Fabulous feedback for &Beyond c/o Wendy Bruens

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My wonderful friend and colleague, Wendy Bruens recently arranged a trip for these guests – have a look at what they said! Well done Wendy- this is fabulous!

“Just back from safari and am now in a better place to advise you on your future travels. As you know I spent a lot of time researching African possibilities which led me round in circles because they are just so numerous. I can now simplify this for you entirely – Google a company called &Beyond (they used to be called CCAfrica), with them you can’t go wrong. You’ll see they handle the safari areas in numerous countries so next you should decide when and for how long. The time of year might influence where you visit. E.g. our Aug-Sept dates were ideal for the mass migration in the Maasai Mara and what a stunner that proved to be. This company covers just about everything worth seeing using the best options available. E.g. We started in a rarely visited park called Meru and that proved to be a real treat because we had the sense of being on our own looking for wild animals. In contrast, on the open Mara plains, they are everywhere but there are more people as well. But whatever you do make sure your itinerary includes one of the &Beyond Lodges. It was our experience at Bateleur (check it out on their website) which exceeded every expectation. The attention to detail is mind-blowing. I can’t begin to describe it, you just have to go. Above all it is their staff who I’m sure will separate them from the rest. You know I don’t give recommendations lightly (and never before without visiting a location) but I’m sure the same company policies/training will apply in any &Beyond lodge and that’s why I’m suggesting them without hesitation. Even when we had a problem with a service outside the lodge, they intervened on our behalf and the whole thing was fixed. The Bateleur manager, Milka, will do anything to make your stay perfect and she carries all her staff along with her – so many wonderful white teeth smiling.

&Beyond also has the whole community/environment thing going which eases the conscience because you really are staying in the lap of luxury. The Mara District has recently given it’s Responsible Guide Award to a Bateleur guide – not surprising when you hear how much training they are given. The winner was actually our guide, Charity, and what’s more she is the first female guide – again that’s &Beyond doing the right thing for modern Africa and elevating a woman to a level normally reserved for men.

I could go on about the animals (will send Picasa photos when sorted but I fear Jonathan took about a million shots) but luckily there seem to be plenty of places to see those. What will really make the difference in your trip is to have everything you can imagine organised for you, and there’ll be a whole lot of services provided that you can’t even imagine but they are just what you want when you are on safari.

Happy to give any more help I can but really you just need to get onto the &Beyond website and start asking their agent (contact below) to sort it all out for you.”

That’s Wendy third from the left when we went to Namibia