African Welcome Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 1999)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $120 to $459 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Warm Welcome
African Welcome Safaris planned a once in a lifetime trip for us to South Africa and Vic Falls. I worked with Kathi Simon and she was a big reason why we went with African Welcome after much research and deliberation. She constantly refined and perfected our itinerary to meet our needs and budget. She was very patient given all the requests I had for her and in the end made our trip perfect.
We started in Cape Town and our tour guide Rhys was a true delight. Nearly 2 years later, we still quote his anecdotes. In Cape Town we did a city tour, winelands tour and visited the Cape of Good Hope all of which were superbly planned.
We then continued our tour to Vic Falls (Zimbabwe). The accommodations were awesome and our 2 day stay there was magical. All our transfers were perfectly timed and everyone we came in contact with was super helpful and kind.
Our final stop in our tour was to Thornybush Game Reserve. The game viewing was spectacular. We spotted the big 5 twice in our 3 day visit and saw many other animals as well. Our hosts were quite possibly the nicest people I have ever met and they made us feel at home in Africa.
Overall, Kathi did a first class job in planning our vacation. She gave us a lot of useful tips and was amazing to work with. At one point our hotel charged us for Wifi which didn't work and we told our guide and he told Kathi who then called the hotel and had them refund our money. She truly looks out for her clients and makes sure that everything goes without a glitch.
If you are looking to book a trip to Africa, make sure it's with African Welcome Safaris.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An excellent honeymoon experience at an affordable price. Customer service is exceptional!
African Welcome Safaris planning was exceptional. They handled our mass of emails promptly and always had an answer for us. We booked and organised the entire 3 week honeymoon via email as we were in Australia and we wrapped with how easy it was. The information they gave us was always accurate. The itinerary was great, we got a taste for all the things that we wanted.
The information pack had a lot of very useful information. Transfers were also great.
In my line of work its all about customer service and I think that they did a great job looking after us and ensuring everything went smoothly.
We will definitely contact African Welcome Safaris again if going to Africa and have no hesitation recommending them to anyone. We were recommended them by a friend and have since recommended them to a number of other people that are looking at going to Africa.
I can not recommend them highly enough.
HK
Email Pat | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Overall speaking quite good.
Everything--lodges, food, services, tour guides, etc.-- is as expected or better, with one exception. One of the safari lodges did not have air-conditioning. At 40C during midday, which usually lasted for about five to six hours, it was very uncomfortable. Even though there were no safari drives during midday, staying in our room with the fan blowing only hot air, it was close to unbearable. The one way out was to take a dip in the pool, but not everyone wanted to do that.
SE
Email Henrik Nambord | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well planned and organised
Communications and service was very good. We would recommend African welcome Safari to anyone who wants a personalised and well planned trip.
CA
Email Laraine | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible animals, skilled guides. Many extraordinary conversations about life in South Africa.
Kathi organized every detail. While we were still at home, she found ways to communicate to ensure she understood what we were looking for and very flexibly modified suggestions accordingly. Continued to communicate while we were on the trip, reassuring us that someone was always tracking our whereabouts. Able to troubleshoot a couple of times when adjustments were required leading to totally smooth service.
We had 3 different safari experiences. They were all different and all excellent. Each guide was very skilled. The subtle way they located animals and knew where to position our vehicles to get the best views were my favourite parts.
Kathi encouraged us to go to Tanzania for a true "African" experience. It was a real highlight of the trip.
We had asked for some hiking to be part of out trip. When she included a hiking guide, we had excellent experiences.
CA
Email Lynne | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very responsive and easy to communicate with
Communication and responsiveness were excellent
HK
Email Patrick Leung | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very eye-opening, exciting and satisfactory overall.
We are happy and satisfied with the service and communication provided by African Welcome Safaris.
As for our trip experience, we had a wonderful time and enjoyed ourselves a lot, but the trip would be even better except for the following:
(1) Our original confirmed booking in Kuria Hills Lodge was cancelled and we had to stay in Kuria Lemala Camp instead. The land cruisers supplied by Lemala Camp was not in good shape and the food could be better.
(2) We were bumped out of Treetop Lodge despite our confirmed and fully paid booking made one year ago. Even though the compensation package is acceptable, many of us are still quite unhappy with this unexpected change.
Other than the above, the trip was great and we particularly like the gorilla trekking and the Bisate Lodge. We will recommend them to our friends in Hong Kong.
Email Ian Humphrey | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The trip was well organised, the overnight stays exceeded our expectations.
Communications were rapid and coherent. Expertise of advisor useful and valuable. All the information provided was clear and precise with the electronic information particularly good.
HK
Email Annie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great!
Truly professional and helpful guides combined with great hotels, with our agent Kathi always willing to answer any questions we might had, including last minute questions about drones and whether a fleece and windbreaker would be sufficient since it wasn't listed in the general information for winter travelling. For faster answers, call or ask to add agents on whatsapp, which Kathi suggested for quicker information exchange!
SG
Email Jean | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kathi was amazing!
Kathi was incredibly patient despite all the changes we had her make. She was helpful and replied as soon as she could. While the trip was unlike anything we had done before, we felt more options could be given regarding the type of car we were paying for. Well, we got a Mercedes and should not complain. Yet I can't help but wished we were given options (regular sedan vs luxury) beforehand and its corresponding costs. My tour guide was friendly and we had fun exploring Cape Town with him. Cape Town is beautiful and our safari was great.