NGALA SAFARI LODGE

Hi Minette,
We had a fantastic time on the Ivory Trail. Our guides, Faria and Duncan, were fantastic and looked after us really well. There are so many great memories of the trip and we have started to sort out the thousands of photographs that we took.
Other highlights include an encounter with White Rhinos; a dazzle of zebras; an elephant drinking from our swimming pool! sixty plus elephants at a waterhole; and many more....If we have one criticism of the tour, it was the terrible state of the roads in Zimbabwe = something we were not aware of before departure. Our journey from Hwange to Bulawayo took over eight hours (of very uncomfortable bumpy roads), averaging about 30km/h.
(described in Itinerary as 'rolling tarmac roads')
Best Wishes,
Carol and Paul

Hi Reshma
Yes I am home from my amazing adventure!
I'll be honest....the trip wasn't really quite what I expected....but I'm going to say it was actually more and better than I expected! And the gap between my expectations and the reality was mostly down to me reading....but not necessarily quite taking in the details of the itinerary....not your fault or Intrepids!
By 'safari trip' I was expecting wall to wall wild life surrounding me....but I now realise, of a trip titled 'Botswana Highlights', that was an unrealistic expectation! There was a lot of driving...all listed in the itinerary...but I was envisaging driving thru land populated by wild life...this was not the case...it was mostly along quite badly potholed roads with the occasional sighting of elephants or baboons and a couple of giraffes!
So that all sounds a bit negative...but...
Just driving along the roads was a fascinating experience...seeing the villages and markets along the road, the people along the way.
The few sightings of wild life were very exciting.
The accommodation was excellent...the 'tents' at Elephant sands and the Okavango delta...the hotels at Victoria Falls, Maun and Caprivi
Every interaction with the people of Zimbabe, Botswana and Namibia was a pleasure
The border crossings were fascinating!
The Okavango delta...not my idea of safari...but stunning...what a blissful place to have experienced
Chobe...finally teaming with wild life...and 9 days of wild life would I think have been too much....and I experienced so much more than 'just wild life'
On the 'took my breath away', 'will hold onto forever' moments...too many!!!!
Adventuring on my first night on foot into Zambia to get my first peek at Victoria Falls.
Sunrises and sunsets with the silhouette of the African landscape and its wildlife
hippos yawning
Solo walk at Okavango and coming across zebras grazing
Giraffes!!!!!
Mesmeric canoe ride on Okavango delta.
Elephants in a row
I have fallen a little bit in love with the continent of Africa as I have experienced it so far....and now that I understand about National Parks I shall start saving for my next trip! I have AI d a rough price guide for 2/3 nights in each of Masai Mara, Serengeti, Moremi and Etosha...accommodation and food, an early morning drive and late PM/early evening drive in each park, air transport between them and transfers from airports to the parks...coming in at between $10 to $16,000...defo needs to be saved up for...perhaps a treat to myself for my 70th birthday...and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for finding a trip that was affordable...gave me an intro to the safari experience...and so much more!
Kindest regards and thanks
Carol

Hello good to hear from you Tammy. We had a wonderful trip with fullness of lifetime memories. Personally I like this itinerary because it’s a good mix of nature, animal world and cultural highlights. The two guides were professional and enthusiastic all the time. We had returned home safe and happy. Thank you again for your support throughout the process.
Best wishes.
Ke

Hi Tammy
So nice of you to think about us.
We had a fantastic time, saw so much wildlife and we loved the camping. Kwai was our favourite spot although loved Guma lagoon too and Botswana in general. I can’t imagine seeing animals in the wild would ever get old. The guides were great, and travelling was comfortable and easy. Hippos grazing outside our room in Vic falls. Crazy!
We had 5 days in Capetown in seapoint and hired a car for 2 so went down to Hermanus and the cape. Did a wine tour, table mountain, and enjoyed hanging out along the waterfront.
We both came back determined to go back to Africa and I would go with drifters on another tour
Thanks again for helping us out and if we know of anyone looking to head that way, okay if I pass on your details?
All the best
Arlene

Hi Minette
I had an amazing time!!! Our Drifters guides, Francis and Wycliffe, we're absolutely INCREDIBLE. They welcomed us like family!
My highlights were Ngorongoro and visiting the Masai village. Something I never thought I would ever experience!
I would like to return to the Mara in a few years during peak migration, as I didn't feel that I scratched the "mass migration" itch, but still saw incredibly animals, including my first ever leopards, cheetahs, marabou storks, and mongooses (mongeese?!).
I think it would be useful to update the info packet to make it really clear that plastic water bottles are not allowed in Longonot NP. Guests should be advised to bring adequate reusable bottles to last the hike up the mountain. We were woefully ill-prepared, with plastic bottles which weren't allowed, and it could have been quite dangerous as it was very hot.
Also, I have fed back to Drifters to ask Elsamere not to ask guests to sit through a 45 minute documentary after our guided tour. It made for a very long afternoon and left little to no time for afternoon high tea and exploring the grounds (I left very frustrated, as I was really looking forward to seeing Elsamere!).
One more thing - one hotel upgrade in Tanzania didn't accept my year 2013 USD notes. Might want to warn travellers about this as I know it was an earlier year listed in the info guide.
I made friends with a couple of German girls on the tour, and were all planning on visiting Namibia and Botswana in 2028. I'll let you know when the time comes to book! We're hoping we can specially request Francis and Wycliffe again!
Cheers
Bec