Africa Driven Reviews 190

mind-blowing tour

We (first timers) are just back at home in Germany from our trip to Botswana and Namibia (30 days in July/August). We planed and booked our tour with drivebotswana.com. Everything was perfect. Communication was easy, they gave us so much information and tips, so our trip went as well as we were hoping. Booking camps/lodges, the car (Bushlore) with a really good camping equipment, Chobe river cruise and even the airport transfer in Windhoek was done and we never had any problems.
So we are now booking with them our second tour for next year. Thank you Andy and team for a unique experience.
Claudia & Klaus, Munich/Germany

We've been on 5 self-drive safaris with Drive Botswana into South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Each one seems to just get better! Andy and Phil's knowledge of wildlife/places to visit/vehicles is just immense. Once you've been to Botswana you will be longing to return! 🇧🇼 They offer excellent value trips, with fully planned itineraries. The wildlife you will see is staggering - leopard, lion, cheetah, zebra, hippo, rhino, wild dogs - just to name a few! Can't wait to book again!

We had the pleasure to go on a self drive safari organized by Drive Botswana in the past summer. The help with the planning and service beforehand resulted in an amazing trip tailored exactly to our wishes. We did a 4-week round trip from Jo-burg to Jo-burg through Botswana and Namibia with a side-trip to Vic Falls. We can safely say that this has been our favorite trip to Africa so far! Everything worked out well, the vehicles were great and every location/campground we visited was idyllic. There was a small logistic error in our itinerary, however, when we contacted them this was resolved quickly and we could continue our trip without any problems, even spotting an extra leopard and cheetah due to this.
Thanks again to Drive Botswana for the great service!

We are very happy to write a very good review for Drive Botswana today. Phil and his team have completely planned and booked everything for us according to our wishes. Everything was really in a good order and it happened to our complete satisfaction. We were 6 people and had 3 campers from Avis Safari Rental, also booked by Drive Botswana. The cars are impeccable, the equipment is sufficient and the bed in the roof tent is very comfortable. The tent can be set up or taken down in 5 minutes. We got very good recommendations from Phil for excursions, which all took place as booked. The agencies with which Drive Botswana works on site are very reliable. Phil was still our contact person for repayment of the deposit for the camper. He immediately took care and arranged everything for us, so today we can recommend Drive Botswana 100%. Many thanks to Phil and his team for everything. We wish this company all the best.
Klaus Kircher and family, Germany

Drive Botswana go above and beyond!!
We just completed a 3 month bespoke trip around South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia all organised by Drive Botswana with amazing efficiency, expertise from start to finish. Before we left they worked with us to design a route that would suit our plans sharing expert knowledge of the best places to stay (both camping and lodges), how long to get between places and how long to stay in each location and what roads would be safe to travel in different conditions during wet and dry season. Drive Botswana organised everything from car hire with satellite phone, GPS and all the camping equipment, booked all the accommodation, provided maps and books about each country and the wildlife as well as providing information about visas, border crossings, anti-malarials and any other questions we asked! And they were available throughout the trip as well via WhatsApp or phone call to help with anything we needed!
The trip was unbelievable and some of our highlights were the places Drive Botswana organised which were not on the usual tourist route which we would never have found ourselves.
In no particular order our favourite campsites included Baines Baobab with its spectacular views over the salt pans, Senyati Safari Camp with a bar overlooking a waterhole with hundreds of elephants, BBC Campsite at Mana Pools which had incredible wildlife including elephants standing on their back legs to reach the tree tops and big packs of wild dogs, Mucheni View at Chizarira with the most spectacular views, Savuti Campsite where we saw the most incredible number of predators in a single day (20 lions and 1 leopard), Olifantsrus Campsite in Etosha which is smaller than the larger campsites with great facilities and a great hide to sit and watch the waterhole and Purros Campsite with its leafy shelters along the riverbed and giraffes that wander through.
Again in no particular order our favourite lodges were Moremi Gorge with spectacular views in private chalets with a gorgeous infinity pool, Rhino Safari Camp with beautiful facilities on the banks of Lake Kariba and the friendliest hospitality accommodating to our every need, Pangolin Chobe Hotel with the most incredible photo safari tours providing professional level equipment and tips on how to take the perfect picture, Tshima Bush Camp with the most delicious food and Etambura Camp with spectacular views across the Kaokoveld in Namibia, owned and run by the local conservancy.
Drive Botswana also booked or made recommendations about the best activities throughout the trip including a quad bike tour and sleep out in Makgadikgadi Pan, a mokoro trip in the Okavango Delta and Little 5 desert tours in the Namibian deserts.
The service provided by Drive Botswana was cost effective, saved us hundreds of hours of organisation and provided us with the inside knowledge of the area. It truly was the trip of a lifetime!!

I've been using Drive Botswana for over 10 years now and have always found them helpful and reliable.
If you are thinking of doing a self-drive holiday anywhere in southern Africa then you should always get Drive Botswana to give you a quote first. Just give Andy and his team an outline of what you have in mind and what you think are your capabilities and let them suggest routes or accommodation that you probably hadn't even considered.
Then just go for it while you still can!

Since we have little experience with self driving in Africa and did not have much time to plan we contacted drive Botswana for the planning of our trip.
We gave them the time we have plus the things we would be interested in and they built us the perfect itinerary. The contact was majorly via email and all our mails were answered very fast. The tone was always very nice and competent. I asked lots of questions concerning everything around the trip and everything was always answered in great lenth.
The trip itself could not have been better. It was 100% how we wanted it. while doing the trip we again and again realized that it had been planned with great care so that it really worked as a interesting and adventurous trip without being stressfull or cluttered.
I usually plan the holidays myself but I am glad that we booked this trip via Drive Botswana. Also the car company they chose for us was really good, the car was is perfect shape, which is an important thing in those regions.
All in all I can totally recommend booking here!

Andy and collegues arranged a fantastisch trip for us in Botswana.
Everything was perfectly organized. We had a great holiday.

DriveBotswana provided an amazing turn-key adventure for us during our 3-week self-drive around Botswana. They took care of all the planning, which allowed us just to enjoy our safari!

Beginning with our initial contact and extending through the entire trip, Andy, Phil, and the rest of their team used their extensive experience and insight to deliver a great experience.

In the planning phase, they took our requests, listened to our feedback, and helped us develop a great itinerary that included our own "must-sees." They also led us to plenty of other hidden gems we would have missed trying to plan the route on our own. The team was always helpful, assisting us in all the details like picking the right truck for ourselves and finding great accommodations for the nights we were staying in lodges.

Once we had the trip planned, they exceeded expectations with the small details like a book outlining the roadside sites, stores, banks, etc. that we would come across. Additionally, the turn-by-turn directions customized to our route were a fantastic addition that helped give us a little more confidence in remote locations.

We had high hopes for our trip to Africa, and DriveBotswana's service helped to exceed all the expectations we had. We can't wait to return, and when we do, we'll undoubtedly be using DriveBotswana!

This was the second self drive safari that Andy arranged for us. Each one was simply excellent, with a great selection of camps/lodges, etc, which fitted excellently into what we requested. The vehicles provided were awesome. I can recommend their services unreservedly.
Dr. W. Eichholz
Auckland
New Zealand

I love working with Drive Botswana. We are currently planning our 5th trip to Africa with them. They have great local knowledge of the areas with detailed plans on where to find the best groceries and petrol. We typically do a combo of camping in a fully decked out vehicle and lodges so I can get a hot shower. The team at Drive Botswana listens to what we want and give us their expert feedback and plans out the trip. They take care of everything from gps coordinates to park fees to detailed instructions on what to do at border crossings. We have had wonderful trips planned by this team and will continue to use them as we explore the wonders of Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. I highly recommend using this company for you next adventure!

I advice Andy and his staff of Botswana Drive to all who are interested in a tour in the South Africa area. Trips are very well organized!

Just want to say THANK YOU to Drive Botswana for making our trip to Namibia and Botswana so magical and wonderful… it was absolutely fantastic ...we had one of your best holidays ever and this was made possible by their highly professionnalist and attention to detail.
They organized a very detailed and nice tour tailored for us. We really appreciated the arrangements they made for us including itinerary, accommodations, activities and travel recommendation.
We are happy to have chosen Drive Botswana over other companies and we do highly recommend them to travelers who would like to travel to Southern Africa.
We will not hesitate to contact Drive Botswana again for our future travel in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Y. & R. Baumann (Switzerland)

We had a truly amazing holiday with Drive Botswana. They provided a really varied and interesting trip, that allowed us to see a huge variety of game and to enjoy some really different lodges in between. The organisation was faultless.

Drive Botswana provided an exceptional personalised itinerary, and handled all the associated bookings, fees and navigational instructions.
The variety of terrain and game seen, and the excellent campsites and lodge accommodation made for an amazing trip that was enjoyed by all.
Drive Botswana is highly recommended,this was our second trip with them, having been referred by friends who had also made two previous trips.

While planning we were offered good advice and replies to questions were always prompt. The digital itinerary is a great asset and really gives a clear picture of "where and what". I had my own itinerary in mind but Drive Botswana worked with me suggesting accommodation to suit. They do not try to “sell something you don’t want”.
The information supplied (books and sheets ) were all very good.
The campgrounds were spacious ( excl. Etosha ...but that is Etosha!) and attractive and facilities were fine. Tamboti and Namibrand especially, had great private facilities. We were very happy with the hotels too.

We had issues with our 4 wheel drive and tent but were well assisted by Drive Botswana and able to come to a satisfactory solution.
Payments also all went smoothly.
Would recommend them.

We used Drive Botswana for our second trip to Africa in May 2019. We had a basic idea of where we wanted to go - but they had some good suggestions and up-to-date knowledge of where to go and also what to avoid. We had a mixture of mostly camping, with some lodge accommodation and relied on Drive Botswana to do all of the booking which worked perfectly. We also relied on Drive Botswana to organise our vehicles and equipment to match our specific requirements which again worked well. Would definitely use them again or recommend them to others.

Andy & Drive Botswana have organized 4 self-drive safaris for us: 2008, 2012, 2017, and this year 2019. Clearly we've been very happy with the service and professionalism. The beauty of working with Andy is that you can tailor your trip to your specific time, tastes, and budget. On some trips we've done almost all camping and on others we've done frequent lodge stays. Andy has traveled the area extensively and has visited most or all of the camps, parks, and lodges he recommends so he's able to find the right places for you to stay. Most of our trips have been for 30+ days so Andy has reserved well over 100 nights for us and we've never had a problem with a reservation.
But, on any extensive, self-drive trip in the wilderness you WILL have other problems. We've had equipment failures and medical issues and Andy has always been available to help us out.
I heartily recommend his service.
Brian Olsen (Utah, USA)

We booked our self drive tour (August 2019) with Drive Botswana (Mr Andy).
Before leaving he sent us day by day detail with informations for parks, roads, gas stations, markets, etc. (it was really helpful).
When I will return in Botswana, I will book of course with Andy again.
Voto 10!!!!

Everything from start to finish is organized perfectly. We drove from J:burg via Botswana to Windhoek in 6 weeks. This trip we will cherish forever, not once did we feel afraid or that if something was to happen, that Drive Botswana would not help us. Our jeep went for a repair for a day, but everything went smoothly and it didn't affect our plans in any way. The communication with Andy is brilliant, and he will def. go the extra mile organizing a trip you will never forget. Thank you ♡ We didn't know exactly what we wanted to do or where to go, only gave him some places we want to see, and he arranged us the perfect places to see, places we didn't even know excisted!