Reviews

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Stacey G   –  
United States US
Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Sep 11, 2015

Email Stacey G  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Gail at Pembury is fantastic! Our trip far exceeded our expectations!
5/5

After researching more than 60 ‘safari’ planning companies, I selected Pembury. Pembury was the most apt to design a trip ‘just the way I wanted it’ and within my budget.

I worked with Gail in planning this ‘trip of a lifetime’ for my family and she far exceeded our expectations. Gail was thorough, knowledgeable, responsive, and flexible. She’s also a great negotiator as she negotiated upgraded rooms in several of our hotels.

Our lodging in Cape Town (Radisson Blu), Sabi Sands (Cheetah Plains), White Plains (Oliver’s), and Victoria Falls (Royal Livingstone) were all 5-star. The rooms were spacious, well appointed, and comfortable. The meals at the establishments were excellent too! The Radisson and Royal Livingstone offered impressive breakfast buffets. All the meals at Cheetah Plains were incredible and even though I’ve only been home for 3 days, I’m still dreaming of their meals and their amazing setting. I bring this up because the first night we were seated at a U-shaped table surrounding a fire overlooking the wildlife in the watering hole. Chef Paul and the entire staff were the finest we’ve ever experienced. We will definitely return to Cheetah Plains and the outdoor showers were great too.

Our tour guides (especially David with Paradise Tours in Cape Town) were on-time, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about their areas. The transfers between airports and lodges were excellent too and were always on-time, easy to identify, and helpful. It made our trip easy.

We really enjoyed our Cape Peninsula tour in Cape Town, the Elephant Ride at Victoria Falls (one of my favorite experiences), and our day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana from the Royal Livingstone. If you have the opportunity, do all three as they are certainly must do’s for any traveler.

The highlights of our trip were the animals and the people. We weren’t sure how long it would take to see such wildlife but within minutes, and even within the Cheetah Plains compound, we were seeing the Big 5. At Cheetah Plains, we saw 11 separate lions within a 2-hour period of time plus we saw Elephants, Giraffes, Cheetahs, Leopards, Rhinos, Hippos, Zebras, Monkeys, Cape Buffalo, Hippos and so on. Too many animals to name and thousands by the end of our 12-day adventure! Then the watering hole situated by the swimming pool at Cheetah Plains was a great place to watch wildlife during the day as elephants, monkeys, deer, cape buffalo, warthogs, giraffes, and so on came in for a dip and sometimes a complete mud bath spa treatment! We were so close on safari, you really didn’t even need binoculars as you were only feet away from these majestic animals.

Now in Chobe, you spend the morning on a boat ride viewing hundreds of elephants grazing and swimming, hippos, cape buffalo, crocodiles, birds, etc. which was a great addition to our safari viewing. The afternoon game drive was good too as we saw hundreds more animals but were restricted to staying on the road.

The other highlight was the people of Africa. They were so welcoming, friendly, helpful, and had the largest smiles. They won our hearts over and we will definitely be back.

Pembury’s impeccable service and attention to detail will make us repeat customers. I am a seasoned travel and due to my experience with Pembury, I will always recommend Gail and the entire team as they work magic! Thank you for exceeding our expectations and making this a true 'trip of a lifetime'.

Stacey G   –  
United States US
Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Sep 15, 2015

Email Stacey G  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Pembury created a trip of a lifetime. Far exceeded our expectations.
5/5

After researching more than 60 ‘safari’ planning companies, I selected Pembury. Pembury was the most apt to design a trip ‘just the way I wanted it’ and within my budget.

I worked with Gail in planning this ‘trip of a lifetime’ for my family and she far exceeded our expectations. Gail was thorough, knowledgeable, responsive, and flexible. She’s also a great negotiator as she negotiated upgraded rooms in several of our hotels.

Our lodging in Cape Town (Radisson Blu), Sabi Sands (Cheetah Plains), White Plains (Oliver’s), and Victoria Falls (Royal Livingstone) were all 5-star. The rooms were spacious, well appointed, and comfortable. The meals at the establishments were excellent too! The Radisson and Royal Livingstone offered impressive breakfast buffets. All the meals at Cheetah Plains were incredible and even though I’ve only been home for 3 days, I’m still dreaming of their meals and their amazing setting. I bring this up because the first night we were seated at a U-shaped table surrounding a fire overlooking the wildlife in the watering hole. Chef Paul and the entire staff were the finest we’ve ever experienced. We will definitely return to Cheetah Plains and the outdoor showers were great too.

Our tour guides (especially David with Paradise Tours in Cape Town) were on-time, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about their areas. The transfers between airports and lodges were excellent too and were always on-time, easy to identify, and helpful. It made our trip easy.

We really enjoyed our Cape Peninsula tour in Cape Town, the Elephant Ride at Victoria Falls (one of my favorite experiences), and our day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana from the Royal Livingstone. If you have the opportunity, do all three as they are certainly must do’s for any traveler.

The highlights of our trip were the animals and the people. We weren’t sure how long it would take to see such wildlife but within minutes, and even within the Cheetah Plains compound, we were seeing the Big 5. At Cheetah Plains, we saw 11 separate lions within a 2-hour period of time plus we saw Elephants, Giraffes, Cheetahs, Leopards, Rhinos, Hippos, Zebras, Monkeys, Cape Buffalo, Hippos and so on. Too many animals to name and thousands by the end of our 12-day adventure! Then the watering hole situated by the swimming pool at Cheetah Plains was a great place to watch wildlife during the day as elephants, monkeys, deer, cape buffalo, warthogs, giraffes, and so on came in for a dip and sometimes a complete mud bath spa treatment! We were so close on safari, you really didn’t even need binoculars as you were only feet away from these majestic animals.

Now in Chobe, you spend the morning on a boat ride viewing hundreds of elephants grazing and swimming, hippos, cape buffalo, crocodiles, birds, etc. which was a great addition to our safari viewing. The afternoon game drive was good too as we saw hundreds more animals but were restricted to staying on the road.

The other highlight was the people of Africa. They were so welcoming, friendly, helpful, and had the largest smiles. They won our hearts over and we will definitely be back.

Pembury’s impeccable service and attention to detail will make us repeat customers. I am a seasoned travel and due to my experience with Pembury, I will always recommend Gail and the entire team as they work magic!

Carla   –  
South Africa ZA
Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Sep 18, 2015

Email Carla  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Susan completely took all the stress and complications of planning a holiday away from us.
5/5

The trip was fantastic. Everything ran incredibly smoothly and was very well organised. Once the trip began and we were met at the airport with our detailed itinerary and vouchers and we were never left wondering what was going to happen next. The choice of accommodations were outstanding and we had wonderful experiences at each and every hotel/lodge that we stayed at.
Thank you Susan for planning such a wonderful holiday.

Lynne   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Sep 24, 2015

Email Lynne  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Stress free and exceeded expectations
5/5



We had never used a travel agent before, as I always conduct the research and make the bookings. While researching safari at Madikwe I found a Pembury Tour, so sent an enquiry. I received an almost immediate reply that a travel consultant would contact us directly. Tammy Harding contacted us, working to develop a customised itinerary. We absolutely loved our trip to Madikwe and are really glad we got to stay at Impodimo for the full four days. It was amazing and our guide was so knowledgable and friendly. The game viewing was excellent and we couldn’t believe how close we got to the animals. It was quite terrifying to begin with! All the arrangements for getting to and from the reserve were perfect . Our safari definitely made our trip a memorable one!

Extremely satisfied with the service, we contacted other operators for similar quotes, but Tammy's level of service was vastly superior to the others, so we went with Pembury.

The level of detail included in the planning is exceptional, which resulted in the entire tour taking place without a hitch. Tammy provides a detailed itinerary by email. The package incudes vouchers for all safari, hotel and internal flights.

Tammy and Pembury also encourage feedback and take said feedback seriously to improve their level of service to future customers.

The best recommendation I can give, is that I would definitely use Pembury to book our future travel in Africa.

Lisa   –  
Norway NO
Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Sep 29, 2015

Email Lisa

A wonderful holiday and a stress free service
5/5

I came across the website for Pembury tours when I was trying to wade through the huge amounts of information available on the internet when considering a holiday in South Africa. After sending a general inquiry through the website I was contacted by Tammy who came up with some great suggestions about what to do. We really didn't have any idea what we wanted to do (we felt overwhelmed with choice online) but Tammy put together a lovely itinerary for us including hotels and car hire. We were staying in South Africa on business before our holiday and she arranged for a welcome pack and itinerary outline, (including suggestions of places to visit, maps and driving directions between our hotels) to be delivered to our hotel, which was very helpful. She was also available during our holiday to help out with contacting the car hire company for additonal requests. The hotels that Tammy chose for us were excellent and exactly the type we'd asked for. Normally I’ve arranged everything myself for any holidays but knowing that the holiday had been put together by someone with local knowledge (and wasn't having to rely on tripadvisor reviews) made it far more relaxing. I’d highly recommend Pembury tours for arranging your holiday.

Michelle F.   –  
Philippines PH
Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Oct 7, 2015

Email Michelle F.  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

An incredible experience made possible by Pembury Tours!
5/5

It was our very first trip to the African Continent and Pembury Tours made sure that it was an amazing and incredible experience. Laurette McKinnon, our travel consultant did an exceptional job. We told her that the highlight of our trip was the Safari and she made that happen. She booked us at Kambaku River Sands; and totally exceeded our expectations. Everything about Kambaku was top notch - from the rooms, the food and the staff, the elephants drinking from the pool. The game drives were excellent. We saw the big 5, the ugly 5 :) , cheetah, wild dogs and a lot more and a kill! Our ranger, Phanuel and tracker, Riffus made the drives more fun!
Thank you so much! It was truly an incredible , memorable experience!

H. L. Singer   –  
United States US
Visited: September 2014 Reviewed: Oct 8, 2015

Email H. L. Singer  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Best travel experience ever!
5/5

We worked with Kerry at Pembury for almost a year to plan our 25th wedding anniversary safari. She is professional , Thor,ought and so helpful. She assisted us in creating a highly customized tour of SA, wine country, Vic falls and fabulous safari. She made great suggestions always followed thru and was completely flexible. She ma de the planning very easy and created a flawless trip. The travel packet was complete and contained all the c intact info necessary. I will highly recommend Kerry and Pembury for a Safari experience of a lifetime. Hope to return and will certainly reach out to her!

Sue   –  
Singapore SG
Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Oct 9, 2015

Email Sue  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

A wonderful holiday and stress free experience above all expectations
5/5

We rarely use travel agents as I usually research and make the bookings. While researching safari at Lalibela it was suggested I spoke to Penbury so sent an enquiry. I received an almost immediate reply that a travel consultant would contact us directly. Gail contacted us, working to develop a customised itinerary and arranged car hire, accomodation and safari bookings. We loved our trip to Lalibela. It was amazing and our guide was knowledgable and friendly. The game viewing was excellent and we couldn’t believe how close we got to the animals. Our safari definitely made our trip a memorable one! The directions and timings provided to get from one location to another made it easy for us.

Accommodation throughout was of an excellent standard.

We had contacted some other operators for similar quotes, but Gail's level of service was vastly superior to the others, so we went with Pembury and was very happy with their service all the way through. Gail was very knowledgable and happy to answer any questions we had during the planning process.

The level of detail included in the planning is exceptional, which resulted in the entire tour taking place without a hitch. Gail provided a detailed itinerary by email and we were met at the airport and taken to collect our car with a full travel package which incudes vouchers for the car hire, safari, hotel and pre-booked attractions.

Pembury encourage feedback to improve their level of service to future customers.

I would definitely use Pembury to book our next trip to Africa.

Doug   –  
Canada CA
Visited: November 2015 Reviewed: Nov 15, 2015

Email Doug

Kruger / Cape Town / Hermanus
5/5

Second time using Pembury Tours and Susan Pattison-Wait for our travel through SA. Very professional in our dealings and Susan's personal touch and suggestions was much appreciated. The agenda / recommendations and process all met and in many cases exceeded expectations. Would not hesitate to work with Susan again and have recommended friends to as well.

Barbie   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: October 2015 Reviewed: Nov 27, 2015

Email Barbie

Very helpful and efficient in organising our itinerary.
5/5

Communications and service both excellent. The safari tour was at Lalibela, we had been before so it was as good as always.

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