Reviews

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 191-200 of 206 Reviews
Jan-Petter   –  
Norway NO
Visited: July 2014 Reviewed: Sep 17, 2014

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

Excelent safariexperience and well planned roundtrip with Wild Planet Safari.
5/5

We were two families, four adults, four youths, travelling with Wild Planet Safari 14 days in Eastern South Africa. First time in SA, first time on safari, so we were curious in what to expect.
We had a fantastic tour with Thale and Ryan, a tour showing us much of the variety in this huge country.
When we look back, the most fascinating part was at the start, in Kruger, where we camped at Skukuza. We went for both early morning drives, starting at daybreak, and afternoon trips.
We saw all possible animals to see out there, including big five, like lions with fresh catch (buffalo).
It was good to have Ryan there, spotting animals from long distance, hiding in the vegetation. If Ryan didn’t spot animals, well, then there where none there.
After Kruger we went to Royal Hlane in Swaziland. This park was less impressive than Kruger, but as the camp was situated near a waterhole, we had good view of animals like rhinos, elephants and impala.
Besides knowing everything about wildlife and nature, Ryan has very good knowledge for history, culture and sociallife of the areas visited, information shared with us, broadening our minds and giving another dimension to this wonderful experience.
Let me also mention the delicious food prepared by Thale and Ryan – most nights prepared on open fire outside. Very good meat served with different vegetables, meat and vegetables many of them new to us.
One thing to remember for those of you traveling this time of year, July/August; Bring warm clothes. Fortunately Wild Planet Safari did supply us with blankets while traveling the open safarivehicle early mornings.
We also visited St Lucia for hippos and crocs, the Durban area for some relaxation, and had a good stay in Drakensberg with two good hikes.
The best part of the trip, very well organized by the guys at Wild Planet Safari, was Kruger – spend some days there !

Kristine T. Farstad   –  
Norway NO
Visited: June 2014 Reviewed: Aug 11, 2014

under20 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The trip was amazing and really great.
5/5

It has been a pleasure to travel with wild planet safari. It has been 14 incredible fun and pleasant days. I have learned a lot. I did not know what I looked forward to, because I did not know anything. But the journey and everything was really great. I would recommend Wild Planet safari to anyone who wants to go on a safari.

Runa T. Farstad   –  
Norway NO
Visited: July 2014 Reviewed: Aug 9, 2014

Email Runa T. Farstad  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Exellent
5/5

My family and I have been on our most exciting tour with Ryan and Thale. We have been well received. We saw the big five, and have seen loads of other exciting animals. I am impressed by the knowledge of everything from trees, grass, rocks, animals and history. We had 13 days of good food and good stories and many great experiences. This can be highly recommended. Thanks Thale and Ryan that you made ​​this an experience of a lifetime.

Bjørn   –  
Norway NO
Visited: July 2014 Reviewed: Aug 9, 2014

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

Most amazing experience i have ever had in my life
5/5

A fantastic 13 day adventure trip. Ryan with his outstanding knowledge of the wildlife, plant life and the knowledge about the entire African continent, and Tale with her service and has also become a very good tour guide. Thank you, i give my best recommendations.
Best regard
Bjørn Farstad

Karl & Martha Kirkman   –  
United States US
Visited: May 2014 Reviewed: Jun 20, 2014

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

An extremely satisfying safari
5/5

We found Wild Planet Safari on the internet, but got really interested when we read the reviews here on safaribookings.com. They sounded too good to be true. Should we dare take a chance on this? We did, and we were more than totally satisfied with the entire experience.

As we thought about it, we began to realize that a 3-4 day tour of Kruger Park was not going to be nearly enough, especially considering the cost of flying to South Africa; a long-enough tour was needed to make it worth the cost. Ten-day tours sounded interesting, and when we contacted Ryan and Thale about it, we worked together to custom-design a 13-day private tour for the two of us.

We can’t say enough about how easy Ryan and Thale were to work with. They helped us figure out what we were wanting in a safari experience, and then they designed the trip around that. Whenever we had questions, they were ready with straightforward answers that were proactive, answering our follow-up questions without us having to ask. They were always a step ahead of us in working everything out. They thoughtfully accommodated all of the special situations that accompanied us, and went out of their way to make everything work out just perfectly.

The safari itself was a dream come true. We had been planning to do something like this for many years, so we had plenty of imaginative ideas about how great a safari should be, but our experiences with Ryan and Thale far exceeded them all. Every detail of the safari was perfectly planned. Ryan and Thale work together extremely well and make everything happen just like it should. Our days were organized as efficiently as possible, to maximize the amount of time we could spend on game drives. It’s hard to imagine a bush guide that could be more knowledgeable than Ryan. He’s got an incredible knack for finding animals. He knows how they think and behave, and his explanations are both amazing and easy to understand. He understands how the “bush” works; how all of the plants, trees, insects, and animals are interrelated. We were spell-bound by everything he had to tell us. There was nothing we could ask him that he couldn’t explain to us perfectly well. You’d expect that the Kruger Park guides would be even more amazing, but that’s not the case; Ryan out-shined them all.

The accommodations were great. We spent some evenings in tents, one night in a bird hide, and some evenings in bungalows. The food was terrific. Thale’s cooking expertise really showed in the evening meals. Everything was cooked over an open fire, and we enjoyed long conversations over delicious suppers. Even though they were the tour operators and we were the guests, most of the time it just felt like we were camping together as friends.

Beyond the safari, Ryan and Thale helped us plan the extra time we had available in Johannesburg. They arranged for some extra tours, accompanied us at meals, and even had us to their own home for meals and to meet their family and friends.

If we ever go back to South Africa, it’s a slam dunk that we’ll be signing up for another tour with Ryan and Thale.

Stian & Anja   –  
Norway NO
Visited: September 2011 Reviewed: Jun 12, 2014

20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Three weeks we never will forget
5/5

Thank you so much for the three greatest adventures weeks we have had. We traveled through South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

We saw every animal we could ever dream of. Beautiful sceneries, places and fantastic national pearls.

The guides from Wild Planet Safari, Thale and Ryan, made the trip unforgetable. The knowlage about every animal, flora, fauna and places were explizit. Ryan could spot a animal from a great distance and Thale would make up the best dishes. Since the trip was a personal trip with the only two of us, we were able to take full advantage of our guides and were able to stop when we wanted, get the game drives we wanted and last but not least get the photos we wanted.

The food was delicious, variated and tasty. We still talk about all the different delicious sausages we had every day in addition to dinner. We had all the great camping sites with comforting tents. We espesially remembering the campsite at Mapungubwe where the bushbuck walk next to us whilst we had breakfast, and the monkeyes with some cheeky monkey business.

If you want a tailor made and personal trip, with guides that have the knowlage we would love to recommend Wild Planet Safari with Thale and Ryan!!

Thank you so much for the tour.

Ragnhild   –  
Norway NO
Visited: March 2014 Reviewed: Apr 23, 2014

65+ years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Wonderful days in South Africa!
5/5

It's a week now since I came back from South Africa, but most of the day I still think about the wonderful time there. 17 days of adventure, from we arrived in Johannesburg and were met by our guides Thale and Ryan and taken to our B & B to rest some hours before starting the tour through this beautiful country. 3 days in Kruger with exciting game-drives. Then we went on to Hluhluwe National Park(so beautiful! My favorite!) Next stop was Uhmlanga outside Durban. I still hear the roaring waves, sitting in a restaurant near the beach in the dark evening. We went on to Addo Elephant Park. Majestic male lions is a marvellous memory from there. Then Tsitsikamma - even the name sounds like an adventure. Suspension Bridge over roaring waves. An exciting place to stay. Knysna is a very beautiful town at the coast. We stayed there for 2 unforgettable days.On our way to Cape Town we also passed the most southern point of the African continent - Cape Agulhas. And then Cape Town - the last stop before going home. We stayed there for 2 days, using one of them to visit Robben Island to see "the home" for 18 years of their great leader Mandela. And we will never forget Table Mountain and the view around from the top. But nothing lasts for ever - we had to go home. I left Africa with my heart and head filled with love and respect for this country's fantastic animals and nature. During the whole stay I felt so safe in every way and everywhere, due to the long experience of our guides. I am so grateful for all the good service given by Wild Planet Safari. Thank you Thale and Ryan for showing me South Africa, with all that love and knowledge I can feel that you have for your country. I will be back to see more of it. With Wild Planet Safari.

Solvår Hardesty   –  
Norway NO
Visited: February 2014 Reviewed: Mar 1, 2014

Email Solvår Hardesty  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Once in a lifetime!
5/5

You know that you have dreamed about experience the wild life in Africa since you where a little child. Wild Planet Safari makes your dreams come true, and MORE! I am so grateful for every minutes, hours and days we spent together. I have learned so much about Africa, the wild life, animals, trees, flowers etc. etc. And we got to see so much animals!! It was like a dream. I will never forget this trip. And I will never forget your great service, good food, fantastic game drives and that you did everything to make this the best holiday EVER!! I'll be back!! :-)

Noelene Cole   –  
South Africa ZA
Visited: January 2013 Reviewed: Nov 5, 2013

Email Noelene Cole  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

An awesome, informative,wonderful experience. Best holiday ever.
5/5

Planning of the trip was excellent. Our expectations were more than met. The knowledge of wildlife, fauna and birds from Ryan is exceptional and we learnt and experienced so much.
Highly recommended tour operator and guide. Every detail was taken care of.

Neil   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: September 2012 Reviewed: Oct 29, 2013

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

Kruger Park Tour
5/5

A personal tour for my wife and I. The aim was a hard-core photo safari and Wild Planet provided exactly what we wanted with plenty of pleasant surprises on top. Thanks to it being a personal tour we were able to see more species, get closer and take better photos than we have in any previous trips. Both the food and service was excellent throughout but the highlight was probably the night we spent at Shipandane Hide, where we had Hippos fighting in the river, Lions close by and a night time visit from a Gennet - it was pure magic.

We traveled in a customised VW Transporter Van so we had plenty of room to spread out and to take photos. The tents were surprisingly large (I could stand up in ours) which made camping easy. Because there was only the 2 of us we were able to take full advantage of our guide's encyclopaedic knowledge of Southern African wildlife so when we took a Park Service night drive it felt really "dumbed-down" compared to the wildlife masterclass we were used to. Overall we got exactly what we wanted and a whole load more for a very reasonable price.

We have already made a provisional booking for next year as after 10 years of visitig Africa no other trip we have taken even remoteley compares.

Average User Rating
4.9/5
Rating Breakdown
  • 5 star 192
  • 4 star 12
  • 3 star 2
  • 2 star 0
  • 1 star 0
Write a Review

Disclaimer

  • All corporate and/or tour info is provided by Wild Planet Safari, not SafariBookings
  • The tours offered by Wild Planet Safari are subject to their terms & conditions