Last Minute Botswana Tours and December Deals

I have done a lot of travel and this was honestly the best trip I've ever been on. Every day was full of adventure, beautiful sceneries and unreal experiences. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this trip and only booked it for something different to do, however Africa has turned into my favourite place! I am already planning to go back and do other Contikis there next year.

Fantastic holiday with great company. Our guide, our hosts and most of all the animals lived up to and far exceeded any expectations. Our guide, KK, is worthy of a special mention. He was hugely knowledgeable about every bird and animal we encountered, he had the patience of a saint and quietly and calmly sorted out every problem we encountered, allaying any fears from the group along the way. He knew exactly where to find the animals and how to get the best views, often arriving on the scene before any other vehicles, and being the one to allay the news across the park of unique sightings. He made our holiday.

I loved this trip. Our guide KK was excellent, calm, knowledgeable, patient and kind. Botswana is a truly beautiful country with friendly people. Of all the wildlife tours I have done this was the best. The trip notes were a little brief on the accommodation and lack of power availability (i am being generous here)! I believe it is always best to be upfront about what explorers are letting themselves in for so that they can prepare properly. I would love to do another tour to Botswana, same guide, something else!

I had a fabulous time in Botswana, my holiday exceeded my expectations. I was amazed how close we got to the animals and birds and how many we saw. They were relaxed and weren't bothered by us. Our tour leader, KK, was great and looked after us so well. He is very knowledgeable and was great at spotting the wildlife and answered all our questions. There were many long drives some over bumpy, sandy tracks particularly in Chobe and tarmac roads excellently navigated by KK's safe driving. We were well looked after by lovely staff at our various accommodations. I was happy with the food generally and particularly the variety while we were camping where the food was cooked on an option fire. We drove through Namibia for a few hours and had to pay the equivalent of 80 Euro for visas which were introduced earlier in the year. I think Explore should consider changing the tour to avoid this extra cost. Also the itinerary notes need updating, the camp drop toilets are not 'water based', they use sand. One area was referred to being wet / marsh but it dried up over 10 years ago. One of the people on our tour is passing on more details but your tours leaders can advise you.

October is hot so be prepared for that. It also means there are a lot of animals early mornings and evenings and it was wonderful to watch a family of elephants with their babies rolling around in the mud and a family of lions with 2 cubs annoying their big sister. The food was great. In the basic camp it was cooked on a log fire with lots of fruit and veg. Our guide Sam was superb finding animals identifying birds and great fun. There are long journeys on roads which are not great. Tiring

Excellent safaris,many close up encounters with game. Great camps and accommodation. Well prepared food in the wild by great cooks,and camps superbly set up. One or two encounters with elephants and hippopotamus slightly worrying. Our driver,guide was great,though the length of hours he had to drive were too long on some occasions,though he never complained. He was extremely knowledgeable about the game and the policy of the game reserves. Excellent holiday but you do need to be able to rough it.