Reviews of Botswana Private Mobile Safari
(100%) From 31 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
| 
Brilliant
One of the best experiences ever. Andrew was superb, we will return!
Read more about the whole safariMobile Safari
Our trip with Andrew Harkness and staff was the most memorable experience we have ever had. We have been fortunate to travel a lot, but have never experienced such marvels before. Everything was top rate, professional, informative and worth every penny.
Andrew was able to find hidden animals, birds, and plants, track animals, and share history of the area, country and continent. He catered to everyone’s interests with ease and congeniality. The transportation, accommodations, amenities and staff were also top notch. We have never had our clothes not only washed but ironed! I don’t even own an iron, let alone one that is heated with coals.
Everything had attention to detail about it, for example, the fancy jams every morning at breakfast, the fancy cookies at morning tea, the nightly bush babies in our beds, the hot water at morning and night and the cool water in the afternoon, etc, etc. I cannot start to say how incredible the food was. Every meal was a gourmet feast. I do not know how Alex managed the complexity of cooking the many delights we enjoyed over the campfire. We all gained weight on his delicious meals as nothing could be turned down. We were so fortunate to see such a huge variety of animals including many babies.
Andrew was very astute about safety, and kept us informed of daily events/activities.
Fantastic experience with Andrew
Loved everything about the mobile safari. I am not usually a camper but this was the best way to experience the land and animals in a remote wild wilderness.
I enjoyed waking up each morning from my comfortable bed as the staff gently called good morning and filled our basin with warm water. Andrew is a very knowledgeable guide that led us on driving and walking safaris. I was amazed at the daily fresh bread and gourmet meals prepared on the campfire.
In the evening, the stars and milky way captured our attention as we sat around the campfire and listened to the discordant metallic ting of bell frogs, roar of fighting impala, grunts of hippos, and huffing of lions.
The trip was both relaxing and exhilarating with sensory overload.
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
This was an amazing experience. Our guide, Andrew, was very personable and knowledgeable. We were collected from Khwai airstrip and taken to our remote camp which was set up and waiting for us. The tents were light and airy with comfortable beds. The camp team made sure that everything was just right, they were all friendly and keen to make our safari special. We all agreed that the food produced by Alec was superb, especially since it was cooked over a fire. My unusual diet was well catered for. The drives were full of anticipation and Andrew found us many animals and birds. Our bird recognition improved as the time went on.
Next we drove to Savuti. The camp team expertly packed up camp and managed to get ahead of us and set up the new site. We, meanwhile, meandered through different landscapes on our route which meant that we saw a variety of wildlife. For the first time we saw hills. The camp site was in a beautiful, quiet position. The channel was dry but there were still many animals to see.
We enjoyed sitting by two cheetahs as they rested and seeing three male lion brothers laying out together early in the morning. But most unusual for us was to see several Carmine bee eaters escort our vehicle across the grasslands so that they could catch the insects we disturbed. One night whilst drinking by the camp fire we had a visit from two lionesses. We followed Andrew’s instructions and sat still. Eventually they skirted around us and exited the camp, it was the closest we had been to lions when not in a vehicle.
We all considered this to be the best way to experience a safari, we felt close to nature and enjoyed a wonderful guide. We thoroughly recommend this safari.
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
A huge thank you from all five of us for a fabulous trip, which went so well.
Your recommendation of Andrew was brilliant: he was a great guide and we loved his approach with his mobile safari, the staff and the meals, and particularly the campsites he took us to, their remoteness and beauty. We had amazing luck seeing most of the bigger mammals in the first couple of days - the great sightings carried on through to the very end of the trip with Andrew.
He was also great at birding, my recent passion, so we had funwith that too.
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
The private mobile safari with Andrew was SUPER and definitely the best experience of our holiday in Botswana!
Everything was top! The tents, the location, the service, the food, the safari....etc...
We had a very authentic feeling. With Andrew we had a very real safari experience, alone in the middle of Moreni NP.
When we go back to Botswana we will certainly do it again!
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
Beautiful area and well advised / chosen as just what we wanted , wonderfully isolated .
Game viewing was a bit disappointing but that is always a risk and Andrew was a great guide and host and tried very hard to find game in such a vast area
Camping as expected, staff lovely and food very good.
A great change from the loges and a wonderful experience , game so relaxed that we had great views of everything and lots of time to watch animal behaviours. Lovely to be the only vehicle around for most of the time.
We are hoping the visit the Kalahari with the team in the future!
Simply the best
Although we have been on lodge safari's before they cannot compare to doing a mobile safari. Andrew and his staff are exceptional and the food cooked by Patrick the chef was outstanding, more so as it is all cooked on a bushfire!
I am not someone who likes camping so I was a little apprehensive before we got there, although I wanted to have this experience. The tent was spacious with hangers and shelving and the beds were comfortable. The attached bathroom is also spacious and the long drop loo has a comfortable enclosed seat. I would definitely say its glamping not camping!
The guys would usually top up the water canister for the shower before we had our afternoon snack. They always checked you were not using the bathroom before they went in and they kept everywhere looking neat and tidy. We even had various towel sculptures each day on our beds. All of the staff were friendly and polite and Andrew was a great host.
Andrew knew both the Savuti Marsh area and Moremi Kwai Concessions. He is very respectful of the animals and is relaxed and patient. He doesn't race around rushing from A to B like many of the other guides seemed to do. It was therefore much more comfortable in the truck as we tracked the animals. It was also nice that he did not use the radio, so it was very quiet and felt like there was nobody else around.
My husband enjoys bird watching and Andrew was very knowledgeable about them as well as the animals. We saw 113 species of birds during our stay as well as leopards, lions, wild dogs and more.
We decided on a private safari after reading some blogs and reviews and it did not disappoint. We felt very well looked after by Andrew and his team. We found we had flexibility to do what we wanted, although Andrew would make suggestions in relation to what we wanted to see, he is very easy going. Our mid morning tea break and sun downer stops were always accompanied by one of Patrick's creations, amazing. These breaks were usually taken in a hidden spot where we could view the animals and birds.
If you want to do something out of the ordinary, even if you don’t like camping, I would recommend doing this. It’s a fantastic experience.
Thank you Andrew and your team we had a fantastic time and loved every minute of it.
Botswana Private Mobile Safari review
Andrew and his team are world class.
We had an amazing 3 nights with them - can't believe the number of animals we saw and also the incredibly high standard of food all cooked on an open fire and in a Dutch oven. Very impressive indeed!
Huge thanks to Andrew, Patrick, Alec, LB and P.
Mobile safari, moremi, khwai, savute
I took a long time to be persuaded to go to Botswana, not because I didn’t expect the wild life to be excellent (it was) or the environment to be pristine ( it was), but because I wasn’t interested in high end lodges. I like to feel close to the wild life. I don’t want wifi, phone signal, fridges or air con in my room. This is where Andrew came in.
Harkness safari, doesn’t have wifi or room fridges, it has drop loos and bucket showers. You eat under the stars, fabulous food cooked by Patrick, who miraculously provides you with fresh bread, breakfast buns, luxurious salads and three course meals every day, in the middle of the bush. The wine flows , the chat flows, and is only halted by the nightly visitors coming through camp.
Lions roaring, wild dogs hunting impala by the kitchen tent, hyena giggling and cackling while jogging through the camp to a kill, jackals looking for wild dog scraps. We have never seen so many honey badgers in daylight, some times in pairs, some times alone, always trotting off on their business, little stripy tanks! If you go to Botswana just for the wild life you won’t be disappointed, Andrew has a trackers eye, and a guides knowledge, and a brits sense of humour. He knows where to look so your experience is always intimate and memorable.
If like me you come for the environment, the drive from Khwai to Savute is spectacular. The long drive is broken up as the vista changing from rivers, to open plains, to desert. Moremi, Khwai and Savute are different from each other, all worth visiting. You don’t have to be adventurous for a private mobile safari, Andrew and his team will look after every little detail, but you do have to love wildlife, its everywhere and its close!
