African Budget Safaris Reviews 

Returning to Africa after and excellent experience booked through African Budget Safaris, I had no doubt I d be getting the best options and itinerary! And I sure did! Claire listened to my requirements and offered me a great trip in SA-cape town-with suggestions for my free time as well as my Vic Falls and Zimbabwe trip. I was met and transported in luxury by professional staff, who actually went out of their way to help me(even driving me into town and helping me get a local SIM card for my phone). Claire, my A/S rep kept me informed and also checked in once or twice a week during my trip, ensuring all was well! Very knowledgeable and attentive! I’m very well travelled and quite independent; I love how African Budget Safaris offer me the service and attentiveness at a very competitive price without having to search for myself! This is customer service at its best and exceeds all expectations! Well done! Keep it up!

This was my second time going on safari and the second time booking through African Budget Safaris. I had an amazing trip and time 2 years ago on my first safari that I booked with ABS, so when I wanted to return this year I reached out to Claire at ABS, who had assisted me with planning my first trip which was a success. I mentioned to her that I would like a little more upscale trip this time as I was taking my girlfriend for her first safari and Claire did not disappoint. She spent a lot of time with me on the phone and via email recommending a few different camps for the price range and dates that I requested. I finally decided on the Chacma camp. Upon arrival the camp was small and intimate(max 10 guests), the staff was warm and welcoming and the room was large and tastefully decorated with a small patio off the room overlooking a pond where wildlife would come to drink or cool off in the summer weather. For the safari we had both a safari guide driver and a spotter during each of our drives out into the park. Being a vegetarian the chef specially cooked meals that were healthy and flavorful and met my dietary restrictions. The staff was overly kind and genuinely tried to make our stay as comfortable as possible. The room was kept impeccably clean at all times by the staff. I could not be more pleased and they made this my best safari experience thus far. Although there their name has "budget" in it, this was nothing but first class service and accommodations for my trip into the bush and I will continue to turn to African Budget Safaris for whenever I decide to return to South Africa. Well done Claire and the staff at ABS!!

My daughter and I recently booked a safari from Victoria Falls to Windhoek using African Budget Safaris. Claire Monson, who went out of her way to meet our requirements, found us the ideal tour with Nomad Tours. We loved it! It was the perfect way for us to see what we wanted to see and to also have optional activities, which we made the most of. The guide and driver were excellent, we couldn't fault them. We chose to stay in lodges rather than a tent and were happy with the standard of accommodation. The meals, cooked by our guide, were homely and delicious. We loved the camaraderie of all the other travellers and we became 'a family'! Our highlights were Chobe, the Okavango Delta and Kalahari experience. We highly recommend the tour and it was great value for money. I was definitely the oldest but felt very included, relived my youth and became one of the gang! Thank you Claire and African Budget Safaris!

Since I made the first enquiry with Claire, I received excellent service and all my questions were answered quickly and honestly.

Hi. Should have done this as soon as I returned as it was a truly wonderful, reasonably priced bucket list trip advised by Claire. She always finds me the perfect trip!

Went to Kenya on the 6 - Day Kenyan Adventure in September this year. Asili was the company in Kenya. The owner Joyce and one of her staff met me personally the day after I arrived.

We visited three very different game parks but each amazing in their own way. We could not persuade the Wildebeest to cross the river in the Mara whilst we were watching but they kept massing on the bank opposite and then moving back. The drop they had to make was terrifying. The Masai Mara has the most animals with, on top of all types of buck and wildebeest, abundant elephants, giraffes, lions and even cheetah.

Our driver, Jimmy, great fun and knowledgable and the lodges very comfortable with excellent food. The lodges for this trip were at Lake Nakuku, Lake Amboseli and one inside the Mara. The food in the Mara was less luxurious but it was good to feel that there was going to be far less waste.

The icing on the cake was a dawn ballon flight at dawn over the Mara with a delicious champagne breakfast afterwords. Not in the least scary and well worth the cost. My granddaughter thought it was very cool to have a gran ballooning a few months off 80 years old!

I had an amazing time on my safari. The communication with Claire was fast and super helpful. The guys took really good care at us on the campsite as well as during the game drives. Food was tasty, Camps were spacious, bed was comfortable and the knowledge of the guys great (you could ask them anything about the wildlife).

Fabulous Adventure

3 weeks ago, my wife and I returned from a fabulous month long trip to Africa for which we have Claire Monson of African Budget Safaris to thank. Our trip actually started in the Spring of 2018 when my wife and I, who live in suburban Washington D.C. and are now 66 and 71, knew that we were going to be invited to a wedding near Cape Town in the Fall of that year. Since it is a long way to go, and we are both retired and have time, we were interested in doing to more in Africa than just going to the wedding, we just were not sure what. After searching first in the U.S. and then a little bit in Africa for suggestions and help, without much success, in an internet search I fell upon Claire Monson who was living in Cape Town and works for African Budget Safaris. What good luck! Claire was wonderful. She is thoughtful, extremely knowledgeable about southern Africa and an exceptional travel agent. She sensed what interested us at a price that we could afford. We worked out a 3-week overland trip that would leave from Cape Town and go to Namibia, then Botswana and end at Victoria Falls. My wife and I were thrilled and paid a deposit for that safari. In May 2018 while swimming in the ocean, my wife was viciously attacked by a marauding Atlantic wave resulting in a pain in her hip that did not dissipate. This led us on a different type of safari, a medical safari resulting in my wife getting a new hip and her surgeon telling her she was not going to Africa in 2018. When we contacted Claire to tell her about my wife’s hip, we received a full refund, except for transaction costs charged by sticky fingered financial intermediaries. African Budget Safaris refunded all the funds that it had received from us with NO delays, NO hassles and NO roadblocks.
Despite our bad luck, we still had the Africa bug, so early this year we again contacted Claire, and again she was wonderful. This time, our trip was a little more complicated as another couple was joining us and instead of accommodating 2 opinioned people, Claire was dealing with 4 people. In the planning stage, Claire in South Africa and the 4 of us in the U.S.A., was very responsive to all our questions by Skype and e-mail, and she seemed to understand what we all wanted and put together a fabulous adventure for us. Now home I can say that Clair’s trip for us exceed my expectations, it exceeded my hopes. It was basically the same itinerary as we had planned for the prior year. We were on a 20-day, small group bus/truck overland trip from Cape Town to Victoria Falls staying in lovely lodges. At the start of the trip we spent 4 days in Cape Town and 4 days at the end in Johannesburg, with accommodations all booked by Claire. Although the bus could accommodate 12 passengers and a guide, our compatible group was comprised of the 4 of us, plus 2 Dutch couples and a Danish couple. Our guide and the driver were outstanding, and I can not envision how they could have been better. While we were on safari, we did many wonderful things, such as staying on an orange farm in the Cederberg Mountain area where the sweet fragrance of orange blossoms permeated the spring air; canoeing on the Orange River; seeing the Fish River Canyon which is Africa’s answer to our Grand Canyon; Swakopmund, a Bavarian town that somehow ended up on the coast in the Namibian desert; Etosha National Park, the second largest park in southern Africa; the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls. For me the absolutely highlight was a 2 day fly-in to Jumbo Junction Lodge in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. While it was a supplement activity and not cheap, it was a truly magical 2 days in my life, and for anyone contemplating it, my recommendations is that even if you have to sell body parts to get there, do it.
Claire arranged for us an amazing, fascinating, fun month at a price that I consider was a bargain. Before we left, I was concerned about our physical security. Once in Africa, I did not have that worry except for one time when we seemed to get a little too close to an elephant. The people that we met just could not have been nicer or more welcoming. What it made me realize was that the American hospitality business is all about the business, not so much about the hospitality. What we found in southern Africa was it is just as much about the hospitality as it is the business, and that if you are contemplating an African trip, do it.

Claire was informative, responsible and so patient as we worked out the details for our Safari. All of her suggestions we're a perfect fit for us. We could recommend her without reservation.

Claire was great to work with when booking our safari trip. We had many choices and it was overwhelming to pick one out so she was able to highlight any subtle differences that we would not have noticed. We could have booked more for Cape Town and Johannesburg so it could have been a one-stop shop had we chosen to do so.

This is our second time working with Claire with African Budget Safaris. She first helped us with our trip to South Africa in 2016 - we did the Garden Route Tour and added Cape Town Short Stay Package. The transfers, lodges, and meals were amazing. We were able to cross off many from our bucket list and also got engaged on our last night in Cape Town! Our most recent trip that Claire helped us with was our Tanzania/Zanibar honeymoon in September 2019! She helped us plan our climb of Kilimanjaro and our relaxation stay at Zanzibar. Everything was seamless! From transportation, lodges, meals, guides/tours - everything was amazing and still unbelievable! She provided us with detailed information from what to expect/plan/pack for Kilimanjaro to the last minute notice of getting a visa upon entry to Tanzania. Claire has been a blessing to work with in planning our trips! We are already thinking of when and where to visit next and can't wait to work with her again! Thank you Claire and African Budget Safaris!

My first time with African Safari and I must say, what a bliss and a blind blowing experience! We had an awesome time in Namibia!From when making our last minute booking with Claire Monson, she handled it very well and found a package that suited me and my little girl in a very short period. I absolutely was blown away by her vast knowledge & passion of our mother Africa, and she motivated me to go for another safari next year!

We went on a 7 days camping tour with Kennedy as our tour guide and Peter as our driver from chameleon Safaris ....wow! These guys made me & my child fall in love with Namibia! It was our first time camping and they made us feel comfortable and taught us many things that we didn’t know! We now can pitch our own tent! The food was scrumptious and always on time, they made sure our dietary requirements we met. Their knowledge about Namibian history, nature & tourism left us feeling like wanting to come back for more. They were very patient, hilarious, organized and looked after after us very well.

We are definitely sold and already counting sleeps until our next African adventure with African budget safaris. Claire Monson is a legend and has outdone herself organizing the trip for us. Thank you❤️

I would recommend anyone to book with African Budget Safaris.
The passion that Claire shows for the tours of South Africa is incredible! She has been so helpful and patient and suggested a variety of tours that would suit my needs as a solo traveller.
Thank you Claire

We had an amazing time on the 4 Day Kruger Park Eco Camp Safari at nThambo and 5 Day Botswana Okavango Mokoro & Savuti Wildlife Safari. Africa is a beautiful place full of surprises and warm, friendly people. The safari/lodge staff were very accommodating and the trackers/guides were extremely knowledgeable. Our group of ten really enjoyed the the nThambo treehouse accommodations; the little touches at Oddball's including the bucket shower; and the vibe and outdoor space at Camp Savuti, especially the nightly fire out below the expansive sky talking about the day (especially finally finding the elusive leopard). Everyone agreed the food was phenomenal. The wildlife viewing excellent. Really, everything was top notch! Our tours included a mix of three different lodging types as well as safari experiences (i.e. drives, walks, mokoro) - highly recommend a combination.
Thanks to African Budget Safaris and Claire Monson for helping us plan this incredible trip. Every detail was considered and all the communication was great! Definitely recommend working with African Budget Safaris to book your trip.

For the second year I booked my African Adventure with Claire and if I did so is because the first time was unforgettable!! Everything went well also this year, from the booking and all the information before departure to the safari with Chameleon Windhoek. The guide, the accommodation, the safari itself were even better than I expected.
I am already thinking about the next one!
Thank you Claire.

African Budget Safaris have been amazing. Claire has given us all the information and many useful tips about travelling from Cape Town to Namibia and Zambia. She has ensured that what ever we choose will work for us. She has many years of experience and this shows because she recommended activities, different areas and even shared her blog of her own trip, including changing pressure of tyres which is hugely important.
The professional and helpful approach of African Budget Safaris is far better than any other service we have received on our trip and has saved us time, energy, money and ensured we are making the most of our holiday.

African Budget Safaris as supported us in organization of our private Namibia Overland tour.
- Very good guide : clear in communication, proactive in managing situations, always available to support us and with a good knowledge of the places visited,
- Very good cooking
- Good overland truck
- Great program
- adequate accommodations
- camping good for places and materials

A special thanks to Claire for the time and passion put in organizing of our travel.

The trip Claire Monson booked for us was really great and I returned home with countless memories. The guides we had were remarkable and I appreciate the hard work they put forth to make our tour an exceptional experience. My favorite moments were certainly Cape Town, Sossusvlei/Deadvlei, Etosha, Chobe and finally Vic Falls.

Claire Monson, with African Budget Safaris, worked patiently and attentively with me for over a year as I planned my family's holiday travel through South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya. I will confidently recommend this company to everyone I know who plans to visit Africa as I feel the care and attention is exceptional and their awareness of the resources is unparalleled. I completely trusted Claire's advice and recommendations... and in one instance where I was sure I'd be able to drive on my own in Kenya (like I did over 20 years ago) I immediately realized upon arrival that I could not do it...and voila, like magic, we were switched to car rental WITH driver! Claire and team knew this could be a travel bump and she was right!!! And in the end, it was not a bump at all. Our travel, with teenagers not used to Africa or traveling internationally, was seamless and wonderful...experiences and memories of a lifetime! Thank you all!

After a last minute change of mind to go on a overland tour, Claire quickly booked it all for me and was very honest and understand of my position. With it being vey last minute it she was calm and respectful as she needed a answer quickly. Thanks and would use again

Myself and my partner had heard of ABS from a previous company we had booked a South African safari with. I was amazed at the amount of tours that the company offered.
When I first contacted ABS I was put in touch with Claire who organized the whole trip for us. Our trip was combination of Kenya, Uganda & Rwanda Safari's in both & gorilla trekking in Uganda.
We added extra days and this was no issue whatsoever.
Claire was superb and so helpful and friendly, nothing was too much trouble for her to answer and she was always available with queries we had. The trip was amazing both our guides in Kenya & Uganda were super nice, answering any questions we had about both countries, and knowing where to get to on Safari to see the animals. The accomodation was 5 star, and that is not an exaggeration , food top class. I would not hesitate to recommend ABS in future, and any further trip to Southern or Eastern Africa will be booked via ABS. An amazing experience, from an excellent company.
Thank you both, ABS & Claire