We’re just recovering from the jet lag of a long flight back from Africa, but I had to write this review while things were still fresh in my head. We met the owner of Mafigeni, Jill, at the hunting expo in Denver. We weren’t even interested in an African Safari but the friend we were with was, and he stopped by all the booths so, subsequently we did too. We started getting very interested and then fairly excited about the prospect of going to Africa. Mafigeni looked like they had a very nice package and after a bit of research and discussion, we decided to pull the trigger and buy their photo safari package. All I can say is that I’m really glad we went with them! The lodge itself is amazing. Tucked off in a very safe area, we left thousands of dollars of camera equipment and cash unlocked in our room without ever thinking twice about it. The lodge is secluded and beautiful, very authentic safari experience! We got our own “bungalow” which was very comfortable and in great condition. The eating area is amazing and I’d go up in the morning to check email on wifi and sip coffee with beautiful views. The staff is incredible. Let me start with our photo guide Leo. You absolutely couldn’t ask for a better guide in Africa! Leo was so attentive to us, always looking out for us and making...We’re just recovering from the jet lag of a long flight back from Africa, but I had to write this review while things were still fresh in my head. We met the owner of Mafigeni, Jill, at the hunting expo in Denver. We weren’t even interested in an African Safari but the friend we were with was, and he stopped by all the booths so, subsequently we did too. We started getting very interested and then fairly excited about the prospect of going to Africa. Mafigeni looked like they had a very nice package and after a bit of research and discussion, we decided to pull the trigger and buy their photo safari package.
All I can say is that I’m really glad we went with them! The lodge itself is amazing. Tucked off in a very safe area, we left thousands of dollars of camera equipment and cash unlocked in our room without ever thinking twice about it. The lodge is secluded and beautiful, very authentic safari experience! We got our own “bungalow” which was very comfortable and in great condition. The eating area is amazing and I’d go up in the morning to check email on wifi and sip coffee with beautiful views. The staff is incredible. Let me start with our photo guide Leo. You absolutely couldn’t ask for a better guide in Africa! Leo was so attentive to us, always looking out for us and making sure we had anything we wanted. Leo has a lot of great stories and we very much enjoyed talking to him and learning about Africa. Leo can also spot animals like nobody I’ve ever seen. We’d be driving down a road and Leo would say “Oh, there’s some wildebeest over there”, we’d look and look and after driving a quarter of a mile we’d start to be able to make them out! He has a super eye for things normal folks would miss. Leo would also get the car in the perfect position for me to take photos. Not sure how he could just “judge” where I needed to be to get the perfect shot in a small opening, but he did it!
The rest of staff is amazing too. They treated us like family and we were actually quite sad to leave them at the end of the safari. Theresa was wonderful and fun to talk to, her two beautiful daughters were there as well and both were so sweet and fun to spend time with. The hunting guides Gavin, Matt, and Alec are a blast too, we didn’t get to spend a ton of time with them, but each meal we had with them they would tell stories and make us laugh, what a great crew! The other staff such as Chef King and Happy who took care of our room were great. We ate out a lot as we were on the road for adventures so we didn’t get to eat a lot of King’s cooking, but what we did get was very tasty! The meals were from game meat harvested (I believe) on their farm and we got to experience some great local dishes! Don’t worry, none of the meat was “gamey” at all, everything we had was delicious!
The package was a lot of fun. We definitely kept busy seeing cool things like animal rescues and game preserves. We opted to pay a little extra for an extra day in Kruger, glad we did as we got to photograph lion’s mating! The other adventures were fun, even the zip lining canyon beat the zip lining we did in Costa Rica! You’ll be tired when you get back to camp as there’s a lot to do and to see.
I’d highly recommend a visit to Mafigeni, even if you only stop in for a night or two. Such a wonderful place with amazing people, you won’t be disappointed.
Here’s a little advice I’d give anyone booking with them:
1. Our package included airfare which was nice, but the flights were long and on Ethiopian Airlines which is not a great airline. See if you can either get a credit for airfare and book your own or find the path you want and request it. 30 hours of travel time on a crowded plane with little AC was not fun.
2. Talk to them about the activities and what’s available. They have a lot you can do and as I said, we decided to pay for an extra night in Kruger and forgo another adventure which was well worth it to us.More