Guest Reviews

Hi Clare

Our Botswana trip was more than we dreamed of!! It was exceptional, so much so that when Michael, Gavin's eldest son, gets married, we will include a trip to Namibia and other parts of Botswana that we didn't get to.

Clare, you did a fabulous job of organising our itinerary together with Desert and Delta. It was a great mix of land safari, water safari (including the walking safari) and the safari in the semi-desert, including the night out on the salt pan, which was unbelievable!

Of course, we met many other safari travellers and shared our stories. A number of them had been to Savuti and raved about the different and amount of game they saw and the kills. It seems a popular game lodge, so maybe it was fully booked by the time we contacted you to arrange our trip, or Savuti may not have fitted in with our itinerary. We will definitely visit it on our next trip.

The morning we arrived at Leroo La Tau, we were the only guests there, with a few guests arriving later that day. It was weird having lunch by ourselves (maybe our guide Ollie joined us, I can't remember), and, of course, there was very little atmosphere at that point. However, that changed in the evening when there were 8 of us. Our room (no. 10) overlooked the waterhole, but the water stopped outside room no. 8. We did ask if we could move rooms. They could only offer us room no. 6 for our 3rd night. As that first day progressed, we realised room 10 was not so bad as the elephants came to that end of the waterhole to enjoy the mud and sand bath, so we decided we would stay. We believe it was a good decision.

Baba, our guide at Camp Moremi, was incredible!! The staff at the other lodges knew him 😊. He was a guide to 6 of us, and within the first hour or so, he worked us all out pretty quickly, so much so that he allowed an older elephant to come right up to our jeep and let its trunk have a good sniff around and sniff certain people, including Franco, without any of us freaking out! He also knew how to read the other animals very well and knew when it was time to get out of the way of a trumpeting elephant mum with her baby! He had a great sense of humour too.

Joe, our guide at Xugana, was very good too, as was Ollie at Leroo La Tau.

The sleep-out at the salt pan, as we said, was an amazing experience. We are so pleased we did it. It is certainly worth the 4-hour trip both ways. We felt very honoured that the team who set up for our night – Reuben and Monare went to so much trouble to make our stay unforgettable. They cooked us a delicious dinner and breakfast, and we enjoyed chatting with them and Ollie around the campfire before retiring to our "bedroom😊" for the night. We were very warm under the stars and had a fantastic night's sleep. Ollie was very good at making conversation with us as we spent a lot of time with him over the 3 days, and we were his only guests except for the last game drive after we arrived back from the salt pan. We realised the guides need to know a lot of information regarding the politics of Botswana, the different stars in the galaxy, the different game, the bush, etc.

The agent from Desert and Delta who met us when we arrived and left Maun Airport was terrific too. I think her name is Promise or Precious. She had our soft bags and showed us where to pack them, and on our return, she had the map for us.

We were fortunate to meet Ernest (Erny), the assistant manager of Desert and Delta. He was on our flight from Maun to Moremi, which was great as he made decisions for the 6 of us on our flight to go to a restaurant outside the airport to have drinks and food (although the food arrived too late) after our flight was aborted on the runway as the brakes had failed. It didn't take too long to get another plane and pilot before we were in the air on our way to Moremi. The delay meant we didn't have time for the afternoon game drive, but we managed to see some game between the airstrip and Camp Moremi. Erny was working with the staff at Camp Moremi the whole time we were there, and then we "bumped" into him when he was visiting his in-laws at the village outside Leroo La Tau, which I am sure was arranged!! Erny was a great guy, and we enjoyed our conversations with him too.

I think we stayed the right number of days at each lodge. 3 nights at Leroo La Tau we feel would have been too long if we hadn't visited the salt pan.

Gosh, there is a lot in our email here, Clare, but I hope it is beneficial to you, your team and future guests.

Thanks again for arranging the fruit basket and wine at Camp Moremi and Xugana – that was very special.

An unforgettable experience from start to finish! The lodge, the guides - Simon, Rufus, and Manuel - and the attention to detail were exceptional. We made incredible memories, and the whole team felt truly looked after. Wild Wings Safaris were amazing and super helpful throughout the whole process! We'd recommend them to everyone and can't wait to do it again.

Hi Lauren,

The safari was absolutely amazing!!! Legitimately one of the biggest highlights of our trip to South Africa!

The arrangements were great. The transfers from the hotel in Johannesburg to Kruger and back were smooth and easy. Once we were there, our tour guide Steff was incredible. He was SO knowledgeable and personable. We loved getting to know him and hearing his countless stories about "The Bush"! Steff truly went above and beyond in everything that he did. The huts in camp were simple, but sufficient for the nights! One of the biggest highlights for us was getting up early both mornings to go watch the sunrise. It felt like a spiritual experience getting to be out there, in the middle of Kruger, at the break of dawn. Truly something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

The only thing that we talked about that would have been awesome is to have a more traditional meal cooked at the campground. We know that because our trip was just the 2 of us on the Safari, that may have been tougher. But cooking a traditional meal at the campgrounds instead of going to the restaurant both nights would have been an awesome experience. However, the meals each day were delicious!

Overall, we loved the experience and will suggest it to all our friends! We have attached some photos for you to see! Thank you again for all of your help with us on this trip. We really, really appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!

Thanks Clare! It was amazing. Simon and Emmanuel were awesome guides. Our whole group had a great time! I will be recommending Wild Wings to all my friends!

Dear Lauren

The trip was amazing!

The pickup and drop-off worked perfectly, everyone was very punctual. When we arrived in Hazyview, Emanuel was already waiting for us. Emanuel was an awesome guide; he was really motivated and told us so many things. He really went the extra mile, and we saw and learned a lot. He had a great program planned for us, and we even saw the rhinos that are really hard to spot. We saw so many different animals! The only animals we missed were the leopards (I saw one running away for a sec) and the cheetahs. Apart from that, we saw almost all the animals that even exist in the park.

We really enjoyed our time with Emanuel, you could really feel that the animals are his passion. He was also very open to our inputs, and he let us decide on the program and how long we wanted to stay on a game drive, etc. We had so many interesting discussions with him, also regarding life in SA in general.

I would absolutely recommend it to everyone, it was especially awesome that we had the car for ourselves so we would switch sides whenever there was a sighting. So many other cars were filled with a lot of people, so that is a huge advantage. We also loved, that we had the same guide for all the days and game drives, so we could get to know each other quite a bit.

The accommodation was also nice, cleaned daily. Only thing that we noticed was that there is no WiFi, not a problem for us, as we had a SA Sim, but might be good no mention for some people that depend on it. In the restaurants, there was WiFi.

The food was also great, we went to a lot of different restaurants and places, depending on the location of the game drive. So we were able to see a lot of different places and eat different food too.

Overall, 10/10 experience!

Thanks a lot for the great organisation!

Hello Clare!

Our trip was WONDERFUL! Our 4th time in Africa for safaris……..we love them all!

This was our first time having Wild Wings arrange everything for us. I must say…….it’s pretty easy when you do all the work. Everything was seamless. Every pickup and transfer. All went smoothly with no glitches. Everywhere we went, people were friendly and welcoming. In summary, we were very pleased with our entire trip. Thank you, Clare, for all your work and for making our trip so special. If we ever return to Africa, we will not hesitate to reach out to you.

Dear Clare

Mum and I had a fantastic time away and I really appreciate all of your help to get this organised at the last minute. From my side, I don't think I have anything to say that could have been improved upon! The accommodations were lovely and luxurious, the staff and guides were all wonderful and the transport was well organised and went off without a hitch (notwithstanding the slightly alarming feeling of being in such tiny planes - not quite sure I'll ever get used to that!). Bevan at Savute (usually based at Camp Xugana) was a particularly lovely guide and his knowledge of the local plants and ability to get up close to lions without disturbing them were very impressive. GB at Camp Xakanaxa and Taps at Camp Okavango were also super, especially in the efforts they made to accommodate our requests (e.g. for a boat trip instead of a drive, or to arrange an activity for mum instead of the walking safari or squeeze in a last boat cruise for us on our last morning). As I had previously visited Xakanaxa with my aunt, the staff there, including Andy, organised a private candlelit dinner under the stars for Mum and I, and that was very special and unexpected. Sticks the barman at Camp Okavango was always so joyful and added even more cheer to each day and the chef team at Camp O made a particularly big effort to ensure there was vegetarian food for me, which I appreciated. Skah (I may have spelt this wrong, my apologies), the activities coordinator at Palm River in Zimbabwe, made extra efforts to find Mum and me a place on the elephant encounter, and we were also very grateful for this. I think the only small change I would make is that I would have enjoyed the option of some traditional Zimbabwean dishes on the menu at the Palm River, although the food quality was very nice.

I hope to be able to go on another safari in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, if you get any further enquiries from Guernsey we have been passing on our positive thoughts on the Wild Wings experience!

Hope all is well with you and the team, and thanks again.

Hi Clare

It was a great trip, thanks for helping organise it. First Namibia: Our guide in Namibia, Johann Cloete, is superb. He really knows his stuff, not just the animals and birds, but geology, history, plant life, and so on. He is the perfect guide. I couldn't recommend him more.

All accommodation was comfortable, clean, all food good. If we had to choose a favourite, it would be Camp Kipwe, due to its novel construction and situation. Watching sunsets from the bar above the lodge was very relaxing and pleasant.

It was a packed trip, in terms of walks and drives. That's not a complaint, it is exactly what we wanted. The variety was good too, from the walks over and around the dunes in the Sossusvlei area to the games drives in Etosha. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed the kayaking trip too. As well as the seals, we were fortunate enough to have some dolphins passing through while we were on the water.

We did find it hard to decide between the kayaking and boat options before we went on the trip. We've been on a number of boat trips before (to view whales, etc) and realised when you're lucky, you can see a lot on such trips. Kayaking was something new for us, and we based our decision on a few photos we saw on the Internet. Judging by the size of the seal population and how close they come to the kayaks, you may want to put a few photos of kayaking trips onto your website just to show what an experience it is. We wouldn't have wanted to have missed out on this.

Etohsa/Ongava were great, we saw a lot on all of the game drives in both parks.

So all worked well, and I would say the places we stopped, and the duration of the stops were well-judged. If we were pushed into saying what could be changed, a third night in Camp Kipwe would be good (providing there is enough in the area to justify staying another day there), and maybe finding somewhere in Swakopmund with a pool? I only say that as we had an afternoon free in Swakopmund, and the town is fine for a stroll around, if there had been a pool there, we'd have probably had a laze in that too. It's a minor point, I'm in two minds as to whether it's worth mentioning.

On to Kruger: All good there too, Nicky was great, worked really hard and was successful in finding everything we could have hoped for. A leopard walking by the side of our truck, lion sightings every day, cheetahs, wild dogs, all really good.

So thanks again, and pass on our regards to Nicky and Johann. They really made the trips work!

Hi Clare!

Thank you again for helping to make our Kenya Trip a reality. We really appreciated your timely responses and answering all of our questions. This really was a wonderful experience for us.

Our 16-day anniversary tour of Kenya far exceeded our expectations. We have traveled to 24 countries and this trip is definitely our most cherished adventure. Now at home, we both continue to daydream about Kenya and a return trip. Our tour was well organized and proceeded without any complications. From the moment we were met at the Nairobi airport by Thomas and James, we had no worries. There was an obvious amount of attention spent on each detail to yield such a flawless trip. All of our accommodations were comfortable with excellent meals and wonderful staff. The staff at each carefully selected accommodation went out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable. Our favorite locations were Amboseli Serena Lodge and Ashnil Mara Camp due to their locations and staff. For travellers with less time than we had, we would recommend skipping Aberdare Country Club and going straight to the Ark at the 2 pm transfer to maximize wildlife viewing. We would also recommend giving Naivasha less time, it was a beautiful accommodation but more geared towards holidaymakers versus travellers.

The abundance and diversity of wildlife we witnessed were astonishing. Our game drives were well organized, comfortable, and maximized the best viewing times and daylight. We appreciated our guide James taking the time to educate us regarding the day-to-day life of Kenyans, wildlife behavior, and conservation. Each game drive resulted in a new wildlife sighting, just when we thought we had "seen it all", another amazing wildlife sighting occurred. James definitely has a sixth sense of wildlife. James was amazing and a key part of what made this trip so memorable. His knowledge of National Parks, regions of Kenya, wildlife, geographical features and all people and places was astounding. James was a perfect match for how we wanted to experience Kenya.

Thank you so very much.

Clare,

Our trip turned out to exceed our expectations. All aspects of what you managed worked out well from the transportation arrangements and especially the Narina lodge.

The safari guide Mau (Mauritz) was just outstanding and managed our expectations well given that the first couple of drives we did not see much but then we finished with a flourish seeing and experiencing all that we wanted and more.

Overall it turned out to be a memorable trip.

Afternoon Ilaria,

We had the best time on safari - hands down one of the best trips and experiences we've had. The pickup/transfer with the external company and then Wild Wings Safaris into the park was super smooth, as was the trip back to J’burg for us on the transfer bus for our evening flight.

The safari itself was exceptional - we felt 4 days was perfect for us - we were really fortunate to see the whole magnificent 7, and the way the guides communicate with each other to help ensure that all clients get a great experience in the park was fantastic. As you know we were the only people on our safari and the experience of having Rufus to ourselves and timings/locations, then being entirely flexible was excellent - we were surprised at how little free time we had by the time we'd been out on a drive, detoured to various sightings and then popped back for a brief lunch, before back out again and home for dinner.

Accommodation was simple (as described) but perfectly clean and serviceable for what we needed. Rufus cooked for us each evening, and this was also great - plenty of tasty and varied food. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Rufus and sitting with him. Both of us were astonished at how nice ostrich was and the meals Rufus made were delicious, with us still having a few hours in the evening before sleeping ready for the next day.

A really fabulous trip with great communication and smooth pick up/organising. We would (and already have!) recommend you to friends/family as a fantastic tour provider.

Thank you so much for your help and organisation along the way!

Hi Clare,

It was simply an amazing experience. One of the best weeks of my life! Communication from yourself was excellent, always quick to respond, accommodating and giving great information and making the whole process easy. The pick-up was on time, even if we quite weren't!

Nicky, our guide, was unbelievably knowledgeable and really easy to get on with. She was very clearly ensuring we had the best time we could. She was awesome, ensuring we got some great sightings and some pretty incredible full-on ones too! Always able to get the vehicle in the best position to ensure we could all see. Not sure where she gets her energy from... Even better for me, I'm a keen photographer and so is Nicky!

The cook, Riana, kept us well-fed with fantastic food. Even the early starts were no problem due to the excitement of the day ahead! My 20-year-old son, who is not the best at getting up before midday, was up on time, just...! The accommodation was lovely, but we didn't spend very long there!

We all loved it, and I highly recommend Wild Wings to anyone going on a safari.

Thank you!