African Travel Agent Review: Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lower Zambezi, Victoria Falls, 18-Day Wildlife Safari Tour

This Africa travel company provided excellent communication, recommendations, and service from our initial contact through a follow-up post-trip. We originally booked this trip in 2019 for 2020 prior to the onset of Covid, which led to many uncertainties and changes until it was finally executed in 2021. Canceled flights and changes by a Zambia carrier proved to be challenging for all, but our travel company was monitoring this and took immediate action to resolve connections and lodging issues with each change. Flights going and coming from Africa were not full and the same was true for many internal flights. The exception was for the Zambia flights so one might presume that a canceled flight today would mean a fuller flight tomorrow. The actual execution of our trip went off perfectly and we were very pleased. We felt we were in great hands and well supported if there had been flight issues etc. while en route. 

This was our third trip to Africa and we've been on safari for all three. This trip was well organized and there were many transfers and flights involving four different countries in Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). At this time, each border crossing required a PCR test for Covid, so our travel planner had to help us coordinate this as well, in order to make this trip possible. At every transfer point, a representative met us to help navigate the local procedures and facilitate movement to our next flight, hotel, border crossing, etc. If we'd been on our own we'd likely have figured this out, but not with the efficiency and knowledge of the processes and procedures that this staff had. Their presence provided an enormous time saving, efficiency, and made the trip less stressful because we knew someone would tell us what to do next. Who would expect for example that we'd be required to clear security prior to checking in for our next flight? Or that baggage would be dropped at the door we'd just entered in the airport vs. another baggage claim area. In Johannesburg, we were quickly escorted for about a 15 minute walk to the lobby of our hotel. It's a large airport and not having to figure it out after a lengthy flight from the USA made this easy and added value.  

Team Charles, Sarah, and Karen listened to what we wanted on our trip, and instead of focusing just on Botswana and Victoria Falls, they recommended Zambia as well. For Victoria Falls, we were told Zimbabwe is where we wanted to be. Advice was also provided for the Visa for Zambia/Zimbabwe. Our accommodations were all excellent. We actually benefited substantially with lodging upgrades and private vehicles and guides by traveling to Africa while most are staying home due to Covid. We were comfortable at camps with staff that were vaccinated at all but one of our five camps, masking, social distancing, and sanitization. Significant effort is being made to keep the few travelers visiting safe, so tourism may return sooner vs. later. At one of our airports, the restroom stalls in either Botswana or Zambia were being cleaned after every use! With this said, we've encouraged friends to mask up and consider travel now or in the next six months if they have the opportunity. 

We strongly recommend working with this Africa travel company and felt that the presence of staff both in the USA and Africa helped. For this trip, we took a chance as our decision was between doing a trip with this company and with another travel company we've booked with numerous times. We went with this company because it was based on our desired itinerary and we'd be on our own in camps vs. being with a group. My spouse was particularly concerned about this aspect with covid and all the itinerary changes we'd seen prior to the trip, but in the end, we were both extremely satisfied with the end result and format of the trip. We would gladly book another trip through this company.