Nick van de Wiel of Tailor Made Safaris
Tailor Made Safaris
- Located In:
-
Netherlands
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Member Of:
- FGASA, TKZN, MHCTO & EDTEA
- Tour Types:
- Self-drive mid-range & luxury tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $87 to $381 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Namibian Photographic Workshop
Tailor Made Safaris make an incredible effort to ensure that from the moment we arrived at Windhoek airport until the time we all left to go home, we were to experience something really rather special. The organisation was exceptional. Having done a recce the year before, Nick & Emil had meticulously planned the itinerary. There was an element of tourism for those of us new to Namibia, but of course primarily it was a photographic workshop, an intense one at that! Dawn shoots, dusk shoots and star shoots all at the most amazing iconic venues. Quite exhausting but we all learned an awful lot thanks to Nick van de Wiel and our photographic expert Emil von Maltitz. Both of them had an in depth knowledge of photography and who gently and patiently nudged me up a very steep learning curve! We were a happy, cohesive group made so by the huge efforts of Nick, his wife Freya and of course Emil. They made every effort to ensure that everyone's needs were catered for and that we indeed got value for money. My heartfelt thanks to them and my fellow students for making this truly, a trip of a lifetime.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Had a wonderful experience using tailor made safaris they helped plan my amazing proposal!
The communications were simply and straight forward and all the trip was planned to perfection. would certainly use the services again. The safari tour itself was excellent considering the weather problems but they still went out of there way to cater for myself and my partner. highly recommended!!!
NL
Email Roel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A fantastic experience with quality service
We (party of 6) decided to book our trip 'the best of the elephant coast & drakensbergen' with Tailormade Safaris and had a truly wonderful experience. Everything was well-planned and organised and the service was exceptional. Geert/Nick and Freya really delivered on their promise of giving us a one of a kind experience, combining amazing gamedrives, great food (Tailormade Safaris' Nicholaas really knows how to braai!) and secluded lodges with breathtaking views. We will without a doubt book another Tailormade Safari. Geert/Nick, Freya, Nicholaas; thank you for the best trip i've ever had!
Email Dan Baylie and Hope Weaver | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A well planned, well executed, thoroughly enjoyable and memorable holiday!
We visited South Africa as a large family group. The itinerary/activities were well planned and catered for all parties. We visited five places in total including St Lucia, Leopards Mountain, Ithala, Thonga and Tembe. We had amazing experiences and sightings at every destination; memories to treasure forever!
Nick/Freya were always helpful and nothing was ever too much trouble. We would strongly recommend 'Tailor made Safaris'. Overall, the holiday and 'Tailor made Safaris' surpassed all expectations and will use these guys for future holidays in SA.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most memorable experience with Tailor Made Safaris in South-Africa!
Our trip with Tailor Made Safaris was beyond memorable! Friends told us about their great experience and everything about that was true. We send Tailor Made Safaris an e-mail with our plans. They quickly responded with a few questions about our budget, dates of traveling and preferences (what kind of wild parks and accommodations). After we filled that in, we received a very detailed offer which fitted our desires perfectly. After a week in Cape-Town (own planning), our week with Tailor Made Safaris was what we hoped for. We stayed for 3 nights in Avalon Guesthouse in St. Lucia, with a couple of day trip safaris. After that, we stayed for 2 nights in Tembe Elephant Park and 2 nights in Rhino River Reserve. Al those parks and accommodations were pretty amazing. The game drives were so good and the guides had great knowledge of all the animals. Also the service at the accommodation was perfect. We didn't want a massive touristic experience, we were more looking for an African experience. And we did get the African experience!
Email Mark Weaver | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding game viewing, first rate accommodation... A fantastic time to be repeated soon!
We are proud to have been the first to provide a review for this fantastic team and we are so please that every review since has been just as positive. Well here we are less than 12 months since our last trip with Tailor Made Safaris and again we have to congratulate them on providing another first rate vacation, now that has to be a good recommendation! This trip we thought we would pile on the pressure, so my wife and I brought our daughter, her partner, my Mum and Dad, we were to meet up with Ollie (our son) again and his girlfriend was to join us for a few days at the start of the trip! To add further interest, my parents would do a different tour after 6 days and then meet up with us again for the last day. I have to say that even with all these complications the Tailor Made Safari team just got stuck in and came up with absolutely fantastic tours for everyone. Mum & Dad did the more scenic/cultural side of things. Ours was much more of the wildlife direction with a little rest in the middle. I would consider this to be quite a complex pair of trips and jet the response to our many and probably sometimes annoying questions was always prompt, efficient and clear.
The accommodation recommendations were varied (B&Bs to 5* lodges, first class tents to hi quality beach hotel) but all were great. Little things are what often count in the customer care game. We mentioned in our pre-booking questionnaire that my wife likes Earl Grey Tea with skimmed milk. That was what was provided at every accommodation, great attention to detail!
To pick up the format of our last review we had more things to tick off our respective Bucket Lists; Cheetah in the wild…not one though but six…and on a kill!
Ollie saw an Aardvark which is extremely rare.
We saw Black Rhinos …with calves which were had not managed to see last year.
Memories – this time in addition to the cheetah, there was sitting in bed in a tent at Tembe while a wild elephant roamed in the camp just feet away.
Sitting in an open game viewer while two lioness, one adolescent male and four cubs pass just feet away.
Visiting the Zulu village and seeing and playing with the kids at the crèche.
Sitting in the deck at Ithala Lodge enjoying a fantastic fillet steak salad while laughing and joking with my family and Nick (now also part of our family weather hi likes it or not).
The whole trip was so full of new and fantastic experiences and many very happy memories that are far too numerous to list here.
Tailor Made Safaris again created a diverse, interesting trip with plenty to see and do, good quality accommodation and importantly fantastic game viewing. Ollie was kept engaged and learnt things that he otherwise may not have and the rest of us saw and learnt more than I could have imagined.
The mix of B&B, in park, luxury safari tent, reserve lodges and hotel accommodation was great.
Again, I will have to repeat myself from the last review, “With any holiday of this type there are two important questions
1) Would we pay good money to go again?
2) Would we recommend the guide company to friends and family?”
Our answer in both cases is again a resounding yes and while still in Africa, Mum & Dad had already started planning another trip with Tailor Made Safaris for 2015!
Thanks Nick for being a fantastic guide and for putting up with us, keep up the good work.
The Weaver family
United Kingdom
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable journey. In one word: Awesome!
It was memorable and we are confident that we will go back. We greatly enjoyed the Drakensberg , the many animals that we saw ( zebras , giraffes , antelopes , the " cats " including lions, elephants , wild dogs , whales , dolphins, turtles , etc. ) And the very friendly locals. Tailor Made Safaris planned a wonderful trip for us by listening to our needs and delivering what we asked for. The three and a half week trip provided a variety of activities and adventures and also a chance to relax. The Mozambique and Swaziland extensions, each for a few days were very nice. The accommodations was very good (luxury bed and breakfasts to beautiful luxury tents). We found it very helpful that Geert and Freya were continuously accessible and worked ceaselessly to please us. An unforgettable journey. In one word: Awesome! Thanks a lot for everything and see you soon!
NL
Email Manouk Goettsch | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best holiday ever!
We never been on a holiday outside of Europe and I am so happy that we booked our holiday with Tailor Made Safaris!
We booked a self-drive tour from Drakensbergen, via St. Lucia, to Mozambique, Tembe Elephant Park and we ended our fantastic journey in Swaziland.
Everything was perfectly arranged. The accomodations, the navigation, the excursions. We never booked a holiday that was so well-organized.
Also all the accomodations where beautiful, clean and of high quality.
We recommend Tailor Made Safaris to all our friends and we ensure you that you can't find a better operator for your dream journey to South Africa!!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
For the fourth time in South Africa with Tailor Made Safaris and, as always, great!
The Big-3 from Rooi - for the fourth time in South Africa with Tailor Made Safaris and, as always, great!
This year we came back for the fourth time to Tailor Made Safaris and we chose KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, finishing off in Kruger.
We started in Pongola in a lodge with a very nice view. Here we enjoyed rhino tracking on foot, which was very impressive!
Then Hluhluwe - iMfolozi in an unfenced camp. During the braai on our first evening we were visited by a hyaena and on the second night, a bushpig. Exciting! We saw our first wild dogs, as well as buffalo, lions, many birds, rhinos, elephants and more.
We couldn’t leave out a few days in St Lucia. There we enjoyed a boat ride, horse riding, good food and a drink once in a while. Of course we were very curious about the famous Sushi Safari. Well..... it did not disappoint. Highly recommended! We went on our first night drive and what an experience in itself with a great driver who saw everything in the dark.
Then on to Mkhuze and beautiful accommodation. At the waterhole we enjoyed the coming and going of many different animals. This is never boring.
And then Tembe.... nice and luxurious. We stayed in tents in the park and had been warned of the elephant iSilo who occasionally broke through the fence to visit the camp and yes, on the last night we heard a lot of noise and there he was! He then walked through the gate back into the reserve. This was a beautiful gift.
Furthermore, we had Ndumo Game Reserve and Mlilwane, Swaziland still on the programme. Ndumo with its many birds and Mlilwane with its great markets.
Finally, Kruger National Park. We had seen most of the Big 5, with only the leopard remaining missing in action. That had to happen in Kruger. On both of the last two days we managed to see leopard, both times lying on a tree branch. The second time it even had prey!
We were happy to have seen the Big 5 again.
This holiday was great. We saw a lot and also enjoyed good food and a drink once in a while!
Email M Weaver | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Family Weaver - Tailor Made Safaris absolutely delivered!
This was our first trip to Africa and importantly it was an opportunity to see our son Ollie for the first time in 8 months. He is studying in KwaZulu-Natal to be a field guide so we were keen to have a well organised, exciting and interesting vacation where we could learn new things, see and experience the sights and culture of the country that Ollie has fallen in love with and that would stretched and add to his knowledge through our guide.
Tailor Made Safaris absolutely delivered!
Despite having a hiccup at the start of the holiday when we missed our connecting flight to Richards Bay (through no fault of ours or Tailor Made Safaris!), Nick and Freya kept in touch, dealt with our frustrations, offered solutions and worked round the problem while assisting us with communication our son who was patiently waiting to be collected.
When we did eventually arrive, Freya our guide slipped into our family unit with ease while retaining the necessary professionalism and excellent hosting skills. Being British, I confess that the prospect of sharing much of every waking hour with a stranger in a strange country was daunting…I should not have worried. Freya put our mind at rest saying that if we wanted time to ourselves to just say and arrangements would be made.
The attention to detail regarding our interest, our needs, our food preferences was first rate and it did not go un-noticed that Freya altered plans without even a blink when we changed our minds, no fuss, no drama, it just got done.
It is very hard to come up with a favourite part of the holiday, there were so many but here are some…
Tembe allowed me to cross of my bucket list “To see a leopard in the wild” which I was absolutely thrilled about.
Seeing Ollie’s face when he came back from a diving trip while we were at Thonga Beach Lodge where he saw turtle, white shark, whale, dolphins and heard whale song. He was totally buzzing!
Seeing Isilo, the elephant with 2.7 m long tusks, at night in the camp at Tembe.
Stepping out of our chalets at Mkhuze and iMfolozi and having game just 10 feet away.
Seeing a bull Elephant walking down the road at Mkhuze without a care in the world and being given insights into these magnificent creatures by Freya while she drove backwards down the road to allow our tusked friend to go where ever he wished…which was to follow us for ¼ mile down the road!
Seeing how much Ollie has learnt about the wildlife in Africa in such a short space of time and to have an expert on hand to further test his skills and fill in any gaps.
The first sight of the Indian Ocean and the beach at Thonga as we crowned the last dune before our decent to the resort was breath taking.
All were fantastic but these are just some of the experiences!
Tailor Made Safaris created a diverse, interesting trip with plenty to see and do, good quality accommodation and importantly fantastic game viewing.
The mix of basic “in park”, luxury safari tent, lodge and hotel accommodation was a great introduction to vacationing in South Africa.
With any holiday of this type there are two important questions
1) Would we pay good money to go again?
2) Would we recommend the guide company to friends and family?
Our answer in both cases is a resounding yes!
Thanks Freya for being a fantastic guide and for putting up with us and thanks to Nick for drawing up and proposing such a great vacation (and for entrusting your wife to us Brits for two weeks).
To further emphasise our commitment to this level of adulation, we have recently booked to return to South Africa and to again use Tailor Made Safaris. I should also add that this time we return with my mother and father, my daughter and her partner!
The Weaver family
Worcestershire, United Kingdom