Travel Review: Africa Safari, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Okavango Delta, Skeleton Coast, Windhoek, Johannesburg

Our trip was wondrous, truly, thanks to our tour designer and safari travel company. He provided my wife and me with impeccable service, advice, and logistics. Most of all, he took the time to understand our interests and tailored an incredible journey for us. We received the name of this company and that of another company from Zicasso. I wrote both companies within 24 hours, indicating that my wife and I had travelled and lived extensively in Africa. That included backpacking across the entire continent and visiting more than 20 African countries in 1980, living for four years in Kinshasa, Zaire, and for seven years in Rabat, Morocco. In 1998 we had also been on safari in Botswana and done a self-drive safari throughout Namibia. So our request for a specially tailored trip was based on our desire to do something very different this time, to visit the most remote parts of Namibia, and to see some of the wildest parts of southern Africa. Our safari tour designer responded 24 hours later with a complete sample itinerary and a price quote. He was that responsive throughout our planning process, answering all our emails and queries in 24 hours or less. The other company said their Namibia specialist was out of the office, and we should set up an appointment for a week later. By then it was too late, as our tour designer had convinced us he knew exactly what we wanted and would work tirelessly to set up the best trip for us. We were excited that he had visited all of the camps he had proposed in Namibia and Botswana, and understood our interests to go far and deep, given our long history of travel in Africa. We asked to have a telephone conversation with him, and he gladly set up the time, and then answered our many questions. Clearly, this tour designer knows southern Africa intimately, including Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia, as well South Africa. He had many excellent suggestions as to the camps we were interested in, and the right amount of time to spend at each. For example, he insisted we spend at least 3 nights at Serra Cafema in northern Namibia. He was right, except in hindsight we could have spent 4, 5, or more nights there. Our final itinerary included Tubu Tree in the Okavango Delta (Botswana), and Desert Rhino Camp, Hoanib Skeleton Coast, Serra Cafema, and Little Ongava in Namibia. All of the camps except the last are run by Wilderness Safaris. Our trip was full of wonder, and we can hardly believe we're back home. We would go back to Namibia and Botswana tomorrow if we could, and we would only organize our travels with this safari tour designer and his company.