A week or so ago, we at African Safari Consultants (ASC) were fortunate enough to chat with Dr Bool Smuts of the Landmark Foundation – a South African NGO dedicated to building South Africa’s conservation economy so that it’s natural landscapes can be more effectively conserved. The paragraphs that follow are from notes made during [...]

Tinga Tinyeleti Tree House Lodge
The new Tinga Tinyeleti Tree House lodge offers the chance to rekindle our ancient love affair with trees, in an ultra luxurious setting overlooking the pristine wilderness of the Tinga private concession. Ever since childhood days of tree houses and tire swings, trees have always held a special place in our hearts – many an [...]
Related Posts

Safari Icons: Dereck and Beverly Joubert
In this instalment of our Safari Icons series, we take a look at the world-renowned Husband and Wife conservationist/photographic team – Dereck and Beverly Joubert. Veterans of the industry, with over 25 years experience, the Jouberts were recently honoured with their appointment as National Geographic Society’s “Explorers in Residence”. Having worked in some of Africa’s most remote [...]
Related Posts

Our Favourite World Heritage Sites in Africa
Africa is a truly beautiful continent, with many a site to behold. These are some of our favorite UNESCO World Heritage Sites that we’ve been fortunate to visit over the years. Which is your favorite?
Related Posts

ASC Launch Scholarship Program
African Safari Consultants (ASC) feel strongly about wildlife conservation and community development, and always support those making a difference, whenever and however we can. In 2011 we successfully partnered with the Wilderness Foundation’s ‘Forever Wild’ initiative, where we actively campaigned to raise money to combat rhino poaching (you can find the campaign post here). We [...]
Related Posts

Q&A With Sir David Attenborough for BBC Africa
On Wednesday this week, the legendary British broadcaster and conservationist Sir David Attenborough hosted a brief question and answer round on BBC Africa’s Twitter and Facebook platforms in promotion of his new series entitled ‘Africa’. The series, Attenborough’s last of such magnitude, examines six distinct ecological zones on the continent: The Kalahari; The Savannah; The Congo; The [...]
Related Posts

ASC Scholarship Follow Up: Mandi Tembo
Around this time last year, ASC offered $500.00 in financial assistance to an American student studying abroad in Africa as part of our continued commitment to CSI (see here). Applicants had to be involved in either an environmental conservation or community upliftment program in order to qualify, and submitted their CVs along with their letters of motivation for consideration [...]
Related Posts

African Safari Consultants Team Profile: Liesl Mathews
In the second part of our exclusive Q&A series with the team behind African Safari Consultants, we speak to Cape Town based partner Liesl Mathews about eggs benedict, where to go with your kids, the perfect holiday snap and much (more) more… For part one of our series, where we speak to Jeff Ward, click [...]
Related Posts

ASC at The New York Times Travel Show [free passes up for grabs]
This weekend, the 18th-20th of January, African Safari Consultants will be based at the Botswana Tourism stand for the duration of The New York Times Travel Show. Represented by our Safari Guru Jeff, we’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have about a future trip to Africa, to offer travel expert travel advice, or just to [...]
Related Posts

African Safari Consultants Team Profile: Jeff Ward
With this, the first in a new series of posts, we’ll be chatting to the faces behind African Safari Consultants and asking them about their favorite destinations, how they got into the industry and much (much) more. First up we speak to Mr Jeff Ward, managing partner of the New York office. 1) Where are you from? [...]
Related Posts

ASC Plants Trees with Greenpop
At African Safari Consultants, we all have a major passion for nature and the environment. We believe that our beautiful surroundings should be preserved for future generations to enjoy, so we often join forces with like-minded individuals or organisations with this common purpose. Greenpop is just such an organisation… Founded in 2010, Greenpop has now successfully planted over 17000 [...]
Related Posts

Scientific Stories from Sabi Sands
Most of African Safari Consultant’s clients get to see and experience the Sabi Sands Wildtuin (Sabi Sand Game Reserve) as one of the most amazing natural wonders they have ever perceived. With its lush, bushy vegetation, the incredible amount of wildlife, and the probability of actually running into these animals within their natural habitat, the [...]
Related Posts
Categories
Tags
Recent Posts
Feedback
Liesl, Yes, we had a safe journey home. That JoBerg to Atlanta flight is so long. Wow! But at least we had the lay flat seats so we were able to try to sleep more comfortably. Londolozi ended up being our absolute favorite...loved the suites, the staff and the Internet. Tom and Jerry ended up to be the best guides by a mile. Wish I could have gone back to re-tip them bigger. We did promise to send a movie to Jerry, our tracker, and I am having a hard time getting a physical address for Londolozi complete with zip code. an you get me that? Botswana was great but much different and I know that was what you were trying to do. The elephants at Kings Pool And the lions at Mombo were incredible. At Mombo we saw a Wild Dog named solo, who was abandon by her pack and adopted by Jackals. They just put a movie on National Geographic called a wild dogs tale about her life. My birthday was spent on a helicopter and a train in Livingstone. The falls were incredible. We also white water rafted that weekend as well. Very kind people in Zambia. Thanks again for the African Queen boat trip. We enjoyed that very much. We will keep your name handy when/if we decide to come back. I would love a referral for South America including Maccu Piccu and the Galápagos Islands. And also one for Japan. Thanks! Kathy Deal
Lise & Jeff, The safari was awesome. Among the many amazing animals and landscapes, we saw 3 kills - a pride of lions kill a cape buffalo, and twice saw cheetahs kill a gazelle. Solomon was really 100% responsible for making the trip so awesome. More than just a driver, he was unbelievably knowledgeable about absolutely everything - animals, plants, star constellations, geology, Tanzanian and African history, demographics. We didn't ask a single question that he didn't know the answer to, and we asked a lot of questions. We requested, and he and the camps obliged, for him to eat dinner with us and the other guests because he was so enjoyable to talk to. Not only was he smart, he was funny, considerate, polite, jovial. He also had an "instinct" for what animals were about to do - for example, one day there were a ton of trucks watching a leopard from a distance. Not only did he watch the leopard, but he watched where the leopard was LOOKING. He said "I think I know where it's going next" and drove us away from all of the other trucks. It jumped out of its tree and disappeared in the grass. A moment later, it emerged from the tall grass and jumped onto a log 10 yards from where Solomon had positioned our truck. Not one of the other trucks had done the same, and we got an up-close-and-personal view of the leopard. Then it walked right towards us and around the front of the truck. We have some amazing photos from the trip and I am getting a ton of questions about it. I tell everyone that if they ever go to Tanzania, they absolutely need to use Solomon as their guide. He went above-and-beyond the entire 10 days and it really made our trip special. Dylan
Every aspect of our trip was spot on - no delays, missed connections, late flights or missing transfer drivers. We came home with thousands of pictures and many incredible memories. Thanks to your expert consultation, we had the trip of a lifetime and have been smitten by the people and places we've experienced. Thank you for being so attentive and responsive to our questions. I have already provided your contact info to several colleagues who are interested in planning a trip to Africa. We hope to plan another adventure to Africa - perhaps Namibia next time and will be sure to call you!
The McClays
Hi Ilze- Nicole and I are back in the US and wanted to thank you again for all the help that you gave us to make our trip truly fantastic! We're happy to give you some feedback on some places that stood out to us, as well as some learnings for future travelers. I'll also try to address your questions in the respective sections. Below is a quick summary: South AfricaZambia
- Cape Town accommodations were fine. Nothing "special" but we knew that going in. It was very comfortable, clean and convenient.
- The lodge in Franschhoek was really nice.
- The Elephant Lodge was a really nice location. Very unique and charming.
- You definitely warned us about the distance between all locations - we probably should of listened. While it was great to see the towns that we did, it was often after a long day of driving only to have to leave again first thing in the morning.
- All in all, the locations and lodges were all lovely in S. Africa.
Mozambique
- Everything was amazing! LOVED Islands of Siankaba.
Kenya
- We've already given feedback here. It was an amazing island. Beautiful, tranquil, etc.
- The Banguerra Lodge had a lot of potential. It was beautiful, the food was good.
Overall Feedback Aside from the above, we were very very happy with all the other elements of our trip (food, boarding, activities, transfers). That said, we thought we’d summarize some things that may have made our trip a bit more seamless so that you can pass along to future customers. Looking forward to connecting at your convenience. Thanks again for your help in planning a truly amazing, life changing trip. I hope the feedback above is helpful, and in the context that it was intended - which is that all in all, we are VERY happy. Have a great day. Colby
- We really loved the Stanley.
- Travel time between parks.
Dear Jeffrey and Ilze, We will forward more pictures as we edit them. A friend recommended that we trek a second day, wished we had. It was an incredible experience. Be sure to tell you customers to wear really good gloves, the nettles are bothersome! I had only a knit glove that did not help. David wore very heavy gloves and he had no problem with his hands but those nasty nettles are everywhere. Makes no difference because after a certain point you forget the stings. Our mountain guide, Fidel, was great, very professional and very helpful preparing us for the trek. On the mountain we were met by 3 trackers that were equally wonderful. Our next trip will probably in 2014 unless I can talk David into an earlier one. Thank you again for making this so special. Carol












Recent Comments