Reviews

We used Bench to book our trip to Victoria Falls. Norman was helpful, professional and friendly. 

He recommended we stay at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge with our 15-yr old grandson, which was a great choice and perfect for us. A beautiful african style hotel.

We would highly reccommend Bench.

We would be very happy to recommend Bench to our family and friends, very helpful, every detail covered.

Our holiday was wonderful, everything and more than expected - loved the walk with the lions!

Our highlight was the Okavango Delta - wish we had extra days there! Our biggest highlight was sharing all this with our 13yr old grand-daughter.

Everything Bench organised went like clockwork! Plus the people involved with accommodation, transfers and activities were all very competent and helpful!

We wanted an 'African experience' and it was well delivered!

The highlight has to be the animals but the passion for and knowledge of and love of animals by the staff/guides in the parks and lodges made it all the more memorable. And the South African wine (red & white) was a real bonus (and surprise) - I will be looking for it in Sydney!

P.S Thank-you Norman

The service from Bench was excellent - thank you Rachel!

At all times we were met by representatives of the companies used by Bench - even when flights were late! 

All accommodation was excellent, service on both safaris was excellent and Zanzibar was a dream!

Thank you for your advice - flying to the Masai Mara was a great idea!

We saw all the animals including two different leopards and an aardvark during the day!

The service and advice prior to departure was thorough - Thanks Hanna!

Accommodation throughout our trip was first class - we thoroughly enjoyed all venues. The service and food was great as well.

Highlights were seeing the multitude of animals close up! Our guide was a fund of knowledge! We all look forward to another trip with Bench in the future.

Bench have certainly done their homework! The whole trip went like clockwork - 8 countries (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Egypt, Jordan and Abu Dhabi), 6 international and 4 internal flights, lost count of the number of hotels, houseboats and safaris! Rises to the top like cream on milk! 

What game! We saw 500 elephants, 1000 zebras, 500 buffalo, 5000 Ghnu, 50 giraffe, 5000 antelopes, 200 baboons, 10 lions, 2 leopards with kills in trees, 3 cheetah, 100 warthogs, 500 hippos, 400 crocs - not to mention all the birds!!!!

Hope to contact you again in 3-4 years, it will take that long to come down (back to earth) from this 38-dayer!

Absolutely amazing. The Kenya and Botswana experiences were unforgettable. The hospitality we received in both of those countries was world class – the best we’ve ever had.

Thank you for picking such great places to stay in, they suited us perfectly. The tented camps were exactly the right measure of luxury vs adventure and the personal feel and attention we received at them was just sensational. Karen Blixen, Satao camp, Chobe under canvas, and &Beyond Nxabega were particular highlights. Karen Blixen camp put together a truly magical day for Dan’s 30th birthday with massages and private dinners and cakes and all sorts of special things. The staff at both Satao and Chobe were excellent and the food (particularly breakfasts and lunches) at &Beyond was incredible.

We saw so many amazing things and met so many amazing people. I would never have imagined we would have seen so many animals so ridiculously close. From performing leopards and swimming elephants to the many many lions we saw, it was all the breath taking stuff I thought you could only hope for.

Thank you for crafting such a fabulous trip for us. Considering the complicated number of connections and border crossings etc, we were so incredibly happy when they worked every time. In every place when there was someone supposed to meet  us, they were there, waiting, which is a huge credit to your organisation and the tour companies you book.

We actually had the entire air safari to ourselves that first 10 days. We couldn’t believe it, we have the guide completely to ourselves and the whole plane all through Kenya. It was incredible. You should definitely advertise the fact that the guide stays with you throughout the whole 10 days as a really strong selling point of that safari. It was great to find out we were being chauffeured the whole way!

Vic Falls was a great place to go, we did the white water rafting and had  an awesome time.

All in all, we had a most wonderful experience and are telling everyone we know that they should definitely go and to use you guys to plan their trip.

Thank you for listening to what we wanted and finding us so many great places to stay which were exactly what we were looking for. Everyone we dealt with at the camps, the guides, the drivers etc were all incredibly friendly, professional and helpful. Really first rate. The trip itself was exactly what we wanted but probably couldn’t articulate, so thank you for turning it into reality and for creating for us such a great holiday.

Thank you so much again. Should we ever be lucky enough to go back to Africa, we’ll be coming to you.

I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful work Bench International did in helping me prepare our once-in-a-lifetime holiday – which included the once-in-a-lifetime event of proposing to my girlfriend!

From the moment I met Norman, our Bench International ‘African travel expert’, I thanked my lucky stars that I’d been fortunate enough to meet someone who understood what I was hoping to achieve whilst on our African trip! I had every confidence in his ability, knowledge and helpful attitude towards accommodating every detail and maximising our experience!
My partner and I embarked on a fairly extensive 5-week African adventure, visiting the vast safari lands and wild animals of East Africa, the unique luxury of Zanzibar, the majestic Victoria Falls and finishing with a week-long trip along the Garden Route and a few days in Cape Town, South Africa!

The Kenyan and Tanzanian safaris, each lasting one week, were fantastic. This was my third safari holiday and by far the best. The luxurious lodges alone were a highlight! Thanks to the tour companies used, we were fortunate to see all the major animals (including a leopard and it’s cub with a kill) and the great migration in action across these unique landscapes
Zanzibar provided the perfect post-safari luxury recovery location. It’s pretty hard to beat white sand beaches, perfect sunsets, great food and ‘sun-downers’ for five days!

The Victoria Falls section provided further highlights - the falls themselves, experiencing an African elephant ride and walking with lion cubs was truly magical!

Arriving in Cape Town I was reminded that it is one of the most captivating cities in the world. It was here that I planned to propose. Six months before our departure, the planning started and Norman was instrumental in organising every detail of my ‘engagement day’ – which included hiring a 1939 convertible Cadillac, delivering us to a ‘surprise’ gourmet picnic in the spectacularly scenic Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a ‘surprise’ Scottish bagpiper and even a secret photographer! Everything was planned meticulously and the day was simply perfect! My new fiancé’s reaction was as rewarding as any man could ask for!    

Since returning we have reminisced many times and will certainly use Bench International for further African adventures. We would recommend your services to anyone interested in seeing the best that Africa has to offer. During our holiday we even discovered the beautiful Franschhoek winery area in South Africa and plan to marry there next year! Perfect – you really couldn’t ask for more!

My visit to Victoria Falls was everything I had dreamt it would be. The Victoria Falls Safari Lodge was great with fantastic service. I took advantage of all the activities - Elephant back safari, Walking with the lions, helicopter ride over the falls and tour (walk) of the falls.

Makutsi is a great place - well run, friendly and they went out of their way to ensure we were happy, even changing some arrangements to suit us. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would certainly return there if the opportunity arose. We would use Bench again for future arrangements as the service we received was very good. Thanks to Bench, our holiday went very well.

An excellent tour (Migration Safari)! The food and accommodation at Masai Mara Sarova and Lion Hill were exceptional. The staff were very friendly. I have never seen so many animals up close! This was attributed to our driver - Thomas - who was able to read animal behaviour and position the vehicle so as to get the best viewing and photographs. A highlight was a hot air balloon flight over the Masai Mara watching the migration of the wildebeest - for our 46th wedding anniversary including singing and a cake. I thoroughly recommend this tour!

We had a wonderful holiday thanks to Bench. We will recommend your company to our friends. The trip ran like clockwork. Hotels, lodges were first class. Tours were excellent - we saw everything we expected plus much more. Highlights were More Quarters in Cape Town and Eagle Island Lodge in Botswana.