The Giltedge family - end of the year function
Giltedge
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 1999)
- Member Of:
- IATA, ASTA, SATSA & CTT
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $500 to $1,400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Sean | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Instrumental in our most amazing honeymoon
Giltedge (Tanya) worked with us to create the most amazing honeymoon in South Africa and Victoria Falls. We have travelled quite alot around the world usually organising and planning trips ourselves. However utalising local knowledge and experience was invaluable and allowed us to remain hasslefree throughout. Communication has been great throughout and nothing was to much would highly recommend.
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Email Elizabeth | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding Experience: Extremely organized, responsive, and helpful!
After thorough research on Safari Bookings, we decided to use Giltedge to book our safari. We originally booked it for August 2020, but then re-booked to 2021, and then to 2022. They made this process very easy for us and we did not incur any additional charges.
The booking process was very smooth. We knew of two properties we wanted to visit, and we let our Giltedge representative recommend two others based on our preferences. The lodges they recommended were incredible and they really hit the mark by sending us to a lodge with a very high concentration of zebras- my favorite animal. They were able to work within our budget to give us exactly the kind of experience we wanted.
We had never been to Africa and we were nervous about this trip and the logistics. But everything was made very clear and easy by Giltedge. While we were on the trip, all of our transfers arrived in a timely manner and every person we encountered was very helpful and friendly. We did a lot of internal travel within Africa (flights to and from Johannesburg, light aircraft) and all the transfers went very smoothly; something I had been a little nervous about beforehand.
When we book our next trip to Africa I will definitely use Giltedge. They were extremely professional, took care of EVERYTHING, and we always felt very well taken care of before, during, and after our adventure.
US
Email Brenda Sagarese | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
In one word excellent
First of all, our travel agent, Tamera Laine was excellent and went out of her way to make everything perfect, even last minute changes in our itenerary. All of our transfers went smooth. Everything about our vacation to the Maasai Mara North Conservatory and where we stayed at the Royal Mara Safari Lodge in Kenya, Africa was unequivocal to any other vacation we have ever been on. It was the experience of a lifetime. If you want safari that is the place to go.
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Email Sandra Gruber | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Giltedge delivered on its promise of a tailormade, luxury safari experience!
After three years of planning and postponing, we were finally able to check "African safari" off our bucket list in July--and was it ever worth it! Tamera Laine worked with us every step of the way, through all our changes and indecision, even meeting with us on a weekend when we needed reassurance. If you are looking for an inexpensive trip to South Africa, do not look into Giltedge, but if you're looking for comfort, excellent service from the camp staff, knowledgeable guides, and attention to detail, Giltedge can't be beat. We wanted to see as much wildlife as possible, be fairly secluded from others, and have "en suite" bathrooms--and Giltedge delivered! Our tents were quite comfortable with king-sized beds, desks, WiFi (sometimes spotty), and hot water, but very cold at night during the winter season! To take care of that, there were three blankets on our bed and a hot water bottle under the covers, and on early morning safaris we were given heavy, warm ponchos to wear. We had no worries about eating or drinking anything we were served--food was excellent (often served buffet style) and water and alcohol were readily available. We really enjoyed the coffee breaks on our morning safaris, and the sundowners with those gorgeous sunsets in the afternoons. The way the guides could find the animals just by sight or by following their tracks in the sand was just amazing. Among other things, we saw hippos, a den of hyenas, a mama and baby giraffe, wild dogs, an ostrich, a pride of lions stalking a herd of Cape buffalo, and elephants that were so close to us in our blind, that we could have reached out and touched their huge feet. We have so many great pictures and memories... Thank you, Giltedge, for our once-in-a-lifetime experience in Zimbabwe and Botswana!
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Email Shannon | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our agent made the process very simple and thought of details we would not have traveling that far
The agency listened to the changes we requested for our “bush and beach” vacation. Their communication was excellent and there we absolutely no problems.
BH
Email Alyssa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent tour operators,
My partner and myself had enjoyed our 2 week vacation that had been si well planned out accordingly to our schedule. I didn’t want it to end, felt like we had been on a months long trip! Excellent operators and excellent tours! Would definitely use them again
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Email Michael Lyon | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very competent and responsive to questions. Great selections of camps in Zambia.
The accomodation, staff and locations on the Zambezi and Luangwa rivers were outstanding. Giltedge came up with a first class experience. I had a difficult time finding a travel company that understood what I expected when in Africa, i.e. walking in the bush, night drives and general desire to get away from others in the bush. l was please by the competency of the staffs at the various camps. The guides were highly skilled and knowledgeable. The food was outstanding. The camps provided laundry service which meant I could take less clothing. Some of the planes are not able to take large pieces of luggage. Giltedge got it right.
Clean water, either out of the tap or bottled wa available at all the camps. I think Giltedges tipping suggestions were appropriate. Bring cash!
US
Email Simon | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exceptional, Laser Focused on Details, Exotic Trip Organizer
I planned this trip for myself and my son starting a few years ago. I chose to book my trip with Giltedge based on the feedback from friends in the travel industry. My initial trip was canceled due COVID so I had restart from scratch. Giltedge was there from beginning to help me navigate the desired 10 day safari trip to Botswana. Even though it was not possible to duplicate the original itinerary 100%, I was extremely happy with the trip that we came back from yesterday morning. We stayed in 4 camps in Botswana and 2 hotels, one on arrival in Johannesburg and the other in Victoria Falls. Each of the camps in Botswana was just perfect, from travel to accommodations, location and the knowledge of each camps safari drivers/trackers. We first stayed at Camp Xakanaxa for 2 nights, which both, my son and I liked the best. We then flew to Xugana Island Lodge where we also stayed for 2 nights and liked it a lot as well. The 2 mentioned camps were smaller and in one we were 8 people and the other 10 all together, so that at most, we shared the daily rides into the bush with 2 other people. The next camp for 3 days was Savute that was a bit more modern (not that it mattered) and sported a water hole that faced the dining room tables. There was always lots of game to watch while you had your dinner. We saw elephants, hyena, lots of impalas and kudus. The final camp was Chobe Game Lodge for 3 days as well. This was a fairly large place that can accommodate over 100 people. Somehow we felt that the camp was a re-introduction of what awaited us back home. Great service, food and service. We even had massages. In my opinion, this camp should be either the first one on the itinerary or second, this way one retains the exotic feel of the safari. To end our trip my decided to drive to Victoria Falls for 1 day. Needless to say, the falls are just amazing. However, it was too much travel for 2 hours of sightseeing, so I would recommend that people who plan on our type itinerary, perhaps start from Victoria Falls and end at Xakanaxa or Moremi, another camp close by.
Obviously took lots of picture that will take lots of time to organize, but it's all worth it for a "once-in-a-life" experience.
CH
Email Stefan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Service and an amazing Itinerary
We booked our 12 days safari with Giltedge and were amazed by the great service they offered.
Very shortly after we requested more information Monique our agent already contacted us. She was very knowledgeable and put together an amazing trip for us that we will always remember. Everything was perfectly well organized and we didn't have to worry about anything. All we had to do was just to enjoy our vacation
We also want to highlight that Monique was extremely caring about our well being that went way above our expectation. Here an example. Due to the new Corona variant everything got quite chaotic and Monique even checked with our airline (that we haven't booked with Giltedge, if everything was still ok). And she checked on us even during the weekend.
We were extremely happy with Giltedge and can recommend them to everyone!
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Email Tony | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional Service and Professionalism
We booked an African Safari adventure with Giltedge back in 2019 for travel in 2020 to South Africa and Namibia. Unfortunately, Covid changed everyone's plans in 2020 so we opted to delay until August of this year. Giltedge and Tanya was with us every step of the way, advising, recommending and offering various options in our rebooking. Even up to the last minute where our airline cancelled flights to South Africa a month before we left, they stayed with us in planning the trip. And as luck would have it the unrest in Johannesburg was a concern a week or two before we left. With Tanya's help and recommendation, we rewrote the schedule a week before with stays outside of the Johannesburg and an additional Safari in Savuti in Botswana! What was originally a two stop tour turned into a sight seeing excursion on the White River with a safari in Ghoha Hills Lodge in Savuti. Our journey brought with it because of Covid and traveling through 4 countries, multiple immigration stops and multiple covid tests in order to move through the various places including returning to the States. All along the way Giltedge provided assistance for our group and had people at every stop along the way to assist. This was a godsend. And the safari's? Excellent places with great customer service, exceptional accommodations and food to die for. And guides that were knowledgeable, friendly and always eager to help. I cannot say enough of the support and service we received from Giltedge. Special thanks for Tanya for staying with us every step of the way and to Murry for assuring us that it was ok in Johannesburg to travel through. You owe it to yourself to book a journey of a lifetime with Giltedge.