From our first discussion with Lyndal at Bench until the last day of our trip, Bench delivers at every level. It starts with listening to what we want to achieve from our trip and making the small adjustments to make everything suit us. Leopard Tours in Tanzania were outstanding and added to the depth of our trip throughout that amazing country. Our guide Issa, went above and beyond to provide us with not one but two opportunities to see the Migration. The Masai Mara in Kenya provided us with memorable experience of watching animals living in their natural environment and the memories of our sundowner moments under the Acacia trees are now with us forever. At the end it all comes back to Bench who were faultless.

Bench Africa made our family holiday in Kenya one of the most memorable holiday we ever had. Thank you to the knowledgeable Bench team for making the perfect suggestions and making sure that it all went to plan. Our safari guide in Kenya made every moment fun and interesting. The camps were beautiful and we are planning to return next year. Without question we will be using Bench. Highly recommended!

What a great holiday! Lyndal at Bench could not have been more helpful. After two and a half years delay we finally made it to South Africa. Everything went so smoothly. Four days at the Commodore hotel on Cape Town ( great restaurant!) Great location and staff. Tours organised by Bench were amazing and just what we wanted. Then off to Idube Game Lodge: I can’t recommend this highly enough. Wonderful staff, meals superb and game drives amazing. Imbalances Game Lodge was next. Accomodation was excellent but game drives were disappointing. Stay at Idube, you won’t be disappointed. Bench were great to deal with, you won’t regret it!

So, *SO* amazing. Thank-you to Julia and to Bench Africa for the recommendation and then the assistance to get me and my family (wife and two teenage daughters) onto the Makutsi 7-day Safari. Julie was careful to understand what we were looking for in an African Safari and her recommendation far exceeded our expectations. Makutsi was nothing less than incredible for all of us: so welcoming, such an *amazing* variety of animals in close proximity (leopards, lions, elephants, giraffe, rhino, antelope, cheetah, hippo... even a honey-badger!), such knowledgeable and charismatic guides, such a genuine interest in the welfare of the wildlife and the bushland. The family rondavel was very clean and spacious, and the meals were wonderful. Very clearly a family-owned, family-loved and family-run experience. Thank you Makutsi for adopting my family into your family for the special time that we were able to share your world.

We had our first trip to Africa with Bench some 6 years ago and longed to return. Someone said to me once if you could only visit 2 continents in this world twice, visit Africa. Never a truer word spoken. We booked with Bench again late 2019 for Xmas 2021 but little did we know what was around the corner. Our African expert Julie was with us every step of the way organising a trip of a lifetime again and has supported our changes along the way with great excitement for us. Once Covid hit we were of course like all of us in la la land and our trip unfortunately will not come through this year and maybe not nect year either. Bench's attitude with regard to Covid has been superior and they have supported their clients every step of the way. We are currently underway with refunds unfortunately. We will be back to Africa at some point with Bench once this crazy world comes good, we know that and cant wait one day to make our dreams come true once again. Bench has been around a long time and will survive these difficult days

We have used Bench for 2 of our African trips and had a 3rd booked. Everything was perfect on both previous trips and we would never use any other travel agent, why would we , Bench are the African specialists. In relation to our refunds due to Covid, it came through quickly and correctly and the process was stress free. Thanks Maria :)

we arrived in Sth Africa to find we were in an area ravaged by sudden cyclone . Despite this , our plans were quickly rearranged by Bench Africa and we had a truly epic and fantastic trip

We visited Makutsi Safari Springs for 6 nights, commencing 14 March 2020. This was organised by Bench Africa as part of a cruise package, Prior to our departure, Bench Africa provided a comprehensive personalised booklet on what was in store at Makutsi. On arrival we were advised by our travel agent that our 27 night cruise from Capetown to Athens had been cancelled. After a warm welcome we settled into our comfortable rondavel and decided to make the most of this now very short holiday. It turned out to be a fantastic and unforgettable experience, even though 3 days into our stay we were advised that the Australian Govt. wanted all Australians to return home as soon as possible. We were treated to up close and personal experiences; on our first game drive our vehicle sat in the middle of a lion and lioness and two young lions feeding on their kill. More of the pride were sitting in the river bed just out of sight. Day two our guide found the pregnant female cheetah. He happened to be in charge of the cheetah breeding programme and after he alighted from our open safari vehicle, the cheetah got up and walked over to him .Less than an hour later in a different section of the park, three more cheetahs crossed the track a little ahead of our vehicle. We were told we would be unlikely to see elephants during our stay as they had migrated to the southern end of the park. However, we were told we would see several on our day trip to Kruger National Park. We enjoyed our day at Kruger and saw a wide variety and number of animals. Then on our last game drive at Makutsi, our guide followed elephant tracks, and we were treated to almost an hour among a herd of 19 elephants, a huge 30+ year old bull down to two babies. These were very up close and personal (and a bit scary but SO exhilarating.) There was no shortage of wild animals to be seen during our four game drives, including a night game drive. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Another highlight was a day trip to Blyde River Canyon in the beautiful Drakensburg Mountains. Our stay was made very enjoyable by the friendly staff, beautiful meals, the indoor and outdoor natural thermal spring pools, and many of the animals grazing around the camp. Sadly, due to coronavirus and the travel restrictions, the camp was to temporarily close and most of the staff leave, shortly after our departure.

The biggest of thank you's to Lara, Maria & the team at Bench for going above and beyond to organise our dream honeymoon to Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar. It was everything and more than we had dreamed of! Maria was exceptionally helpful and patient with all our questions, changes and calls! Highlights were gorilla trekking in Uganda and Giraffe Manor - two unbeatable experiences I would recommend to anyone! We're in love with Africa and we'll definitely be booking via Bench again next time!

Maria organised a fantastic trip. We had a great time in Africa and would definitely use Bench Africa again for our next trip.