeded our expectations.  Even though we have traveled to Africa before, this trip was a very special experience.  Below are some specific comments about the topics you listed:

 The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the
       booking process and during your tour.

        Ali was a pleasure to work with.  She responded to my email inquiries promptly and thoroughly.  She quickly and efficiently reworked the standard itinerary so that we traveled in reverse -- Chobe, then seasonal delta, then permanent delta, and finally the Kalihari, ending in Maun.  By the way, we liked this order very much because by the time we reached Deception Valley we had seen many varieties of animals and could better appreciate the harsh conditions of the Kalihari and weren't bothered by fewer animals.  Ali also gave us some invaluable tips on coping with the cool weather of late winter, which we would have been unprepared for otherwise.

 The transfers you had.

         Excellent.  Drivers were friendly and informative, and the pilots seemed experienced and skilled.  Our only suggestion is that we would have liked to have known our pickup time on the first day a bit earlier (the day before) than on the morning of the transfer.

 Your stay at Muchenje Safari Lodge

        All of these lodges were wonderful, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them to friends.  Muchenje was beautifully situated and the common areas were stunning.  The room was well appointed, though the smallest of all the lodges.  Staff was excellent.

Your stay at Mapula Lodge

        We loved this place.  The setting was awe-inspiring.  The structure itself was extremely clever and environmentally friendly.  Our room was wonderful -- it was like being in a tree house!  We especially liked the staff here -- they were so genuinely friendly and warm we felt like family.

 Your stay at Delta Camp

        Delta Camp was also fantastic -- we liked the openness of the room and closeness of the wildlife.  The staff here was very good, but perhaps not as warm and enthusiastic as the other three.

 Your stay at Deception Valley Lodge

        Although it is hard to rank these lodges because they were all so good, Deception Valley might have the edge.  Certainly the room was the best of the lot it terms of size, decor, and comfort, even though the view from the room wasn't as dramatic as the other lodges.  The staff was terrific.  Adriaan and Wanda do an excellent job and all of the staff members were warm and friendly.  Adriaan was an exceptional guide, and our tracker Duma was a delight -- he and his brother took us on the bushman walk and it was one of the highlights of our entire trip.

        I hope these comments are helpful to you.  Please pass along our appreciation to Ali.

Cordially,

Richard Sherman

September 2008
Specific feedback from our trip is below. Thanks for all you did in planning and organizing our trip to South Africa. It truly was the perfect honeymoon and we can't wait to come back to your beautiful country!
 
All the best,
Janis and Christine Skujins
The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour: Louise was phenomenal throughout the entire planning process. She planned wonderful hotels, easy transfers and provided invaluable insight into places to visit as we had never been to South Africa before. We will recommend island-safari.com to all our friends planning on a South African trip!

The transfers you had: All transfers were on time and very helpful. Guides loaded our bags into the vans for us, gave us great insight into the people and culture, and safely took us to and from our destinations.

Your stay at Commodore Hotel: Very nice hotel with great staff. Great location near the V&A Waterfront. Room had an amazing view of Table Mountain.

Your stay at Ocean Eleven Guesthouse: One of our favorites. Quaint guest house located on the coast. Very intimate and romantic, large room, wonderful balcony with chairs overlooking all the whales. SUPER nice staff, helped coordinate a transport to our whale watching boat as well.

Your stay at Timamoon Lodge: Very romantic lodge, great place to "get away from it all". Delicious food, great view, we loved how the monkeys were everywhere when we walked to dinner! The perfect honeymoon destination.

Your stay at Thornybush Main Lodge: Our favorite! We loved this place - great food, wonderful game drives, perfect lodge. The staff went out of their way to make this place unforgettable. One night they had candles and rose petals sprinkled on our bathroom floor (as they knew it was our honeymoon) after our nightly game drive. We loved our guide and tracker. Would recommend this place to EVERYONE going to view the animals!

Your stay at The Palace of the Lost City: Very large and beautiful complex. Nice end to our trip as we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. The breakfast buffet here was the biggest we'd ever seen.

September 2008
I just wanted to write a thank you line.
 
We are back in Sweden again.
 
I came yesterdaynight at 23.00 , then i´ve been travelling since tuesday morning.
 
And I met a pastor in Johannesburg who took me to the apartheid museum while transit there.
 
Once again from Johan and me Thank You.
 
PS we only stayed at Oddball one night due to , it felt a little like a honeymoonplace or
couple place. , Well we went to Sedia Hotel the last night , nice hotel, good beef , and we where at place for the departure from Maun thwe day after DS
 
You did a very good work always and friendly even though i stressed you a little to much to get a low rate.
 
Notes :  Zimbabwe Sun , - to big , unfriendly staff - good class.
Elephant Valley Lodge - John , super  , good game , " a gem"
Audi Camp - No if you don´t know what you get
Meeno A Kweena - Intresting place , nice staff , not so good game that period. David , super / Felt a little like when i´was working at Ibiza
1978-79 -- the people I mean.
Maun Lodge - Good Hotel Rooms Good , Restaurang Good - Maybe a little to far from headbuilding.
Oddball - see above - Game due to the rivers with water , not to many. Overall the reason you stay there is because of the Mokororides in ther delta.
Sedia Hotel - Very good nice area - very good service standard - the owner met uswhile we there. Maybe a little to far out , approx the same as AudiCamp
 
And finally .................. the Beef , what a meat. I´ve never eaten such good meat before.
 
Kwaheeri !
Peter Appelsog

September 2008
Thank you for a most enjoyable trip. mike has already given a listing of our thoughts but i wanted to add that i will be giving your name as a  company to do business with to my friends. special thanks to mandy for all her care and attention to answering all our questions at the start and through  to the final booking..  the experience was wonderful.....
 
my best
dr. raymond zelenka

September 2008
We were very happy with the whole tour.
    Carien was vary helpful with the arrangements.
    The transfers went like clockwork. We were especially impressed by the young lady who steered us through the Jo'burg airport on our arrival.
    Maun Lodge was good, but a little prosaic compared to the rest of the trip.
    Oddballs was wonderful, We cannot praise it enough. Joyce, the manager is a great lady. Bushcamping was a truly exciting experience. Our guide, Leko, did a fine job of keeping us alive. His apprentice, G.G., is pretty good, too. Our five days at Oddballs were worth the price of the whole trip.
    Chobe Safari Lodge was maybe a little too much like a Marriott Resort in the U.,S., but still would have been the high point of the trip if it weren't overshadowed by Oddballs. The quarters were luxurious, the food was good and the animal viewing was wonderful. 
    Chundukwa River Lodge was pleasant--we had a relaxing stay--but it lacked the "wow" factor of Oddballs and Chobe. They arranged a guide named Kelvin for our visit to Victoria Falls. He is a very intelligent and competent young man. You might keep him in mind if you need someone there.
    Overall, we enjoyed very step of our trip, so  I guess I would give a B to Maun Lodge, an A- to Chundukwa, an A to Chobe Safari and an A+++++++++ to Oddballs. 
    Mike Malloy

September 2008
I hope this email finds you very well!! My apologies that I have not emailed you earlier but it has taken us a few days to get over our lovely adventure and get back into the normal routine. The holiday was lovely you planned everything so well and there was not one hitch up, so my husband who is swedish and loves organisation was very impressed. So here is just some feedback for you on each of the places and other things; please note that any negative comments are not meant for you personally, as we were so impressed with everything you did for us and will definitely use you again aswell as send all our friends to you!!!!!
 
CHUNDUKWA - excellent, everything was just perfect here, they accomodated my sister visiting us everyday and were very welcoming.
ZAMBEZI SUN - very nice, got to hang out with some zebras up close and walk to zim vic falls
BUSHFRONT LODGE- this was the one place we were least happy with, staff barely noticed we arrived or were staying there and they seemed quite unhappy to be working there, they booked us in a family room, which was nice but did not have a waterfall shower, and when asked to see one we seemed to be making a problem. Plus the mosquitos were rife here, the only place that had so many even in winter, but this is to be expected in africa anyway.
Overall= all the transfers went smoothly and staff at the first place were very accomodating
 
CHOBE MARINA LODGE- what a beautiful hotel, everything about this place was just amazing!!! we saw so much on our cruises and game drives!! really good experiences and again the staff were brilliant!!
ODDBALLS - A nice place, very unsual with the mokoros (nerve wracking for me) but the guides that were taking us on them were really great, we did lots of short walking safaris because malachy could not walk long distance and when he got tired they carried him (our guides were Bafana and Motsi). Plus we had an elephant in the camp for a visit which was so beautiful to see. The cooks were very good too, everything they made just tasted delicous!!
GRASSLANDS- now this place was a huge suprise, not sure what we were expecting but nothing compared to the beautiful surprise we got!! The staff were brilliant, rooms clean and amount of wildlife was amazing. We saw so much just spending an evening around the fire overlooking the waterhole. And everything is great amounts, it was very sureal. Not sure why the place was not fully booked because it is just great. Neeltje, Tian, Vani and Willie were very nice and socialble, and we will definitely go back!!
Overall= we would've liked to stay in grasslands longer and less at oddballs, like you suggested and i stupidly did not, but next time for sure!
Tansfers with delta air (Ricardo) were great, everything always went on time and smoothly.
 
INDIGO BAY - well we thought we had died and gone to heaven!! just beautiful, my husband and I want to go back there without the children for a second honeymoon. Plus we had the added advantage of seeing Richard Gere and his family at dinner one evening at Club Naval, who would have thought!! There was lots for children and we had a lady called Tanya looking after us, who looked after Malachy in kids club too and she was brilliant!!
 
BAZARUTO LODGE - very sweet place, but would have been nice to go there first and finish off with indigo. We did a trip to paradise island which was...well word can not explain how lovely it was, we saw some dolphins and did lots of snorkelling.
 
SAFARI CLUB SA - very good made our transfers very smooth and was a great rest spot!!!!
 
So Michelle, i think it is an understatement to say you did a good job in organising our fantastic holiday!! We have been so impressed with everything you have done for us, you managed to fit everything in we wanted to do and see and were so prompt and professional with everything!!! We are so grateful to you and very much look forward to arranging our next african adventure with you!!
 
WARMEST AND MOST GRATEFUL REGARDS
The Mouton-Manhem family

September 2008
Greetings,
I have arrived home after a fabulous experience.
Louise, my main contact, was more than helpful, she was reasuring. It was a pleasure exchanging e-mails with her. Please give her my best.
The transfers were handled professionally, and the drivers were fun to speak with.
The Metcourt was a nice touch, and I have already mentioned them, as well as, your company at work. The transfers to/from the airport removed another concern, that was most welcome.
Sincerely hope to plan another trip with your company again.
Regards,
Vlad Hajdar

September 2008
Just wanted to send you a mail thanking you for arranging an amazing trip for my honeymoon to Victoria Falls.
Your representative in Jhb (I forget her name) was brilliant - very helpful and pleasant, and a great way to start our trip.

The Stanley and Livingstone was amazing, I will definitely recommend it to all my friends and family. The staff was exceptional - far better than anything we've encountered in South Africa. And the rooms etc were great.

I've run out of adjectives - but our entire experience was amazing, and I'd like to thank both you and anyone else involved in planning booking etc.

We will definitely use Island Safari for future holidays

Regards
Deeolan Govender

September 2008
Sorry this is late getting back to you.  We extended our vacation a bit and only returned last week.  In answer to your questions:
 
1. I have been telling friends and family what a great job Island-Safari and specifically Michelle did for us.  Michelle's attention to detail and her suggestion to stay a couple nights at a camp in the Okavango Delta was brilliant.  I've told several people how nice it was to get off the plane in Johannesburg after 2 long flights and have a representative from Island-Safari waiting for us.  The rep showed us where to store luggage at the airport, showed us the location of ATM cash machines, took us to Air Botswana for check-in and gave us suggestions about money, transfers, etc.  Upon arrival in Maun we had the same service from a representative who took us to Delta Air and got us checked in.  Delta Air was on-time with the trips to and from Oddballs.
 
2.  The transfers were great.  Wild Horizons did a great job getting us from Kasane to Vic Falls on-time.
 
3.  Oddballs was very special.  The camp personnel were there to greet us at the airstrip and took good care of us for our two day stay.  We had a full-day mokoro trip the second day with a packed lunch and we saw many different kinds of animals.  My son celebrated his 18th birthday at Oddballs and Michelle arranged for a cake and celebration from the staff.  Great attention to detail.  I've recommended Oddballs to friends and I hope to go back someday.
 
4.  Bushways Safari was the highlight of our 4 week vacation. This company has figured out how to do a great mobile camping safari.  Their equipment was top-notch, our guides were great and the service excellent.  We especially liked the vehicles they use and the fact that we could stand on the seats - holding onto the rollbar - as we traveled the roads of Moremi and Chobe.  I've heard some safari companies don't give this option and it was appreciated.  We suffered a major breakdown near Savuti - broke a drive shaft - but were quickly supported by 2 Bushways vehicles.  They flew in a new drive shaft to the Savuti airstrip and had us on our way after only a 4 hour delay.  We were all impressed and I will recommend them to anyone looking for a mobile camping safari.
 
All-in-all I would give Island-Safari.com and Michelle an A++ for their efforts, guidance and arrangements.
 
Thank you very much,
Brooks Berry
Mission Viejo, California, USA
 

September 2008
I must say you, that everything has been perfect.
 
The service from Island-safari, has been very good during the booking and during the tour, and also the transfer, everybody was on time.
The Safari Club, is good, only a beat noisy till flights stop.
Our stay en Oddballs Camp, was perfect, people very friendly and profesisonaly, very, very good.
Deception Valley Lodge, I don´t know how to explain, wonderful, wonderful, people there  is very, very, very lovely, also the rooms, the meals, everything was perfect.
Mowana Safari Lodge, it is Ok, it´s well located and confortable, but we like lodge smaller like the others we´d stay.
Matetsi Water Lodge, like Deception Valley Lodge, also perfect, perfect, and also lovely people.
 
Thank you very much for having made possible a wonderful holidays.
Pilar Pozo

September 2008
Thanks for all your help with everything. The whole trip went very well. I have provided some very brief feedback below. Hope it helps.

Declan Gavin

The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour. Excellent. Thanks to Ali
The transfers you had. Excellent
Your stay at Desert Homestead Nice, atmosphere. Nice place. Very nice staff
Your stay at Wolwedans Dune Lodge . Fantastic. Best place we stayed. Amazing atmosphere.
Your stay at Cornerstone Guesthouse Fine. Swako was not as interesting as a place as I thought it would be. I think one night would have been better with pro two nights in Huab or Okonjima instead of one
Your stay at Huab Lodge Nice
Your stay at Anderssons Lodge . Very nice. Great water hole
Your stay at Onguma Tented Camp . Very nice place. Another great room
Your stay at Okonjima Bush Camp. Nice place. Got an amazing room. An extra night would have been better given the length of the drive to it

September 2008
I received and excellent service from Cara at Island Safari in booking the tour with transfrontiers.
 
The tour itself was beyond expectations ( which were already high). great camp, guides company, animals food etc. So great was it that both myself and travelling companion found leaving very emotional. Interestingly the three people also on the tour had done it priviously which gave us quite a cue!
 
We were also grateful for the effor the team made to make my companions 50th birthday which she celebrated on the  last day unforgettable.
 
Thank you team for all your help.
David Thompson

September 2008
The service i received from Island -Safari was excellent and the booking process with Claudia was a pleasure.
All transfers were on schedule.
The Safari Club SA in  Johannesburg is nearby the airport and therfore perfect for us.
Also Victoria Falls Hotel, Savute Safari Lodge and Camp Moremi are great places for vacation.
Particulary Savute Safari Lodge is an outstanding accommondation for safaris.
 
Thank you very much for organising our tour.
 
With best regards
Leopold Schatzinger

September 2008
We had an altogether wonderful time at Delta Camp. Very relaxing and the accommodation was suburb. The service received from your staff was very good. The flights on Air Botswana were excellent. The flights on the small aircraft on Delta Air were also very enjoyable, except for the landing at Maun on our return, where we came down with a bit of a bang. I suppose it was acceptable as it was very hot and there were lots of air pockets on the flight.
 
Thank you making our trip so memorable.
 
Best regards,
Sally Tonetti

September 2008
I found Carien at Island Safari to be very professional and responsive - a pleasure to deal with.
 
I posted a review last night on Tripadvisor, our stay at Flamingo Bay Lodge was absolutely fantastic! my only comment is that they should upgrade their website as the photos don't do the reality justice. The setting is spectacular, the service and food were top-notch, the dive centre very professional. Great value for money, an idyllic place for a honeymoon and I would go back in a heartbeat!
Kim Hochfeld

September 2008
I have a very good grade of satisfaction in the three categories you mention. Specially good was the Island Safari staff attention in every moment of our stay there.
Best regards,
Jose Manuel

September 2008
The service I recieved from all staff was fantastic, both in the office and the transfers.
The stay at the Vic Falls Hotel was good and I will definately use your services again
if I find myself heading back to the area, I will probably contact you directly for safari
booking rather than going through an agent back home next time.
 
Thank you and Best Regards
Paula Shaw

September 2008
We are more than happy to provide feedback for you .
Elize Cavill Taylor was so helpful and accomodating in  organising our trip to Mapula Lodge . She handled our arrangements in a timely ,courteous and efficient manner - and I am sure all with a smile on her face ! She went the extra mile to accomodate our large party of 11 people and we could not have been happier with the arrangements .
The transfers with Delta Air were smooth and punctual . The pilots were friendly and willing to show us wildlife on the flight to the lodge.
Mapula Lodge is a wonderful place in an idylic setting . I will definitely be recommending it to friends . It has successfully combined luxury with comfort . The staff were very friendly and at the same time professional . We had two members of our party with special dietary needs and they were catered for like royalty.
The guides were proficient and very personable . We were particularly lucky to see an African Wild Dog family with 13 pups in total - a magical experience that we are very grateful for .
All in all , a great experience for us and our Canadian guests .
Thanks again
Kind regards
Jenni Brennan

September 2008
Your assistance was very simple as you have reserved only one night Hotel and the transfer to the airport.
In any case I could appreciate that everything was perfect, also the transfer was in time, good quality of bus, good assistance.
 
I will reccomend to every my frieds your organisation
Best regards
Silvio Fascio

September 2008
Thank you for asking about feedback on our stay in Botswana.
 
I dealt mainly with Elize at Island Safari and she was incredibly helpful and always emailed back promptly, making our complicated itinerary considerably easier to arrange.  Thank you to her.
 
The transfers at Maun worked perfectly.  We were immediately met by a rep from Delta Air, who took our excess bag away for storage, as arranged by Elize.  We were then whisked through security and off to our plane for the flight into the delta, all very painless.
 
Our transfer vehicle at the airstrip at Mapula was waiting for us when our plane landed and we were taken straight to the camp.  We've stayed in the delta several times before and by any standards Mapula is an exceptionally beautiful camp.  We were welcomed on arrival by Doctor, who is the camp manager, and his staff.  The Doctor is a legend, he has a great sense of humour, he's very knowledgeable and manages the camp extremely well.  He already knew about our requests for vegetarian meals and was very welcoming, was always approachable and interested in what we'd sighted on our game drives.  The chalets are lovely, spotlessly clean and we loved the relaxed informal ambience of the camp.
 
We'd chosen Mapula specifically for the wild dogs and we weren't disappointed. Our guide, Josiah and our tracker, John were excellent.  The wild dogs had chosen to den as far away from the camp as is possible on the concession but Josiah managed to find them, even though they'd recently moved the puppies to a new location.  Josiah was also very accommodating in doing the long commute from the camp to the den. 
 
In general, there is less game at Mapula than we've seen before in the Okavango, probably as most of the game drives were outside of the buffalo fence.  There obviously is still hunting and/or poaching taking place in the area as the game, especially the elephants, are very scared of vehicles.
 
My only criticism of Mapula is that almost every game drive involved going via the airstrip to drop off or pick up people which is unsatisfactory.  There needs to be a separate vehicle dedicated to that task so the game drives aren't interrupted.
 
The flight back to Maun and the transfer to Maun Lodge all worked perfectly but Maun Lodge is not that great and the rooms are a bit dark and dingy.  It also doesn't have mosquito nets even though the lodge is right on the river bank.
 
I also have to say that I was very, very uneasy about having to pay Island Safari by bank transfer, as there are no safeguards.  Ordinarily, I would have simply looked elsewhere if a company requested bank transfers, or charged such high credit card fees.  That said, I was very happy with your service and our holiday was a great success.  Thank you.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Robert Mann

 

September 2008
Item 1:  The service you received from Island-Safari.com staff during the booking process and during your tour.
All of our questions prior to the tour were answered promptly and professionally as well as in a way that made us excited from the first contact we had with Island Safari.  Mandy is excellent.  We had little contact with Island Safari during our tour but knew they were watching out for us as we were advised, for instance, in Jo'berg, by the hotel staff, that Island Safari had asked that they let us know our departure flight time had changed. 
 
Item 2:  The transfers you had.
There many, many handoffs on this trip and all went without a hitch.  Impressive.  Delta Air pilots were friendly and lots of fun to fly with.
 
 
Item 3:  Your stay at The Safari Club SA
OK.  The manager, an older lady, kept fixing things for us that the young front desk clerk (a man) was good at screwing up.  He should not be in the hotel industry.  The food was good but the chef seemed to still be learning and the self service bar was not a plus.  And, there was no way to store our valuables here, a definite minus in a place like Jo'berg.  The guide here was good and we enjoyed our informative tour of Soweto.  We were, overall, not impressed with this property.
 
Item 4:  Your stay at Stanley Safari Lodge
What we liked about this property were the following:  excellent accommodations and we liked that we had flexibility as to what time we ate, what we ate, where we ate on the property and the excellent service in terms of food and contacting us about activities.  Skip especially liked the hot water bottle left to warm his bed at night (also done at most other camps -- a plus).  This property is very well maintained as well.  We also liked the size of the camp.
 
Item 5:  Your stay at Muchenje Safari Lodge
What we liked best about this lodge was the game we saw.  The guides were excellent and the game were plentiful and varied.  The food was OK but not exceptional.  The property has not been well maintained, not of high quality to begin with and the room was barely large enough to turn around in.  The new managers seemed to be a bit overwhelmed although very friendly and eager to please; they seemed to arrive with a backlog of things that need attending to.  Also, this lodge is a bit removed from where we had to drive each day to see game; this made the drives long although I am not sure anything could be done to be closer to the park.  The management went out of the way to feed us again when our Delta flight was delayed by several hours.  We liked the size of the camp.
 
Item 6:  Your stay at Delta Camp
What we liked best about this lodge was the owner and the camp's upscale funky charm.  The makoros and walking tours add touches of excitement not found at other camps.  The food here was excellent as was the service.  The variety of game here was limited although the closeness of the elephants in camp (one charged Skip) and proximity to hippos and crocodiles while in the makoros added an up close quality not found at other camps.  We also liked the size of this camp and its isolation while still being close to 'game' events.  The size of the camp was also appreciated.
 
Item 7:  Your stay at Camp Okuti
What we liked best about this camp was the eagerness of the management to please and the overall friendliness of the staff as well as the staff entertainment one of the two nights we were there (native singing and dancing).  The food here was excellent although Skip found the Botswana beef he had to be a bit gamey.  The room was spacious and we loved the morning coffee/tea service that came with the wakeup knock.  We found the room to be hot in the afternoon due to the plastic outer walls not being shaded from the sun and this was not even the hot season.  And, the look of the lodge from the outside was not in keeping with image of an African Safari lodge.  The guide here was very good although he did not speak up very loudly.  We saw the most lions of anywhere on our trip and the only leopard (in the camp); the overall variety of game here is very good as well.  The camp is very well managed and the size is nice.  However, the Mopane Tongue is crowded with camps and other game vehicles which was not a plus (the problem of being in an area with so much game I imagine).
 
Item 8:  Your stay at Deception Valley Lodge
What we liked best about this lodge was our guide, Jacobus Slabbert, and the experiences in the bush we had with him.  He and his San helper spotted where a porcupine had been killed by a lion on our first morning game drive.  For the next couple of hours, they carefully tracked the lion, with Jacobus returning to the vehicle to keep moving us forward to watch.  And, then, suddenly, there was a male lion, several years old, lying under a bush quite pleased with himself.  Wow.  We felt this was what he had been missing at other camps:  the isolation we had here and the excitement of this 'hunt' with Jacobus.  Jacobus also was the most knowledgeable guide we had on our trip in terms of knowing the answers to all our questions (like:  what is the difference between a moth and a butterfly?).  And, he spoke up so that we all could hear him -- something we did not have with all of our guides.  And, the food quality and preparation and quality of the accommodations at this camp were the best of any of the game camps.  And, the staff besides Jacobus were also good and we loved the San people.  We also liked the size of this camp.  Although the game in the Kalahari is not as varied as Choke or the Mopane Tongue, we saw many animals and birds not seen elsewhere.
 
Mike Klinkenberg (for Mike Klinkenberg and Raymond Zelenka)

August 2008
All the arrangements were handled very professionally by Cara.  Chundukwa Lodge was excellent - the food and service were fabulous.  Oddballs Camp was of course not luxurious but well run and again the food and guides were good.  The apt at De Waterkant was perfect for our needs - the location was excellent and the apt itself well furnished.
 
All the transfers were on time - the one slip up was the ferry crossing over to Botswana - the boatman said he had been given a different time and we were kept waiting for him for well over 20 minutes in the hot sun.  Other than that, everything went off very well.
 
Regards
Lorraine Mascarenhas

August 2008
Thank you for your request of my feedback.
First of all, let me say that we were really satisfied by the service provided by Island Safari and particularly by Mandy that was efficient and also made overall a good choice of the lodges/camps for our Botswana experience. Wishing to visit Tanzania/ Zanzibar in our summer 2010, we are wondering if Island Safari will be able to support us at that time for those countries…..
The transfer with Air Botswana and Delta air was overall fine, even if some lodge managers said to us that Delta air is among the several companies operating in Okavango one of the less reliable in term of timely services, but we did not face major difficulties (only once we had a couple of hours of delay).
The stay in Delta, Stanley and Okuti was fine and the choice was correct because the experiences done were absolutely different: the best overall was Stanley’s camp, but in the future, wanting to come back to Okavango we ‘ll like to visit other places in the Delta (we received positive feedbacks from other tourists about Chief’s camp and Mombo in Chief island…)
Less positive the Chobe safari lodge, because it is a too big hotel and also the activities provided were nothing of special.
Overall, summarizing a very good experience and more and more we are falling in love of the south part of Africa continent.
If you like to have more detailed feedbacks on specific points, let us know. We ‘ll be happy to answer to you.
Best regards.
Euro TRAPANI

August 2008
have heard from our guests this morning, and they are truly satisfied with their holiday.  Thank you for the usual great organization and assistance.

They particularly liked Mapula and mentiond the staff, the whole team and in particular their guide Matt and his assistant 'FOUR BY FOUR'.  Please pass
also our Eagles Rock gratitude on to the camp staff and these in particular, for helping to make the clients stay a most memorable one.

Cape Town
They were also very happy with the Waterfront apartment and the day tour...so that you to you in particular for the suggestion of the Waterfront
Village apartments and the use of good guides!

The only negative comment, was on Victoria Falls, I translate their comments, as I believe this is useful for all of us, to capture as many impressions as possible, also from overseas guests, as this helps us improve our service:
"In Zimbabwe our friends had some petty theft from their luggage and it certainly can be attributed to the difficult political and economical situation.  The air that you breathe in Victoria Falls is particularly tense and makes it impossible to buy souvenirs because of the extremly expensive prices.
In Zambia to the contrary, we found a much more relaxed atmosphere, so our suggestion would be to give preference to hotels in Zambia, rather than
those in Zimbabwe."

AGAIN thanks very much and have a wonderful weekend!
Esbi Shaw Magri
Eagles Rock Tours & Safaris

August 2008
First, let me say how much I enjoyed working with Alison. She was obviously very knowledge about where we wanted to travel. She always responded to my questions and needs in a timely fashion. I could tell early on in our project that she was a very caring person who truly wanted to make our trip the best ever.
 
And it was .... in every way imaginable!  Gayle, Al and Cheri are still raving about the experience. I kind of knew what to expect, but what they experienced exceed any of their expectations to the point that this travel experience is their best ever!
 
The air and ground transfers went like clock work. Even Air Namibia was on time! We had the same charter pilot for three Namibian legs. His name was Hanna. When he wasn't flying charter, he worked on the family ranch outside of Windhoek. Not only was he an skilled pilot, but he had a knowledge and love for flora and fauna that rivaled our own. He was a pleasure to be around. 
 
The Kulala Desert Lodge was wonderful and very quaint. I must admit, the first glimpse we got as we approached the complex from the road was quite daunting. It reminded me of a military desert camp. But that imagine quickly disappeared once we experienced: the warm welcome of the staff; the cozy atmosphere of the lounge and dining area and our wonderful tented rooms.
 
The Sossusvlei dunes were spectacular. Their beauty is truly remarkable. Our driver/guide was sort of new on the job, but made up for his inexperience with good stories and a great attitude. We had lots of fun  running down the sides of the dunes. The landrovers were enclosed, which was much appreciated during the cool morning drives. The manager was exceptionally nice, the food was excellent and the songs presented by the staff after dinner were very enjoyable.
 
The Mowani Mountain Camp was awesome. The Damaraland landscape was so beautiful. Large grassy plains accentuated with hills and small mountains dotted with large red boulders. The camp was situated back in amongst one of these rock formation. Most of the main buildings were built to look like large boulders. The inside of our tent had a very romantic king size bed and a very warm cozy decor. Much to our surprise we had an out door lounge, bath tub and shower nestled among the rocks behind our tent. It was really special. The showers before bedtime got a bit nippy (some shrinkage took place), but it was well worth it. The food, and service were exceptional. Like all the camps and lodges we stayed at, the white linen and first class decor of the dinning area was something special indeed.
 
Damaraland provided us with a remarkable game viewing experience. For two days we leisurely followed a herd of desert elephants thru the river beds and around the grassy plains. The matriarch's name was Rosie and since being back in the States, we saw the very same herd on the Discovery Channel. Our guide's name was Fredrick and he was simply the best. His friendly, easy going demeanor and exceptional knowledge of the area's flora and fauna made for a special bond between us. We became fast friends and were sad when we had to say goodbye.
 
The Twyfelfontein rock engravings and paintings should not be missed. Their clarity and style boggles the mind. It was somewhat of a religious experience to view something that was put there by humans so long ago.
 
The Onguma Tented Camp was also special, providing beautifully decorated tents, an awesome lounge and dining area that provided a view of its own watering. The camp was run by David and his wife. The food and service was excellent and the staff very warm and friendly.  Only down side of the camp was the lengthily dusty drive to the game viewing area inside the Etosha National Park.     
 
As a driver and guide, David was a disappointment. He drove at a very fast pace and as a result we missed a lot of things we should have stop to see. In fact, Hanna was better at pointing out things than David. Like most of the other drivers in the Pan, David seemed to be set on racing from one watering hole to another to see as much game as possible. On a few occasions we stopped him and explained that we wanted to slow down and smell the roses so to speak. It helped to a certain extent, but he just never got it. Consequently, the Etosha Pan was our least favorite game viewing area.
 
The Olive Grove Guesthouse was superb. The owners were from SA and we had a lot in common to talk about. The guest house atmosphere was just what we needed to rest up for our trek into Botswana.
 
Delta Camp was exceptional. The Mokoro excursions were really cool and the every so often the hippo surfacing and snorting their displeasure at our presence defiantly kept our attention. Our cabin was marvelous. Again, a very romantic interior design with a great view from the seating area. The main lounge/dinning area of the lodge overlooked a marsh that provided lots of hippo sounds through out the night. A lone bull elephant spent a day and night in the camp with us. As such we needed an escort to walk to and from our cabin and the lounge. It was unnervingly to see him literally meters away from out cabin as we peak thru our reed door. One night we would be awakened every so often to the sounds of fruit nuts hitting the ground. Seems the elephant would wrap his truck around a tree and shake it until the delicious fruit nuts fell off. Again the food and service was superb. One night, in the moon light after dinner we watch a herd of elephants wading in front of the lounge to cross from one island to another. The hippos were not pleased that the elephants were traipsing thru their back yard.
 
The Muchenje Safari Lodge was also superb. Our cabin and the lounge/dining facilities were up to the usual high standards. The game view was exceptional with large herds of Wildebeest, Zebra and Cape Buffalo. We also saw the elusive Roan and Sable. And as I remembered, if you want to see elephant the Chobe River area is the place to do it. The afternoon river cruise is a must. At one point we stopped counting as we viewed the over 400 elephants from very close proximity that had come to the river to drink. There was one baby elephant so small that it had yet learned how to drink from its trunk. It was fun to watch him compensate for this shortcoming by laying on his side in the water and drinking directly from the month.
Our guide Theo was wonderful.
 
The Victoria Falls Hotel was the most marvelous place to spend our last three days on safari. The grand old lady had had a paint and carpet facelift and, as such, was looking great. Our room was in one of the wings with a spectacular view of the Falls. The hotel was much as I remembered from my stay in 1986.  We all loved the colonial atmosphere and fantasized about what must have gone on there during its glory years.
 
Vic Falls was spectacular, with just enough water to provide the "Smoke That Thunders", without producing too much mist to obscure the view. It truly is one of the wonders of the world!
 
As Alison assured us, we felt very safe when walking to the Falls and village. Most of the hotels has self- appointed tourist police who would walk with you for a small tip. The plight of the street vendors was sad and very unnerving. Their persistence to sell brought about by hunger and despair was more than I could take.
 
As everyone knows, the Zimbabwe economy is in shambles. Restaurants menus quoted prices in trillions of Zim dollars. While we where there the Zim government issued a 200 billion dollar Zimbabwe bank note. We were very glad that we took lots of small American bills with us as they were really the only way to pay for things, without getting stuck with a bunch of worthless currency when departing.
 
The walk with lions was one of the most incredible experience ever. The elephant ride was pretty cool, but after experiencing the thrill of being around unpredictable 16 month old lions, it was sort of anticlimactic ......... shame on us for being so spoiled. The helicopter ride was outstanding.
 
The D'oreal Grande Hotel was marvelous. The morning brunch was the most decadent ever! Our plane didn't  depart until 8pm, so we rented a car and driver and went to the Sandton Mall. It was fun to see the place again, boy how it has changed! The ladies did some last minute shopping of course and we had our mandatory pictures taken under the Mandela statue.
 
So that in a nut shell is our once in a life time trip, as we call it. Many thanks to everyone at Island safari for making it so.
 
And of course a very special thanks to Ali. It was only thru all her hard work (and keeping me on track) that such a marvelous trip became a reality.
 
Best regards from all of us,
Mike, Gayle, Al and Cheri Sharkey

August 2008
Our trip to the Okavango was quite simply unforgettable!  Incredible! Yes the service from Island Safari was very satisfactory.  Patricia was a great help.  The gal at the airport was very friendly and there on time.
cheers,
Ross Jones

August 2008
In one word - excellent!
 
Patricia was extremely helpful from beginning to end and required no follow-up from me.  I had complete confidence in her advice and organisation.
 
Our transfers all went according to plan.
 
The safari with Letaka was outstanding and we were not disappointed with the advice given to us by Patricia.  We had great wildlife experiences and the catering in camp was superb.  My only complaint was that the bedsheets were rather uncomfortable as they were "pilled" and could do with replacement!
 
Regards
Kathy Green

August 2008
Thanks for waiting a few days to send us the feedback survey. It’s taken us a while to rest up from our trip. I’ve been meaning to write Michelle and thank her for everything she did for us. The trip was absolutely perfect. Everything went like clockwork. All our transfers were smooth and effortless.  The hotels were just great, and the food was terrific.
 
We especially enjoyed the Muchenje Safari lodge. The personal attitude and service made us feel truly pampered. The food was so great that it was hard not to eat till it hurt at each meal. The safari’s were in cars that were not crowded, and we had plenty of room to spread out. The boat safari was a little overcrowded, and uncomfortable, but was still just fine. We loved the all-inclusive nature of the stay there. Our huts overlooked a broad plane full of zebras and other animals. It was a fantastic view. We were also fortunate that the weather was perfect the entire time we were there. It was not too hot and not too cold, and we only had a half day of a light breeze. We saw tons of animals very close up. We were happy to even see three lions. Our guides worked very hard to find the lions in the early morning.
 
We were totally amazed at the smoothness of our transfer to Zambia. The Muchenje lodge drove us to the airport where we were picked up by a safari car that drove us to the border. He stopped at emigration first, then deposited us at the speedboat that carried us across the river. A van met us on the other side, took us to customs, and then straight to our hotel. We had no idea that there was a river transfer involved (a bridge might seem more logical), but it was so seamless and smooth that it was a pleasure. Thank you for arranging all that for us. I see now that there is no way we could have figured out how to do that on our own.
 
The Zambezi Sun was a great hotel. We enjoyed the marimba band and the lively atmosphere just as much as we enjoyed the peace and quiet at the Muchenje lodge. The location on the edge of the falls was perfect. We were able to see the falls at three different times of day, as we walked over whenever we had some free time. We totally loved the Elephant Safari. They were very professional. Not only did the make a very nice DVD, but they took pictures of us with our own cameras on the elephants. I thought that was nice, as you would expect them to take pictures by their own photographer and charge for each print. My husband loved the helicopter ride over the falls the most. Now he says he has to get one of those (a helicopter). It’s not likely to happen.
 
Our flight left Livingstone on time and we made our transfer to the US with a few minutes to spare. It couldn’t have been a greater trip. Thanks to Michelle for answering all my questions in a timely fashion and making suggestions of things we might like to do. We were happy at each transfer to be handed another list of times to be at what location. They picked us up and dropped us off right on schedule from the Elephant Safari and helicopter ride. It was great.
 
One comment on the description of the Zambezi Sun hotel. Your description says it has two-story rooms and fold-out couches. This wasn’t the case. They’re just regular hotel rooms, but colorfully painted with nice bathrooms (with separate tub and shower, which we enjoyed). You might want to make a correction to the description. While we were briefly disappointed to not have two-story rooms, it was a very nice hotel, and we enjoyed our stay there very much.
 
Thank you for all you did for us. We will definitely recommend Island Safari to our friends, and when and if we return to Africa we will gladly use your services again.
 
Thanks.
Judy Bush
 

 

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