I knew I wanted to go to Africa, and I knew exactly what I wanted to see while there. The problem was that none of the travel agents in my part of Pennsylvania knew anything about Africa. Some were able to find a brochure or two, hidden in a back room, of tours that hit a few of the places I wanted to see, but they couldn't offer any advice. It was clear I would have to look elsewhere.

It was the quality of Rhino Africa's website that made me choose them. I found many other Africa travel agencies on the web, but Rhino's website stood out as the best designed and most informative. I know a little something about what it takes to build a good website, so I figured that a company that put this much effort into a fantastic site couldn't be fly-by-night. I admit this wasn't exactly the best measure of a company's reliability but it was all I had. I couldn't find any reviews of the company. So I took a big chance. It was a chance that ultimately paid off.

With Rhino Africa I was able to completely design my own trip. I didn't have to follow a tour or anyone else's idea of what an Africa trip should be. Although it's hard to compare, I'd guess the cost was only about 10% or 15% more designing my own trip rather than taking a tour. That difference was definitely worth it to me.

My agent was Dee. I told her where I wanted to go and she built an itinerary very close to what I was looking for. While knowledgeable, Dee didn't offer more information than I specifically asked for. I would have felt more comfortable if she held my hand and walked me through the process a little more than she did. And although I tried to stress to her many times that I wanted the equivalent of 3-star hotels, I felt like I was given 4-star and 5-star accommodations, which ultimately made me feel a little uncomfortable.

Once the trip was finalized and paid for, Dee sent me a large packet containing all the tickets and other documents I would need, plus a 15-page personalized itinerary. This itinerary did contain most of the information I needed, but it left out a few key points. For example in America I'm so used to e-tickets for air travel that I never thought otherwise. I didn't know that while I was in Kampala I needed to stop by the Kenya Airways offices to pick up my tickets for my flight to Tanzania. When we arrived at Entebbe Airport to leave the country, we came very close to missing our flight. I had to rush to find a Kenya Airways representative to give us actual tickets, which he ended up having to hand-write.

We also did have one transfer that didn't show. In Cape Town we were scheduled to be transferred to the airport at 4pm according to our itinerary. By 5pm no driver had arrived and we ended up taking a cab. Fortunately our flight wasn't until 8pm so we had time.

Otherwise we were very pleased with the job that Rhino Africa did. They were clearly knowledgeable and were able to make arrangements that a local agent couldn't even dream of. Despite a few glitches, our trip was a success thanks to them and I definitely feel comfortable recommending them.