Town & Country Travel Testimonials
Testimonials for Town & Country Travel in Thousand Oaks, CA | www.countrytravel.com | 805-495-9888
Botwana is the Best!
The trip was truly fabulous. The Botswana part was absolutely seamless. The travel arrangements you made all went off without a hitch, and we loved your choice of camps for us. When we arrived at the airstrip at DumaTau we were greeted by ostriches, and while we were driving toward the camp to meet up with our guide we practically ran over a leopard in the road! We loved DumaTau and had many varied experiences including following hunting wild dogs and watching them consume their kill of an impala. We were also privileged to watch elephants swimming across the river during a sunset cruise. We did not see as much game on the drives at Xigera, but we loved the birdlife and the experience of the peace and beauty of the delta on the mokoro ride. Chitabe was absolutely fabulous for game viewing. Here we saw a cheetah recover her kill that she had stashed under a bush. We were then able to watch her consume it while a Francolin called continuously from a nearby tree. Later we saw a lion pride and a leopard with a cub. A young lion who was apparently separated from the pride and looking for the group happened upon the leopard, and we watched while the leopard stashed her cub in the grass and bravely chased the lion away. We had a sundowner at a waterhole absolutely filled with hundreds of pelicans and egrets and a few hippos for good measure. It was magical! Jane, your information that Chitabe had a lot of game was absolutely spot on. I think we saw the greatest variety of animals there.
At all of the Wilderness Safari camps you arranged for us the camps were comfortable, the food was great and the guides were all experienced and incredibly knowledgeable. In addition, the camp staff and managers were so welcoming and friendly and service-oriented….Fabulous! They did a great job of accomodating my dietary restrictions. Also, we enjoyed the comfort and service of our business class flights on Emirates.
The travel between camps including to meet up with the Zegrahm group at Toka Leya all went off very well. Wherever we landed there was always someone waiting there to meet us and usher us off to our next conveyance.
Toka Leya was a very comfortable camp and even had airconditioning, which some folks enjoyed in the heat of the afternoon. They really went out of their way to give us great service and brought in a local band for a campfire performance on the beach. Seeing the white rhinos was very interesting. Also, even though we are not big waterfall fans, we were both very impressed with Victoria Falls. Even in the dry season, it is a sight to behold!
At Linkwasha we saw literally hundreds of elephants and large herds of antelope and cape buffalo. Ruckomechi camp was very comfortable and often had elephants wandering through the camp. One of them delayed our lunch as he lingered right next to the buffet table on the edge of the deck. The afternoons were hot, and I enjoyed spending afternoon siesta time in the plunge pool watching the passing spectacle of hippos in the river and wandering elephants.
Chiawa was beautiful and comfortable. We really enjoyed the variety of activities offered there. They would accommodate whatever each person wanted to do and did not expect us to do everything together as a group. A real highlight was a 3 hour canoe trip in a channel in the Zambezi with the banks filled with baboons, elephants, buffalo, impala and many varieties of birds. It was so peaceful and beautiful and a bit exciting as we had to navigate around large crocodiles and hippos in the narrow and shallow channel! It was so great that Mike and I did the canoe trip 2 days. Also, that is where I got to experience seeing a lion up close while on foot on a walking safari.
We both felt that traveling with Lex Hes added a great deal to the experience. I am not sure I would have been comfortable traveling in Zimbabwe unescorted. He handled whatever came up with grace and good humor and is incredibly knowledgeable about Africa in general. His perspective was informative, and we learned a lot about tracking and animals from him. Most of the other members of the group have traveled with him before–some of them on multiple trips. I would not hesitate to recommend a trip with him.
The bags worked great and held up well. Thank you so much for those and for your gift of the day room in Lukasa. The hotel was beautiful and comfortable and we really appreciated spending the day in such comfort before commencing the long trip home.
You did such a perfect job setting everything up for us and giving us such a detailed itinerary. The phone app worked well and we found it to be very useful.
All we can say is thank you so much for your hard work and attention to detail. We will surely recommend your services to anyone contemplating a trip to Africa (or anywhere, for that matter).
Gratefully yours,
Linda and Mike
Town & Country Travel Testimonials 