Victoria Falls Hotel

Wonderful first hand knowledge of Southern Africa which meant that all advice was honest and reliable. Maria, my travel consultant, was friendly, professional, so prompt in responding to my queries and knowledgeable. I really liked that they didn’t try up sell anything and understood my budget parameters. Highly recommend Bench Africa and especially Maria.

Thank you Lyndal - you gave us the perfect holiday with all your suggestions & recommendations. Loved the accommodation superb in four locations - transfers all worked well giving you the experience to remember for life. Thoroughly recommend Bench for a brilliant tailor-made holiday.

The lodges were all perfectly chosen to give us a great cross section of terrain & animals. All our accommodation was luxurious & extremely comfortable. The food was great & the staff at every single lodge was beyond outstanding. All transfers were seamless & made easy. Lots of wonderful surprises along the way too, like breakfast in the trees. If you have one trip in your lifetime, this is the one.

I recently returned from a trip to Africa which included a Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru safari, a visit to Victoria Falls and a self-drive along the South African Garden Route, from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town. When my wife and I decided to go to Africa we had no idea what we wanted to do and how we ever going to navigate the labyrinth of glossy brochures and travel agency flyers. We both decided to look on the internet for a company that could not only help us book our trip, but also give us some expert advice on what was available in Africa. This is how we came across Bench Africa. After sending a few emails to gauge their interest, we finally were introduced to Stephanie Osorio. From the beginning Steph was so helpful. She gave a full run down of the most popular things to see and do in Africa and was genuinely interested in providing information about what we wanted in a holiday. It was not long after firstly speaking with Steph that we had an idea of what we were interested in seeing and dong. It was then that Bench and Steph showed their true expertise. They put a package together for us and tailor made certain parts of the holiday taking in consideration our budget, time frame and most importantly the right time of the year to go. Throughout the process leading up to the holiday we were in constant communication with Steph and the Bench team. At no time were they to buy to discuss our concerns and were always extremely helpful in providing information and chasing airlines and hotel groups on our behalf. Another important factor for my wife and I was that we had never travelled to Africa and had certainly never been on a safari. At first we envisaged that we would be in a large group making the experience quite impersonal. The truth is that it was the exact opposite. Steph booked us in with a tour guide from Southern Cross Safaris who was an absolute delight. William was an amazing man with over 11 years of safari experience. Not only did he look after us on the safari drives, but he also was a wealth of knowledge when it came to the local customs and especially the wild animals. We were that pleased with the way in which William treated us both, that we asked for his personal email when we left Kenya. Since returning home we have been in contact with William and have sent him several emails with pictures of our great safari trip. If I was going back to Africa I would certainly try to re book with William again. I would recommend Bench and their wonderful staff if you are thinking about an African safari. My wife was so pleased that she has been in contact with Steph to enquire about a trip to spend time with the gorillas. Thankyou Bench for a great holiday and more to the point, thankyou Steph for your wonderful service. Cheers

We had a trip organised by Stephanie Osorio and found her very helpful and friendly. Everything planned went smoothly which added to our enjoyment of the trip. The end itinerary package was just amazing, something to keep and show friends. I will most certainly recommend Bench International and intend to have another trip organised in the future together with friends. Suzanna Ainsworth .

We had an absolutely awesome time and would do it all again. Zimbabwe Hwange was amazing and although our camp Elephants Eye was outside the NP it was beautiful and the staff and guides were great. Just a tad cold driving to the NP early in the mornings! We did a walking tour on the Elephants Eye reserve which was fabulous. Loved the Vic Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe we did a helicopter ride, walked with lions which was very good and walked the NP Botswana Stayed at Camp Kazuma the camp was excellent but the water and animals a bit more scarce compared to Hwange. Lions and elephants right up to our tent and not too many other vehicles which was great. Think an extra day there and we would have gone into Chobe NP. We will have to go back for that. Camp Okuti in the Delta was great also staff were excellent and plenty to see. Just a shame there are 1000’s of others in the NP also but not really an issue. Namibia In hindsight it would have been better and perhaps cheaper to spend another night in the Delta and take a flight direct from Maun to Windhoek rather than via Jo’berg with a night in Windhoek. It was basically a long, sometimes rushed and wasted day when we could have had a direct flight the next day. Galton House the motel is not in the Centre of town and it is a bit difficult to get around. Unfortunately there was a mix up with our rooms also one single & one double which was sorted. We also lost a few hours the next day when they closed the town airport down for the President Camp Kalula in the desert was just fabulous and I would recommend anyone wanting to experience something a little different to go to this part of Namibia. Sadly our scenic flight from this part of the desert to Etosha NP in the north was fogged in so we didn’t get to see the Skeleton Coast again we will have to go back for that but still had an amazing flight as were all of the light aircraft flights. Ongava Game Reserve Anderssons Camp. Sadly we were staying in a Rhino park and didn’t see one much to the disappointment of our guide and us. There are 2 camps on the reserve the main lodge stunning and about 200 au dollars a night more expensive and Anderssons where we stayed. This was probably the worst of the accommodation nice but far too hot during the day for a sleep and we were there in August. Unfortunately we also managed to snag a bus load of Spanish tourists who were so noisy that no animals would come into the waterhole while they were there morning or night. Such a shame as I thought it had the best hide and waterhole of all the camps. Would certainly recommend seeing that part of Namibia also. We also had a night a Galton House on return leg again perhaps avoid overnighting in Windhoek or find a more suitable motel closer to the town centre. Our guide driver same for both stays was great and did take us on a tour of the city for a few hour to pass the time on the first leg. Overall an extremely enjoyable holiday. Communications with Bench to organise the trip was done in the December 2014 January 2015 and was not as timely as we had expected. This made us a little nervous but Bench delivered in Africa and the trip exceeded our expectations