Exploring South Africa, Victoria Falls & Botswana

I have already given Collette my feedback, Ian was incredible (my third trip with Collette, he was the best ever) Collette's app was wonky, wrong info on where we were staying. Would rather have 3 nights at tent camp than 2 nights at Chobe

Tour manager was outstanding ,great place to stay a see.

The trip of a lifetime! The natural beauty of Africa and the wildlife was amazing!

Well thought out. Local dinners were excellent maybe a little more down time would be nice. Local tour people very knowledgeable. Accommodations were excellent overall a great experience

this tour was an trip of a lifetime. There was never a dull moment- from safari to meals and accommodations were excellent

We saw so many animals in addition to the Big 5. My favorite was seeing the lions and the elephants up close. Our tour manager made sure everything went as planned.

The most memorable is definitely all the wildlife we were able to see, especially the elephants, lions, giraffes, cheetahs, hippos and rhinos. It was also very interesting to visit the Cape of Good Hope and Table Mountain.

We saw A lot of differ thing and had free time.

Rudy, our guide, was excellent and all the tours were well-planned and we had a bit of free time every now and again.

My primary emphasis in choosing this tour were the seven safaris. We started seeing animals in their natural settings from the moment we arrived until our last time out.

My favourite part of the tour was in Victoria Falls where the dining room was quite high on a hill and overlooked the forest area. I was able to sit and each breakfast while watching the giraffes in the distance.

The hanglip resort with the safaris every thing was perfect

Most to the time, the food was very good. At the first safari in the mountains, the food was prepared by a chef. Excellent food and service. Conversely, at the next lodge near Victoria Falls, the food was very overpriced and not edible. What a disappointment! Consider removing this accommodation from your tour package.

"The Smoke that Thunders!" Couldn't describe it better. The weather was perfect and accommodations excellent.

David was an Excellent tour leader and everything ran very smooth and organized. Impressed with the handling of logistics and activities.

Hang lip Mountain and Botswana. Victoria Falls was beautiful. Safaris were outstanding.

Other than an awesome trip into Dubai, the Wildlife excursions hit the top!

Lucky for all the animals we got to see.

Seeing the ions, ect., at Entanabi.

The tour provided us with numerous game drives and other experiences which we much appreciated. Our favorite experience was the elephants coming out of the brush at dusk during our first game drive.

Everything was excellent. Great planning. Guide most efficient ever. Favorite experience Entebeni.

The tour guides made the hectic trip go smoothly.

Seeing the big 5! Meeting the locals and eating the local food. Having a small group (less than 20) was great!

The animals! Seeing up close along with the info given by the guides.

Excellent service all around.

We were able to see the big 5 and experience the thrills of the hunt so to speak. Plus learned about the animals, and their struggles, of poachers, looking for food and other problems.

The overall tour was fabulous. There was so many memorable experiences but the up close opportunities with the animals were my favorite. Learning the culture was also exciting and the wild habitat and conservation efforts that are required was an eye opener. Meeting the local people and learning how they live was also a highlight. Rooms were spacious and very nice. Food was good and it was fun going to restaurants that also provided local entertainment. Couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Entebani Conservancy in Cape Town what are the most memorable

Safaris and the guides abilities.

Seeing animals in their natural habitat was breathtaking. Best was watching family of elephants with 5 babies walk down hill to River and swim across in front of us, and of course African sunsets on water.

Dinner at Gold in Cape Town. Entabeni Reserve Victoria Falls (wait till May when river is more likely to be full) Chobe National Park

Game drives and Extra excursion to Elephabt Sanctuary.

The highlights of the trip were seeing a the animals, Victoria Falls was an amazing sight.

too many enjoyed table top, walking up to lighthouse (perfectly timed with both events, missed all the heavy traffic), seeing penguins, private game reserve Entibene, enjoyed river cruise, enjoyed African Gold ALOT Would have liked more time at Vic Falls instead of going to big sit down dinner ( too much like African Gold, there was too much traveling that day it would have been much nicer to have not had to rush through Vic Falls)

See above. My favorite experiences were our stay at Entebeni; the visit to the Ko Mpisi village at Victoria Falls and Capetown/Cape Hope.

All wildlife drives. Seeing ever animal imaginable except the leopard.

Breathtaking! Tabi was very well versed on local history, economy, current events. She made us all feel very safe and welcomed.

native village was a great experience, great wildlife

Loved Victoria Falls and Chobia Park

Entabeni Conservancy safari's. Closeness to the lions, elephants and rhino's. I absolutely loved the 2 places we ate at that provided entertainment ! It's really hard to pick just 1 favorite experience! Just maybe not start the safari's quite so early in the morning and remember to advise guests to bring winter clothes!

Everything you ever wanted in a tour.

The tour at Victoria Falls was arranged for wheel chair assistance which made it perfect.

Everything about this tour was top notch.

The safari was spectacular especially Entabeni conservancy !The lodge was great and the rooms were wonderful ! The guides were very knowable and we were all excited to see all the wild animals !Our tour manager was the best ( Ian )

The tour was fantastic. The Entebani and Chobe lodges were out of this world.

the safaris were excellent and private lodge.

Seeing the wildlife in their natural habitats. Exploring the history of the Cape Town region.

The land tour met or exceeded my expectations. However, the travel arrangements were excessively long and tiring.

The land part of the tour was 5 star but the air part and layovers weren’t.

Enjoyed all aspects of the tour.

Excellent tour guide very knowledgeable and could not do enough to help us enjoy the experience. The size of the group was just right for interaction. Venues, accommodation and execution by the guides met our primary objectives; proximity and interaction with animals in the wild.

chobe national park and other tours

Victoria Falls and Entabeni were spectacular experiences!

Trip exceeded expectations

Again, the price point for my group was right on target. Not cheap or not too expensive and the accommodations were very good. The last resort we had no power which was a very much of a challenge. Thank goodness we were only there for 2 nights...

Almost every day brought something memorable.

Perfect weather, perfect group of people, perfect pace great experiences and accomodations.

Every game drive and safari cruise was amazing! Loved Victoria falls too!

Seeing so many beautiful up close and personal.

Loved the game drives and the family dinner

Numerous close up encounters of animals in the wild and visiting with the local people who live there.

It was a GREAT trip. All the details were handled in a proffessional manner. ti was a worry free trip. Great tour manage!

Great tour guide, great places to stay, lots of fun!

Our safari trips were awesome. Seeing lions, elephants, hippos, and all the many animals of Africa up close in their natural habitat definitely the highlight of the trip.

The safaris and all the animals sightings

Wow!! All were terrific , my favorite was Table Mountain in Cape Town magnificent

Game drives in So Africa, Stellenboch wines!

Great adventure vacation. Entabeni, Victoria Falls, Chobe NP, Capetown and the wine country were all great stops. We also enjoyed the whale watching in Walker Bay.

everything was just fantastic

Every activity we participated in was worthwhile, insightful, and exciting. The most memorable for me was the sunset cruise in Chobe National Park. We saw hundreds of elephants, water buffalo, zebras, giraffes,crocodiles, hippos, and many more.It was amazing to stop the boat and watch a troop of elephants walk by.

I cannot choose just one experience as a favorite. Each day provided one.

Meals included. Live,free animals. Good tour guide. Enjoyable evening shows. Great rooms.

Wonderful variety great game drives.

The tour itself was wonderful, but would have loved to have gone in warmer weather.

game drives xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My favourite memories were seeing the animals, especially the elephants. My least favorite moment was the optional tour, the boat cruise on the Zambizi river. I could have given that a miss.

We reviewed several tours, but this one included Victoria Falls, which the other South Africa tours didn't include. Our tour manager, Marlene, is a Cape Town native, and therefore knows the area well. We learned so much about South Africa's history and Marlene shared some South African folklore (like how the zebra got its stripes). There's always a special dinner of some sort Included in a Collette tour. This time there were two special dinners: one was a home visit. We had a wonderful, traditional South African dinner with a Cape Town family in their home. We also had a terrifc meal and drum ceremony. Marlene got us through airports, customs, passport control in 3 countries with ease. Hotels were all top notch; included full breakfasts were wonderful.

The family dinner was a highlight as was the intimate time with the elephants.

Without doubt Table top mountain the views were stunning. The game drives in Entabeni were fantastic, the guides were knowledgeable and knew where to go, it helps that this is a relatively small game reserve I believe something like 22,000 hectares. Victoria Falls were breathtaking, it was easy to imagine what it was that Livingstone fell in love with. Both Zimbabwe and Botswana are very beautiful countries but the poverty is obvious. The game drives in Chobe were good but not as good as Entabeni. The Elephant sanctuary was a great experience, but tell the guys there that $45 is way, way, way too much to pay for a DVD that you'll look at once, and it's got pictures similar to what you've also taken. I would have bought one as it is a charity if the price had been sensible The meal in SA with the local family was actually a lot better than I anticipated, and we really enjoyed it, they were fantastic hosts. I thought the trip to the African village in Zimbabwe was interesting to a degree. The chief was a nice chap, who clearly likes talking or should I say preaching? I guess perhaps naively I expected someone in traditional dress, rather than a pair of jeans and an Adidas top. I didn't really expect to see old tyres and stuff lying around...it was OK but I wouldn't bother doing it again. As mentioned in another part of the review, I thought Hermanus out of whale spotting season was just another rich persons location that tourist go to for a spot of lunch. Overall on balance we enjoyed the whole experience though.

Loved the Entabeni Conservancy - beautiful!

The accommodations were very nice and the food was good at most places. The areas visited were very interesting. I would suggest skipping Stellenbosch/Hermanus unless it is whale season. In addition , the cost of the internal flights should be included in the tour price.

I particularly enjoyed the river ride in Chobe. We saw many elephants playing in the river. Hippos, too.

The tour was a not stop tour of different experiences. Everything I expected was delivered travel between places was painless every place lived up to expectation saw lots of wildlife,the first Lion encounter was my most memorable experience being so close to wild animals.

I just typed all my information and it disappeared. You already know my complaint about receiving the travel material in advance.

Trip of a lifetime ! From day 1 to the end of the trip we could not have asked for a more amazing experience!

This tour far exceeded my expectations and this was all due to our tour manager **** *****! She anticipated absolutely every possible “want” we could have — from food to drinks, wine tours, accommodations, markets — everything! Loved every minute of it!

The tour was well organized, beginning with Cape Town and learning about the South African culture, a couple of nights at Stellenbosch, a smaller college town with a great winery, two nights in the Entabeni game preserve with lots of animals and great photos, two nights in Botswana with Victoria Falls and more great photos, one night in Johannesburg at the mall with Mandella’s statue, and culminated in Chobe National Park with a river cruise and more animals and great photos. All of the hotel accommodations were outstanding.

Kinda slow, although that was the tour we signed up for.

The safaris were excellent and the hotels were outsanding. The first safari we went on was an evening one and a magnificent lion walked past the passenger side of the jeep went in front of it and sat in the road. His lioness and cubs were in the bushes on the side if the road.

Wonderful, unique, part of the world.

Lodgings and good were wonderful

Hard call - loved seeing Victoria Falls even though they not at full strength. However, wildlife is my thing - lucky to see all the Big 5.

Safari and safari tour guide.

There are no words to describe the morning we walked out our door to 3 giraffes eating in the yard.

Favourite experience was our stay at Hang lip Mountain Lodge and game drives there

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The only reason for the four stars was that the long trip to Hermanus to have lunch and then the long drive back was a waste of time. It was a charming town but we didn't have time to explore it, and I didn't need more time to shop in Stellenboch. The lunch and wine tasting was outstanding and memorable. Maybe a trip and tour through another winery would have been more enjoyable than the long drive just for lunch.

Well paced tour with the right balance between for sightseeing and safaris. Seeing elephants in Chobe national park. Including all gratuities in the tour price is a very good idea. However it only works if all members of a tour group are on the same scheme. It is is embarrassing when some members of the group are seen tipping (those from the USA) and some (the British and Australians) are not. There was no information given as to how the gratuities that were included in the holiday price found their way to the intended recipients.

A very good tour which exceeded my expectations.Cape town is a great city and we felt very safe. The game drives were all excellent with very knowledgeable rangers. I would have preferred not to stay overnight in Johannesburg as it was just a hotel and shopping mall experience but understand that we had a flight to catch the next morning. I would have liked to stay overnight in Hermanus. We had quite a long drive to visit there and only stayed 1.5 hours. Inclusive tipping for British and Australians is a great idea but in practice it does not work. Everyone else is giving a tip and we just say thank you and walk on. Very embarrassing! So we give a tip and are in effect tipping twice. Inclusive tipping has to be for everyone or no-one. My one complaint about Collette is the misleading information about the Zimbabwe Visa. Even after querying this with them the final information booklet which we received still stated a multi entry visa, which is wrong! It is a double entry visa obtained on arrival. Multi entry visas can only be obtained in advance

The very best part, of course, was getting to see so many different kinds of animals in their natural environment. The itinerary was great; Victoria Falls, Hermanus, and the game drives in Chobe and Entabeni were amazing. I appreciated the flexibility in scheduling that enabled us to rearrange some excursions until the weather cleared enough for us to go to Table Mountain. The river cruise on the Zambezi River was very relaxing, and it was fun to see hippos in the water. The Chobe and Entabeni lodges were especially nice since they made me feel close to nature. I hope to go on Collette's tour of Kenya and Tanzania next year. Traveling with a small group creates a warmer social environment than being with a large group, and everyone in this group was friendly and cooperative. We all appreciated the high level of service Ian Pletzer, our tour manager, provided.

One of the best, if not the best tour we have ever been on. great places to stay, great excursions, everything was great.

The people I met and especially the TD *Personal details removed by Feefo* was outstanding. The places we stayed and visited was exactly what I would have put together myself...it felt just right for the money invested.

Beautiful lovely breathtaking place

The sightseeing, the animals, THE VICTORIA FALLS and the breathtaking Reserve with live animals. We had our accommodations with the animals.

Safari game rides, Victoria Falls, beautiful Cape Town and the coast line of southwestern South Africa.

Started in Dubai & enjoyed city tour and sand dune drive and Bedouin camp dinner. Cape Town excelled with tours to Table Mountain, Boulder Beach & the Penguins, dinner at the Gold restaurant (wonderful) and a family hosted dinner was a great changed from hotel food. On to Stellenbosch for a wine tasting lunch and outdoor craft sale. On to Hermanus, a quaint seaside town for casual shopping and a meal by the water. Next up, Entabeni Conservatory where we saw an amazing selection of animals, lion family, elephants, zebras, wart hogs and RHINOS! Loved the tailgate coffee breaks and cocktail parties! Last stop was Chobi National Wildlife Park. Best part was going to the Elephant Sanctuary where we petted and fed treats to the elephants. Also saw Victoria Falls which was amazing! Best trip ever!

The Entabeni Reserve was a highlight. The Hanglip Lodge was perfect for our group of 17. The whole place catered solely to our group, making it feel like our private resort and gave an overall feeling of home. The safari drives were amazing with knowledgeable guides and plenty of animals to observe. Having the elephants and wildabeast roam the property just outside our cabins contributed immensely to the African experience.

I went to see elephants and I saw lots of them.

the safari adventures were wonderful

We were well looked after by ****** our tour manager. The tours arranged were what we expected (and wanted) and accommodations very good.

Excellent tour ! Morning Safari at the Entabeni Game Reserve!

The city guide in Dubai was terrible! We felt we hardly visited Cape Town, We would have loved a walking tour instead of zooming by everything by bus.

3 day stay at Entabeni -- superior in every regard Elephant Sanctuary in Chobe, Botswana Chobe National Park.

Mostly very well chosen venues, but this was the wrong time of year to be visiting Victoria Falls. Victoria is a shadow of itself in late October, with Iguassu in Brazil being far more impressive. They should have managed our expectations. Better, the incremental cost of the travel to take in Victoria may have been better spent to go elsewhere.

No comment on this section.

Excellent Safaris, very good excursions.

Wildlife experience in Entabeni was excellent.

Excellent tour director, first class hotels, great pace of the the African tour, nice mingling of city and safari. The small group made the tour even better, you didn't feel herded. We would definitely consider another Collette tour. We especially liked the small groups and the boutique hotels that were selected.