09/01/2023
Beautiful early morning view from the comfort of your tent. Thanks to Matt & Kristen Brown for this picture and wonderful review from their safari with us in September.
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Our group of four had an incredible time during our 6 night mobile safari. We would only consider choosing a vegan company, and Vegan Safari Africa/Shangana Safaris delivered. Helene created an excellent itinerary. She was very responsive to our questions and concerns during the entire booking, planning, and trip. She met us at Maun airport and provided transportation to our inn the night before the safari.
The next morning, we were met by our guide Joseph while eating breakfast. We felt incredibly lucky to have been able to have Joseph as our guide because he is very knowledgable, experienced and had a very calm demeanor that reassured us along the way. Not only is he an incredible guide, he is an amazing person that we loved to get to know. He radiated love and pride for his country and stated that seeing people smile when visiting his country brings him joy. On the way to camp and outside of the game reserve, we saw many different animals and our guide was very patient as we spent nearly an hour observing the first elephant sighting. At that time we did not realize we would see 300 more elephant in a 6 day period. Just before arriving at our camp site, our guide spotted a leopard feasting in a tree — one of many animal sightings that we would have missed without Joseph.
The camp crew met us at our site at sunset, showing us our tents and reviewing safety in the camping area. We enjoyed an all vegan, multi-course meal prepared by the staff. The meals blew our minds! They were delicious and filling. We couldn’t believe the chef was able to prepare such great food over a campfire. Overnight, we heard hyenas in the field across from the camp and lions roaring in the distance!
We set out on safari the next morning after enjoying a light breakfast, returned to camp during the mid day heat, then went on another afternoon safari. The animal viewing was out of this world, it seemed that a new animal would appear around every bumpy turn. The next morning our crew tore down our camping site as we set out on another unbelievably great day of exploration, only to find that we had a new campsite next too a body of water, and yes, hippos! The sounds of hippos eating and grunting throughout the night will never leave my memory, it was magical.
On day 5, Joseph drove us to the airfield where we were scheduled to have a flight to OddBalls Lodge. The plane was delayed and Joseph waited with us, continually providing timing updates. As the plane took off, Joseph waved and we had a sudden feeling of loss watching our new friend slowly fade away. The views from the airplane were amazing, it was a great way to see the Okavango delta. We landed at OddBalls and were greeted by our guides for the next 2 days. The staff showed us to our glamping tent and around the lodge. The camp is located in the heart of the delta, so our view from our tent was of a river, where we regularly saw hippo, elephants, and crocodiles! The excursions at camp included mokoro rides and nature walks. Our flight back to Maun was coordinated by Helene and that staff at OddBalls. We were able to share our experience with Helene as she was kind enough to take us to our lodging accommodation for the evening.
This experience connected us to nature in a new way, living among the animals for a few days, experiencing the morning chill, afternoon heat, vast views, and stunning sunsets alongside all the incredible species who call the Moremi Game Reserve and Okavango Delta home. We all need time away from wifi. Our experience was an adventurous and restorative way to reconnect with each other by disconnecting from modern distractions. Shangana Safaris did an amazing job listening to the type of experience we wanted to have and they went above and beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Thank you Helene for everything!
