20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about South Africa by Jaco Beukman | www.go-nipper.com
South Africa is an all in one destination offering various wildlife, bird life and natural beauty in a colourful package
Review about South Africa by Massai_1 (Carsten M.)
In my opinion South Africa is perfect for safaris especially if it's your first or second time in Africa. You have the wildlife mostly intact and often pretty close (compared to some Eastern African Countries), usually it's not to crowded and you get the same standards in food and accomodation you're used to, often even better.
UY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Service
Our tour leader Roger was top class with a great sense of humor, needed to keep our mind off some of the bumpy roads. The lodges chosen in our itinerary were in great locations my favourite being the Pioneer Camp in Serengeti - The candle lit dinner was fab. The vehicle used was comfortable and I was glad to have a power socket to charge my camera and phone. I used her tracker to follow the migration path and the driver was kind enough to explore new roads so that we could get close to the massive herd. We saw the lions on the Serengti lion rocks, the rhinos in the crater, the big elephants in the tarangire river and an elusive leopard in manyara.
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good organization of safari trip and friendly guide
This safari tour was very good. Thanks all employees of Jockytours! No complaints! Interesting trip with many animals and good weather! Our guide driver fulfilled all requests and told us many things about animal world! With the camps and meal we had no problems. Everything was in order! We can say, our safari tour has been well planned.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent three-day safari to Ngorongoro Wildlife Conservation Area
My short safari with High Peaks was perfect from all points of view. I arrived in Tanzania in late April and was met by my High Peaks driver, Livingstone, who speaks excellent English and was an informative guide to the flora and fauna we encountered. Because archaeology is one of my interests, we first drove to the Olduvai Gorge where our guide, Ms Chalangi, a university graduate student, gave a thorough explanation of the site first excavated by Louis Leakey and where some of the first traces of early hominids have been found. Then we continued to the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, my hotel for the next two nights, a very good choice for its courteous staff and fabulous views over the Ngorongoro Crater. The next day we visited a Masai village where we were warmly greeted and I was shown the kindergarten building of which the village is rightfully proud. From there we descended into the Ngorongoro Crater and, because the day was sunny and warm, were treated to sightings of nearly all the birds and mammals that romp there, including, I counted them, thirty lions! The last day we drove slowly back to Arusha, passing by the park at Manyara Lake. My guide was always patient with my questions and requests and deserves much credit for the pleasure I got from this safari. The rest of the credit goes, of course, to High Peaks itself and to Hans Kitungu for his clear and prompt responses to all my questions before the trip. He always listened to me and respected my preferences so that we could design a fully satisfying safari according to my interests.
This is what every visitor wants, a flexible, communicative, attentive, and respectful tour operator and staff. I am very happy I found High Peaks.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An amazing experience
The tour was booked for us so we didn't have any direct contact with the office although I have contacted them since and have been impressed with the prompt reply. Our tour started and finished at the Zambia/Zimbabwe border and transfers were in place as promised and efficient.
We did the 'Tamarind' 3 day canoe safari. It was an amazing unforgettable experience from beginning to end. We travelled off season and I think this worked in our favour. The group was smaller as a result, in our case there was only us with our two guides so the full VIP treatment. During the three days we canoed at a lovely leisurely pace and we didn't see any other canoes at all during that time. We did see a little game on the riverbanks including an unforgettable herd of elephants washing and playing in the river. The guides were able to control our boats to maximise the viewing experience , it was amazing.
Our nights were spent on islands with nobody else around. We slept in open dome tents with the stars as our backdrop and the noise of the wild as our soundtrack. During the day we would stop for regular breaks and have a lunchtime siesta to avoid the heat. We were visited by a Bull Elephant during one of these stops and he was so close. It was a real privilege to be so close.
We were lucky as we had 'The Dream Team' as guides, Norman and Takesure. We certainly made them earn their money. They answered our never ending questions showing real depth in knowledge. They were good fun, very capable and Takesure's cooking was superb. How he managed to cook such a variety of tasty and healthy food using basic equipment is beyond me but we loved it all. We've now learnt all about the star constellations which are so clear due to no light pollution and we were gazing up at them whilst drinking our bottle of wine that was provided with our meal (nice wine which was a pleasant surprise). We finished our trip at Mana Pools and stayed there for our last night. This wasn't as private but the next morning we got a game drive and saw a pack of Wild Dogs which is quite a rare sighting, very happy with that. We would recommend this trip to anybody, it was wonderful.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wow that was awesome we had a supper excellent safari in Kenya.
We were recommended the wecam safaris by one of our friend and when we contacted the company i really loved them from the wird go, they replied in time and Mercy really helped us soo much on customizing our safari until we were okay with the itinerary. The driver guide James was one of the best guide have met in the world.
Thanks soo much guys and will really use you again maybe this year when going to masai mara for Wildebeest migration. I will recommend this company to people traveling to kenya or East Africa they are the best.
my first visit on african soil was exellent
A few days ago i visited Kenya. It was my first ever visit on African soil. I chose wecam safaris after being connected to them by my Kenyan friend. She is here on her studies in one of the colleges in Kansas US. Now i am here smiling all the way after a successful safari. Mara game frive was awesome. That lady was awesome. She chose the best budget hotel for the five nights. I cannot forget to salute her tour guide. That guy was smart. Our visit to Tsavo with him on the 4th day was the best anyone could ever wish to have. We had opportunity to come close to some big herds of elephants. He gave us history of the tsavo. In short hrs a man who has kenya in his finger tips. In general wecam safaris you were great. We will be back God willing for a mointain climbing excursion. We already held discussion and its upon me to get resources and time. My time in Kenya was one i will live to remember.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Decision to go with Maasai Wanderings!!!!
From the moment our guide (Everest) picked us up at Arusha Airport, until we completely left Africa, the company made sure we had the best experience possible. Our guide was fun, knew exactly where to find the animals, and drive that truck like he was born in it! Even more, our flight was cancelled when we were leaving, and even though our contract with the company was technically over and fulfilled, Abdullie interceded with the airlines and local airline workers to assure we did not miss any connections. He was available to us at ALL times. PRICELESS!!!! What an amazing experience we had...with an amazing company! FIVE STARS!!!
Experience level: first safari
A weekend in South Luangwa
Saturday morning, 5.30am.
A whisper disturbs my lazy dream about ice creams. "Excuse me? Wake up call!" Wrenched out of sleep I find myself wondering who is waking me up at 5.30am on a Saturday morning and why, when I make out the unfamiliar outline of a net surrounding me, and I remember I'm Zambia, and I'm being woken up to go on safari.
Half an hour later, not knowing what I'm wearing and still partially asleep, I'm ushered out of our campsite, Flatdogs, and greeted by two smiling safari guides. Not until I am shown to our car do I definitely understand what's happening, and instantly I'm fully awake. Our safari car is the biggest jeep I've ever seen, a three-tiered, nine-seater, brown-green monster, and sitting on it with the chilly dawn wind rushing past me is incredibly exciting.
As soon as we enter South Luangwa National Park, we are greeted by a breath-taking sunrise over the Luangwa river. We've been in the park for less than ten minutes, and I've already spotted a gorgeous family of elephants with two babies sleepily crossing the river bed, a group of impalas looking at us with bewildered black eyes, and of course, the Park guards, two attentive baboons sitting right by the entrance, ushering us inside.
The next three hours are an unbelievable whirlwind of exotic animals, interesting facts told by our guides, and unforgettable scenery. Crocodiles and hippos seem to cohabit in the river, alongside fishermen on their slender wooden boats; elephants and giraffes slowly make their way around, in contrast with the hundreds of impalas, gazelles and antelopes darting around or fiercely fighting to reclaim their territory and the ladies' attention, their elegant horns locked together. Zebras move in dazzles, their hypnotic skin glistening in the sun, and countless species of birds, plants and flowers are everywhere we look. We even spot a leopard for a few minutes, shiny and regal in his stride. We drive around a stinking bush, where a pack of lions has clearly just had a kill. The lions, however, seem to know everyone is looking for them, and they don't come out until the evening.
On our sunset safari, we spot a pride of 14 lionesses and 3 young males, lazily lounging on the river bed. They look so inoffensive and chilled out, it is hard to imagine they are one of the deadliest predators in the animal world. A baby elephant and his mum tentatively cross the river a couple of hundred yards away. Immediately a few of the lionesses stir, stand up, and look at them, pondering on whether they are hungry enough to attack. They decide against it eventually, but for a few minutes the atmosphere grows tense as we are all torn between witnessing a kill or chasing what promises to be a spectacular sunset. We decide for the sunset eventually, and what a good choice that was: the sun was the biggest I've ever seen it, a huge incandescent, perfectly round circle, so enormous and close you could have reached out and touched it.
After sunset we are heading back to camp, thinking we've been as lucky as it gets, when out of nowhere on the road, two pairs of eyes pierce the darkness, and the silhouettes of two lions emerge just ahead of us. They are approaching a small pond to have a drink, when a crocodile jumps out of the water and they recede quickly. That's when they spot us. They turn around and slowly walk towards our car, looking suspiciously at this big dark mass smelling of humans. They are the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen, and they are promenading a couple of meters away from me. We reverse to let them go through undisturbed, and admire the powerful muscles and joints moving effortlessly under their taut skin, manes flowing around the faces, tails whipping the air.
And after all this, when we thought we had seen everything South Luangwa had to offer, our safari guide stopped the car, killed the engine and told us to look up, where the sky had almost disappeared under hundreds of constellations, the Milky Way and a million glistening stars.