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 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.
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Email David and Julie Hearst | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Giltedge did a great job arranging a wonderful trip.
Giltedge took time to find out exactly what we wanted, provide options and come up with a great trip to several camps in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Then COVID hit and we had to delay our trip for a year. They negotiated with the lodges, up dated us about the conditions and then rescheduled our trip. In the end it was the trip of a lifetime. We couldn't have been more pleased.
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Email A.J. Nafso and family | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Monique Dean was incredible from the get go!
My family would like to thank the team at Giltedge! We are still talking about the experience that we had. They managed all aspects of our trip, from the greeting when we first landed in Nairobi, to the care they took to track our progress and insure that everything was handled and we could just relax and enjoy. The COVID testing requirements were of course a complete bother, but a necessary evil in this day and age. They took care of making sure all tests that were required were scheduled and was made as convenient as possible. The lodges that were booked for us were wonderful. Every leg of our trip got better and better. The staff, service, accommodations and FOOD were incredible. We were met by James(our point person) when we returned to Nairobi for our final flight home. He transported us to a beautiful restaurant to get a nice dinner before he took us to the airport. There he coordinated a VIP service to get us through ticketing and security. She stayed with us until we were seated at our gate.
A special thank you to Monique Dean our travel agent! To James Njoroge (indispensable) who was our point person throughout our travels. To all the guides and lodge staff THANK YOU!
Email Emily and Brian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Blown away by the thoughtfulness and attention to detail.
Philippa was amazing to work with. She paid careful attention to what we wanted and made sure to deliver. For example, my husband Brian told Philippa I wanted to see a lot of elephants, so Pippa booked us at Savute Safari Lodge which has a fabulous view of a watering hole where elephants gather all day long.
All of the safaris really exceeded our expectations. We loved our guides and enjoyed bonding with them continuously throughout each of our stays. The accomodations at Camp Xakanaxa, Dulini River Lodge and The Royal Livingstone were particularly excellent. Everywhere we went, the staff reminded us we were on our honeymoon and showered us with love and sparkling wines!
We would go back to Camp Xakanaxa and Dulini River Lodge in a heartbeat. The people there are some of the warmest and kindest we've ever met, and everyone on staff remembered your name at both locations. Accomodations were excellent in their unique ways. Both set you right in the middle of the action, with hippos, elephants and even rhinos within view. Dulini is a must for honeymooners - after many communal meals in Botswana, it was lovely to have our very own safari vehicle and romantic private dinners.
Our only criticism of the trip was our ending location at Massinga Beach Lodge in Mozambique. We had put most of our budget into the safaris, and we knew that Massinga would be more of a 'no-frills' location, but I would recommend Giltedge pause before sending future clients there. Whilst located on an absolutely stunning stretch of gorgeous turquoise beaches, the facilities were not safe or well cared for. For example, steps down to the beach (of which there were at least 100) were barely tended to, with cracks, crumbling concrete and broken handrails. They were not lit at night. The lodge has a pick-up truck with seats on the back to transport 4-6 people between the beach and main lodge, but that felt even less safe than the dark footpath. One night the truck stalled and almost began rolling backwards. At the pool, most of the toys, games and floats were broken or missing key elements, such as a ball to play paddleball with. When it came to mealtime, service was simply bad. One night, we were asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu, when we hadn't yet had our first course or even any drinks served. There was always a long wait to get any drinks served. The highlights of this location were the incredible beach, relaxing pool scene, skilled massage therapist and romantic private lodges with decks and plunge pools.
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Email Tony and Abbie Gloucester,MA | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They listened to our criteria, designed a fabulous trip tailored to our interests and v responsive.
After interviewing a few tour groups we decided to go with Giltedge Africa and are we glad we did. We explained our interests to our agent, Tamera, and she came up with a fantastic itinerary. Our interests took us to four different accommodations and five countries in Southern Africa. Tamera's suggestions of how to schedule our trip were on the money. We visited each area in just the right sequence for maximum enjoyment. The accommodations, guides and drivers Giltedge arranged for us were first class, we were very well taken care of.
We had excellent communications with our agent who was on call 24/7. She promptly returned emails and texts and always answered our calls. She was very obliging even when we would repeat a question that she had already answered. Thanks to Tamera listening to our interests she developed the most wonderful, varied and fulfilling vacation we have ever had.
We look forward to scheduling our next trip with Giltedge Africa.
ES
Email Beatriz | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing
Tanya made all the diffrence. She is an excellent professional
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Email David and Valerie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Meg listened to what we wanted and worked with us to provide the perfect African Safari experience!
Meg was very prompt with her emails. We emailed several tour companies and she was the only one who listened to what we wanted and went above and beyond to provide it for us. She knew this was an anniversary trip for us and communicated that to the resorts/camps who then provided us with special treats. That was totally a surprise! She sent us specific information on what to expect and how to prepare for the trip. We felt like we were better informed than some of the other guests at the resorts/camps. For example, clothing, tipping, attitude toward the locals, etc. The tour itself was everything we anticipated and more! We wanted to be able to experience seeing the animals in their natural environment, take pictures of them and enjoy the scenery and different cultures. The guides were amazing and well prepared, knowledgeable and very accommodating. The hotel/camp staff were so friendly. They went out of their way to remember our names and treat us like family. We can't thank you enough for the amazing time we had. Thank you!
Email kev | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good communications and put together a fantastic itinerary
Giltedge proposed an itinerary and managed to tailor it to our needs. The pick up went to plan and then every transfer from camp to camp were handled seamlessly with no lost time . The safari tour was excellent and all aspects handled in a professional way. Very happy with the service from Giltedge.