Africa Odyssey Reviews 

We just returned from our wonderful Botswana safaris. Especially since this was our first trip to Africa—and we were a bit anxious about a few things—we wanted you to know that everything was terrific.

The three camps we stayed at were terrific in different ways. We couldn’t say which was best: Chiefs camp was the most luxurious; Chitabe had the most animals; Duma Tau had water. At all the camps the staff was exceptionally warm, welcoming and helpful; the food was delicious and plentiful; the drivers were knowledgeable, patient and friendly. The animals up close and personal. Photos of the animals and landscape were magical.

Thank you for “hand holding” when we needed it. The Wilderness staff and pilots moving us from safari to safari worked well. (Although between Chiefs camp and Chitabe the flight was 40 minutes late. Our driver was surprised that Wilderness “forgot” to call our camp to let them know of the delay. That was the only glitch we had.)

Again, thank you for your help in making our first (of many we hope) safari trip very special.

Warmly,

Very good knowledge and candid advice. Organisation was very reliable and I had a great holiday.
Will choose Africa Odyssey again if planning travel to East Africa. Many thanks!

It was our first trip to Africa and our first trip on safari. George talked to us about the kind of experience we would like to have. He took our information and created the perfect trip.
Our stay in each location was the right amount of time. The facilities we stayed in were amazing. It was defenitly luxury in the bush. We were in tents which gave us that close to nature experience ( listened to zebras and lions near our tent).
The staff was friendly and accomadate on, the food was amazing and the animal viewing was majic.

Kitty, our representative at Africa Odyssey, made our trip planning a very personal experience, tailored to our needs and desires. We were able to Skype with her, and also with Ted, which helped us feel a connection with them. The suggestions she made to shape our itinerary were very right on! Great to work with, and always quick to respond to any questions we had!

We booked a safari in Tanzania with Africa Odyssey and just came back from a fantastic trip.
George did an amazing job, he gave excellent advice, listened very carefully and booked for us exactly the trip we had in mind.
Our local tour guide Kawaga from Duma Explorer was super nice, professional and has a huge knowledge about the wildlife.
The accomodations were wonderful, especially Kichuguu Camp in Tarangire National Park and Chaka Camp in the Southern Serengeti. The staff was very nice, we had great food and the tents were top standard.
I highly recommend Africa Odyssey and look forward to another trip with them in the future!

Our Family had a great and unforgetable time in Tanzania this January 2019!! Odyssey Travel did a terrific job indicating the best hotels and the best itinerary!!! We just loved!

Having been recommended by a friend, I was introduced to Africa Odyssey with high expectations due to the quality of the trip I saw my mate go on for his Honeymoon. Saying my expectations were blown away is an understatement. I was promptly introduced to Toby, due to our plan of dissecting South Africa for our Honeymoon. Through a couple of phone calls and emails, Toby came up with several itineraries, working with a changing budget, an overly excited client and the expectations of wanting to do everything, Toby came up with what I thought was the perfect trip. He pointed me to Phinda, a private reserve that isn't as busy or famous as the Sabi sands, or more northern parks. I took his word and it was hands down one of the most professional and luxurious safari trips I have been on. The staff at &Beyond went above what was required.
For our next part, fitting in with my budget and explaining the weather patterns in the Indian ocean this time of year, Toby pointed me to Thonga beach Lodge instead of an expensive trip to Mauritius. Once again, expectations were met and some. As a keen diver, Thonga is one of only two dive operators on that stretch of the Elephant coast, leaving the reefs and sealife incredibly healthy. Turtle hatching, dolphin swimming all included. We ended our trip in Cape Town where Toby gave us some incredible recommendations and awesome pointers to follow. An unforgettable trip, organised to the nth degree.
The true icing on the cake and the reason why I would recommend Toby & Africa Odyssey is the agility and flexibility to help while out there. We needed a transfer organised within an hour. One phone call to Toby and we had a driver waiting for us in Durban after our quick flight down from Joburg. Never in doubt.
If you are looking for a trip to Africa that will blow you away and take all the worry out of the details. These are your guys.

Scott at Africa Odyssey gave us three recommendations for a family African safari, all offered by Wilderness Safaris. All sounded great, but we're really glad we chose Linkwasha Camp in Zimbabwe. From excellent and beautiful physical accommodations to great game viewing to wonderful staff, a fantastic, memorable experience for the five of us. Prep materials were very organized and buttoned-up, Dowloadable Odyssey Travels/Vamoos app was useful too. In our experience, this went seamlessly - which we did not necessarily expect of Zimbabwe travel!

Perfect honeymoon from start to finish. Everything planned to the most minute detail and pleasure to arrange with Africa Odyssey as they listened to what we were after. Every stop was different and not a vanilla Africa holiday package you get with other companies. Ted was amazing and always happy to speak and answer any of our questions.

Cannot wait to arrange another holiday with them!!!

Awesome African Adventure
My family and I booked an adventure with Africa Odyssey to Tanzania and Zanzibar and are just returned from a phenomenal trip. The lodges they chose were absolutely top and all the transfers and other arrangements went perfectly. We were so sad to leave !

I booked a safari in Botswana in September with AfricanOdyssey. I wanted a memorable vacation, and i accepted to pay a very high price as i was expecting a wonderful experience. All lodges were very expensive in Botswana and they charged were multipled by 3 in 8 years but not the salary of the staff so benefits are only for shareholders. So for me, Botwana is not better than other experiences i had in others countries, but really much more expensive. I booked with this travel agency (africanodyssey.com) but i had others proposals exactly the same price meaning there is a rack rate defined by Wilderness-safaris.com. So for 8 nights with domestic flights i paid almost 22,000 USD (yes twety thousand USD) and for that rate i get 3 lodges from (africanodyssey.com) for (wilderness-safaris.com) lodges
- a basic lodge (for me 300 USD) called Kahalari Plains camp. very d disappointing for an high rate - too expensive for the confort
- Little mombo which was refurbished but too expensive also
- a camp called Vumbura Plains Camp (north camp as there is 2 camps) . I paid 3200 USD PER NIGHT for 1 person , for a supposed 5 stars camp and this rating is a huge lie because considering the confort, the service and the fafed room, it's a place i will never have been even for 50 USD? And for that rate you can expect , at a cheapest rate, a suite in the more expensive 5 stars hotels in Japan, Paris , New york, London.. My experience was awful and i am very angry to have been advise to go there , when the job of a travel is to make customers happy and i am far to be happy for such disaster.
I have obviously the invoice and the pictures if Trustpilot needs it and i am not stupid and it's not diffamation but a real experience.
1- my pool was brown-green !! as the birds were staying in a tree above my private pool and they defecated inside. So so do you want to put a finger inside? and why this pool was not protected or moved in another since years? is that normal to have such disgusting room for 3250 USD per night
3 - and it's far to be finished : the room was faded with a very bad decoration and with old damaged basic furniture and dirty carpets
4 - there was blinds around the room and they were there since the opening, so around 15 years : they were dirty, opaque because the sun damaged the plastic and dusty. So i was supposed to have a nice view from my room but i can't see anything : just non transparent blinds. How Wilderness-Safaris dared to offer at this rate such slam.
5 - and the top was when my mosquito net falled on my legs as i was resting on my bed. The net was retained to completely fall by the fan !
There is no maintenance in Vumbura Plains.

when i complained : the staff was also arrogant telling me Botswana is the Rolls Royce !! very modest. specially when this is very true for the indecent rates for poor confort but also for a very bad experience

So 1st i posted 6 reviews on Tripadvisor and the deleted or make it invisible (pending), so i can't inform others travelers to avoid Wilderness-Safaris and AfricanOdyssey as it's a very bad choice. I choose the Wilderness safaris lodges because on their good comments and rating (4.5 / 5) but deleting the bad reviews is a censure and the average note is rising. But it's just a scam. Tripadvisor also make a pressure on Trustpilot but they didn't succeed meaning Trustpilot is fair and you might find this review here
After i checked a website which have an algorithm to detect the percentage of fake reviews and tripadvisor for this lodge seems to have 40% fake reviews and it's probably subestimed as many bad reviews has been deleted so invisible.
-----
so this is the analysis on this lodge : "analysis on Tripadvisor : Vumbura Plains Camps , botswana - 40% low quality reviews for this 5 stars according to Tripadvisor which is a lie.

so the result of their analysis is "There are indications of inauthentic reviews. You be the judge.
Analysis overview
Our engine has analyzed and discovered that 60.0% of the reviews are reliable.
Our engine detects that in general the reviewers have a positive sentiment.
The most used word by reviewers is our.
Our engine has profiled the reviewer patterns and has determined that there may be deception involved.
Our engine has determined that the review content quality is low.
Reviews summary
Able to track animals by their tracks, which meant that we saw the highlights before my wife and i recently stayed at this camp and experienced some of our best safari sightings of our trip

Our guide speedy was awesome and was the first guide we had that was consistently able to track animals (resulting in us being the first just spent 3 nights at vumbura south camp
".
And the global result was : "Fakespot Review Grade
C
Our analysis detected 40.0% low quality reviews

and this lodge is rate by them at 2.5 which is very generous but they can't take in account the deleted reviews"

on Tripadvisor , few bad reviews, but some looks like mine but not so extreme
one sample : from 2015, so now the experience is worst
"

AlwaysOnTheAirplane

Washington, D.C.

223323

Reviewed July 14, 2015

Does Not Deliver at $4,000+ Per Night

extract:
We considered rating this property as "terrible" but decided on poor. This rating is a reflection of a series of what were mostly small but upsetting events. The rating reflects our expectations of a property that costs well over $4,000 per day and even more when you have engaged a private guide and vehicle." ……...

and the answer was "WildernessSafaris, Manager at Wilderness Safaris Vumbura Plains Camp, responded to this reviewResponded July 17, 2015
---
Dear AlwaysOnTheAirplane,
Thank you for taking the time to share this detailed feedback on your recent stay with us. Although you declined to complete a guest evaluation form in camp, our Operations team have already made us aware of your concerns. Our Customer Care team has been in contact with your Travel Agent accordingly, and you will receive further correspondence from us via that channel; regarding your stay with Wilderness Safaris.

""also wilderness-safaris tried to buy my silence - difficult to change bad behaviors !! so probably many unhappy customes accepted this corruption signing a paper.
so this the extract of a mail sent to me : ""We appreciate your candour and as we do concede that your stay at Vumbura Plains was not optimal, we
could like to offer a refund for 2 nights on the provision that you sign a full waiver and release. This offer is
given without prejudice or acceptance of liability or error on our part and that you will refrain from posting any negative reviews, images and comments on social platforms about Wilderness Safaris. Please let us know if you accept this offer, so that we may send through the waiver letter for you to sign."
I refused, 6400 USD is attractive but i refused as i loose almost 22,000 USD (without international flights and this charity compared to my prejudice of 22,000 USD !! as they wasted fully vacations.

I prefer to fight against those bad practices and publish the most i can about my experience and there is a lot of reviews now posted in different websites and it's just the beginning

So I ACCUSE AfricaOdyssey to have published on its website OLD PICTURES probably from the opening of the lodge, so new , and also very different. So they are dishonnest if they knew the real condition of the lodges or incompetent if they don't know the current bad quality of these Wildernes-safaris lodges. So 2 good reasons to avoid them as they are a bad choice to organize a trip. They are only interested by a huge amount paid by Wilderness even they are wasting the vacations of many tourists

So it has to be known to all travelers.
for myself i will travel again to other countries for safaris , but i will ban Botswana - too expensive for a very bad experience and i prefer to have more days vacations for the same rate or pay less for a better experience for also 8 days.
and i promise i won't go again the travel agencies which are supposed to be skilled to advise you the best vacations. But direct is the best choice and it's easy
and this unskilled and disapointing "travel agency" is far to be the best choice

Be aware of fake data on internet

-------------Answer to the Managing Director of AfricanOdyssey
It's not the price itself which is very shocking
- i am used to the best palaces in the world and my purpose is to explain to others travelers that for a crazy price per night in Botswana (average price i paid more than 2600 USD average per night !!) : i got the confort of a bad motel in 2 lodges on 3. This is just indecent and there is no value for my money. Even worst : you don't respect your customers and you took them for nuts. You are arrogant thinking you are the best country for safaris specially when the Okavango river is drying and very probably your Okavango will be a part of Kahalari desert one day.

Just remind trees can't reach the sky ! specially with awful rooms!

I am not the only person on social networks who wrote very bad reviews.

This trip in Botswana was a pure nightmare and the upmost awful vacations i ever had.
and concerning AfricanOdyssey : how can you send your customers in such places for such crazy price. If these lodges were in such awful condition, your duty was to tell me and suggest a better property than Wilderness-Safaris. My pictures are true and i have your invoice.

This trip in Botswana was a pure nightmare and the upmost awful vacations i ever had. And concerning AfricanOdyssey : how can you send your customers in such places for such crazy price. If these lodges were in such awful condition, your duty was to tell me and suggest a better property than Wilderness-Safaris. My pictures are true and i have your invoice.
You made a huge mistake with me as i will continue to post many bloody reviews on social networks and i will be delighted if travelers avoid AfricanOdyssey and they just offer a pas

Our friends ventured on a safari for their honeymoon and raved about their experience with Africa Odyssey. Hence, my husband and I knew who to contact when we were ready for our trip to Africa. Communication was excellent throughout the entire process and they answered every question without hesitation. We could not be happier with all the arrangements and everything ran smoothly - all transfers/flights were on time, accommodations were wonderful, and our safaris were an incredible experience. I recommend Africa Odyssey without hesitation and look forward to a trip with them in the future!

We booked through Africa odyssey for our recent trip to Tanzania. They by far had the most organized website, as most information on the internet regarding Africa is daunting and difficult to interpret.
I love the fact they contact you and discuss what’s important to YOU regarding your travels. They also get to know who you are and They style of traveler you are which makes your experience more pleasurable. All logistics and travel went smoothly without any complaints or mishaps. I highly recommended this organization and will likely be using them in the future

A great company to deal with Very professional
David Spitz

Great service, excellent advice, friendly and efficient, would use again and definitely recommend.

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar organized by the fine folks at Africa Odyssey. What a fantastic experience! Kitty Crisp and her colleagues were incredible to work with and made planning for this, our first trip to Africa, very easy and enjoyable. They were courteous, knowledgeable and responsive to every question we had and helped us focus on exactly where we would want to go and the optimal accommodations while we were there. They were also very flexible in arranging for all of our in continent transfers and travel (which we highly recommend).

Lake Manze was our camp in the Selous. Again, we can’t say enough about the fantastic accommodations there and helpful staff. The managers, Sean and Millie, were welcoming, accommodating and perfect facilitators, matching us with a tremendous guide (Samwel) and driver (Abuu) and fellow guests for meals and for safari which enriched the experience beyond words. We enjoyed having a few opportunities for driving and boat safari where we were paired with just our guide and driver and other opportunities where we shared the experience with another couple. The bush had much to offer and each offering was a gift.

Zanzibar Palace in Stone Town (and Stone Town itself) were exotic and exhilarating and a great place to sight see, dine and do some shopping (Memories of Zanzibar was a fine place to do this).

Zuri Zanzibar, our beach resort, was a great place to wind down from all that we saw and did on safari and in hectic, crowded and fun Stone Town. The food, sleeping accommodations, pool, pristine beach, spa and wonderful staff catered to every need.

We highly recommend African Odyssey for their service and value and believe you will benefit as we did from their assistance. Enjoy!

Thanks a lot to Africa Odyssey!
Would highly recommend them to everyone who plans a journey to Africa. They are very professional, helpful, and would be carefully attentive to every small detail of your itinerary.

Camp Mwagusi was fabulous. The staff is exceptional, the accommodations were amazing and the food was great! We loved everything about our stay and our safari experiences. I highly recommend!

Trip Tanzania
I contacted Tanzania Odyssey for oyr first trip to Africa. Since my first email all ran perfectly. George listened to our thoughts and came out with a proposal that inclufed all our thoughts. We have just returned back from the trip and all has been simply perfect (selected lodges, transfers......). Thank you George for making this trip be marvelous! !!!!!

Provided me with everything I wanted in this trip and patiently answered every question I had. Without a doubt the best trip of my life