Southern African Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $69 to $129 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email EJ | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They took our money and didn’t plan anything.
We began planning our 2025 trip to South Africa back in September 2024. Originally scheduled earlier, we had to postpone due to friends in our group becoming new grandparents. Bianca and Craig from Southern African Tours came highly recommended, and at first, they lived up to the praise—responding promptly to inquiries and accommodating the adjustments we made nine months ahead of time.
However, as the trip approached, communication began to falter. We were repeatedly assured that a detailed itinerary, including guide names and reservation numbers, would be provided, but we never received it. One week before departure, we managed to speak with Bianca, who again promised to send the necessary details. Unfortunately, nothing ever arrived.
Despite the lack of information, we remained hopeful that everything had been arranged as promised—after all, we had paid in full for the trip, including accommodations and excursions. That hope quickly vanished upon arrival in South Africa, where we discovered that no internal flight reservations had been made. Even more troubling, our accommodations in Kruger and Cape Town had not been booked or paid for.
This was a devastating realization. I have never experienced anything like this with a business. It feels as though they took our money and disappeared. Although Bianca had assured us she’d be available for support during the trip, she has not responded to any of our group’s calls or messages.
Looking back now, some warning signs were there—particularly Craig’s defensive responses to other reviews, which, in hindsight, should have raised concerns.
We’ve been saving for this trip for a long time, and it’s heartbreaking to see our money mishandled like this. Thankfully, members of our group have stepped up to salvage the experience, and we’ve had the opportunity to meet some truly wonderful people here in South Africa. Sadly, we can’t count Craig and Bianca among them.
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Email S mathew | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible experience! Abandoned in South Africa after full payment
Horrible Experience – Abandoned in South Africa by Southern African Tours
We had a devastating experience with Southern African Tours, run by Craig and Bianca. We began planning our trip with them over a year in advance, starting in September 2024, for our visit in September 2025. Our payment schedule was as follows:
• First deposit: September 2024
• Second payment (local flights): November 2024
• Final payment: June 2025
Initially, communication with Bianca was good — she was responsive and professional until just after our second payment. After that, she became increasingly difficult to reach. Messages and emails often went unanswered for days or even weeks, and she frequently claimed to be “too busy” to talk.
The worst began right before our departure:
• 5 days before the trip, we asked for a group call to finalize the itinerary. She said “Monday,” then ghosted us.
• The day before departure, we urgently requested our pickup and flight information for our trip to Kruger National Park. No response.
• Upon arriving in Johannesburg, we discovered no local flight reservation was made — we had to book and pay out of pocket, on the spot.
• When we got to our first lodge, we were told our reservation had just been made the day before, and they wouldn’t let us stay unless we paid again for the first two nights.
• The next part of our stay was also a disaster — no transportation or accommodations were arranged, and again, we had to make and pay for our own arrangements.
• Later, we flew from Kruger to Cape Town, only to find out no flights had been booked there either. Once again, we covered everything ourselves.
Essentially, they took our full payment and provided none of the agreed-upon services. We were left stranded multiple times and had to rebook everything ourselves.
We read other reviews that mentioned similar issues but were reassured when we saw Southern African Tours respond defensively, blaming customers or claiming miscommunication. Now we know the truth — do not trust the reviews or their responses.
👉 Based on our experience, we strongly advise against using Southern African Tours.
👉 We felt let down by Craig and Bianca and would not recommend dealing with them.
👉 After paying, we felt abandoned and unsupported during our trip.”
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Email Keith | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Poor communication
We felt that this tour operator had poor communicative and didn’t book our tour or flights as originally expected. We originally booked our November safari with them in March 2024 and paid our 50% deposit at that time. After multiple emails over the next several months asking for confirmation that our flights and lodge had been booked, we found out in September 2024 that the flights hadn’t even been booked yet. We proceeded to book our own flights at that time. We would not recommend this company.
GH
Email Curtiss D. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Appears not to be a trustworthy tour operator
I booked a ZAR 144k tour with this agency and unfortunately had to cancel due visas issues beyond our control . I paid a deposit of ZAR 78k and the operator advised that they could only refund ZAR 50k , deducting various penalties and their own admin fees. This was happening in summer 2023. I even agreed that they repay in installment of ZAR 10k as they were raising some cash flow issues. For the last 6 months they haven’t paid anything !! They always come with an excuse as to why they have not paid me yet….This has become a nightmare!
I would caution anyone to deal with this agency as I believe they are simply not trustworthy