Martin Smith, Managing Director
Kingfisher Safaris
- Office In:
-
United Kingdom
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- Botswana Guides Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $1,735 to $26,018 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
IT
Email Laura Capelli | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and kind
Our safari experience was simply incredible, thanks the fantastic team provided.
Martin managed the whole trip administration from London, super responsive and fast in answer!
Helena, Paulina, Motobi, and Pilot were all incredibly attentive and kind, making us feel right at home, even in the middle of the bush, miles away from Italy.
Those kind of trips are quite expensive (especially for Italians), but it totally worth it! Super recommended!
Nothing could be better!
We truly hope to have the chance to go on another safari with them!
CA
Email Stefan Moxness | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very Responsive, Extremely Thorough, Exactly as Promised
We began planning our first trip approximately a year before travelling. We found Martin and Kingfisher Safaris online. From the first email communication, it was obvious Martin was extremely knowledgeable and responsive to our needs.
We provided a prize range we were comfortable with, he provided us with expectations within that range. He booked us a PERFECT itinerary that, very honestly exceeded all our expectations. The camps we stayed in (Desert & Delta) were incredible, modern, well appointed and luxurious. The staff were incredible. The food was amazing. Not a single complaint from my wife nor I.
I provided Martin with our inbound and outbound flights and all our transportation in between was perfect. We were met in Victoria Falls by a private driver who took us to the hotel without issue. Our subsequent travel to Kasane was similarly painless. Our flights between camps were effortless.
Throughout the planning stages I had more questions than I care to admit. Martin was prompt and INCREDIBLY detailed in his replies and I was able to satisfy all my questions and uncertainties with his help.
We intend to travel again to Africa in a few years and will, without a shadow of a doubt, be seeking Martin and Kingfisher Safaris as our planning service. I have nothing by positive things to say.
BR
Email L.S.E | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing sightings, responsive staff, felt safe in their hands
We have done many safaris before but this was our first time in Botswana and would be the first mobile camping... Martin assured we would enjoy it... and we did! We found Kingfisher Safaris searching in Safari Bookings. We decided to do this trip last minute and contacted many companies but Martin was the most responsive and, to be honest, offered us a great tailored itinerary and we always prefer to deal with small, specialised businesses. Jack pot! The ground team is great and we felt safe in their hands. Pilot is very experienced, knowledgeable and a great driver. Elena was our main hostess on camp, very sweet and efficient. We loved Pauline's breads and cakes and the way she announces the menu. Toby and Onks (not sure the spelling) work hard to ensure the camp functions well. We visited three locations in the Okavango region:
-Khwai River concession (which is beautiful but sometimes too many cars at the sightings, especially around leopard and lions);
- Mababe (Chobe National Park), quiet, good for birds, loads of giraffes, we didn't see much of the main predators (probably because it was a cold spell) but we loved the sunrises, sunsets and the fantastic sky (stargazing was amazing in all areas).
- Xiini (Moremi Reserve) - fantastic sightings, beautiful scenery, quiet, we loved it.
We spent 3 nights at each location, time went far too quickly. We saw wild dogs with very young puppies, a pride of 9 lions encountering elephants in their path, lion cubs feeding on zebra, cheetahs and cheetah cubs feeding on impala, leopard very near (few meters) from our camp in Xiini (also catching a young owl from its nest in the evening), big herds of elephants and giraffes both with young ones, buffalos, hippos, hienas, jackals, many fantastic birds and more. So many great moments to remember forever!
The mobile camp is an experience in itself but we adjusted easily. We had a nice bed and at the back of the tent, we had the toilet (the ones used in motorhomes) and a bucket shower. We were there in late July and some days were quite cold early in the morning and in the evening. You can set a time for your shower and the crew will provide the hot water), they also provide hot water in basin in the morning and evening for you to wash hands/face. There is a separate tent for meals and after the afternoon drive you arrive in camp always to find a very nice fire, nibbles and a drink before dinner.
The process of packing up to move to a different site was the time we liked less, as it can take a while for staff to take everything down and pack the cars. It can be a bit boring as there's not much for us to do. It would be nicer if we could go for a short drive while the rest of the staff deal with dismantling tents and the essentials packing, so we could make the most of the limited time we had in Botswana.
Overall, a great experience!
Email SM | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Seamless and responsive safari operator & experience
What an incredible trip to Botswana. We have memories that we will cherish for years to come. So appreciate Martin's prompt replies and availability. He was incredibly responsive and detailed in his replies to our many questions while also providing honest context on animals/terrain, travel prep, etc throughout the few months between booking and our travel dates. I had been in contact with a few tour companies before booking with Martin, but he was the most detailed, personable, and responsive in all of our email communications that it was the right choice.
We stuck with a more classic 7 day safari itinerary given our time was limited, but it felt like a truly immersive trip regardless and we felt at ease the entire time. The mix of accommodations were fantastic as well! We enjoyed the variety of activities - mokoro, game drives, night drives, and walking safaris. It was seamless having everything taken care of by Martin and the local operator so we could just focus on the experience. Sad to be back from our trip, but we look forward to visiting Africa again soon.
Email Paul | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An excellent tailor made Safari in Botswana covering desert, salt pans and delta, brilliant!
Well planned, understanding what we wanted and delivering.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
South Africa - A luxury trip
We asked Martin at Kingfisher to put together a trip for 4 of us travelling from Cape Town, along the garden route & to include a visit to a Game Reserve. We let Martin make suggestions based on his knowledge of the area & of us & did not need to make any changes to his suggested itinerary. Our booking was handled efficiently & we were kept advised of everything at all times. The choice of places to stay & the accommodation arranged for us was beyond my expectations. They were diverse enabling us to enjoy a lot of what the Cape & Garden route has to offer, & all accommodation was top quality. This is the 3rd time I have used Kingfisher Safaris for my travels to Africa & I would have no hesitation in using them again.
Email Bob and Ei | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb planning - we have holidayed all over the world but never felt so 'looked after' before.
We had never travelled to South Africa before so wanted to experience a safari but also to visit other parts of the country. We picked Kingfisher Safaris as we would be dealing with people who had actually lived and worked there. Our experience was was extremely positive from beginning to end, with Martin's suggestions and planning producing a well balanced trip that not only appeared exciting, but in the event exceeded all our expectations. All our accommodation was first class and arrangements fell into place like clockwork.
We have holdayed allover the world but never felt so 'looked after' before, with Martin even contacting us during the trip to ensure all was going to plan.
We visited ancient forests, national parks, intriguing villages and beautiful coastline but the highlight must be the safari section. Superb facilities were matched by an absolutely excellent guide with an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject. Game viewing was brilliant and even included a successful lion hunt - apparently seen by very few.
Would we recommend Kingfisher Safaris? Absolutely. The thought and planning that went into our trip surpassed anything we have previously encountered. There's no doubt that real local experience and knowledge pays off, and in our case resulted in the best trip we have ever taken
Email Wendy Sundquist | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The adventure of a lifetime!!
We had hoped that this safari would be wonderful, but it far exceeded our expectations. It was the trip of a lifetime for me and my friend. it started with Martin at Kingfisher Safaris. He helped us to book the trip we wanted - 12 nights in the bush on a luxury mobile safari with Pilot. Martin answered all our questions, was incredibly responsive to our questions and made sure we had all we needed for the trip as well as guidance in transportation.
My friend had taken a safari with her daughter 20 years earlier with Pilot as their guide so we knew we wanted him again on this trip. Pilot has many years of experience; he is definitely safari guide extraordinaire. His number one priority is to keep every one safe - I never felt scared. Pilot is very bright, skilled and determined to find the Botswana animals, birds, etc as well as taught us about animal behavior, tracking and when to give a wild animal their space. He loves what he is doing. He is warm and has a wonderful sense of humor which made the trip very fun as well. His staff work as a team and really enjoy people and each other. He does not have a cook - he has an amazing Chef - KG. She prepares food over a fire and bakes in a metal box with coals which included homemade bread every meal. Beef, fish and chicken are the main entrees prepared in different ways, salads, fresh cooked vegetables etc and incredible desserts such as bananas foster, brownies, cake and crème caramel.
Elaina was our hostess who looked after our needs and wants such as hot water bottle for the cold nights, our tent and bathroom needs, served us those delicious meals as well as helping the other staff. Toby prepared our warm water for our shower and washbasin, helped to take down and put up the tent, pack and whatever else needed to be done.
Value for the money ? Oh my gosh yes!! We both think we got a deal. We are so glad we did the mobile safari - we went to 4 different camp sights to see and hear a variety of wild beings. One afternoon we were sitting in our chair between game drives and had an elephant walk past our tent on his way to the other side. And saw a lioness walk on the road right outside of our campsite - she was looking for her sisters and could have cared less about us.
The trip was the most exciting, fun adventure I have ever had. Would I do it again? You bet!! Thank you so much Martin, Pilot and your staff.
DE
Email Daniela | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very mixed experience with a lot of downsides
It took me very long to write this review, but I think it´s just fair not to write only positive reviews which is of course much nicer. But we would like to let others know what we have experienced. We have been many times to Africa on all kind of safaris from budget to high-end luxury, but never left with this unhappy feeling. So lets start...
I found kingfisher safaris on this website announcing a "private" mobile camping safari operating in Botsuana. Meanwhile they changed the announcement in "shared", thats what we ended up but expecting a private safari . I still have got a screen shot of the original advertisement to proof it.
But already the beginning was difficult. We were picked up late, Pilot arrived than eventually in a hurry, the car packed up with food, equipment up to the roof etc. There was no excuse. Instead he told us, that due to a late arrival of the trip the day before he had to pack new. At this time we were still fine. But as he stopped a little later at the main road offloading us with two chairs and a cooler box, he drove quickly away. My bag with everything like passports, money was still at the backseat and could have fallen off easily from the safari vehicle. We had no idea how long it would take and where he drove to. This was the first time I felt very unhappy. The rest I will write in keywords.
First the positive aspects:
- The staff was extremely nice and welcoming. Pauline the chef did a wonderful job. Elena the host, was such a warmly and attentive person and Collin did everything that the campsite was in a perfect condition.
-The locations of the campsites were magical.
-All the equipment was good.
- Our unexpected co-travelers turned out to be very lovely persons and we appreciated their company a lot.
Now the negative aspects:
- Guiding was less than mediocre. (here I have to be more detailed) I'm pretty sure that Pilot knows his stuff, but didn't show it to us. At Khwai Privat Concession he was only at the radio and driving us from sighting to sighting which others told him. He never was reading any animal tracks, always the windows closed never listening to alarm calls etc. At Moremi as there were just a few vehicles he had to work a bit harder. We wished he would have explained us more about the unique ecosystem of the Okavango Delta and all the connections between fauna and flora. Pilot almost never stoped for birds, mangooses etc. We felt racing from lion sighting to lion sighting, but none of us four was so extremely interested in them. Once I asked Pilot to stop at the zebras which have been in a wonderful light (we are photographers) but instead he was driving to the next lions. He never really attended to our requests. Maybe the worst was, that he was teasing animals , which is an absolutely unethical behavior. For example he provoked a male hippo to attack the car several times. Another example was playing hyena calls from the mobile to a lion family with tiny cubs.
- Logistic is not the strong side of Pilot. We tried to help and let him know before what kind of beverages we like to avoid buying useless drinks. Didn't work. The first evening we were offered an already open bottle of Merlot and I did write before that the only the wine we don't like is Merlot. After half of the time he run out of gin, and to mention we are not heavy drinkers. In the end no tonic water, no Coca Cola, no white wine, no red wine..... and no excuse.
- Driving style of Pilot was fast, sometimes reckless. We had to use the seatbelts first time on a safari. Pilot general did not respond well to criticism or suggestions. In this case when we asked to drive more carefully, he reacted grumpy and kept driving almost the whole afternoon without stopping and talking to us.
Summarising this was unfortunately our worst safari experience so far even though the magical nature of Botsuana and the wonderful staff of Pilot were hard to beat.
Reply from Kingfisher Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023I'm really sorry to hear you had a poor time on safari, it is certainly not the result we would like. Firstly this client did NOT book through the Safari Bookings website and at no point during the booking process did they tell us that they had seen Safari Bookings or that they were expecting a private trip and nowhere on our website does it say that our Mobile Safaris are private where it says there can be up to 6 people on each trip, as it does on Safari Bookings too and always has and we had no way of knowing this was their expectation, they simply did not tell us. It is very tricky for us to convey this message if it has not been read correctly as they booked directly with us, through our website where the description is clear, so for that we have learnt from the experience and now make sure this is 100% known before any trip begins that we have up to 6 on any one trip and to be sure they have read the terms of the trip before committing.
Sadly I believe their mistake has tainted this review and their reaction to this did not engender them well to the guide from the start as it seems they were unaware until they arrived and were thus not happy with the guide who it was that told them after i spoke to him when he collected them from the airport. To be clear they had 3 nights to themselves at the start of the mobile safari plus two nights prior to the trip in a lodge. They were joined by another two on this itinerary for the remaining 6 nights who had a different experience and are already planning a second trip with us, although they haven't booked yet.
We even offered them a private vehicle which was the one they were already using so that the other clients who joined them could have a different guide and vehicle but they refused for an unknown reason, so they could still have had a private trip, so I am really confused about some of these comments as we did everything we could to offer them the private experience despite us not knowing beforehand this is what they wanted and this would have been at our own expense, they would have paid nothing extra.
It is not my experience or the experience of our clients that our Guide, Pilot, will not stop at any sighting where he is asked to do so and with over 35 years of experience with lots of happy clients, it may just be that there was a language barrier as his first language is not English and sometimes he may struggle with accents that he is not familiar with.
It is normal for all guides in any lodge, super high end or basic, to use the radio for sightings from other guides as most people travelling on safari want to see the predators in particular and I would disagree that his driving style is reckless, he holds all the requisite permits and licenses for driving clients in Botswana and undergoes annual tests, I do not believe he would drive like this, as you can see from all our other reviews. I've known and worked with him for over 15 years and i know he will do everything within his power to make sure clients have the best possible time.
Once again I'm sorry to hear you had a poor experience but to reiterate the other clients who joined this itinerary for the last 6 nights had a very different experience and thoroughly enjoyed their safari. We did offer you an extra, private vehicle and I believe we did everything we could to accommodate you but you decided against our offer. We have implemented changes because of your comments to us privately and I thought because of that we had resolved the issue as I made it clear last year that you had never told us of your need or expectation of a private trip so I am disappointed to see this poor review some 6 months later. We will keep trying to improve our service.
Email Paul | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Thoughtfully planned giving different experiences of Desert, Delta and Salt Pans. Brilliant trip!
Excellent service with careful planning to meet our needs. The choice of Camps meant we saw different parts of Botswana, each special and very worthwhile. Expectations were exceeded and we met very knowledgeable guides and staff in the 3 Camps. Seamless transfers by light aircraft ensured trouble free travel. We will certainly return and trust our tour to Kingfisher who clearly have used their on the ground experience to best advantage, definitely hitting the spot for us! Thank you for a relaxing and rewarding holiday.