Africa Driven レビュー 187

I did a search of suitable agents in Botswana and decided to use DB (Drive Botswana) for our (self and wife) 3 week trip to Botswana and Zambia. I am familiar with the region and knew roughly what we wanted to achieve so we fleshed out a 3 week vehicle hire trip.
Andy was most helpful through out, his local and up to date knowledge pointed me in the right direction re lodges and pricing and which lodges/locations would suit my aim and budget. His knowledge of park formalities/procedures and costs was excellent. It was also useful to be able to make my payments to DB into a UK bank account.
Andy responded to my many questions promptly, despite me, over a long lead in time, probably asking the same one more than once. As the vehicle hire was critical to our journey (+_ 2000km) the choice of vehicle was critical. He recommended Bushlore for the vehicle which he organised. Apart from one issue, this worked well and the vehicle, apparently 2 years old with 76000km on the clock, stood up well to the rigouts of very poor and very sandy Botswanan roads. The vehicle was well equipped, 2 spare tyres, 2 x jerry cans, air compressor, winch, tools, high lift jack, sat phone, tracks4africa sat nav etc. On day 2 I checked the engine and realised the battery was leaking and bulging despite it being only 1 year old. I contacted Bushlore who sent a replacement battery to me in Kwhai, and easy location 2 days hence. There were lots of Bushlore vehicles and most drivers I spoke to were happy with their vehicles.
All DBs bookings worked well with no issues and the trip went like clockwork, without us getting stuck in the sand once, although we did pull a lodge resupply vehicle out of the sand and help someone else out with some tools.
All the final DB paperwork, instructions and directions were up to date and accurate, save for one large new road and a few new tracks being recently constructed in the Kafue area.
The crossing into Zambia on the Kasangula ferry was a well advertised hassle however Bushlore had an agent on the Zambian side to help their clients get though the Zambian paperwork nightmare; their unfortunate omission was not to advise us that he was there so I obviously doubted his Bushlore ID card. I subsequently checked with Bushlore in Kasane and he was apparently employed by Bushlore.
If there is any criticism on DB I would say it was not providing an example of how detailed the final instruction/directions actually were. Had I know I think many questions would have been answered before I raised them.
Many thanks to Andy and his team for great advice and a well executed booking.

From the very first email I knew I was in good hands. These guys really know Botswana. Between us we put together a 3 week trip. They were always on hand to answer queries , and did so really quickly. The car hire and driving instructions were brilliant and were really accurate. All of the accommodations that were recommended were as described and all were good. The whole trip ran as planned without any hitches. We thought that the price we paid was quite competitive, and if they could save money for us they did. I would not hesitate in recommending Phil and the rest of the team

Phil at Drive Botswana put together a great self-drive safari for me. It was 21 days with a mix of camping and tent-lodges, with a reasonable distance between each one. Total distance I drove was 2200 km. Saw everything I went for - 36 different animal species including the big-5 and 67 different bird species. A total blast; I highly recommend doing a self-drive and the Drive Botswana people to help you put it together. We went back and forth a bit with email to settle on an itinerary and then I locked it in. All very smooth. They know their stuff and had good suggestions for me.

We have been followed by Phil with all the organization and we can say that everything was perfect. Our holiday was in Namibia this September 2019. Next year we want to visit Botswana..and of course we are asking help to Phil. He always is very kind to answer and to give information. We definitively recommend Drive Botswana as tour operator. Very professional. Alessandro from Italy