What‘s Included

Meeting and Pickup

What To Expect

Reviews

• Exceptional guide; not-so-great communications from Cuckoo

  kdorff3,

  Oct 9, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  3.00

  We took a tour with Cuckoo from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe to Chobe National Park, Elephant Sands, Planet Baobab, and the Okavango Delta. Our guide Simon was excellent; he was attentive, informative, and detail oriented and added so much to our experience. Unfortunately, we can't give top marks to Cuckoo. Communication about our itinerary was sketchy and we often felt "shuffled" among random contact people whenever Simon wasn't our guide. As examples, we didn't know our pickup times or contacts for certain legs and the itinerary changed late in the trip. We had little to no guidance about tipping (does this person work with Cuckoo? or is he with another company or resort?) which was VERY frustrating. The tour itself provided a good overview of these areas, but we feel the company needs to improve its communication both before and during the trip in order to receive a higher rating.

• Excellent service!

  Debra M,

  Oct 2, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Excellent service!! Our guide Simon took care of all the arrangements and was so helpful. Great trip and Highly recommend!

• Great safari organised by Cuckoo

  Steve P,

  Sep 29, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do and sent it to Cuckoo to work into a specific itinerary at my advised price point. They did a good job and after a couple of tweaks it was all agreed. Pre-trip they were helpful answering questions. Once arrived we were allocated a main point of contact for our stay. Simon was helpful and friendly and communications were both in person and on WhatsApp. Guides for individual trips were generally pretty good displaying good knowledge and answering questions as well as spotting animals. Overall we had good value for money and I was pleased I selected Cuckoo to organise our safari - which was based off these reviews. If you are looking to do a safari then I would recommend Cuckoo they did a good job and I would use again if needed.

• Best tour experience, highly recommended!

  mariannewC776CV,

  Aug 23, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  I am usually sceptical of organised tours, but I must say this one was really great in all aspects! The communication with cuckoo safari was very smooth, the operator (Tatenda) answered very quickly and was even available on WhatsApp if we had any questions during our stay. The overall planning was great and allowed to see a lot of amazing things while also having some time to relax (although it could be a bit harder for people with young children or elderlies as there are a lot of early mornings so it can be a bit tiring, but worth it I think). We always were only the three of us in all the safaris we did so it felt very private and exclusive. Everyone was extremely nice and punctual, and the accommodations were all very good as well. You might find it a bit pricy, but honestly when you see the quality of the services it is worth your money, I highly recommend this company!

• 8 day tour of Victoria Falls and Botswana

  157mariana,

  Jul 22, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Excellent safari, Simon was a great guide. Tatenda & the other drivers and guides were also very knowledgeable and great to spend time with. Very good accommodations and very tasty food. Great overall !

• 9 day tour of Zimbabwe and Botswana

  A9795YKclairea,

  Jun 11, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Cuckoo safaris were very efficient and Tatenda was always very quick to reply to any queries. We have just returned from a 9 day trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana and can only say it was better than I could ever imagined. Hotels, food, people and trips were very good. All organised very well with no hiccups at all. I cannot remember the names of all the staff we encountered but would like to say a big thank you to Gift and Simon who both ensured we had a trouble free and enjoyable stay. Well done Cuckoo

• Southern Africa at its best

  madma2017,

  Jun 7, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Excellent overall experience. Perfect tour organization and arrangements. A special thank to : Tatenda, Shelton & Simon

• Epic 10 day trip of Zimbabwe and Botswana with Cuckoo Safaris

  KazandSamsTravels,

  Sep 22, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We personalised the Cuckoo Safari 10 day tour with the help of Tatenda, adding Hwange NP and removing the Saltpans. We also upgraded our Chobe hotel and Tatenda was very helpful with all our queries. Before the trip we were added to a whats app group with our guide Simon who we had read about in previous reviews and was so happy to hear would be our guide. We stayed at the Pioneer Lodge in Victoria Falls which was a gorgeous lodge style hotel with lovely gardens, at Chobe we upgraded to a riverview apartment with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an amazing balcony definetely worth the upgrade, elephant sands was our break inbetween kasane and maun accomodation was basic but comfortable and the elephants were the star of the show and at maun we stayed at Cresta Maun which was fine comfortable room and friendly staff. In Victoria Falls, we did the sunset cruise, the falls tour from both sides and a day trip to Hwange. The falls were at their best on the zimbwawe side and Simon took us round and was a brilliant guide, our guide on the Zambia side Delphister was lovely too and it was interesting seeing more of the geology on this side. Hwange was an interesting drive Simon and the other Tatenda did really well negotating the roads, we stopped at Hwange Safari Lodge to pick up our packed lunch and then met our guide Big M who was brilliant and took us out into the park, we saw 3 male lion, elephant, hippos, giraffe, antelope etc. We then went to Chobe where we did 3 game drives with Gift and a river boat cruise with July both from Puku safaris, both great guides, Gift was amazing at tracking the wildlife and we saw lions on every outing with him including cubs amazing. We also did a game drive from elephant sands and then in Maun we did the helicopter flight over the delta amazing but terrifying as we had never been in a helicopter before and then this one had no doors! A very peaceful and scenic mokoro trip with Gidean from the local village and then a long but brilliant day to Moremi game reserve with Lee where we saw wild dogs (and pups) and hyena. We were really lucky when it came to wildlife, but also through great guides tracking skills, our main guide through it all Simon was amazing so knowlegable and friendly he is a credit to cuckoo and I would highly recommend him as your guide, we had a few issues along the route as always happens on trips but they were all sorted and we always knew Simon was there to help either in person or through whats app. Zimbabwe and Botswana are both incredible countries, with wonderful people and the amount of wildlife is just incredible I never thought I'd lose count of the amount of lion we saw, we were also very lucky to see leopard, countless other wildlife, and beautiful scenery and sunsets if you are wondering whether to go we highly recommend as two sisters we never felt unsafe. One of us got a upset stomach towards the end of the trip but this did not spoil the trip just to be aware this may happen. We both managed to eat vegetarian fine at all times on the trip but found it more tricky to eat vegan although Simon did his best to help and this was really appreciated. We hope to travel with Cuckoo and Simon in the future and are excited to hear of their plans in Namibia.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Took all the hard work out of my hands

  dustintclee,

  Aug 30, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  A safari trip is no easy task to plan, and I'm glad I chose Cuckoo to help! I honestly had no clue where to start, but came across Cuckoo, and appreciated that they had clear itineraries and prices listed right from the get-go instead of having to inquire, so that I was able to use that as a benchmark as I looked at other options. Once I reached out, communications were quick and Tatenda was able to address all the questions I had, including around customizing the tour. The deposit was easy and can be paid with card. I ended up with the 8-day trip that includes visits to Vic Falls, Chobe, the Nwetwe Pan, and the Okavango Delta including a helicopter ride, which was amazing. The pickups and transfers were mostly seamless and clear, and everyone I interacted with from Cuckoo were lovely (Louis, Shelton, and a different Tatenda). The lodging started out strong at the Shongwe in Vic Falls, but did slowly go downhill as the trip went on. I would ask to swap out Cresta in Maun if I were to do this tour again. In terms of the itinerary and the activities, I think it is generally well planned with a good balance between early starts and more relaxed days, but would recommend an extra night at Planet Baobab to avoid a very long day (5 hours on bumpy roads in an open air Land Cruiser, then another 2 to Maun, then the helicopter ride) and having some time to actually enjoy the facilities there (I'd swap it too but I don't think there are other options in that area). When I come back to this region of Africa, I would definitely work with Cuckoo again and would recommend them to anyone!

• Outstanding Tour

  johngB8291UP,

  Jul 29, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We found our 7 day trip with Cuckoo Safaris to be an incredible value. Traveling to this area is not cheap however Cuckoo gives you a very competitive price while also providing excellent service. Prior to traveling Cuckoo answered all our questions in a very timely fashion. The trip itself was well organized. We visited Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, Hwange National Park, and Matobo National Park. Each park has it's own character and was a different experience from the previous spot. The hotels and lodges that we stayed at were excellent. Luxurious with great food. Finally, our guide Simon made sure that our trip went as smoothly as possible He was in constant commnication with us via WhatsApp and was able to accomodate all of our last minute whims while still keeping us on schedule. All in all, I would definately recommend Cuckoo Safaris to anyone who wants an individual tour at a reasonable price.

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