What 4032 DialAFlight clients thought of Africa

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Excellent service - always willing to assist and the staff go an extra mile to ensure good service to customers. I have been recommending to friends and family

Excellent service as always. Always recommend

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Excellent service - very efficient, friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommend.

No problems at all. Transfers ready at each collection point.

Troy was excellent and always happy to help

Really appreciated the call from Harry just a few days before our departure.

This was the first time in many years that I had used your company. You were very flexible but professional. Thank you.

Very helpful and informative service.

As always, thanks to Raj and the team. I continue to recommend DialAFlight to friends and family - there’s at least 50 people using DialAFlight as a result!

Stafford is a top man. Helped every step of the way. Been with DialAFlight for years. Always been accurate and delivered

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Brilliant service from Damian again.

All very good!

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Many thanks for honouring the flight voucher from Kenyan from 2020 - the flights were (almost) all on time!

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Well done, your service is excellent. You keep us informed about the process and the journey. Price good.

I flew as an assisted passenger and all arrangements were spot on! When we phoned to ask a question we were assisted most professionally.

Informative and knowledgeable with a personal touch. Helpful and always responded to emailed queries within an hour or so

Very helpful friendly service, thank you

Dan did an excellent job as always!

Conrad and his team really go the extra mile and really reduce the stress of travelling. They also care about us passengers! Can't say that very often in this day and age.

Everything went smoothly apart from the flight home. It was delayed 4 hours and because we had no signal out in the bush we were unaware. We couldn’t check in and so had to sit several rows apart.

I’ve used DialAFlight on many occasions and always found them very helpful.

Best safaris

The Big Five Game Reserves

Tracking the Big Five through the African bush is an exhilarating experience. Here's our expert guide on where best to find them…

A thrilling safari in the heart of Africa is on the must-do list for many, an essential element being to tick off the Big Five - lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant. Grab your binoculars and let our experts guide you to the ultimate safari holiday…

Lion : South Africa
The Shamwari Game Reserve, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, works with the Born Free Foundation and maintains Big Cat Rescue and Education Centres. It’s the mission of Born Free, founded by actress and conservationist Virginia McKenna and late husband Bill Travers, to ‘Keep Wildlife in the Wild’.

Both Shamwari and Born Free protect big cats and many other species and have rescued animals from all over the world. On Shamwari's morning and evening game drives you'll see lions and the rest of the Big Five.

Luxurious lodges can be found at the Shamwari Game Reserve, South Africa

Accommodation is in a choice of individually styled luxury lodges, in glorious settings giving the opportunity to interact with nature in its purest form.

Leopard : Namibia
The Okonjima Nature Reserve, is halfway between the capital Windhoek and renowned Etosha National Park.

As they're nocturnal and well-camouflaged, leopards are the most elusive of the Big Five and you need an expert guide. At the family-run Okonjima, home of conservation charity The AfriCat Foundation, small groups go in rough-terrain vehicles and stay out for as long as it takes to snap your prey.
Staff use radios to share sightings. What looks like a patch of bare scrub can hide a gloriously languid leopard.

Accommodation is in luxury villas with vast picture windows. Guests can sponsor a leopard and receive updates once home.

Rhino now inhabit areas where they had been virtually extinct

Rhino : Botswana
Moremi Game Reserve is on the eastern side of the Okavango Delta, where black and white rhinoceros have been introduced under the Botswana Rhino Reintroduction Project. It has seen a zero-tolerance anti-poaching policy result in rhino once again inhabiting areas where they had been virtually extinct.

As well as the Big Five, on Moremi game drives you'll see a wealth of bird species by the lagoons, including the African Fish Eagle, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Crested Crane, Lilac-breasted Roller, Hammer-kop, Ostrich and Sacred Ibis.

Belmond Khwai River Lodge, Botswana

Luxurious accommodation is in Belmond Khwai River Lodge, idyllically set at the forest edge with views over the floodplains.

Elephant : Kenya
Samburu Intrepids Lodge is a lush oasis on the banks of the great Uaso Nyiro River in Samburu Game Reserve. Elephants love to play in the water and guests have a front-row seat from their room - with several impromptu shows a day.

The tented luxury camp is at the edge of a forest and cooled by the river breeze. It sits on raised decks overlooking the river, where crocodiles also often lounge by the bank. The jagged peak of distant Mount Kenya is in the background.

On Samburu game drives you'll see the other members of the Big Five.

Buffalo : Kenya
The Porini Mara camp is in the Serengeti-Mara wilderness. Dubbed 'the widow-makers', buffaloes are probably the most deadly of the Big Five and reportedly kill 200 people a year.

Guides explain what to do if a buffalo charges: lie flat, face-down, so they can't gore and toss you on their horns. The ones we found were too busy rutting and sparring to charge. But the sense of danger makes it feel all the more real.

Accommodation is in tents, all with hot showers, flushing loos, comfortable beds and living areas with sofas.

Encounter the mighty elephant in Kenya

Fine-tuning your trip
All of these wonderful safari options are just a starting point for your African holiday adventure, why not add on hotels before and after a safari or include any additional tours or excursions.

The Africa Bush offers many awe inspiring experiences, it is not all about the Big Five. Some reserves are expanding 'walking safaris', where you get close to nature on foot, such as on a mountain gorilla trek.

The great migration, the annual journey of two million wildebeest from the plains of the Serengeti to the grasslands of the Masai Mara, is an astonishing sight.

And a safari/beach combination is possible, for example, in Kenya or South Africa.

First published in the Mail on Sunday - February 2019

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