Victoria Falls Safari Lodge

We travelled to Africa as our once in a lifetime visit to experience a cross section of Southern and Eastern Africa. As a couple travelling with a good friend on single supplement, the three of us were totally impressed with Katelyn's ability to ensure that our requested 'in country' travel itinerary was arranged perfectly. We booked our own international flights before we chose Bench Africa to complete the 'in country itinerary'. Our trip involved a mix of various tours and independent requests/arrangements all booked through Bench Africa. All of these worked perfectly, with the accommodation, meals and transport (land and air) very well coordinated by Katelyn such that there were no problems with this relatively complicated itinerary. The standard of accommodation, meals and travel exceeded our expectations. Our 5 weeks included South Africa (rail, road and air), Kenya / Tanzania (12 day Safari), Zambia/ Zimbabwe and Botswana (land and air). Whilst we paid more than what we initially thought, Katelyn expanded our horizons on what was possible with the result that we achieved more than that we wanted to achieve for this adventure. This journey was faultless, value for money and a credit to Katelyn and Bench Africa. We highly recommend Bench Africa.

I was travelling solo and had a budget for my Africa trip. Katelyn at Bench Africa arranged my holiday around specific interests I requested and within a time frame. And it was well executed and planned from start to finish, nothing was left out from the timing of transfers, reputable accommodation at all 3 destinations, internal flights, prepaid meals, pre paid events etc. Katelyn was very thorough and any issues I had raised was resolved promptly. I started at Cape Town, then in Kruger for my safari, then onwards to Victoria Falls. Katelyn also reassured me that travelling solo in South Africa would be safe and I certainly can say I never felt uneasy or needed to be worried. This gave me the confidence to enjoy my holiday much more. I highly recommend Bench Africa to take care of your next holiday to Africa, it will make it stress free and organised, so you can just relax and enjoy!

We first came across Bench Africa via their great tour booklet at the travel agents. We then went to a travel expo and spoke to Nicky who was absolutely bursting with enthusiasm about us booking a trip. Our plans which thanks to Bench all came together without a hitch - we stayed at Chobe Marina Lodge in Botswana, then onto Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, then a night in Johannesburg before finishing off at Makanyane in Madikwe. Everything was booked and noted for us in a folder with loads of extra information, contact numbers for pick ups along the way etc. I think for piece of mind it is SO worth using a trustworthy and reliable company when booking a trip to Africa as you do not want to waste a minute of your time trying to arrange things once you get there. I can't wait to go back to Africa and experience even more. Thanks Bench!

Fantastic experience from the booking all the way through to returning home!

We were in Southern Africa for 2 weeks and everything ran smoothly. Everything ran on time and we never had a worry. Would recommend bench to anyone

Bench Africa organised an excellent trip to Southern Africa for me in June/July 2017. Choice of hotels, safari experiences, tours & transfers exceeded my expectations. I particularly loved Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. The details of my trip were beautifully presented in an A5 spiral booklet , giving lots of extra information such as tipping etc, and keeping everything together. I have been recommending Bench to my friends since my return. Thanks so much! Trip of a lifetime.

Very experienced in African Travel, tailored our trip to our likes and dislikes, pricing was also matched to our budget. Everything went to plan, no hidden surprises, all tour companies used in Africa were experienced and reliable. Accommodation chosen was superb.

We booked and chose our African experience through our local travel agent. After perusing all the booklets and catalogues available on Africa, Bench International had by far the more comprehensive trips and covered exactly what we were looking for. They covered a variety of levels of accommodation, sights and tour sizes. We were looking for small group, personalised safari's staying in secure accommodation along with a self-drive garden route finish within our budget. Bench put together the most amazing 5 weeks of our lives in August/September this year, covering our total wish list and more. They then provided ALL the information possible in a travel booklet including our itinerary, country information, approximately what amount of money we would require,tipping advice etc that we used like a bible on a daily basis. We started our trip in Arusha where we arrived at lunch time and had the afternoon to spare. Our Bench advisor 'Charles' who met at us our Hotel after being collected from the airport by our first tour guide 'Edwin', advised us not to leave the secured grounds of our accommodation. At our disappointment of being stuck in a room all afternoon (after 5 flights from Australia over the previous 2 days) Charles went over and beyond our expectations and arranged for a friend to come and collect us and take us for a 31/2 hour walk through Arusha and experience the local people and markets, then onto the local Tanzanite museum. We felt very secure in his company and had the most amazing insight into this city that would otherwise never have been available to us. The next morning 'Edwin' began our 7 day, Tanzanian part of the '12 day Highlights of East Africa' tour including Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti N/P & Lake Manyara N/P. Bench matched us perfectly with another couple of similar age and personality to make our small group tour extremely enjoyable - and found us new life long friends. Edwin had over 10 years experience as a tour guide and was extremely knowledgeable and could not do enough for us before leaving us at the Kenyan border for 'Freddie' our next very experienced tour guide. Freddie took us on to Amboseli N/P, Masai Mara Game Reserve, Lake Nakuru & Nairobi. By the time Freddie completed our Highlights of East Africa tour, we had seen ALL of the Big 5, some several times over! This included a Lioness killing a Warthog, Leopard attack on Gazelle, mating Rhino's & Lions, many Elephants and Buffalo on a daily basis - ALL at very close range. AMAZING! From here we flew to Zimbabwe for 4 days at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. We are so glad Bench offered the extra optional activities of a Helicopter flight over Victoria Falls & the Zambezi River which gives a whole different appreciation of this landscape from the sky; Elephant Back Safari and Lion encounter which gave us very personal time learning about these amazing animals and walking/riding with them through their natural environment and not in caged areas. From here we flew to Cape Town and on our own began a 12 day self-drive Garden Route trip. With a suggestion list from Bench we explored Cape Town, the Winelands and the garden route up to Port Elizabeth. Our hire car & accommodation once again was perfectly arranged to our taste and budget. During our trip we stayed in top hotels, tented lodges and on a coffee farm. All this accommodation was immaculate, well presented and many provided 3 meals a day including a packed lunch box on the days we were on Safari drives. At no time on our tour did we feel unsecure as our guides were local people with great local knowledge. Everything went perfectly to plan with our very experienced tour guides Edwin and Freddie offering over and above what we expected. We would highly recommend Bench International to anyone and if we were ever to return to these beautiful countries would never travel with anyone else. Thank you Bench and your tour staff for a once in a lifetime most amazing holiday to Africa. Rob & Carleen Hargreaves, Queensland