What 934 DialAFlight clients thought of Indian Ocean

Toby was excellent, easy to get hold of and delivered as per request. We will use him again for future holidays for sure.

The trip was fantastic. The hotel was super and the transfers were seamless. All was good until we returned to Heathrow terminal 2....!

Isla Lawson has been brilliant throughout our travel arrangements. We would not hesitate to book with DialAFlight again.

Marie was amazing throughout the whole process.

Thank you to Seymour who organised this long awaited break. We are both front line NHS staff and we really needed this. So thank you for not turning me away as many other companies I contacted who would not help or reply or consider looking for deals! Thank you. We will definitely recommend to our friends and family.

Everything went exactly to plan - perfect thank you.

The whole trip was fantastic.. everything went without a hitch and accommodation was superb

Marco was fantastic as was his team. Nothing was too much for them and they made the booking and travel effortless.

Very efficient service

We asked Daniel to suggest a hotel in Mauritius. He provided the most perfect location that suited my family. He kept in contact between booking the trip and us actually going and was always on hand to answer our many queries. I can’t recommend highly enough!

Very efficient service.

Callum excellent. Dealt with the multiple changes well

From start to finish wonderful customer service - second time I've used your company and definitely will use agaim

Everything was excellent thanks to Brody and the team.

Calls always answered promptly. When our contact was not in the office a colleague always stepped in and dealt with our queries effciciently. Top service mentality!

As ever, another smooth holiday just finished. Excellent service. We always book through DialAFlight with Clark Maroof and his colleagues!

Gavin was fantastic all the way through. Gave us great choices and was on hand for any questions we had.

I would like to thank Ben for sorting out a lovely holiday for us both - we had a fantastic time and we would recommend you to all our friends and family

The trip was excellent and all went to plan. Good communication from Des during the whole process. Will def use again.

Totally fantastic service, recommendations and flight times - will definitely be booking again.

Excellent service all round that's why I keep coming back to you.

In the past we dealt with Rudi but this time it was with Mark who dealt superbly with all our requests and made sure all went smoothly. Their sevice was excellent and will book our holidays/flights with them in the future.

Holiday destination was fantastic. Everything ran extremely well and DialAFlight did a amazing job for us. All bookings and changes we were kept informed of and all ran smoothly. I would have no hesitation in recommending them.

Thank you very much Zoe for all your help and support

Always willing to assist and help with even the silliest of questions. Thank you for everything.

Stafford was brilliant, and kept us in the loop. He was really friendly and helpful, made our holiday process so easy and made sure we were happy with everything. Would definitely recommend DialAFlight.

I will use DialAFlight again and again

Shelley was excellent and will be booking with her again - thank you so much

It was a pleasure to work with you. The only hitch was that the airline website did not allow us to check in and select seats.

We spent a lot of time searching for the right destination and the right place, then we expanded the group and one more person flew in from another country and then we changed the location in the middle of our holiday. It all required a lot of patience and time and Teddy was brilliant!

My perfect mix of thrills and pampering

Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver wanted it all, excitement followed by chilled-out luxury... she found both in Botswana and the Seychelles

I'm a travel company's worst nightmare.I want adventure, but not scary, I want total luxury but not in-your-face formality...and a beach, but a Robinson Crusoe one. And I want gourmet food and a world-class spa. The suggestion was an African safari followed by a relaxing island retreat in the Seychelles.

As a little girl, I'd always dreamed of going to Africa. My mother would say it was a consequence of watching Born Free and endless episodes of Daktari. I imagined I was Paula Tracy decked out in appropriate safari gear, riding high on the back of Clarence The Cross-Eyed Lion - accompanied by Judy the adorable chimpanzee.

So I embarked on my first true experience of Africa: Botswana and the Okavango Delta, an area that covers 3.2-million acres when in full flood. A lush, green sparkling jewel made up of permanent and semi-permanent channels, lagoons, islands and floodplains.

We flew to Johannesburg, then took a two-hour flight to Maun in Botswana and from there a ten-minute light aircraft transfer to the middle of the Delta.

Our guide Martin met me and my husband Brian and whisked us off to our home for the next three days. Sanctuary Baines' Camp has five bedrooms, on stilts and connected to the communal dining area by swing bridges. It has a swimming pool, although the day I wanted to use it a rather large elephant was hogging it and I wasn't about to argue.

Baines Camp: with bedrooms on stilts and open-air bathrooms

The evenings were spent exchanging stories of the day's animal encounters, followed by early nights. The luxurious suites, with terraces, had all mod cons, including a watercolour painting kit for those of an artistic bent. A family of huge, fluffy bats was nesting right outside the bathroom window.

The game drives took place early morning and late afternoon. We were thrilled with the show of wildlife. Large, lazy lions snoozing after a big kill, giraffes, wildebeest and impalas.

We spent one early morning following the tracks of a leopard and cub. Martin was persistent and, after two hours, we came across the pair running away from a family of baboons. We followed the pair for about three miles until mum and her cub climbed a large tree and allowed us to sit 14ft away and watch their daily rituals.

I spent an afternoon on a mokoro, a traditional dug-out canoe, drifting on the crystal-clear waters, with the only sounds the breezes in the reeds, exotic birdsong and frogs.

One day was spent walking with three beautiful, majestic elephants.

They belong to Doug and Sandi Groves, who dedicated their lives to caring for them after they were orphaned by culling operations years ago. The elephants now act as ambassadors for their wild counterparts and in 1999 the Living With Elephants Foundation was launched, dedicated to relieving conflict between the African elephant and human populations in Botswana.

To become personally acquainted, observe and interact with these silent beauties was one of the most joyous experiences of my life.

On our final evening our bed was wheeled on to the terrace for a night under the stars - to be woken by the wonderful sound of a hippo grunting and munching happily, 5ft beneath my bed.

Next, we headed east for the Seychelles.

The Banyan Tree, overlooking a beautiful bay

Arriving by light aircraft on the island of Desroches was like the opening sequence of Fantasy Island. Desroches is a three-mile long castaway island, with immaculate beaches, azure waters and coral reefs. It offers exquisite gourmet food, luxurious surroundings and a compulsory instruction to lie back and kick off your shoes. Even the general manager hasn't had a pair of shoes on for two years. I revelled in dining on fresh sashimi, seafood and fine wine while in bare feet.

Days were spent cycling around the island, visiting the giant tortoises to give them a daily scratch under the chin, kayaking and snorkelling on a beautiful reef.

The sea is teeming. There was a kaleidoscope of fish, lemon and reef sharks, graceful stingrays winging their way past you and - the ultimate joy - swimming alongside an enormous hawksbill turtle.

After six nights we moved on to the Banyan Tree on the island of Mahe.

Calm waters were exchanged for huge, thundering white horses on a beautiful beach, Intendance Bay, famed for its incredible granite rock formations.

The Banyan Tree, where suites have private pools

The colonial-style Banyan Tree winds up the hillside, and all suites have private pools, Jacuzzis and spectacular views.

Getting around was fun. The resort was steep, so served by golf buggies.

Every night I was treated to a wonderful show while indulging in a sunset massage on our terrace: the sight of huge bats riding the thermals above, swooping for insects.

Although each place was different, they all have one thing in common, conservation. Ethical tourism at its best.

First published in the Daily Mail - October 2015

More articles below...

For more inspiration, read what travel writers have to say...