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
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Email Peter W. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Tour Arranged by Giltedge Africa
My wife and I cannot say enough about our 15-day tour to South Africa and Zambia arranged by Philippa Lawrence of Southern Africa Travel/Giltedge Africa. Philippa's recommendations were spot-on and every aspect of our trip was well thought out. She went out of her way to listen to our wishes and she kept us fully informed of all details. All of the properties were stayed in were luxurious and we experienced absolutely amazing safaris. I would highly recommend Philippa to anyone interested in experiencing what southern Africa has to offer.
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Email CherylAnn | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
Monique did an outstanding job in helping us plan this complicated African adventure.
All of the plans were executed with no problems at all far exceeding our expectations.
It made for a most relaxing and exciting trip as we were confident that the trip would proceed smoothly.
She selected excellent tour guides and activities at all levels of participation that were a great fit for our group.
We highly recommend Monique and her colleagues.
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Email Rich | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
great itinerary, wonderful trip
We worked with Monique who customized our tour of Cape Town and the Sabi Sands Safari. The resorts were outstanding, food was terrific, the guides were wonderful and every pickup and drop-off went exactly according to plan. Would highly recommend.
Email David Wong | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good, they advise according to your expectations and budget.
I live in the UK and have now been using Southern Africa Travel (Giltedge) for the last few years and found them to be very knowledgeable about Safaris, good places to stay and good accommodation. Indeed, all recommendations have been spot on. Communications have generally been good though on occasions a bit of a delay I guess due to workload. On the whole, I would definitely recommend as I have already done so with friends who have used their service recently.
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Email Char. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Perfect and Wonderful Experience
When I decided to plan my trip with Giltedge Africe (Southern Africa Travel), I knew nothing about the company other than the reviews I read. Let me tell you, I would plan a trip at any time using this company after the experience I had. Working with Robyn-Lea Meyer was wonderful. She gave wonderful suggestions and always responded to my email questions in a very timely fashion. Not ever being on a safari before and knowing that we wanted to go to Kruger National Park, Robyn-Lea suggested Jock Safari Lodge. We took her suggestion and could not have been more pleased. The accommodations are private, comfortable and in a very natural setting, the food is outstanding, and the safaris are given by guides who love their work. Plus there are only two seats per row in the vehicles so each person has a side seat and no one is stuck in the middle. We learned so much from our guide, Cliff, and fell in love with the total experience. A big thank-you to Robyn-Lea for leading us in the right direction. Everything booked by Giltedge Africa went flawlessly, the flights, the drivers/tours, etc. On our next rip to Africa, there is no doubt we will use Giltedge Africa! Thank you for everything!!!
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Email Bill Bronner | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent itinerary, but could have used better communication prior to travel
Our itinerary was just right. Suggestions made by Giltedge Africa (formerly Southern Africa Travel) were generally very good.
All travel connections worked and all guides appeared as planned. Our guides were all quite knowledgeable, well-spoken and very pleasant. I think some of the extras that we incurred should have been included in the package price or more clearly stated, but this was a minor issue. My only real complaint is that pre-travel communication should have been better. The information provided was more for appearances than substance. And the wallet provided at landing was embarrassingly short on any substantive materials.
Our hotels were all excellent, except for &Beyond Xudum which suffers from the necessity of a 75 minute drive each way over bumpy roads between the air strip and the lodge. They also had our poorest guide. Otherwise, the staff and food were very good.
We especially enjoyed Singita Boulders and the Views Hotel, although the food at the Views could be improved. The Harbor House restaurant on the Cape was outstanding.
I'm not sure a guide was needed at Victoria Falls, although he did get us to the falls at a good time of day for viewing which we might otherwise have missed. The river cruise was only interesting because of the wildlife on the banks.
I also want to recommend the Fat Fish restaurant in Plettenberg. It's a little more casual, but the food was excellent.
Our guides at both Singita lodges were terrific, as were our guides in Cape Town and Joberg.
Overall, we enjoyed a wonderful trip.
QA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Safari Experience
My wife and I traveled for 9 days through Tanzania, and had an amazing trip. Monique was extremely helpful in helping us plan our itinerary via email exchanges. After meeting other people on similar safaris, I was very pleased with the parks we visited, our route and our length of stay at each destination. We started in Arusha, and spent a few days at Tarangire NP, Lake Manayara NP, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti NP, in that order. This was really great because it meant our travel between destinations was relatively short, and each park had something amazing to offer. Overall, the entire planning of the trip was very good. A planner met us at the airport and walked us through every detail of the trip, and our guide, Malley, was excellent at taking us from place to place and making sure everything was ok. The lodges and tented camps were all excellent... a lot better than what I was expecting (and much better than previous trips to other African countries). I would definitely use Giltedge Africa (formerly Southern Africa Travel) again to help plan other future trips.
VU
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Was wonderfull, a fantastique experience, I hope to go back.
Monique did help me a lot in planning our holidays in S.A early this year.
The hotel, lodges and Safaris that she had recommended where exactly in the range we where expecting.
The Sabi Sand in Kruger Park with the big 5 within 500m from our Lodge (the gourmet food in our lodge and the setting, the rooms and mostly the staff where Magnificent) , and the lodge at Victoria Falls in Livingstone (Zambia) was magic.
Giltedge Africa (formerly Southern Africa Travel) can only be recommended regarding their extensive knowledge of the region and their advice.
I can only recommend them.
Christian
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20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Service! 100% Recommended
It was our first time in Africa, so I decided to book a tour operator to maximize our short time in the region. As I didn’t have any contacts, I decided to look up in the internet for tour operators.
I contacted about 5 of them, but from the minute I spoke to Melissa Oberholzer, I knew this was the tour operator I would choose! (Even though the prices of other operators were lower).
Melissa and her company provided an outstanding and efficient organization of what has been one of the best holidays of our lives!
Despite contacting her only 2 weeks before our trip, she was able to tailor make it exactly the way we wanted!. She put together a wonderful and very organized schedule so we were able to visit the best places that South Africa, Zambia and Namibia has to offer, in only 2 weeks!
Her disposition to organize such a wonderful trip in such a short period of time, plus her availability to answer every question we had (even at 11pm on a Saturday!) made our trip much more special, easier and relaxed.
We had the most wonderful time, and saw the most amazing sites in each of the countries we visited! But most importantly, the services that she chose for each of our stops (drivers, guides, hotels, etc), were excellent, extremely punctual and friendly. Everyone took great care of us while making sure we were happy and satisfied at all times.
All in all, it was really a wonderful and stress-free experience! And I would definitely hire their services again. I also recommend this tour operator to anyone planning to travel to Southern Africa.
Thank you very much and all the best!!
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Email The Rossons | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Giltedge: Vernon was on-point, responsive, & thoughtful to build a trip of a lifetime for us
Vernon W was our consultant from Giltedge from the very beginning when we were assessing our options for African Travel. I have recommended him & Giltedge to numerous people since returning home. He was patient with us as we asked for multiple itinerary revisions based on price and destination. It can feel unconventional for Americans to provide a $ amount without a specific itinerary in front of you, but I can say it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. I also thought that potentially once we paid, that we would lose close touch with Vernon, but he was a part of our experience from the very first conversation on evaluating options, planning our trip, communicating ahead of our trip as well as throughout to make sure we had everything we needed along the way, and followed up at the end. We felt so taken care of and that every moment of our experience was considered!! Cannot thank Vernon W and Giltedge enough for a trip of a lifetime that we would do a hundred times over again!!
