Outlook Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 1998)
- Member Of:
- SATSA & FGASA
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $52 to $139 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CA
Email Laura | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent People... beautiful Animals
I took a chance and booked a 3 day safari with Outlook over the internet and hoped for the best. We certainly got it. The service was fantastic and our pick up in JoBerg was on time and the driver (Edi) friendly to chat with during the drive up to Kruger. Once in the park the staff was really great and the game drives outstanding, we loved our tour guide Debbie. She has a passion for the animals in the park and it shows even though it's "just another day at the office for her." We never felt like she had seen these animals a hundred times. The food was delicious and the wine flowed freely at the evening meal. It's a tremendous value and we would definitely book with Outlook again. *ONE NOTE*...if you're thinking about ending the safari with the Panorama tour ask ahead about the weather. We drove 2 hours out to do the tour and everything was fogged in. It was a complete waste of time, I wish someone had thought to phone up a guide in the area to ask about the visibility, then we would have been better off to stay and do the last game drive. I heard the same conditions applied the next day for the people who opted for the Panorama drive, so again it was a drive to see white out fog.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Surprisingly good
I booked last minute (a couple of days before leaving the UK) onto a budget safari (the first to respond out of 4 I emailed); it was £300 for 3 days so I thought it would be pretty rough. But it was well organised, the tents were fine, the food was very nice, the staff were friendly and knowledgable and most importantly we had great views of all the animals.
The drives to and from Joburg are a pain - if I was going again I would stay longer but the Safari itself was excellent and I would happily use outlook safaris again in the future.
Email Ali | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Possible Scam!
Horrible company and the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced from Steven. I booked a safari for two with the wonderful Elsabe (who is no longer with the company) for March 2020. This was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19. It was confirmed in writing by the company I would receive a refund after a year’s time to let the economy recover a bit. I waited patiently - in that time Elsabe left the company and no one replied to me for months on end. I finally got written confirmation from Steven that I’d get a refund in September 2022 and that this would take place latest 1st March 2023. That day came and passed. After dozens of emails trying to get a single reply, I have been forced to give up. I have since been advised that I should log a complaint with the South African Consumer Protection Agency as this is a clear violation of the laws in place since I have the refund promise in writing with a tangible date attached. I noticed Steven of this as I did not want to pursue this matter further and would have just settled for a reduced payment, but they have refused and again gone silent. I’m only writing this because I can see another review where this has happened listed here on trip advisor. I agree with them - please be careful when booking this company!!
NO
Email Merethe | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Some issues during the stay - The experience got worse after contacting Outlook
I visited Outlook in Pretoriuskop camp in April 2018, together with three other travelers.
Although unfortunate for us, I understand unforeseen things and misunderstandings can happen. So I contacted Outlook to discuss these things, instead of going directly online to post a negative review. I also asked Outlookfor a compensation.
I received quite an aggressive, insulting an unprofessional reply from their general manager, Steven. This leads me to give them a lot lower rating than I initially would have based on the issues during our trip only. Instead of being credited by the fact that I reached out to them, I was told that "it is in poor taste to hold us to ransom with a threat of a review online. Please note that your decision to do so was the convincing reason in our decision as to how to conclude this matter."!
With the conclusion being that Outlook takes no responsibility of any of our issues and that we get no apology or compensation at all.
I would say that all in all, Outlook safari offers an ok safari package: Guides are good(we enjoyed our game drives with Jojo and especially Jeremiah). We saw quite a lot of game despite some bad weather. Tents are good, (really appreciated the night stand with power supply in each tent). Food and wine was ok to good. If you are looking for a group trip to meet new people, the setting is good for that. Beds were uncomfortable though (a standard canvas field bed would have been better than the option we got).
Our issues though:
We were not informed before arrival that we were joining a group trip(only for the very first game drive was it mentioned that we would be together with other guests from the camp). That, despite the fact that I was from the beginning requesting a camping safari in a private camp. Once I realized that a private camp is not possible in the Kruger, I booked with Outlook still, since their daily itinerary looked quite exclusive. We were therefore surprised to arrive and see that the set-up was in a group with shared meals and safari vehicles.
The general manager addressed this issue by saying that Outlook has no control over how customers interpret the info they were given.....
...and by saying that he had looked through the information we were given, and that he could not see that it under normal circumstances could be misinterpreted by any normal people...
....he also said that it had been clear for their booking staff, that since we were asking for a camping option, clearly we were not willing to pay the price that a private safari costs. I think that should be up to the customer itself to decide.
Three of us got very sick during our stay. We all ate the same food, but the three that got sick all drank the dispenser water offered in the dinner-tent. And the fourth person that stayed healthy did not. After getting sick we saw the water being filled from a garden hose in the park. Outlook states the water is thoroughly filtered and therefore it is completely safe to drink. Even though water is filtered, that doesn't mean all bacteria have been removed and that everyone from around the world can safely drink it. Also, there is some question about the routine of refilling this dispenser bottle(hygiene of the bottle and the hose that they refil it from). We would have appreciated to have been informed that this was actually not prepared bottled water. Had we known, we would not have drunk it.
Because we got sick, we missed out on meals and game drives almost equivalent to an entire 4-day safari for one of us. Reports from us that we were sick were met with comments like: "That sucks!" No one checked in with us to figure out what made us sick or if any of us needed help. According to Outlook though, this is our own fault. As we were in a setting that was different from what we expected(we weren't looking to be in a group) and as we found some behavior of the guides weird, we were being a bit reserved and tried to make the best of it and enjoy the trip together with our chosen travel mates. We didn't ask anyone to "Leave us alone", but we weren't being personable with the guides. By doing that, they were apparently not supposed to follow up on us when we had a problem.
As mentioned, we reacted to some of the behavior of a couple of the guides, resulting in us taking some distance to them for the rest of our stay:
a) If you at dinner said "No thank you!" to another glass of wine, the guide try to convince you to drink more. Which could be innocent enough. but it's just unnecessary.
b) One of the guides came to our group one evening and loudly commented that we were not chatting or drinking enough. Then filled one of my travel companions glass even though she had turned it down. They could also say that this is only the guide trying to be friendly, but it's again unnecessary and unprofessional behavior.
c) One guide got intoxicated one evening in the dinner-tent. We only heard it as we were busy being sick, but other guests had been present.
Outlook stated further in their reply to me that their goal is to give customers their best holiday experience of their life. That experience we had last year while doing a private mobile safari with our own crew of three in Botswana. That experience cost us about the same as we payed for our stay with Outlook and not 10 times more as stated by Outlook that a private option would have cost us.
We also stayed at a lodge in Sabie after our stay with Outlook. It was better and at the same price that Outlook offers(stayed in tents there as well).
I realize and accept as stated by Outlook themselves, that most of their guests probably are happy after their stay. I guess I will also have to accept, as also stated by Outlook, that we are unfortunately part of the 1% of unhappy guests that they choose not to care about because they can "live with it".
All in all I would rate their safari package(not including our issues) as an ok to good budget option. Their way of handling customers on the other hand....Unprofessional and disrespectful!
Reply from Outlook Safaris
Posted on Aug 7, 2018Good day Merethe
Thank you again for your feedback on our game drives, the accommodation, meals and your safari experience as a whole.
I can assure you that it was not my intention for you to perceive my response to your demand as anything other than cordial and factual. I am very sorry if you feel that I was aggressive, insulting or unprofessional simply because I did not agree with you. I am sorry, but we investigated the facts of your complaint and came to a conclusion that differed from yours and it is my opinion that just because I did not agree with you, it does not mean that my conduct was unprofessional.
You made things very clear from your first email, by saying: “I will never recommend anyone to go on a safari with you, but I will not make any online comments if you tidy up in this situation in a professional manner.”
It is distressing to receive feedback such as yours, which is why we always investigate each point in depth and, as in your case, present our findings to you. If there were sufficient merits to your comments, we would have gladly refunded you not most of what you paid for your safari, but all of it. The fact that you made it clear that if you got that money, you would not inform potential fellow travellers of flaws with our product is your good right, but we can not reconcile ourselves with that.
In summary, all our safari options were presented to you and it was never stated that the one you chose was a private safari. If we had, by mistake, explicitly told you that yours would be a private safari, we would have readily refunded you, but as I made clear, your consultant never told you that it would be. We supplied you with what we promised you. Where we have supplied what we promised, we do not refund guests.
I personally questioned the guides that were on duty during your stay as well, and they stated that they tried to be friendly and hospitable to you, but were met with comments like “leave us alone”, so they also tried to give you space.
I further clarified the fact that the water in Pretoriuskop, supplied by the National Park is filtered to internationally accepted standards, regularly tested and repeatedly proven to be completely safe for use as drinking water straight from the tap. And we still filter that water again through another process. I tried to find any other person/persons that developed a stomach problem at the same time but there were no reports from any of our other guests or our staff.
Having said all this, we always have and always will welcome the feedback we receive from our guests, be it good or bad. And as stated in our email to you, it is 100% your right to review your experience online and we fully respect it, whether or not we agree with it.
Kind Regards
Steven Van Der Merwe
Outlook General Manager
NZ
Email Jacquie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fantastic experience
We booked our 6 day safari through DeTour Africa, and had a good experience from the start. They gave good, accurate information and were very fast to respond to our questions.
The guides were well informed, and patiently answered questions, searched for animals, and manoeuvred the trucks to get the perfect photo opportunity.
There was a definite sense of 'hunting' the more rare animals, sometimes to the extent that we seemed to be racing from one potential site to another. One suggestion I would make is that sometimes when more than one truck is going to be used for a safari (when there are lots of guests there could be 2 or 3 trucks going out) perhaps one could be used for a slower drive? Initially there is a big emphasis on finding the glamour animals, mostly the cats, but once we'd seen them I would have enjoyed looking at the smaller birds and spending more time watching impala and elephants.
Our package included breakfast and dinner - the meals were wonderful! The chefs produced great food, and we enjoyed the chance to try ostrich, kuzu, and pap. However, the Amarula cream custard is the stuff of legends :).
We were advised to take binoculars and I'm really glad we did. We ended up sharing them with most of the people in the trucks who didn't bring any.
One piece of information we didn't have when we booked - it's really tiring getting up around 5am and keeping your eyes peeled for animals for hours on end. Having a nap in the heat of the day was a real pleasure, but people who were staying in the tents found it too hot to spend any time there during the day. If you can, go for the chalets!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very well organized organization with very pleasant, professional staff.
Excellent flow regarding transportation from/to JoBurg & Kruger. Safaris always left at the predetermined time. Safari vehicles were never overcrowded and guides were very knowledgeable, especially Cedrik. He was very passionate about his work and shared several amusing folklore stories about the animals. The accommodation was very comfortable, clean and adequate. The food was exceptionally good and plentiful. Light meals before early morning safaris were particularly appreciated! I would recommend Outlook Safaris.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic safari experience with Outlook Safaris!
Thank you so much for the most wonderful safari experience, Outlook!
We did the Classic Kruger tour for 4 days and absolutely loved every minute. Thanks to Outlook's attention to detail and fantastic customer service - we had a truly amazing trip. For those of you still debating whether to book this adventure, I highly recommend it.
Here are some details about our experience:
We booked the trip after Google searching companies in the area. Outlook's representative, Elsabe, was incredibly helpful and answered my multitude of questions without any hesitation. I had never gone on a safari before and was a little wary about the entire experience, but Elsabe was great about addressing each of my concerns and more.
We ended up flying into Johannesburg airport and were met at the airport by an Outlook guide who was super sweet. Once we arrived at Kruger, we went out on a sunset safari that very day with the Kruger team and it was amazing. Over the course of our stay, we went on a safari every sunrise and sunset with the Outlook team. Thanks to the expertise of the guides, each safari was fantastic and we easily were able to see the Big 5 plus many more!
Finally, the food served throughout our stay was really great. The kitchen team knew exactly what they were doing and just stuffed us with great food.
I really cannot say enough about the fantastic staff - they were the reason we had such a wonderful experience!
Thanks you! Thank you!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari was fantastic but the road trip to and from was a disaster.
Helpful in booking and changing / amending booking at the last minute to an exceptionally good and exclusive safari. Picking up both times before the breakfast time at hotels and then stopping for long periods of time to pick up other passengers, once for an hour. Not stopping for food during 8-9 hours of road trip. Not friendly at all and not open to receiving feedback. Poor communication skills by the staff.
NL
Email Hanneke | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great service
I have been on safari with Outlook this month. It was my 4th trip with them.
The experience was amazing, as always! The communication was quick, friendly, helpfull and with a personal touch. They offer great service for a good prize.
Furthermore, their drivers, guides and other staff are professional and seem will to go the extra mile to make their guests happy. I would highly recommend Outlook!
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
fenomenal guides. excellent service!
Safari with Outlook was excellent! However a minor disapointment with meals(the cook was on holiday).
But the guides were great and serviceminded so no greater damage!
Reply from Outlook Safaris
Posted on Sep 26, 2013Thank you Barbara! Sorry that the chef was on leave while you were there! We'll have to make sure he is there for you next safari!