Safari Specialists take pride in creating extraordinary safaris throughout Botswana and beyond. Read what our travellers have to say about their safari experiences in 2025 — their stories are the best testament to the care, knowledge, and passion we bring to every journey.

May 2025

Lisa – Moremi Crossing Safari Feedback – What a wonderful place, the people were kind and made everything special. 

Nicky, we are safely home and thinking longingly of our wonderful trip your beautiful country. Thank you again for all you did to make our trip so wonderful, everything went off without a hitch and we had a great time at Moremi Crossing! What a wonderful place, the people were kind and made everything special. Thank you for everything!

Lynn and James – Setari, Shangana Mobile Camping in Moremi, Khwai and Savute, Chobe Bakwena, Pioneers Vic Falls Safari Feedback – we still miss the smell of the wild sage and basil early in the mornings…

Thank you Bronwyn. we had a fantastic ‘trip of a lifetime’.  We couldn’t be happier with your recommendations for different locations and the experiences we had at each.  We still miss the smell of the wild sage and basil early in the mornings while driving through the fields and watching the animals at sunsets.  Our favourite experience was the mobile camping as you are out with the animals night and day.  We can’t say enough good things about our guide Master.  We asked all kinds of questions on plants, animal behaviour, bird calls, birds, animals, local culture, medicinal plants and he was willing to tell us about his knowledge from experiences with bushmen. His tracking and finding animals was amazing. He knew everything we asked and was a wealth of knowledge.  We received the recipe for the seed crackers from Shangana and Lynn is working on our 2nd batch as I write this.  Thanks again for getting it for us.

As far as our (keto) dietary requirements, Setari wasn’t expecting it, but made it work after a day, Mobile camping was great, Bakwena had no idea of our diet and tried, and the boat cruise had one menu and had no options to change it.  We do want to say the team on our mobile camping made our anniversary very special, so we would like to recognize that.

Victoria Falls was amazing along with the elephant encounter and the helicopter ride.  We were able to spend the late morning on the Zimbabwe side of the falls, and then walked to the Zambia side and spent the afternoon there.  That was capped to a nice meal at the overlook café.  All the Wild Horizons pickup and drop offs went great.  We were glad we finished up there vs. starting there.

Our favourite experience was having an elephant charge us at Setari (we were safe in the boat and the elephant was in the reeds), but certainly enjoyed the big cats (lions, leopard, and cheetah), and the wild dogs.  We saw packs of 5, 12, and 13 and got to see their social behaviour waking up to go on a hunt.  We even followed them on a hunt until they got in the heavy brush.

All our transfers and communications about the times went great, so thank you for doing a good job! Thanks again for working with us for almost two years, but we got it done and had a memorable trip.

Catherine, Darrin (x2), Halie, Andrew – Delta Camp, MmaTsebe, Ghoha Hills Savuti Lodge, Chobe Elephant Camp, Palm River Hotel Safari Feedback – The Botswana people were so kind, friendly and welcoming! 

Thank you! Thank you Nicky! This was by far the best family vacation I’ve ever had and the trip far exceeded my very high expectations!

We enjoyed the schedule you planned for us. The lodges were perfect and logistics between each were simple and efficient.

Some of us loved Delta Camp the best while the others loved Ghoha HillsSavuti Lodge the best. MmaTsebe was a close second favourite for each of us knowing that Chobe Elephant Camp didn’t get a fair evaluation since our stay there was so short…  In all we really had the best times at each camp/lodge.  The accommodation level was perfect for us – not too rustic, nor too luxurious.  The animals we saw – amazing – we even saw a leopard at Chobe! The food… incredible! The Botswana people were so kind, friendly and welcoming!

I really do hope to visit your beautiful country again! I will definitely recommend Safari Specialists when I am asked about our trip. Thank you for the best trip!

April 2025

Katie & Gillian – Kanana, Xugana Safari Feedback  – both of the camps were absolutely wonderful, but we truly fell in love with Kanana. 

Bronwyn, thank you, we had the most wonderful time.

Both of the camps were absolutely wonderful, but we truly fell in love with Kanana and Xugana was amazing, the camp was beautiful, we had it almost to ourselves.

All the transfers worked perfectly. No rhinos, but everything else we saw was magnificent. Hopefully we will visit again one day soon

Gaby, Andrea, John, Stefanie  – self drive and fly in safari: York Lodge, Lodge at the Ancient City, Romelda, Big Cave Camp, Banff Lodge, Somalisa Camp, Zambezi Expeditions, Kanga Camp Safari Feedback – all in all we’ve had a great holiday!

Nicky, a big THANK YOU to you for organizing this trip for us. We’ve had a fabulous time and thoroughly enjoyed our time in Zimbabwe. Most of the itinerary worked absolutely perfect, except the car pick up by Europcar in Bulawayo, which you’ve already resolved (not your error), thank you.

The only lodge we were not happy with was the Lodge at the Ancient City. It had a desolate feel to it. It is quite run down. The York Lodge in Harare is a great place to stay. Romelda was nice, but unfortunately we were quite unlucky with the weather there (2 days of rainfall almost around the clock). The African Bush Camps (Somalisa, Zambezi Expeditions and Kanga) are just great, the people are so friendly and caring, and the service they provide is outstanding.

So, all in all we’ve had a great holiday 🙂

March 2025 

Victoria & Sam – Ilala Lodge, Mma Dinare, Kwara Safari Feedback –  we saw so much within our first 24 hours in the Okavango, overall 4 leopards, 4 cheetahs, 3 lions and cubs and many elephants!

Thank you Erica, we had a fabulous time on our trip and the safari was fantastic. We would love to do it again, perhaps in the winter season to see the contrast with the green season!

The sightings at Mma Dinare were exceptional – we saw so much within our first 24 hours, overall 4 leopards, 4 cheetahs, 3 lions and cubs and many elephants! Kwara game viewing was slightly slower but we had some fabulous lion cub sightings, lion/lionesses and leopard. In a way, having to work harder to see the animals makes it even more exciting when you do!!  The accommodation at both camps was also exceptional – the fan was a little annoying in the tent hitting the mosquito net, but this issue was only minor. All the staff were excellent and gave us gifts for our honeymoon and surprised us with private dinners in our tents.

Thank you for all your advice and help with the trip. You and the team were excellent and hopefully we will be back booking with you for another safari soon!

Laura & Scott – Kadizora, Kanana, Camp Kalahari Safari Feedback – Botswana definitely stole my heart.

We’ve been back from Botswana for a few days now and I miss it terribly! We had a fabulous trip. Everything went so smoothly.

Kadizora – Great place to start with but definitely glad it didn’t follow Kanana or Kalahari because it would have been a let down. The main areas are nicely furnished, food was good, however, the tents could definitely use some love. There were some gaps where bugs got in (friends we made stayed in the luxury tent and seemed to have a similar experience). Mosquito net would have been tremendously helpful…. Our guide, Navas, was super impressive at tracking and we were able to do both the mokoro and boat ride AND we saw an aardwolf!!

Kanana – Renovations were gorgeous,  I had no idea the entire camp would be brand new. The staff had a great attention to detail – we were so moved during one of the dinners that we were nearly in tears. We loved our guide, Cautious. The rooms were beautiful and had wildlife right at our window (literally). Would definitely use Ker and Downey again – this was our favourite camp.

Camp Kalahari – Generally well-structured camp, the rooms were simple but classic and well-kept (no bugs!) and they had a nice attention to detail. They recognized our anniversary with a private dinner on our last night which was really lovely. Our guide, Dee, was also incredibly smart and a great tracker – also cool to meet a woman in the field. And the meerkats definitely met or exceeded my expectations. The stars in the pan were like nothing I’ve ever seen.

My husband might need some convincing but I’m already thinking about how we can make our way back next year! Thanks for your help Erica in putting the trip together and suggesting Kanana. Botswana definitely stole my heart.

Jane – Moela, Pom Pom Safari Feedback – the pan opposite baobabs was stunning

Moela is stunning property – I loved it and the staff were so nice. David, the owner, is a real character with lots of ideas for conservation.  As you mentioned, due to weather the zebra hadn’t come as close as Moela. I was taken to Nxai pan twice where we found a few hundred zebra! The pan opposite baobabs was stunning. It was 3 hours each way so not for the faint hearted. The San tribe morning was great – collected, cooked and ate a beetle, tried to make ostrich egg beads AND I even tried to rescue a vulture! Sadly he was taken to the vets but died.

Pom Pom was spectacular – scenery beautiful as so lush. I had 8 leopard sightings in the 4 days and met some lovely people too.

Kathy, Wayne, Carmen & Don – Rra Dinare, Kwara, Ngoma Safari Lodge, Old Drift Victoria Falls Safari Feedback – Safari Specialists did an excellent job, we saw a total of 43 lions and hundreds of elephants!

TT, it was great meeting you in person in Maun, we  had an absolutely amazing time! Safari Specialists did an outstanding job with our plans and trip. It was so easy transferring from one camp to another and every transfer was on time!

We saw a total of 43 lions and hundreds of elephants (my favourite, especially those with babies). Giraffes and zebras were beautiful as well. And, all the baboons, very entertaining.

We loved all of the camps and each had their own experiences to offer. The guides and trackers were fantastic and all of the staff at each camp were so friendly and fun! We loved the singing and dancing the workers would do for us at dinner. And, all of the food was wonderful! There’s not one meal that we were not happy with. I think we all ate too much!!

At Rra Dinare, Edwin the guide was quite entertaining and had a great fun personality (he liked to photo bomb some of our pictures….LOL). Play was a great tracker as well! They even put flowers and champagne in our room for our 47th wedding anniversary. What a nice surprise!  I think the camp we found the most entertaining was at Kwara with Mr. T as our Guide and Mike as our tracker. Mr. T loved taking the Land Cruisers through the woods, running over bushes and small trees to find certain animals. It was definitely fun!

Victoria Falls was beautiful and the Old Drift “tents” were so comfortable and it was nice having individual pools. Our guide, Pressure, was very good and did a great job taking us on the tour of Victoria Falls. The next day we took a helicopter ride over the Falls. Expensive for 12 minutes but beautiful.

Safari Specialists did an excellent job for us and I’d definitely recommend them to anyone thinking about traveling to Botswana and Zimbabwe. Everything worked out perfectly. Thanks so much and maybe one day we will return!

Annika and Niklas – Ilala Lodge, Chobe Elephant Camp, Letaka Mobile Safari, Thamalakane River Lodge Safari Feedback – We have to come back, it was soooo awesome.

We want to say a BIG THANK YOU to you! Everybody was very kind, everything was so beautiful!
We had an amazing first time in Africa and will never forget this trip. It was PERFECT and we are soooo happy. You are an organisation talent, thank you so much. We felt in love with Botswana and we had so much luck.
We have to come back, it was soooo awesome. You cannot imagine how much we appreciate this trip. Thank you, Erica!

February 2025

Chris – Moremi Crossing, 4 Rivers Safari Feedback – I doubt this will be the last you have heard from me!

Just wanted to say thanks so much Nadine for your help in arranging my trip. I had a great time and saw (almost) everything I wanted to. Highlight was the wild dog on my very last morning. The lodges were great (though way and above my needs!) and all the staff were so friendly. Thanks to Totho for meeting me at the airport – super helpful. Maun has obviously changed considerably since my last visit and I hope to arrange another trip, as there are two things I would have loved to have seen in the delta area – leopard and a chameleon!!! I doubt this will be the last you have heard from me!

Ruth, Eilin & Aileen – Savute Safari Lodge, 4 Rivers, Lagoon Safari Feedback – Thank you for organizing a wonderful safari…again! 

Hi Nadine! Thank you for organizing a wonderful safari…again!  A selection of photos from our safari (@ruth.wildlife) and feedback:

Savute Safari Lodge, Savute – I would stay here again and recommend it to others.

• Accommodation – everything was clean, well maintained and decorated, and clearly recently upgraded. Fantastic all around, both the main area, dining, and tents.
• Guide – Conrad is easily one of the best safari guides I’ve ever had. He was so professional, educated, and proactive about appealing to everyone’s interests – birds, flora and fauna, among other wildlife.
• Service – Staff is well trained, professional, exude confidence, and interact well with guests. They were able to socialize with us with meaningful conversations. You can see they’ve been very well trained.

4Rivers, Okavango Delta – I would stay here again and recommend it to others but manage their expectations.

• Accommodation – Wonderful, I love the big open rooms. The walk to the rooms can be long but we were in the first two tents closest to the main area.
• Guide – We really enjoyed our guide Clifford and tracker, James. They work well together as a team. We really enjoyed the mokoro ride and the picnic lunch was a nice surprise.
• Service – There is a clear difference in quality of service between 4 Rivers and Savute, the Kwando staff are not as polished in their service – too many people standing around watching, and when you ask a question (which direction is sunset, what time is dinner, when is the curio shop open), they often did not have an answer.   The bathrooms in the main area were not cleaned frequently enough given the number of guests.

Lagoon, Linyanti – this camp has so much potential because of its location and wide open space, the guides and game viewing are great – big cats, wild dogs, and birdlife, but I would not stay here again unless there is a significant remodel and update, it needs a lot of TLC

• Accommodation – the tents were run down rooms, no decoration, looked like just random pieces of furniture thrown together, really lacking in storage and organization – no hooks to hang towels or clothes, limited number of shelves yet so much wasted and unused space. The water in the bathrooms was smelly and the safe had to be replaced.
• Food – Overall food did not look particularly appetizing like Savute and 4Rivers, breakfast and lunch were good enough.
• Service – I feel that Kwando staff are well intended – they want to do the right thing but have not been trained properly in hospitality. They lack confidence and professionalism.
• Guide – George was an excellent guide, along with our tracker, John. We tracked wild dogs for three game drives and had a blast. They were on a mission and taught us a lot along the way.

As a side note – Kwando did address many of these concerns, adding additional hooks and luggage racks and acknowledging that, as an older camp, Lagoon receives regular maintenance and refurbishment and may not compare favourably when paired with two relatively new/ or recently upgraded camps (4 Rivers and Savute Safari Lodge).

 December 2024/January 2025 

Nicole – Nxai Pan, Gomoti Plains, Camp Moremi, Savute Safari Lodge, Ngoma Safari Lodge Safari Feedback – Everything worked perfectly and the people and places … well again… perfect!

Thanks for your email. It was an amazing trip! Everything worked perfectly and the people and places … well again… perfect! I already left a review on google about your agency. You did a fantastic job and it was really worth every $$. I will definitely recommend your agency to everyone who is thinking about going to Botswana!  Here are some cute animal images I took on my Botswana trip:-)

Nick & Eta – Mashatu

Bronwyn, just got back to Washington.  Had a nice stay although LOT of rain so missed a couple of game drives and some were in the rain ; we got moved out of Tuli Safari Lodge after one night as management were concerned that the Limpopo would break its banks and flood the camp, though we really liked this camp. We spent one night in Euphorbia which was a nice experience although neither of us would elect to stay there — no sense of the African bush.  Eta liked Mashatu; I was less enthusiastic and frankly prefer the delta.

Zuzana & Martin – Pioneers Vic Falls, Ngoma Safari Lodge, Rra Dinare – This was truly a trip we will never forget and hope to come back one day to Botswana again.

We want to express our sincere thanks for the trip that you organized for us. The places we stayed in were all amazing, welcoming and beautiful. Pioneers Victoria Falls was even better than expected based on the pictures and your advice with the smaller boat on Zambezi was also the right choice. Ngoma Safari Lodge in Chobe our absolute favourite with a knowledgeable guide and the lodge’s attention to details in all parts of their operation made us feel like being at home.

I also wanted to say that although Rra Dinare is a simpler camp, we really liked this camp, its layout, the raised deck and the comfortable tent with the view and night concert of frogs, in an absolutely beautiful area! We felt safe there and didn’t miss any fence, quite the opposite, enjoyed the different smaller animals taking shelter around and on top of our tent. What has perhaps put it to the last on our list of three places we stayed at, is the food. When we arrived, there was a group of 8 people who we were sharing the dinner table with, so I wouldn’t say the camp was full.  There was quite little main course meat per person and some guests were left with bits and pieces. There was no refill of the main course, just plenty of sides. Same thing happened earlier for afternoon snack, no sandwiches left for us who came last. Once the big group left, the amount of food was sufficient but not with a big variety especially for breakfast.  Although I also have to add that they made lactose free cake alternatives specifically for me, that I appreciated very much.

This was truly a trip we will never forget and hope to come back one day to Botswana again.

Thomas  – Jock Safari Lodge, Kruger – our ranger did a great job, we could take incredible pictures and capture the fantastic wildlife experience.

Bronwyn, our stay at Jock Safari Lodge and all the game drives were a unique and unforgettable experience. It was raining almost every day, which made the beautiful landscape looking like the garden of Eden., i.e., greener than green. Of course sometimes it was rather challenging the find the animals in the high grass, but our ranger did a great job. We could take incredible pictures and capture the fantastic wildlife experience.

However on our departure day it was heavily raining non-stop, already during the night. We left the lodge on time to the Skukuza Airport, however, about 6 km before the airport the river and the only access bridge were completely flooded!  We had to return to the lodge and extend our stay by one more day. The flight back to Cape Town was automatically re-booked to the next day and the extra night was covered by our travel insurance. But this extra day made our stay and experience even more memorable.

Thank you again for all the arrangements and we will be happy to return to you if we plan to repeat the safari experience or travel to your region.

Amelia & Matt – Pioneers Vic Falls, Chobe Elephant Camp, Pom Pom, Splash Safari Feedback – It was truly one of the best experiences of our lives!

Hi Erica, We’ve been back for a while now and are still thinking and talking about what an amazing experience we had in Africa. Thank you SO MUCH for all of your support throughout the process and for planning such an amazing trip for us. It was truly one of the best experiences of our lives! We hope to come back as soon as we can.  Sending our best wishes for 2025 and much gratitude!

Cameron & Julianne – Machaba, Karangoma, Chobe Elephant Camp Safari Feedback – We had great sightings in every location, though most consistent and plentiful in Chobe

Thanks, Bronwyn! We had a fantastic time, and several times commented on how smoothly everything was organized. Everything was seamless, on time, and totally easy to manage. Whether that is you or the camps, or all of you working together, it was impressive!  Each camp had its strengths. We had great sightings in every location, though most consistent and plentiful in Chobe. My favourite guides were at Chobe and Karangoma (and special praise for those guys because of the difficult circumstances of a new area they were learning, plus the rainy season – we saw the fewest animals at Karangoma, but I thought the landscape was the most beautiful of all the locations and I appreciated the guides using all their skills to track the animals).

For the camps themselves, I think our consensus was that Machaba was our favourite, though for me Karangoma was a close second – they have a few growing pains to work out as a new camp, but I really enjoyed the aesthetic and the raised wooden flooring, which felt less tent-like, and I really enjoyed the helicopter ride there. Machaba was beautiful, they upgraded us to huge family tents, and it is more mature in its operations and details, like providing a kids’ activity pack for my son and nice water bottles for everyone.

Chobe Elephant Camp as a camp was probably my least favourite; the rooms were nice, but far from the lodge. We had a couple logistics issues. One, although there was a strong wifi signal in the public areas, when we asked for the password, we were told the wifi wasn’t working. Two, I blew the emergency horn one night several times when I was bitten by a millipede (luckily as it turned out, the non-poisonous kind, but at the time I wasn’t so sure!) and no one responded. It was a stormy night, but Julianne and my son even went to the lodge seeking help and there was no one around. That didn’t feel so safe. That said, Chobe was still a pleasant stay! And all three of the camps had great food and kind people.

And again…SO well-organized it really made the trip very easy. I have already recommended people travel to Botswana and will certainly send them your way.

Anais & Jose Honeymoon – Shongwe Oasis, Somalisa, Ngoma Safari Lodge, Lagoon, Splash, Atzaro Okavango Safari Feedback – thank you for crafting such a special honeymoon safari for us, it surpassed all expectations.

Once again Erica, thank you for crafting such a special honeymoon safari for us, it surpassed all expectations and we were already expecting the best trip of our lives! We are already fantasizing about our next safari with you and Botswana! We had so many highlights but here are some of the ones that are top of mind for me right now:

Shongwe Oasis, Victoria Falls

The sunset cruise, it ended up feeling like a safari which was unexpected!

Dusty Road restaurant for some local food

Obviously, seeing the falls up close in the national park

Somalisa Camp, Hwange

Plane landing surrounded by elephants on the airstrip

Lions under our tent and seeing them around camp on the first day

Our guide, Bheki, wonderful person

Walking safari and getting close to a bull elephant

Waterhole viewing hut surrounded by elephants

Far away savannah to see a big lion pride and large wildebeest herd

Surprise private dinner on the last night

A black mamba sighting

Overall service of the staff, everyone was wonderful and made us feel at home

Ngoma Safari Lodge, Chobe

The food was incredible at Ngoma, the rooms very comfortable too. They also surprised us on the second day with champagne and treats.

Boat safari, got to see about 200 elephants coming to the river.

Short but exciting wild dog hunt on the last morning

Lagoon Camp, Linyanti

Loved the lodge and how wild it felt, the sound of hippos so close was exciting as well as seeing them come out at sunset to graze. We could spot so many animals just from the room’s deck

The density of wildlife here was incredible, the best of the whole trip. Huge herds of antelope everywhere we looked

Predators were elusive at first but we got to see a large hyena hunting at night for a quick second and tracked a leopard which we got to follow for about an hour and gave us some of the best pictures of the trip

Fishing and cooking our catch for dinner

Splash, Okavango Delta 

Wild dog chase for about 7 minutes and 3km, the most memorable encounter of the trip!

The plane ride arriving here crossing the wild landscape

Mokoro excursion

Landscapes of the Delta in general, so beautiful out there

Atzaro, Okavango Delta 

Our guide, Mighty, was an incredible tracker. Managed to track, leopard, cheetah, and lion pretty much all in one day. We learned so much from him

The game driving off-roading was very fun too, amazing that we never got stuck

The room was above and beyond any expectation

The service (especially Percy) was the best we’ve ever experienced at any hotel

Spa treatment at the hotel and private dinner on the last night was very special

Helicopter ride in and out of the lodge was spectacular

Rainy afternoon were we got to enjoy the room, the sounds of the bush, and the cool temperature.