moremiles

We're considering a trip to Tanzania/Kenya in Aug. 05 and I have been working via email only with an agent directly from the CCAfrica website and she is in S. Africa I believe. By booking our trip for 3 with her, there is no single supplement as opposed to booking with the agent I used for Botswana 2 yrs ago who will charge at least another $2400 for the single. We have to get 2 tents/cottages almost everywhere other than Grumeti. Has anyone done this before? She would be handling all our transfers and internal flts. too. Thanks.

dreaming

Yes, booked a trip for August 2004 to Zimbabwe & Botswana using a CCAfrica agent out of Jo'burg (Peter Calore). Everything went very smoothly and there weren't any issues with booking directly through CCAfrica. This included internal transfers, flights, a non CCAfrica hotel and a CCAfrica lodge.

RuthieC

We travelled to Botswana earlier this year having booked directly with CCAfrica, also dealing with Peter. The trip went very smoothly with every flight / transfer exactly as arranged.

moremiles

Thank you for your replies-I feel much more secure now, although it's not Peter we have as our agent.

divewop

I too, booked directly w/ CCAfrica when we visited South Africa last March. Had no problems whatsoever and everything went smoothly.

In fact, they were more than accommodating when our plane was delayed in Senegal for over a day and were very helpful in rearranging our plans at the lodges in S.A.

uhoh_busted

I planned our trip last May through ccafrica (Amanda Smith) and they were WONDERFUL. Their agent in Maun even held a large bag for us during our safari, as we were in the middle of a longer trip that included more time in Capetown and environs. She also took us to a pharmacy upon arrival as my DH lost a crown eating caramels on the flight from J'burg. We figured if we got some oil of clove it would help if it started to bother him out in the bush. Fortunately it never did, and the trip to the pharmacy was really fun. I like to see a bit of the everyday and not just the airports!

kerikeri

dear divewop-

we have had a very unprofessional cc africa booking agent- it is her tone/atitude. she has told us that if our plane is delayed and we need to change the date, she will recharge a full amount. rules are rules, i know, but she has been very curt in her manner and tone, very unsettling, and unwelcoming.

in other words, i'm sure the plans will go well (only one of our nights is with them), but she has made me feel ill at ease and worried, not reassured. i will not "out" her here- but if someone replies with a very short first name, you have the "unfriendly" agent and you may want to switch to this peter who sounds very nice. as for the planning, i will let you know upon return.

hamitzer

KeriKeri- I agree. i had the same feeling with the samre problems.

hlphillips2

I can't recall our agent's name, but we were spoiled by CCA last year on our trip. Just having returned from Peru and Bolivia where I did much of the planning myself, it wasn't nearly as relaxing as having the CCA representative basically hold our hand the entire trip and take us from plane, to lodge, to car, to plane, to lodge, etc. with a meal or packed lunch at every stop. So even if your representative isn't reassuring, the people who will actually be in contact with you when you arrive will make up for it.

aag2000

I worked directly with Sheena Knox at CCAfrica to plan my recent honeymoon in Tanzania. In addition to the CCAfrica lodge bookings, she took care of all our internal flights and transfers, as well as reservations at hotels in Arusha and Stone Town at the beginning and end of the trip.

Sheena was very friendly and responsive throughout the planning process, but more important, the whole trip went without a hitch.

As an example of her excellent planning, on our way home we had a long layover (approx. 6 hours) in Dar es Salaam between the arrival of our flight from Zanzibar and the late-night departure of our KLM flight to Amsterdam. Sheena arranged for a driver to meet us at the airport in Dar, drive us to the Slipway (basically an upscale shopping mall), wait with our luggage while we enjoyed a lovely dinner on a terrace overlooking the water, and drive us back in time for our flight. Her thoughtful planning turned a long, boring layover into a pleasant excursion, and a great way to end our trip.

So, I enthusiastically recommend booking through CCAfrica. I would not hesitate to use their services again in the future.

kerikeri

i feel obliged to add upon my return that this agent asctually created a disaster for us. no one met our flight into jnb. the people at the charter company had our arrival time slated for 4 hours later than we arrived. our transfer after our stay was 5 hours delayed due to this agent again writing in the incorrect time. it caused us to lose a day of vacation and i am now following up with the company.

please be sure to switch agents if you are uncofmrtable. by not doing so i ruined 2 days of an otherwise great vacation.

the lodge itself was great, however.

hlphillips2

Kerikeri I'm so sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. Hopefully you'll find that your complaint reaches the right people and you get a deserved resolution.

At any rate - would love to read a trip report when you have a chance to post.

kerikeri

thanks and yes as of this moment have already received a satisfactory response and feel better.

the lodge itself was great- madikwe safari lodge a new property in the madikwe game reserve- we were just 5 minutes from the airstrip which meant we were eating lunch within a half hour of arriving and enjoying the comfy room and great food. the game drive was amazing with more types of animals than we ever expected and highlights of wild dog and lions and hippo all interacting! only after the end of the week of game drives did we then realize how special that encounter was: our guide was throughly thrilled and he'd been giuiding for almost a decade, i think.

overall we had an outstanding experience at the cc africa lodge.