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We really enjoyed the holidays and are happy that everything went so well. We were very surprised by your welcome gift at the airport and of course we also used Neil's book on tour. The accommodations were nice. Especially the lodges of Okonjima and Mokuti were gorgeous and a highlight. The Rainbow hotel in Vic Falls may be good (but not necessarily the rooms on ground floor in front of the street), but a flight over the mighty falls compensates for everything. At the end we felt we were in good hands and I can only recommend you. Thank you very, very much for your organisation and support during the preparation and during the trip. It was very relaxing to travel without having to worry about anything. Just marvel and enjoy.

Hello Berdene, Just to let you and Neil know that we enjoyed our trip to Namibia very much. Thank you for arranging it. Okaukuejo was slightly run down, as you had warned us, but OK. Halali was fine and we had the best night waterhole experience there. Mokuti was good and Erindi very good, particularly with its waterholes next to the dining area and our room, and the variety of mammals.. Thank you for adding it to our itinerary. The vehicle was just right for us, with good viewing on three sides, and quite comfortable. Dayne Braine is an excellent guide. He spotted the birds and mammals and identified them exceptionally well not only on the game drives, but also in walkabouts in the camps and lodges. He drove carefully, handled all the arrangements of the trip very satisfactorily, and was good company. All the best

Dear Neil, Thank you for the photos. I thought you and Jakes were a great team and outstanding guides. On a personal level, I thank you for your support and kindness and excellent company. On a group level, I admired your tolerance and thank you for the many ‘extra surprises’ and experiences you made available to us. Nature was kind to us and there were many special events we managed to witness with your help and guidance. I hope that now, world wide, covid is controlled or, at least, less of a threat and that your business and Jakes’ job prospects will return to pre-pandemic levels and that you will both manage to lead happy, successful lives in your beautiful country with you families. I certainly will not forget the two of you and our amazing adventure! My love and best wishes

Dear Neil & Jakes My wife and I recently completed the NatureTrek journey from Windhoek to Livingstone with Neil and Jakes. I just wanted to thank everyone involved. I'm sure there must have been a lot of organisation and reorganising, with all the COVID related changes but we felt it went remarkably smoothly and we had the trip of a lifetime, this being our first time in Africa. Could you please pass on our thanks and congratulations to everyone, including Neil and Jakes who we didn't really get chance to personally thank at the end. I hope Jakes made the long journey home safely. He deserves special recognition, as it is clear he really goes above and beyond to make sure everyone is looked after. Please make sure he receives this thanks from us personally? We had a simple journey home and are currently shocked at the 1°C temperature and already miss African skies.

Dear Neil We would like to thank you again for a most amazing and memorable trip. You were a very inspiring guide and your knowledge of the wildlife is amazing. We enjoyed your and Jakes’s company very much. We have already planned to visit South Africa again and we hope to combine this with a visit to other parts of Namibia. Maybe we will meet again. We hope sincerely that the tourism will pick up again. Thank you again and we wish you and Jakes all the best for the future.

But now for the trip….thanks so much to you and Neil for putting it together for us. We had a wonderful time and all really enjoyed it. Neil was marvellous throughout and took care of everything so well.A highlight of the trip were the early morning chasing around the waterholes at Etosha looking for a pride if lions that we found. The animals were a revelation – I did not think that we’d see so many; but we also greatly enjoyed the extra little detours to see the meteorite, dinosaur footprints and the sink hole. Heloise and Saskia had never done this sort of holiday before – usually beach and pool – but both enjoyed it so much that they’d like to return to Africa. We had 3 nights in Johannesburg after the trip you set up for us, and so got home yesterday morning (Monday 9 August). EVERYTHING you had arranged ran smoothly and exceeded not just expectations but hopes! We had many good sightings so have come back so that amongst the LARGE number of photos there are ones of Pell’s Fishing Owl, mating lions, White-tailed shrike, leopard in tree, … well basically LOTS. When I have sorted the photos I will send you a DVD with a selection and if we make a general trip report it will be saying good things about you and the various lodges, Caprivi cars, and about Pride of Africa and through them Papadi Safaris, Grant Craig (and his cook!). So THANK YOU everybody who has been involved in making this happen for us, and you will hear again when we have had time to sleep and sort out what to send you.

Dear Neil, Thank you so very much for what was a most wonderful safari. Heloise, Saskia, Harry and I all immensely enjoyed the trip – partly because of the stunning wildlife and scenery and partly because of the perfect way in which you ran things. I cannot thank you enough for the huge effort and attention to detail that you put into every aspect of the trip. It went way beyond our expectations and we saw so many diverse and wonderful sights that my head is still reeling! It was also really good to see you again and I am sure that it will not be the last time that we meet. Thank you also for the lovely cookbook that you gave us on departure – we have a large collection of cookery books and I enjoy reading them in bed! Saskia is already planning to prepare some of the dishes and wants to write to let you know how they turn out! One aspect of the trip that I did not expect was the effect that it had on Heloise – never would I have imagined her playing the Impala poo game! Yet she gave it a go. Also, seeing her eyes fill with tears at the airport when she said goodbye shows that she does have a soft side after all! Anyway, thank you again for a most wonderful time, for our best family holiday and for your great good company. With best wishes to you, Berdene and Neil Leslie.

Greetings Everyone, We would just like to say thanks to all of you for being such a great group of fellow travelers. It was a wonderful time. We are still enjoying the trip as we share our memories with friends and family and show them some of our many photos. Special thanks to Neil and Robbie for sharing all their knowledge and fun – first class guides. Best wishes for a nice spring and summer (or winter for those “down-under”).

It was great to meet the team behind the front men, and of course, the camping lot…..have sent away my photos to be done and really looking forward to getting them. Love

Thanks again to Jill for organising everything so expertly! Thanks too to Neil, Robbie, Malakia, Samuel, Simson, Berdene and Liezel for making it all possible.

To Neil So very many thanks for another fabulous safari. If you look after all your clients as you did with us – you will be overrun with customers. Take care of yourself and your family. Love from us all

Hallo Robbie Met dat mailtje wil ik U bedanken voor het gidsen in uw zeer mooie land Namibia!!Ik kende uw land helemaal niet maar door uw hulp heb ik nu een beter idee hoe uw land in elkaar steekt!! Het was gewoon een super reis, vond Bart ook. Bedankt U hebt goed werk geleverd.

Dear Neil Just a quick message to thank you and your team for a wonderful experience (not calling it a holiday as I’m tired out!) Have had lots of lie-ins since my return and I’m still tired, but it was worth every waking moment. Best regards to everyone especially Robbie and the three chefs S.,S. and M.

Dear Neil and Berdene Thank you so very much for the generous hospitality that you showed to Barry and me when we stayed with you last week. I had a wonderful introduction to Southern Africa and am already looking forward to coming back. But a country is made of more than landscape and birds, and the two of you contributed in very large part to the great impression that Namibia made on me. So, thank you. With very best wishes,

We zijn inderdaad goed thuis gekomen. Bij aankomst in Frankfurt Duitsland werd de luchthaven een half uur later gesloten wegens de stofwolk. We hebben goed genoten van Namibië en ik ben zeker dat Martine en Ik later bij leven en welzijn er nog zullen teruggaan. Heb vandaag de dvd met de foto’s verzonden. Ik hoop dat je er zal van genieten. Stuur je me even een mailtje bij ontvangst dan weet ik dat de dvd goed is aangekomen. Hopelijk kan je dit Nederlands lezen maar ik denk het wel. Bedankt voor je goede zorgen tijdens de fijne reis. De groeten van Martine en Jos en de rest van de groep. Nog veel succes en misschien tot later ps Sinds onze thuiskomst is het laatste wat Martine en ik iedere dag zeggen: “lekker slaap”. Toch een mooie taal het afrikaans!

Thanks for giving us all a truly splendid experience – we’ll be back

We would have truly missed a singular opportunity to see big game and entirely different geography and habitats had it not been for your excellent advice, planning and expert guiding service.

To Neil, although far too short(!!!!), it was probably the best trip we’ve ever had.

Neil – Thanks for the great time we’ve had with you!

Finally, very many thanks for a great trip – thank you Neil.

Berdene I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for organising an amazing trip for us. Our family have never been to Africa and the amazing experiences we had we will never forget. All the places you recommended were incredible for their own reasons and we enjoyed the contrast of the dry areas to start with through to the Chobe river cruises. We saw an amazing array of animal life which ticked all of our boxes. I want to make special mention of Charl and Jakes who treated all of us to an amazing time and took care of everything. You could have mistaken them as the owners of your business they did such a great job, as they were passionate about all of us having the best possible time and making sure that we were well catered for. Meeting them both and spending time with them just makes us want to come back to African soon for another adventure. Thanks again and all the best. Regards (June 2023)

Dear Berdene: It has been more than three weeks since I returned from Namibia where I was one of the participants of the Namibia photo tour by Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris.The tour was an outstanding success and I want to congratulate you and your company for its performance. I was very impressed by Namibia and I have expressed that to family and friends. Great part of that experience was the result of the outstanding work that Jakes and Charl did.They should be commended for the quality of their professional work as well as for their human qualities. They gave freely of their friendship. I received some special attention and help because of my age related handicaps and for that I am very grateful. I have done more than fifteen photo tours in different parts of the world and I can say that in my opinion Jakes and Charl are at the top in the raking of local guides I met over the years. Please convey to them my gratitude and my regards.

Hi Neil Well its been a while since we arrived home and while it took a while to readjust our clocks to be back on Pacific Time, we at least did not suffer in any other way. I know that I wrote a trip advisor report on the trip but I wanted to write to you specifically to thank you for your leadership during the Uganda tour. I know that I was a bit concerned with some of the aspects for the first couple of days, however you did an amazing job of listening to my concerns and acting positively to ensure that my experience was top notch. I really appreciate the little extras that you took the time to arrange – the private boats, the anniversary cake and wine, the wonderful catered breakfast at the delta and while we didn’t have to change our rooms for air conditioning at Mweya Safari Lodge, your concern and offer to have our room changed was thoughtful and considerate. While not quite a photo tour (I know my definition might not mesh with yours but based on my experience) I have no complaints. Michelle and I really had a great time and we can truly say that there were just far too many highlights to answer the question that we have been asked so many times since we got home – The question being; what was our favourite part of the trip. While we were clients of Safariwise, you treated us like friends. Again, thank you for everything and we hope to be able to join you, or perhaps Charl on a future trip. And not to forget, please pass my thanks on to Berdene for doing all the work that she did to ensure that this was a successful trip.

Hi Berdene and Neil Thank you for the wonderful time we’ve all had in Namibia. You’d obviously worked hard to get everything in place for all 5 of us. We were overwhelmed with the warm welcome we received and we were delighted to meet you together with Hannah in Swakomund. What a lovely evening, excellent food and company . Also thank you for the Beanie hats you sent with Jakes the next morning and the replacement for the edition of your book I’ve lost. Jake was an excellent guide and host. He really put himself out to help us all. Florence’s difficulties didn’t prove to be a great problem and she became very fond of him. She certainly learnt a lot. Harry’s lifetime ambition now seems to return to the Skeleton coast to do some more fishing!! We’re all now looking forward to coming back again in the not too distant future. No doubt our son,Philip and his family will want to come with us next time when they hear all about our trip! Thank you