William Gottis
Trip Review: Stellar service, great accommodations, good food and friendly people. Not to mention the primate trekking and tours. We love working with Victoria. That is one of the reasons we decided to work again with African Portfolio. Victoria understands us as clients and ensures we are well-taken care of.
Most Memorable Moment: The gorilla treks were the best!
Advice For Future Clients: Try to do more than one gorilla trek.
Marc Milowsky
Most Memorable Moment: Game viewing in Leopard Hills was the best. Helicopter transit was very special.
Advice For Future Clients: Find a malaria drug with the least side effects.
Sheila Pettee
Trip Review: Everything went as planned. Hotels and guides exceeded expectations. Learned a lot and appreciated all of their knowledge.
Most Memorable Moment: Seeing all of the animals--loved being able to see elephants from our room and hippos and buffalo at breakfast. We were so close to all of the animals during the safari including the lions and leopards and that surprised us.
Advice For Future Clients: Enjoy--so much to see and learn.
Katie Joyce
Trip Review: Thoughtful trip cadence that met our interests. We worked with Victoria in the past and were impressed with the itinerary she designed for us.
Most Memorable Moment: I can’t only name one. The herds at Ndutu early in the morning were amazing with the balloons overhead. The Ngorongoro Crater was one of the most beautiful places we’ve been. Trekking to see gorillas was a surreal experience and one we won’t forget.
Advice For Future Clients: It’s often worth increasing your budget for a more comfortable experience. In taking a flight directly from the Serengeti to Kigali we avoided the air traffic controller strike in Kenya. Other trekkers spent a full day stuck in Nairobi and missed out on part of their itinerary.
Tracy Matley
Most Memorable Moment: Seeing the baby cheetahs with their mom, riding on a hot air balloon and the fun cocktail hour at Farm House Valley Lodge and Lake Masek where we could socialize with other guests.
Advice For Future Clients: Think about the number of game drives and make sure that's enough but not going to feel like it's getting repetitive. Use a travel agent
Neve Kondili
Trip Review: This was a bucket list trip - we gave Vanessa all of our criteria and she delivered!
Most Memorable Moment: On one of our safari drives, we saw a lioness chasing a hyena which was pretty incredible. Also, we saw so many elephants, including a group of 50 of them which was surreal. The Devils Pool in Vic Falls was also pretty memorable - not sure that I can do that again but both Ivan & Eva were so thrilled by the entire experience.
Advice For Future Clients: Pack as light as possible, with neutral colors!
Susan Distasio
Trip Review: Epic holiday! African Portfolio does an amazing job of providing for their clients. Traveling in a foreign country can be daunting at times, but each trip we’ve taken with African Portfolio has been perfectly seamless. From the minute you arrive until you depart back home every step of the way you are guided to your next adventure.
Most Memorable Moment: The gorilla trekking was absolutely amazing. Arduous but well worth the hike. We saw the largest gorilla family on the mountain with lots of babies - truly amazing to see these gentle giants in their element.
Advice For Future Clients: Don’t procrastinate, just go.
Shelley Rahe
Trip Review: I was a little concerned that all of my friends were promising me It would be the trip of a lifetime and an experience like no other. I worried that they were over blowing things and that my expectations would be too high. However, nobody could prepare you for an experience like this. It is deeply individual, spiritual and thrilling all at the same time. Even with all of the hype, the trip exceeded expectations.
Most Memorable Moment: The trip was so greatly anticipated by both myself and my husband. I was celebrating a milestone birthday, and we were both enjoying travel at a level of luxury that we had rarely experienced in the past. But my most memorable moments came with the animal interactions. The male lions chasing the females off of a kill. The cheetah hunting the baby wildebeest that was crying for its mother. Heartbreaking, breathtaking, real life, and immediate.
Advice For Future Clients: Go with an open mind and an open heart. And don’t expect to touch an elephant.
Sharon Miller
Trip Review: Victoria was amazing, attentive to our needs and wishes and knew just what we would like.
Most Memorable Moment: Experiencing safari with my daughters.
Advice For Future Clients: Dress in layers, drink water, and just enjoy!
Karen & Dan Hale
Trip Review: It was truly a dream trip even with the unfortunate issue of having our plane diverted to Johannesburg instead of Kruger! We were at a loss as to where to start in planning this trip and really appreciate Susan's advice and support.
Most Memorable Moment: Seeing a hippo come running over a hill full speed toward a watering hole while we were out of the jeep was amazing and unexpected. Who knew they could run that fast? Watching a leopard drag its prey, an impala, a long distance and attempting to take it up a tree was definitely a once in a lifetime event. Making direct contact with a leopard only a few feet away from us. The sheer magnitude of animals in Chobe River. Such large numbers of multiple species!
Advice For Future Clients: Ask lots of questions! It is an incredible learning opportunity.
Ethel Scully
Trip Review: The trip was exceptional in every regard. We expected the experiences and sights to be wonderful, but they exceeded expectations. Supporting these experiences were the highest quality accommodations, food, service and personnel. Every encounter with support personnel was welcoming and positive. Additionally, the complex logistical transfers were flawless. Every member of our family of four was thrilled! Thank you!
Most Memorable Moment: So many! Elephant right by my bedside munching grass. Watching 14 lions eat an elephant. Being awakened at 4:00 am by fighting hippos. Seeing more than a thousand elephants playing in and crossing the river in Chobe National Park. Being charged by a hippo. Hyenas checking out the safari vehicle. An elephant checking out the safari vehicle. Having a picnic amongst the herd of desert adapted elephants in the dry river bed. Contemplating the red dunes of the Namib. Contemplating the dunes tumbling into the Atlantic Ocean. Oryx on the dunes. A mama leopard and her cub. So many mamas and babies! Sunsets!
Advice For Future Clients: Leave your known world behind 😉
Kevin Paul Knott
Trip Review: The itinerary and recommendations provided by Susan and her AP colleagues were spot-on. This journey was the best of our 40+ years together and we loved the people and cultures, animals, the beautiful countryside and even the thrill of the flights on the in-country aircraft. We would do it over again and highly recommend African Portfolio as our planning and implementation partners.
Most Memorable Moment: Too many to describe, but the lioness hunt at the Crater was one of the singular experiences we always talk about.
Advice For Future Clients: Work with African Portfolio!
Megan Hurt
Trip Review: 1000% the best trip ever. All travel pick ups were on time and very friendly (even the ones at 2 am). The lodging was equivalent to living like a King. All interactions we had were helpful and extremely welcoming! You all knocked it out of the park! Thank you for giving us such a wonderful experience and most importantly giving us memories to last a lifetime.
Most Memorable Moment: The sunrises and sunsets, the calm and stillness. The reality that this is what life is, once you take the human nonsense out of it.
Advice For Future Clients: Absolutely go, be open for change and you will be rewarded 10 fold.
James Gray
Trip Review: Amazing sightings of all animals. Very organized, only 2 glitches. Camps were great and staff was wonderful.
Most Memorable Moment: Too many to list. Closeness to animals.
Advice For Future Clients: Listen to what they tell you for packing.
