Craig your expert safari planner & private guide
Southern African Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- SATSA & CTT
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $79 to $129 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email albert | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Garden Route - A Great Tour with a Great Guide
We booked a five day, four night tour of the Garden Route with this company and were so happy that we did. The company's Craig Lucke did a fine job in making accommodations for us even when two of our party had to cancel out of the tour. He mad it easy for us to make payments, and easy for our pick up and drop off after the tour.
What was especially remarkable about our tour was our tour guide- Derick Keeling.
He made the tour. Articulate, passionate, knowledgeable, and even funny, he provided us valuable information, answered all of our questions, helped us with our luggage and belongings, and even escorted members of our party who were challenged with impaired mobility.
We kept him at our dinner, lunch and breakfast tables because of his insight to so many things South Afirca. A real asset to South African Tours, he exhibited compassion and empathy (giving food to some locals we came in contact with), a sense of safety (intercepting people who might have impaired our secrity), flexibiltiy (offering us alternatives to the set itinereary) and humor (so important later in the day when we were tired).
Easy Peasy. Lemon Squeasy.
BR
Email Adrian | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A truly fantastic experience!
My family and I enjoyed a great 5 day tour. The itinerary was excellent, the quality of hotels, the comfort and the warmth, knowledge & charm of our guide Gerard were all perfect! Extremely happy with this tour and highly recommendable to anyone that wants to enjoy the Garden Route at its fullest. We are already passing on the tip to all our friends & family. Many thanks to the crew at South African Tours!
CA
Email Jan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great last-minute organized 8 days in Cape area
We booked a tour with Craig of South African tours recently and, despite it being really last-minute, quite promptly he was able to put together a very memorable and quite filled tour. The first three days were with Craig himself as tour guide then followed by the Garden tour in the remaining 5 days hosted by Derek. The country is beautiful, even in winter, Craig provided us with a great introduction and reminder of the history of the country and lots of background information on the current situation, government, institutions, people, difficulties and strengths. We visited the Cape area, wineries, Stellenbosch, the beautiful botanical garden and unforgettable views of the landscape around Cape Point and Cape of good hope. Lots of information on good places to eat, walk, surf, live, etc. The Garden tour with Derek was equally fantastic; again loads of very helpful information, conversations with people on the road, beautiful sights of nature, whales in Hermanus, Knysna just recovering from a devastating fire, Storms river mouth wildness, and Oudshoorn's caves and ostrich farms. We felt that the care and organization by Craig's business was impeccable. Despite the short time of our stay we felt we got the maximum out of the time - perhaps sometimes too compressed or rushed, but that was just the nature of our trip; we wanted to see as much as possible. Overall, we met beautiful people from a beautiful, yet somewhat polarized country. Both Craig and Derek put significant personality in their tours - we enjoyed that tremendously. We will certainly go back if the opportunity presents itself.
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Email Amber | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Southern Africa Tours provided an amazing private tour, making our visit a trip of a lifetime!
I have traveled extensively both with and without using a tour company. I wanted to experience as much as possible for my first trip to South Africa and my friend found the 15-day private tour offered by Southern Africa Tours that also included Swaziland and Lesotho. I had never heard of SAT and have had several friends use a private guide for double the price for a similar itinerary so I was a bit skeptical---it sounded too good to be true. We did quite a bit of research before booking and this tour itinerary was packed with all the highlights our group of four wanted to experience, nothing comparable was offered by any other company---and certainly not at the value price we paid. I am so thankful that we decided to book with them! This was a trip of a lifetime and every day felt like the best day ever, it really did surpass out expectations. Andrea was very helpful in answering all our questions before the tour and making sure there were no issues, and you could tell that Craig had a great deal of experience in making sure his clients were well-taken care. They both contacted us during the tour to make sure things were going well. Some of the items we really appreciated included the ability to have a private guide without the huge cost you would typically expect, excellent accommodations that allowed us to further get a taste of the people and culture in each area, and having a tour guide that was South African and enthusiastic to share the knowledge and passion he had for his country. In addition to our regular tour guide, SAT provided several amazing local guides and they really allowed us to experience in depth the diversity of the people, landscapes, and animals on our journey. I would highly recommend Southern African Tours for both first-time visitors and those that are returning to further explore Africa---I can’t wait to go back and would use them again!
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Email John & Juliette | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely Fantastic first visit to South Africa
Southern Africa Tours customized a wonderful 10-day tour for us, including visits to Cape Town, Kruger Park, and Victoria falls. Our complicated itinerary was massaged masterfully by Craig and his staff until we had a packed schedule of activities and visits. Everything went off to our complete satisfaction. We were particularly impressed as to how responsive Craig and Andrea were to our many questions before the trip and how quickly they followed up when we had questions during the tour. We were especially happy with Derek, our guide for the days we spent in Cape Town. He was supremely capable, competent, entertaining, helpful, personable, a great source of information, and a really nice guy. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and spending our Cape Town days with him. He really went out of his way for us. One of the nicest things was how he always arrived early and we sat down and discussed the day’s itinerary. He actually wanted to accommodate us, and not the other way around. Nevertheless, he still knew how to gently push to keep us on track and on time. For sure I will recommend Southern Africa Tours, and Derek by name, to anybody I talk to about South Africa. Thanks guys!!
Fantastic Southern Africa experience!
At the airport waiting for our flight back to the States and we wanted to thank you for putting together a fantastic trip! We could not have been happier with all of your choices and the details that went into making this seem less and stress free. Thank you so much!
All of the accommodations were great as were the tour guides. Thank you for your flexibility and individual attention
AT
Email Aida | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience and fantastic trip
Our family (parents with two teenagers) went on a tour in South Africa. We planned to visit the North East, incl. Johannesburg, Panorama Route, Kruger and Swaziland in the first week and the Cape region in the second week. We had the ambition to experience as much as possible within 13 days. Andrea, our tour organizator, planned a great itinerary to accommodate our wishes; she even arranged for a pleasant surprise that delighted us: she booked us in the African Café in Cape Town for the last evening of our tour; a fantastic way to close our jouney in SA!
We started the tour through Johannesburg/Soweto, Panorama Route, Kruger and Swaziland for 6,5 days. Patrick, our guide, is a very engaged guy who knows a lot about the fauna, flora and the traditions of the region; his passion was contagious. The scenery on the Panorama Route is magnificent -the least I can think of to express the beauty of this region. Kruger was an epic. We were so lucky, because we saw much more beyond the „big five“ thanks to Patricks enquiries and willingness to chase after the rangers‘ tips whenever they spotted „rare“ animals (leopards, lions). It’s also a paradise for bird lovers. Swaziland has a great mountaneous scenary... Even though we weren’t lucky with the weather on our last day in Swaziland and couldn’t carry on with our farm visit as planned, Patrick elaborated a plan B and took us on a Johannesburg exploratory day trip. Patrick knows Johannesburg very well and showed us areas we’d never go to if it weren’t with him. Patrick deviated from the „official“ program to make us learn and see more (Pretoria, Apartheid Museum, a fantastic Swazi choir performance), and nicely cared for our well being throughout our journey. At the end, we felt like he was a member of our family.
Then we flew to Cape Town and started touring the region with Derek: Cape Town and the Garden Route within 6 days. The Garden Route tour was a collection of beautiful sceneries. The Karoo landscape with the passes we drove through were fascinating. Knysna, Mossel bay, Vic bay and Conga Caves are absolute gems. We spent one night in an Ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn and experienced a superb sunset and a great quietness. We visited the wine country; adults tasted wine, kids tasted chocolate! We were in the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, and the Boulders with the Penguins, and Kirstenbosch. - I could go on and on.
Derek was adventuresome and was willing to deviate from the route to accommodate the different wishes/tastes of the whole family. He took us to climb a light house, walk barefoot on a surfer beach and swim in a tide pool… He even made us chase the ISS station in the starry sky of Knysna! Derek is like the encyclopaedia of the Western Cape! He is amazing.
Overall: what we got exceeded our expectations. We saw much more of South Africa then we could have imagined in just 12 days.
An unforgettable experience and a fantastic trip that we’ll actively recommend to our friends.
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Email Andy A | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Garden Tour and 3-day Cape Town Tour
My wife and I visited South Africa for the first time on this trip. We set up the tour not knowing what to expect. What we got exceeded our expectations. It was easy communicating our arrival and subsequent hook up with our guide. Derek has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Western Cape and was fantastic. The Garden Route tour was like driving down Highway 1 in California but with more magnificent scenery if possible. The Game preserve is fascinating, Knysna is a gem, Tsitsikama is glorious, and the Conga Caves are something to behold. We visited the both the Little and Great Karoos and learned a lot about South African history. Derek was adventuresome and was willing to deviate from the route and cross the Schwartzberg Pass - on a road built in the 1880's and unchanged since then. Then the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. And the wine country. And the Boulders with the Penguins. - I could go on and on. Overall we saw more of the Western Cape then we could have imagined in just 8 days. The places we stayed were first class and the food was too much!!! An unbelievable trip - we will be recommending this trip to everyone we know.
Garden Route Tour.
We went to Cape Town on a conference and wanted to spend some time after the conference seeing S. Africa. Southern Africa Tours organized a trip for us, suggesting things to do and places to stay. They arranged a driver and car for us, accommodations etc.... The driver was great and suggested changes to the planned itinerary which made for a better trip. All the accommodations were very good; the provided meals were also great. We felt our cost was quite reasonable, considering we had a custom tour just for us. S. Africa is a wonderful country to visit and we really loved our tour. S. Africa has everything; mountains, oceans, lakes, forests, good climate, good food, wildlife and friendly people; the scenery in incredible. I would recommend Southern Africa Tours to anyone considering a tour there.
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Email Torbjörn | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wounderful 5-day private Garden Route Tour with Derek
My wife and I just returned from an exceptional week in South Africa spent with Derek from Southern Africa Tours. I would wholeheartedly recommend them and especially Derek as a guide to any one considering a tour in this beautiful country.
We decided on Southern African Tours because their 5-day Garden Route Tour best fit our schedule. This was a last minute decision on our part to go to South Africa, about two weeks of notice was given to Craig (the owner)
for the planning of our trip. He and his staff came through with flying colours for us. All our needs, expectations and more was met throughout our trip.
Derek is the most wonderful guide and person one can have on a tour like this. His knowledge of the country and all the sites we visited plus his enthusiasm about the flora and fauna made this the most rewarding visit any one can wish for. We also learned a lot about the history as well as current affairs of this fantastic country from Derek. I am at awe as to his knowledge about all the various subjects that came up during our time together.
This visit would not have been as rewarding as it was without Derek.
There are to many memories to mention here but these are our favorites. Wine tasting in Robertson valley, Canga caves, Whale watching in Knysna, Penguins in Bettys Bay and off course the game drive at the Garden Route Game Lodge.
Thank you Derek and Craig