Everybodies favourite guide, Trevor
Elephant Herd Tours & Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- SATSA & MISA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $67 to $1,065 per person per day (USD, 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
BE
Email Andy & Daisy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
second trip, twice amazed
This was the second time we traveled on a multi-day safari to Kruger NP with Elephant Herd (2016 and 2021). We chose Elephant Herd the first time because of the very punctual response on our questions. Brendon, the owner, is always very helpful in giving advise. The 2 guides we had were simply the best and they spared no effort to make our tyrip very memorable.
US
Email Michael | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
GREAT COMPANY- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
We booked our Kruger National Park safari through Elephant Herd Tours & Safaris after getting rave feedback from our work colleagues. Prompt efficient and professional from start to finish. At no stage were we in doubt as to what to expect, with a precise itinerary being received from Carla, which even included links to the accommodation options.
We chose a stunning private guest house called Dreamfields in Hazyview. It was exactly that. Thank you Philip for the service and breakfasts. How’s the little owl that is in the tree behind the swimming pool. Hope he makes it.
Our safari guide Trevor never stopped smiling. What a character. The Leopard man. Thank you Trevor for making us smile at 05h00 when normal sane people are still fast asleep. As for the safaris, Trevor you are the best. One day you can explain to us how you watch the road and see animals in the bush that we can’t even see with binoculars.
The panorama route is spectacular. Thank you for recommending it. We had no intention of sight-seeing.
Simply put, you guys rock and I want your jobs.
Michael Kohler
Email Fiona | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thank you for giving me a wonderful safari of Kruger game park This was a wonderful time Also my pri
I had a wonderful safari of Kruger and a private tour of the panaromour route Amazing scenery what a beautiful country South Africa is .The mountains the animals Sabi sands and the people Thank you for taking such good care of me You are all excellent the animal sightings in Kruger were really very special Thank you regards Fiona Clarke
Email Suzie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Friendly, reliable, helpful service which created a truly magical trip
This trip was a positive experience from the outset. I sent in a booking enquiry and received a quote back from Bev really quickly. The quote gave a detailed breakdown of what I could expect from the trip (a 3-day Kruger safari experience), what was included and so on. The price was reasonable (and, with current exchange rates, good value for money). Every time I went back with a query I got a prompt and helpful response, including advice about weather, clothing and what to pack. This was a big adventure for me and my partner to celebrate a milestone birthday, and Bev really went the extra distance to make sure we were well looked after from start to finish and that the experience was really special for us. It felt a bit of a leap of faith flying to a city we'd never been to and then getting on a shuttle bus to be dropped off 5 hours later in a town we'd never heard of. However we were provided with all the information we needed, including the registration and driver name for the shuttle bus, and everything ran to clockwork. Bev was there to meet us on arrival and take us to our hotel, which was stunning. The Elephant Whispers experience was a wonderful way to settle us into our safari trip, meeting these magnificent animals up close and learning more about them. The two safari days were fantastic. The guides arrived exactly when they said they would (and coped with our bleary-eyed incoherence at being up so early in the morning). Both days we arrived at the gates to the park at first light and had a wonderful time. We felt in utterly safe hands with our friendly, knowledgeable and experienced guides (Vuyo on the first day, Bhekife on the second day). They were brilliant, especially Bhekife, who spotted things at an incredible distance, and stopped frequently to peer out and look for footprints in soft sand to spot which animals had been by recently. Both guides were keen to help us find and see a huge variety of wildlife, including as many of the 'big 5' as possible but many other incredible sights. They were generous in sharing their incredible knowledge of the animals and birds and answering all our questions. They also made sure we were comfortable, offering blankets, rain ponchos and bottled water throughout the day. They were very good at picking up on what we were interested in and finding more of it to show us - my partner and I were interested in birds as well as animals and we saw so many species of birds we had never seen - an unexpected aspect to what we thought would be predominantly an animal safari. In our one full day and one half day we saw 3 of the big 5. We narrowly missed the elusive leopard (Bheki had spotted tracks from one and returned to that area several times, but no leopard appeared there until one was reported just as we were leaving the park), but we did see a cheetah instead. We also didn't see rhino - which given their vulnerability wasn't all that surprising, but we were able to catch up on rhino at the incredible service-station on the road back to Johannesburg. On our final day Bev and Brendan arranged a seamless handover of our luggage ready for our transfer back to the airport, and even arranged to print off our boarding passes for us (which was great as our phones were out of battery by the time we got back to the airport!!).
For the wildlife geeks reading this, we have a long list of what we saw -
Animals - impala, gnu/wildebeest, hippo, elephant (many), zebra (many), giraffes (many), kudu, hyena, nyala, buffalo, baboon, velvet monkey, lions (several), warthogs, crocodile, turtle, iguana, chameleon, steenbok, crocodile, cheetah
Birds - hooded vulture, woodland kingfisher, glossy starlings, egyptian goose, blacksmith lapwing, red-billed oxpecker, hammerkop, saddle-billed stork, african fish eagle, plover, grey heron, tawny eagle, white-headed vulture, african hoopoe, brown snake eagle, marabou stork, helmeted guinea fowl, swallow, bataleur eagle, grey lorrie, white-backed vulture, purple heron, yellow hornbill, red hornbill, white-fronted bee-eater, magpie shrike, lilac-breasted roller, brown hooded kingfisher, goshawk, ostrich
A special mention should also go to our hotel, Ashbourne Country Escapes. Rob and his staff treated us like royalty from the moment we arrived. Our room was wonderful (even though we didn't have as much time as we would have liked to lounge around and enjoy it). The sundowner bar is a magical spot and our dinner both nights was utterly delicious. We also set off both days with a delicious packed breakfast to eat while out on safari. Rob is a truly delightful host with lots of interesting tales to tell at the bar of an evening. It's a wonderful hotel - the service is discreet, attentive and meticulous and it is in a breathtakingly beautiful spot. Can't recommend it highly enough.
I was hoping that this trip would be a memorable, magical experience and it exceeded my expectations by some way. We felt safe, confident and well looked-after throughout the experience and were able to relax and concentrate on soaking up the sights and filling our heads with incredible images and memories. I think that is a tribute to the personal care and attention to detail by Bev, Brendon and the Elephant Herd team, and the superb guides Vuyo and Bhekife. We are enormously grateful to all of them for opening our eyes to such wonderful experiences. We hope to return someday. We definitely left wanting more!!
NL
Email Eric | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best safari ever
Our ranger was very good, he knew everything about the Kruger Park and the animals, he was born there
DE
Email Aylin | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic and very experienced operator who goes the extra mile
Perfectly organized safari. We had a really nice small group, a guide with 26 years of experience, good stories and an excellent sense of humor. They went an extra mile to make us all happy. We saw quite a lot of animals, learned & laughed a lot about animals, South African culture and landscape. Would always choose this operator again.
MX
Email Alex Martin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excelent service and quality of the stay and tours inside Kruger
After a detailed search we choosed Elephant Herd because of the opportunity of interaction with elephants at "Elephant Whispers". We saw pictures of the lodge which had great quality and the best of all, were the private tour into Kruger with one of the best guides we ever meet: Bhekifa Ngomane
AT
Email Pia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Misleading and dishonest
I cannot recommend booking any Safari tours with Elephant Herd.
We booked 2 tours with them on two subsequent days. Since the weather was supposed to be awful in the early morning on the second day, we thus discussed with Brendon & Rene to shift our private tour to start a bit later that day. They agreed to re-arrange our tour, picked us up at 7:30 am (instead of 5:30 am) but then brought us back 2 hours before tour end!! Instead of a 6-hour tour we only got a 4-hour Safari! We never received any money back nor did they apologize for miscommunicating and misleading us
Reply from Elephant Herd Tours & Safaris
Posted on Oct 17, 2023
At around 19h00 on the evening after your first safari, we received a request from you, via the guesthouse, requesting a different guide for the second safari on the following day as you wanted another guide’s perspective of the Kruger. We advised that, due to the lateness of the request and the fact that it was peak season, we could not oblige as all our other guides were already booked for the following day. As is standard practise, when guests book multiple safaris we normally schedule the same guide for all their safaris. You then requested to cancel your booking for the following day due to the prediction of possible rains. We advised that we could cancel the safari but that 100% cancellation fees would apply, as is the industry norm. We had previously, in emails, provided you with the link to our website which has the Terms & Conditions very clearly stipulated.
Then, instead of cancelling, you instead requested a later pick-up time for the following morning - not wanting a 05h30 start but a 07h30 pick-up, to which we complied. Our guide was at your premises by 07h15 for the scheduled 07h30 pick-up however, you only boarded the vehicle at 07h50, thus you were 20 minutes late for the scheduled and requested pick-up time – a fact you omitted to mention. Your safari was originally booked for the morning time slot being 05h30 -11h30. Smiley, our guide, dropped you off at your accommodation venue 12h03. The fact that you requested a later pick-up does not automatically qualify you to extend the drop off time which was clearly your assumption, and never our commitment to you. The safari vehicle was already pre-booked for an afternoon safari, with other guests collection scheduled for 12h30, which we explained to you telephonically when you called from the vehicle complaining that the guide was going to be exiting the park.
During said telephonic conversation you demanded a 50% refund and threatened that should the refund not be forthcoming that you would write bad reviews on every possible review channel/social platform, which threat you are now clearly following through with even though we did advise the guide to continue with the safari for an additional half hour, thus the 12h03 drop off but he could not extend any later as we had a 12h30 guest collection.
99.5% of the approximate 800+ guests per month that book and participate in a safari with us, have only positive reviews on the trip review sheets that the guests complete on a daily basis as well as on the various social media and advertising platforms. Our reputation, dedication, attention to detail, guides’ knowledge and professionalism are all highly rated and the vast number of positive reviews, as well as the number of “return” guests, can attest to the fact.
IL
Email Zvi | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Pleasant to deal with the management, but the guide left something to be desired
Management was fine, price was reasonable. We had a half day safari; it was our first. The guide took extended breaks during the day and acted annoyed when we asked questions
US
Email Steve | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best possible safari experience
My friend and I contacted elephant herd to plan a 5 day safari trip with only about 4 weeks of notice. We specifically requested a quote from elephant herd because they limit occupants in the safari vehicle to 6. As it turns out this matters quite a bit in how easy it is to photograph animals and how quickly you can move through the park. If you’re considering a safari with greater than 6 I would advise against it.
Every human interaction I had from the time of requesting the quote was phenomenal. Brendon planned and arranged everything for us, including van transfers from JNB and back, and he gave us a taste of both Kruger National Park and a private reserve called Karongwe which is a few hours north of Hazyview. Brendon even took us to and from dinner both nights we were in Hazyview. Our safari experience in Kruger was perfect. We did a sunset safari on our first evening , followed by a full day safari the next day, and a super epic morning safari on our third day. We were fortunate enough to have Keegan as our guide on the 6 person full day safari. That was so enjoyable that we requested him as our guide for the morning safari with only my friend and I in the truck. So we basically ended up with a private safari for 5 hours, during which we saw all the big 5, plus a honey badger, plus a rare glimpse of wild dogs getting chased away from a kill by a lion! And this is during a time of year (November) when it’s typically more difficult to spot wildlife. Keegan has a wealth of knowledge about the animals and plants in Kruger which was both interesting and helpful in locating the animals we wanted to see. I would absolutely recommend Elephant Herd for safari bookings based on the quality of the safari experience and the high level of customer service. Many thanks to Brendon, Keegan, and Big Ray!
