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:
- $86 to $377 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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
NL
Email Dirk | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Unforgettable Journey Through Southeast Africa with Tailor Made Safaris
Our journey through Southeast Africa with Tailor Made Safaris was a priceless experience. The overwhelming natural beauty, the hospitality of the local people, the rich culture, the flavorful cuisine, and the incredible wildlife made this trip an unforgettable adventure. If you're seeking a journey that stimulates your senses and touches your heart, I wholeheartedly recommend a trip to Southeast Africa. Tailor Made Safaris ensured that everything went smoothly, allowing us to savor every moment of this remarkable journey.
NL
Email Jurgen de Zeeuw | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great trip with all the trimmings and as the name says "tailor-made"
We are back from our trip a week and a half and are still enjoying everything we have seen and experienced
The trip contained all the wishes we communicated about
The guesthouses and lodges were from good to very luxurious with good food and good service
Also the game drives were great with good guides who showed us all the animals on our list and told us a lot about them
We received an information book in advance with all addresses, information about country and customs, where we should be and nice advice about restaurants
Our adult daughters, who each had their own room or lodge, were also very enthusiastic about the accommodations and the trip
In short, this was the trip of a lifetime exactly as discussed only in superlative
NL
Email Familie Wolst | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very personal advise, nice contact and guidance during the trip. A lot of knowledge and connections.
Being able to make the journey of our lives very independently with our family. We made our wishes and budget known and that resulted in a nice suitable trip. Everything neatly within budget and no nasty surprises during the trip. Everything is arranged down to the last detail. A beautiful travel book in advance and personal contact during the trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and there is nothing we thought about afterwards; if only they had arranged it differently. The accommodations were top notch, the activities great.
If we are ever allowed to go again, we will definitely go with Tailor Made Safaris.
NL
Email Mark Z | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The experience of our trip was more than amazing thanks to Tailor Made Safaris
The anticipation of our trip started with extensive consultation with Tailor Made Safaris (which we already knew from two trips in the past) about what the trip should look like. They listened carefully and made a tailor-made trip that was completely to our liking. The communication was excellent, wishes and options were being exchanged all the time and little by little a perfect travel program was put together. Accommodation-categories were divided in basic/medium/luxury so there were options for every budget. We decided to do a mix of basic and a bit more luxury, which worked really well. After the booking a beautiful personalised photobook fell on our doormat, containing the full travel schedule with all relevant information regarding the trip/South Africa and some nice pictures. It was so much fun to receive this book which made us looking even more forward to the real journey!
Then the trip itself. It was wonderful, it really was. South Africa was only open for a week without too much Covid-restrictions when we flew there (yes we were a bit lucky). We started in Cape Town, a lovely city with nice tropical vibes. We climbed Lion's Head with perfect views on Table Mountain and saw the sun set at Signal Hill. We did a day trip to Boulder's beach to see the penguins. From Cape Town we flew to Durban, because Richard's Bay airport was still closed due to Covid-19. At Durban Airport we picked up the rental car and drove to St. Lucia. In this area we saw hippos in the lake as well as walking IN the village of St. Lucia. Furthermore we did some excellent game-drives in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. After St. Lucia we went to the private game reserves of Amakhosi and Manyoni. Over there we stayed in excellent lodges and had many game-drives. Important to say that all game drives during our journey were guided by very good, well experienced guides. However the guides in Amakhosi, Philip with his side-kick Jeremy, stole our hearts by adjusting every drive 100% to our wishes and doing their utmost to give us a fabulous meeting with some hidden lions. Nothing was too much for them!
Via, once again, a short stay in St. Lucia we drove to Drakensberg to stay a few days in the mountains where we were a bit unlucky with the weather but where we did a fantastic hike. We ended our 18 day trip in Johannesburg but before heading back to our home country we did another day of game driving at Pilanesberg. We simply couldn't resist the opportunity. There we saw, on our 16th and final game drive a leopard up close for one minute or so. It was a brilliant moment, the icing on the cake. Thanks Tailor Made Safaris for making this an unforgettable, very well organized journey. Your service was, once again, excellent, communication was transparent, and rental car, accommodations and all excursions were 100% well organized. It was fab. Looking forward to our next trip with you guys, probably in 2024!
NL
Email Ruud en Marion Coomans | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very professional and friendly organization, who know what they are talking about.
After 2 years of waiting (due to corona), we finally got to make our tour to South Africa at the beginning of October 2022. After expressing our wishes, our trip was put together. Before departure we had received a lot of information about our trip and you could always ask questions via the app or email. Nothing was too much. From the first minute to the last, everything was arranged down to the last detail. With our Nissan Xtrail 4x4 we were able to travel in a luxurious and relaxed way on roads that are not always comparable to those in the Netherlands. It took some getting used to driving on the left, but that went quickly. We made several game drives, where we encountered many animals, including lions, giraffes, elephants, ostriches, many birds, too many to mention all. A hippo and crocodile boat ride. A whale tour, departing from the beach, that alone was an exciting, rough and especially wet experience to get through the surf, once over the surf we were lucky enough to see jumping whales. A walk through the fig forest with a guide and snorkeling in the beautiful bay of Kosi Bay. Every day was enjoyable and we could recover from all the impressions in various luxurious lodges and cozy tents where the impalas, nyalas and warthogs walk around your accommodation. Everything, really everything was perfectly arranged Tailor-made Safaris. Nothing was missing and if there was something, the team was available and it was immediately arranged for you. In short, are you looking for your dream trip to South Africa? Then we definitely recommend tailor-made safaris.
We will now start sorting the approximately 6999 photos we have taken :-) This trip was truly UNFORGETTABLE! Tailor made safaris… THANKS!! and in particular Angela and Geert.
Ruud and Marion Coomans
NL
Email Larry and Hanneke Rackwitz | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very reliable and customer driven tour operator!
Again a beautiful and perfect organized safari trip in KwaZuluNatal by Tailor Made Safaris. A very varied travel program and beautiful lodges at top locations with an excellent price-quality ratio. Very professional approach and guidance during our trip. Beautiful accommodations with customer friendly and professional staff/safaris guides and trackers. Again Tailor Made Safaris deliver what they promise!
NL
Email Suzanne | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Trip was organized custom made AND beyond expectations!
Tailor Made Safaris excel in providing personal services.
Their communication is transparant. Prior to our journey we were given a personalized book containing all kinds of relevant information.
Good value for money, very neat accommodations in various priced categories. The game drives were well organized with well-versed rangers.
NL
Email Bram & Lotte | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable wildlife experience with an excellant Guide, wish i could go back tomorrow!!!
We booked tree trips at Tailer Made Safaris, a privat trip to the nearby wild park/a privat trip to the wetlands and a privat horse ride true a wildlife park. In one word unforgettible experience!!! Geert is great guy to spend te the day with! Very knowledgeable about wildlife/nature because of he is a biologist, we learned so mutch new stuf! Also professional and always aware of the envirement and safety. He has a gift, spotting wild life way earler than anybody i have ever met. Food was excellent, service was excellent, everything was taken care of. We know for sure that we will come back cause there is so much more to do. Can you amagine riding on a horse on the savane en encoutering all kind of animals such as zebra's antilope monitor lizard. Having a braai on top of an mountain surrounded by elephants. Having a picknik at the beach and swimming in the ocean. Like i sayed, awesome adventures, i will never forget it!!!