I had the privilege of joining three different adventures in Botswana and Zimbabwe with Explorations Africa—cycling, horseback riding, and nature walks—and I truly cannot say enough about the experience.

From start to finish, every detail was handled seamlessly, allowing me to be fully present and immersed in each moment rather than worrying about logistics. That freedom made the entire journey feel effortless and, quite honestly, magical.

Ants and Dan are an absolute pleasure to work with. Their professionalism, attention to detail, and genuine care transformed what was already an incredible adventure into something truly exceptional. Knowing everything was taken care of allowed me to focus on the landscapes, wildlife, and experiences unfolding around me.

And of course, I have to mention Ants—without question one of the best storytellers I've ever met. Her stories had me laughing for hours and added so much personality and joy to the trip.

Thank you, Ants, Dan, and the entire Explorations Africa team, for creating memories that will stay with me forever. I am deeply grateful for the experience and look forward to being in touch about the gorilla adventure!

So where does one start when providing a recommendation for Explorations Africa and wishing for more than 5 stars. Maybe it should be with what amazing people Antoinette and Dan are. What do we mean by ‘amazing’? They are so beyond hospitality focused that they could have written the book. They are also extremely knowledgeable about Africa, and more importantly, what makes Africa, quite frankly, Africa. When you combine extreme hospitality with extreme knowledge, you end up with Safari experiences that knocks the wind right out of you.

I recently watched a video from Simon d’Entremont, a Nova Scotia based Professional Photographer, who commented on his first trip to Africa with these words, “I always thought that going to Africa was to find things, rugged adventure, wild animals, but rather than finding, I got lost in the smells, the sights, the sounds, the hospitality, the people. I wasn’t there to find something but to get lost in [it].”

That says it all. If, like us, you’ll get lost in such a deeply soul-enriching experience and it will likely change you. It is getting back to what is truly important in life. Quiet moments. Quiet moments watching lion cubs play like children. Elephants sauntering along, while you marvel at just how quiet such large creatures can be. Quiet moments watching a large troop of baboons simply going about their daily life, with young ones learning from mom and dad. Watching Zebras and Wildebeest enjoy the grasslands together. The encounters with animals are endless and surreal. Those moments absolutely will take your breath away. While amazing as those encounters are, what is equally wonderful are the encounters with the lodge staff and guides. They are amazing people who set the gold standard for what hospitality should be. The guide’s attentiveness and depth of knowledge about the terrain and animals is beyond impressive. It is the icing on the cake for making game drives such an awe-inspiring experience.

Ants and Dan told us for years that we needed to experience Africa, and we kept saying ‘someday’ and ‘yes, it is on our bucket list’. The only mistake we made was to wait as long as we did. Africa moved us, at a depth we’ve not experienced before and well beyond how any other place on earth has moved us (and we’ve been fortunate to travel all over the world). Africa truly is a place to get lost in. To experience an inner peace that is important and almost lost in the noise of daily 21st century life. To be content and truly in the moment. If you’re hesitating to reach out – STOP hesitating. You absolutely won’t regret it.

(PS. we've not added pictures, as it is hard to pick from 3900 photos. Instead go capture your own photos and memories)

Thank you Antoinette and Dan.
The App was incredibly useful and so well done.

Our travel arrangements by Sheri were perfect - even a last minute birthdate error she was available by phone to correct for me on the day of departure. Thank you for getting us in touch with her.

I was happy to have the one day in Amsterdam to unwind and break up the long travel and also not panic if there was a travel delay ( which there was not).

The hotel in Johannesburg was very good and being right at the airport was excellent. The greet upon arrival and walk through immigration was nice but it is a very straightforward airport and likely we would have been just fine following the signs.

The greeting at Victoria falls and private lounge to wait in for our first bush flight was very helpful as we had a few hours there.

The Bumbusi camp was the perfect first camp to stay at- quiet and all ours except for a mom and daughter on the last night. We loved the hosts and our guide and all of the staff. They were fantastic accommodating our dietary requirements . The bird life was excellent and elephants, baboons and impala. Not a lot of animals on the game drives but the birds and just being out in the wilderness was more than we needed. The elephants came into camp and it was our first close up experience so pretty special.

The walk to the cultural sight was another highlight .

The Linkwasha camp was pretty luxurious- quite a bit more than we are use to but our guide there was the absolute best - Livingstone. The game drives here were outstanding and the birds and mammals we saw were unbelievable- babies and healthy looking animals. We saw the usual but also hyena, and painted dogs so we felt pretty lucky. We really enjoyed the one walking safari.

The internal flights were very smooth and pick ups and drop offs were seamless.

The camps told us when to be ready and took care of the last minute details on the ground without us even asking.

The Towasa Island was a perfect ending as it again was quiet and the water was a nice change of scenery.

The manager and staff were very helpful . We had a good game drive on the last evening seeing owls, a honey badger and another hyena . The crocodiles and hippos were also plentiful.

Our guide was ok here but the rest of the staff were excellent.

We enjoyed the canoeing trip - pretty wild waves and a hippo encounter.

We loved the island walk and a look at the vegetation and Baobab tree.

Victoria falls was ok- 4 hrs is plenty . We saw the falls, walked the bridge and went to the market and had lunch.

Note - wear sandals as shoes get soaked .

The things that were so helpful were the packing list, the tip amounts in envelopes and who to tip **** so helpful.

The people were so kind and helpful and we stayed healthy and had really no hiccups along the way.

It was all about being together as a family and experiencing nature in a different place.

There was always food available ( so much food we felt guilty about it) and again the dietary restrictions were very well met.

The duration was perfect - we were ready to come home feeling that we had met and exceeded all of our expectations.

This time of year was perfect for us- we enjoyed the birds so much and I liked the babies and not seeing stressed animals in search of water…

They were only thing I might have changed was a less fancy camp than Linkwasha but I had upgraded that because of the bunker at the watering hole! We loved our guide there and the close proximity to the plains where all the animals were was good so it was a still a very good choice.

I cannot say enough about the organization, support and planning that you did.

I will be recommending anyone wanting to experience Africa to be in touch with you!
Thank you once again!!