Testimonials

“We would like to thank you for organising the most amazing trip. We absolutely loved Africa and would like to return. Everything went like clockwork, certainly took the stress from us having meet and greets and drivers already arranged. We enjoyed all safaris, (are now hooked). However the Masai Mara was the highlight. We were fortunate enough to see the end of the great migration! Outstanding. Mara Bushtops was a wonderful experience, with close encounters with the wildlife outside our room! Once again many thanks for a very enjoyable and memorable experience. Will definitely recommend World Journeys!”

“We cannot speak highly enough of the experience we had at the hands of World Journeys and their agents. All guides were of a very high to excellent calibre. All pickups were on time, even though for many of the small flights we were often early arriving. Every driver or guide transfer was fully handed over to the next phase. For example if we were getting on a plane at the rural airstrips, we noticed that the guides/drivers would stay until the plane actually took off. With the one exception, all accommodation was excellent and the experiences absolutely incredible. The all-inclusive package was really great. Wine at all venues was very free-flowing, and it was good not to be paying for items as we went. With the exception of tipping/visas we did not spend any other money whilst on the safari legs. The itinerary was put together by others and we wouldn’t have changed it. All 5 safari park experiences were different, and well exceeded our expectations. Travel went without a hitch, and at all times we felt very safe in Africa. We travelled in the low season and it was a terrific time to go. The rainy season hadn’t started so it was beautiful weather the whole time. But the best thing was the babies… everywhere was baby animals – so cute! As well the camps were only 1/3rd to half full. For 3.5 of the 5 safari experiences we had a guide all to ourselves. The parks were not crowded and we felt hard done by when there might be 5 or 6 vehicles around the same cheetah or lion pride. Many times it was just us or 1 other jeep. Apparently in the high season the vehicles can number up to 30 in one spot – so we were actually very spoilt. So many fantastic memories – an absolutely incredible vacation. Thank you for everything.”

“Our Zimbabwe highlights – The history of the falls and experiencing the spray coming back up from the bottom. Because so much rain has fallen in the last 3 months the power of this water spraying back up meant parts of the view points were closed as you couldn’t see anything through the mist, which fell back down as heavy rain. Our Botswana highlights – Chobe National Park: Our first day in a National Park and first look at so many animals on the drive through to our tented campsite – the animals were all there, you didn’t need to search for them. Instead of a morning land game drive on the 2nd day we had a half day trip down the Chobe river in a boat where we were all provided with a high powered camera each on a stand that rotated 360 degrees to take as many photos as possible. At the end of the tour the memory stick was given to us loaded with all the photos we had taken – so many elephants spotted at the river with plenty of hippos. &Beyond Tented Campsite was a great way to start our African safari. Sandibe Safari Lodge: The afternoon our lunch was interrupted by a juvenile elephant that decided to enter the outdoor restaurant and destroy some of the furniture and joined his family that prevented us from accessing our room for over 1 hour. Xudum Delta Lodge: Following 4 female lions and 6 cubs on a hunt for food, eventually catching a warthog and demolishing it before our eyes – gruesomely exciting – one of the advantages of being able to travel off the beaten tracks to view this unlike the National Parks where you had to stay on the roads or tracks. Our whole time in Botswana was one of our favourite times and the organisation, service, food options and presentation, staff friendliness by the &Beyond company would rate as the best over the 5 weeks – the extras like coming to a open space on the afternoon game drives where we could watch the sunset with a bar set up to enjoy the daily sun downer.”

“I have been back now from Africa for a month and have been meaning to email to thank you re the amazing time we had in Victoria Falls and Muchenje Lodge in Botswana. Illala Lodge in Vic Falls was amazing – staff were awesome and so was the family of warthogs that were on the front lawn in the first hour we were there!! The Lookout Cafe was amazing and glad we booked a table as we had the best views on the deck Muchenje Lodge – I cannot say enough about this place – the staff were amazing, the accommodation and views were awesome and game drives awesome. All of the group loved the trip (and glad I stuck to my guns and paid a bit more to be at Muchenje).”

“I think the overall trip was just about as good as it gets – well organised, very stress-free, the best of accommodation, wonderful people, fantastic food, a very comprehensive view of Africa, and lots of animals. Got some amazing photos and videos of animals – elephants, buffalo, lion, rhino, leopard, plus the migration in Serengeti, wild dogs in Savute, lots at Okavango Delta, lots at Ngorongoro Crater. We did not see cheetahs and only saw 15 flamingos about 300 metres way on the lake at Ngorongoro Crater. On the plus side, we saw the big five, five times. Camps and Lodges – They were all top-flight places – outstanding places to stay and beautifully presented. And, all different. All places had great people. At all we were met by a welcoming committee comprising most, if not all, the management and staff. Then we were allocated a personal driver, a personal butler, a personal housekeeper and others to assist. We felt mildly embarrassed, but enjoyed the attention and the high level of service. Food – What can I say? It was fantastic wherever we went. Excellent quality and lots of it. Do you have a good diet for returned travellers? Zara’s Birthday was a highlight. Bateleur had heard of the birthday coming up and sang and gave her a cake even though it wasn’t yet her birthday. Then, on her birthday, Ngorongoro were fantastic. They sang at 6.00 am as we departed for an early game drive, they gave her beautiful beads when we returned at 3.00 pm and they sang and had a cake at dinner. They both deserve credit. In addition to the animals we saw more of Africa than expected and that was a highlight. From travelling by road from Joburg to Kruger (a partly scary urban area, smog and ugly countryside for 2 hours, then attractive rural areas for 2 hours, then bush and scenic attractions for 2 hours), to driving between lodges and airports (densely populated rural areas with poor living conditions, people walking from nowhere to nowhere, and small towns with roadside traders), to flying in small planes low over intervening spaces (our road trips seen from the air, but with greater depth), to visiting a Masai Village (traditional values and norms that are hard to comprehend and some hard to accept) to a tour of Soweto (how the other half lives) to a visit to the Apartheid Museum (such injustices), we learnt a lot. This tour was was practically seamless, as we were always met by someone, transferred to our destination, picked up and delivered back. Much of this was undertaken by & Beyond. This company performed faultlessly. I don’t think we have ever been able to say that before. They need to be commended. To illustrate the point. At Nairobi we were met on the tarmac, ushered to a private minivan, taken to a side entrance, helped to fill in our visa applications and to proceed through customs, then taken to the street where another van picked us up to take us to the second airport to catch an onward flight. This exceeded our wildest expectations. An outstanding tour. Once again, thank you for organising this trip!”

“Can’t thank you enough for recommending &Beyond – we have had the most memorable week of our lives in Botswana. Sent you an email as we ate lunch at Xudum watching lions eat their kill but the email did not send so trying again now minus the lions. The 3 camps we went to were so fantastic, the guides and staff awesome, the food wonderful, the game drives out of this world. Chobe was packed full of animals, the other two not so much but beautiful in other ways. It was hot, hot, hot but thank goodness for the plunge pool at Xudum. Thanks so much again”

“We travelled last year to Madagascar and then to Botswana. At all times WJ made our travels effortless, with no trouble being spared when we lost all our documentation at the Airport at Madagascar on arrival! Not a good start but WJ were fantastic and our trip was in no way spoiled. The Botswana experience was epic, with twice-daily game drives, a local driver and a tracker on our own vehicle, and amazing close up encounters with every animal we wanted to see. Their local guides and companies were friendly and professional, with nothing too much effort, good English skills and a vast amount of local knowledge. I would say our Botswana trip was the trip of a lifetime!”

“Pam and I got home from our sensational ‘Best of Southern Africa’ journey on Saturday morning. We can only applaud World Journeys on the itinerary and presentation of the Tour, and we feel rather ‘hollow’ on returning home, both commenting on how we wish we were still in Africa! Having been fortunate to have toured many and diverse countries in recent years, we rate our southern African experience up there with the very best – if not the best! I see that World Journeys has changed the ‘Best of Southern Africa’ Tour next year, and may I say the itinerary looks very good! Although it appears an expensive tour to begin with, in hindsight it includes almost everything and costs very little in the way of other essential spending once commenced – unlike many other tours where endless expenses keep mounting as the tour progresses. In fact, we’re so impressed with our experience we may be looking at a ‘Cherry Blossom Japan’ Tour – if we can find the funds required!!”