The Wild Wings team - Loving Every Moment!
Wild Wings Safaris
- Located In:
-
United Kingdom
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2005)
- Member Of:
- SATSA & ABTA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $256 to $2,196 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
Email Elbertse | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great help from Madi and an amazing Kruger safari with Simon!
Wild Wings (Madi) organized based on our wishes a 24 days trip to S-A (J'burg - Pilanesberg - Garden Route - Cape Town - Kruger). We stayed in very nice lodges / guesthouses on great locations with very nice owners / staf and service. Our holiday ended with a 5 day Safari (Sakuza & Satara) with Simon. Simon is the absolutely the best! Enthousiastic, large knowledge from animals and from S-A, a great cook, a nice guy and most important an awesome animal spotter. Another advantage for us is that he speaks Dutch, which was very nice for our 2 boys to ask him questions of all animals.
Madi, Simon & Wild Wings Safaris many thanks !!!
Email Jason & Shelby | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wild Wings Safari Absolutely Delivered
We worked with Madi at Wild Wings Safari to organize our trip to Africa. Madi was amazing in helping us customize our itinerary to suit our plans, and we were absolutely blown away by how seamless everything was executed once in Africa. We booked all of our flights, but Madi arranged for all of our lodging, tours, transfers and even some meals. Our trip included 3 different countries (6 different cities in all) and every transfer went off without a hitch. The professionalism throughout was very reassuring, and we will definitely contact Wild Wings Safari for our next visit to Africa!
NZ
Email Leon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top class experience!
Incredible experience staying at the Greenfire Game Lodge in the Greater Kruger National Park booked through Wild Wings Safaris. The whole trip was a 1st class operation from the accommodation (which were stunning modern bush cabins looking out onto a large river bed where we had various wild animals coming to drink from everyday - herds of wild elephant, buffalo and numerous deer/antelope) the staff who were extremely friendly and helpful, the food which was outstanding, varied and cooked taking into account my wifes diet allergies and the safaris were amazing where our tracker did a great job in finding us all the animals and also taking us on a lovely 'on foot' guided walk as well. The transport was also all arranged through Wild Wings Safaris and this was very good as well taking the Ashtons Shuttle bus from to and from OR Tambo airport.
Firstly I would highly recommend booking through Wild Wings Safaris and staying at the Greenfire Game Lodge!! And secondly staying on the Greater Kruger National Park was an unforgettable experience and something that myself and my partner will always treasure!!
Email Judith Robinson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Can't imagine how to top this vacation
We decided in February to go on our first safari in June to celebrate our birthdays, and MadI at Wild Wings made it happen with some quick planning. Admitting we have no comparisons, we can't imagine how this experience could have been any better from beginning to end. MadI worked with us to tailor the itinerary to our desires and shared advice to keep us on the right track - being prompt and clear in our email correspondence. She was great to let us book our own airfare and some hotels using travel points to reduce some of the cost, and where she made the choices we were more than satisfied with accommodations. The guides that Wild Wings contracted were exceedingly professional and knowledgable - perfectly suited to our travel personality.
In the end, we were exceedingly pleased with the overall variety and quality of our tour and the value provided. We whole-heartedly recommend Wild Wings and heard similar recommendations as we traveled.
Email Phil & Margaret | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fabulous experience, with no issues, because of excellent attention to detail by Madi.
This is the second time we have booked through Wild Wings and it has been wonderful service, the accomodation was great, we stayed at Elephant Plains Lodge, and saw lots of wild life and hospitality was excellent, would stay there again. We also stayed at Chobe Safari Lodge in Botswana and could not fault it again plenty of animal sightings. On our way to Elephant Plains we stayed overnight at Chestnut Country House, in Hazyview, it was beautiful, we were well looked after by host Christine, it is in a beautiful setting with tasty home cooked meals. Could not fault any of our holiday, and would choose to have Wild Wings organise our safari again. Thanks Madi.
Email Keith | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A perfect first Safari the one that makes you come back for more
I wanted to personally thank Gavin at Wild Wings Safari for all the help in organizing our holiday in South Africa. I don’t believe this trip would have turned out as spectacularly as it did without your precise attention to detail and personal assistance to our needs.
From the start, when Simon picked us up in Johannesburg he proved to be a wealth of knowledge in Kruger Park and South Africa in general. He was not only a fantastic guide but he was as interested in the animals as we were!
It can’t be normal for any safari guide to take myself and my wife as his only guests out for the first afternoon for 5 hours (after driving 6 hours from Johannesburg), and then 12 hours for the second day, and 6 hours for the third and final day before driving us an additional 4 hours to our next destination.
Simon’s knowledge of the Kruger Park animal life could be summed up in just one of the many encounters we experienced:
As we were driving over a bridge, in which many other trucks and vehicles had crossed over that same day, Simon stopped and was listening to see what the excited monkeys were chattering about. Simon explained that he was looking to see where the monkeys were literally pointing out as if it was danger. As we gazed in the monkeys’ direction, Simon (and my wife) spotted in the horizon a leopard sleeping on the banks of the river. We appeared to be the only ones to have spotted this sleeping leopard. It was our second sighting of a leopard in just 30 minutes. Remarkable!
Nthambo Tree camp was another recommendation that you gave us, and it was a truly amazing experience that was just as professional and remarkable since it was conducted on a very personal level. Matt, Alex and Nadia of the base camp were attentive to our every needs while we were in the bush and in the camp. The comradery at the camp between the small group of guests and staff was much like it is in a family. (We guests even ‘friended’ each other on Facebook.)
The guides in Zimbabwe were everything we had grown accustomed to having during our trip: both warm and engaging. We will never forget the magnificence of the Victoria Falls, and the unique experience of riding those royal elephants for our Elephant Safari.
For the duration of this entire 2 week vacation, with the exception of the 1- 2 hours of clearing customs in Zimbabwe, everything went according to plan.
Email Jacqueline | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect! Excellent! Exciting!
We could not be happier with our safari experience, it was honestly the time of our lives. We loved that we decided to spend half of our time in Kruger Park and the other half in Greater Kruger Park. Both were very different experiences and both had so much to offer. I really recommend that you offer this combination to anyone that wants to have the most well-rounded safari experience. In Kruger we saw the Big 5 in the first 1.5 hours. Simon, our guide, was so passionate about his job and really had every intention to show us as many beautiful animals as possible. We saw leopards and cheetahs and lions fighting over a buffalo kill. It was incredible! The food he prepared for us was efficiently made and very delicious. Off-roading in Greater Kruger Park was a whole different experience! Tracking and following paw prints was very exciting. Our driver Carl (Karl?) and tracker Lucky were amazing, informative, and very exciting. The accommodation at both camps was so beautiful! And the staff was friendly and helpful.
TH
Email Mary | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Safari
Firstly, I have never responded to an individual review before, but I must. I happened to be on the same safari as the person who wrote the previous one star review. All I can say, is that sometimes there is no pleasing some people. Anyone going on a safari must go with an open mind and the desire to learn from the experts without preconceived notions. This is not a zoo, it is real life, kills happen- it is part of the animal kingdom.
Simon is an experienced, knowledgeable, and most of all, passionate guide. My husband and thoroughly enjoyed our time with Simon, from the breakfast he cooked in the morning through to the dinners he cooked at night. In between, we searched for sightings with Simon and it was always fun and very productive. Our safari with Simon was one of the highlights of our month long trip to this beautiful country. Wild Wings support staff were there to answer every email and did an excellent job of organizing everything for us. ( we did a number of things through them.
I would highly recommend Wild Wings and plan to send my sister on this trip!
Email AdeleO | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Another amazing safari experience!
This was my third safari with Wild Wings and yet again from booking with Gavin to pickup and drop off, it was an absolutely amazing experience. It was also my third time with Simon as a guide and his knowledge and passion for the wildlife of Kruger never ceases to amaze me. We had so many wonderful sightings thanks to Simon's expert eye and understanding of animal behaviour. If there is a sighting to be had Simon will find it!
A close encounter with a cheetah had eluded me on my previous safaris and was high up on my wishlist this time. I was not disappointed. We found one just minutes from camp and spent an incredible 40 minutes watching as it got up from resting to take a stroll down to the Sabie River bank for a drink. We had numerous lion sightings and a very special treat was seeing the famous white lion for the second time. Another amazing 45 minutes were spent in the company of a beautiful leopard enjoying some time in a tree and an incredible sighting on our night drive where another beauty walked alongside our vehicle for 10 minutes. Add to this white and black rhinos, elephants galore including a tiny infant suckling, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, warthogs - the list is endless as my 1000+ photographs prove!
Accommodation at Lower Sabie and Satara was great and Simon's cooking delicious - the ostrich steak was superb!
We have already booked a fourth return visit and cannot recommend Wild Wings highly enough. Definitely 5+ stars.
Email Kenny McColl | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An exceptional safari experience, with an outstanding guide.
We have just enjoyed a Wild Wings 2night/3day Kruger safari - and what an incredible time it was! As someone who has enjoyed previous safaris in Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania, I feel well qualified to comment on our experience. Every aspect, from the initial responses to our enquiries, through to the logistics and the transfers from Johannesburg to Kruger, the accommodation (at Skukusa), the catering arrangements, and of course the safari itself was excellent. But what made it exceptional, was the knowledge and expertise of our guide, Simon. I say 'guide', but he was also our driver and chef! His wildlife knowledge (birds, mammals, reptiles...) was incredible, and certainly I have no hesitation in saying that he was the best game guide (by some margin) that I have experienced in my 4 safaris. And he never switched off! Even on the journey back to Johannesburg, he was pointing out birds that we passed.
You can't judge the success of a safari trip solely by the wildlife encounters that you have , or whether you manage to see the Big Five; but even by that measure, our experience of Wild Wings was exceptional. Simon is courteous and considerate to other game viewers too - be they other safari guides or just members of the public who have turned up in their own vehicles...and asking what it is that we're looking at. By the way, you can self-drive in Kruger, but why would you want to? The place is vast, and without Simon's skills we would have seen very little. Yes, he is connected in to a number of other game guides who share their finds, so it does increase the likelihood of good interactions; but he has an incredible eye and ear for spotting the smallest movement, the faintest of sounds that can lead to a fantastic encounter. And as I said, he operates with courtesy and consideration to other users of the park, and most importantly to the wildlife.
In summary, the best endorsement that I can give is to say that if (when!) we return to Kruger, we will not be looking anywhere else: Wild Wings Safaris will be our first port of call.