50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The safari tours were an incredible experience and highlight of our vacation!
We booked a 3 day luxury tour from Johannesburg to Krueger National Park in October for our anniversary. Booking was easy using email and WhatsApp to communicate with Knap Tours.
The first day starts with about a 6 hour drive from Johannesburg airport to the destination riding in a van.
The "luxury" was because we chose to stay at a hotel, which was the Radisson. We were thrilled with that decision. The hotel was very nice, with two fabulous pools and great mountain views. The package included buffet style meals and our room was spacious and had air conditioning, which was appreciated. Highly recommend if you prioritize comfort.
We had a late afternoon tour once we arrived. It was booked for 14:10 but there were multiple safari jeeps and the drivers made no attempt to engage or announce their arrival, even though we were standing & waiting. We had to contact Knap Tours to figure out if our guides were even there and then had to go around asking the different drivers if they were for our tour. Once we finally connected with the appropriate car (30 min later), it was a smooth experience. The guides were nice and did a great job spotting and finding animals for us to view. Getting to enjoy the sunset in the park was beautiful. On our way back to the hotel, I had to reach out to Knap Tours to request the schedule for the following day which was promptly received.
The full day was absolutely fantastic!! Our guide was great, and we saw so many different animals. It was incredible!! On the way back to the hotel, I had to reach out to Knap Tours to request the schedule for the following day which was promptly received.
The last day was a morning tour. The park we went to was very sparse, and we didn't see anything in the first hour of driving. Even after it was a single elephant, a single giraffe, and old water buffalo. I don't know how, but near the end we did see a small family of lions which saved the tour from being uneventful.
We took a similar van back to Johannesburg. We were told the wrong departure time so the group was a bit frustrated that they were waiting for us. The drive was irritating due to two rude individuals who treated the van as their personal party being loud, taking phone calls on speaker, watching reels without headphones, singing, etc. while everyone else was trying to relax from the early morning start times. I wish the driver would have made an announcement at the first rest stop about respecting everyone in the van and keeping noise to a respectable level. Obviously, Knap Tours cannot control the behavior of others but setting some expectations might have helped.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our tour operator was very knowledgeable and dedicated to finding the big 5.
The Pilanesburg safari tour was a once in a lifetime experience! Indid not know what to expect and appreciated seeing the animals in their natural environment.
Simon was a great driver. Picked us up from our hotel on time and got us to the tour early. I would definitely recommend! The elephants and giraffes were amazing, sadly no big cats today, too hot.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
MALI the best guide ever!!
It's my first group safari and it was exciting. Our guide Mali was very good at understanding everyone's needs (7 people) and to manage the plan of the day. It has an excellent communication skills. You will be very lucky to have him as a guide. I recommend the camping option, because waking up with animals all around is priceless.
I put 4 stars because the first campsite (Nyani) we were in was not at all clean, the showers did not work and it’s only cold, in the bathroom there was only one light and you couldn’t see anything, the bathroom and the kitchen was dirty, the curtains were the same size for everyone, we were 3 and we were very narrow.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent budget option of open-group safari
Great option for solo traveler on a budget to join an open-group safari. Wilfred from Meru Slopes helped with designing my itinerary, communicated well, and coordinated pick-up and drop-offs efficiently. The safari guide Stanley did an excellent job with finding the best spots for wildlife viewing and was very knowledgeable! Camping was a great and adventurous experience as well.
AR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Philip was incredibly kind and generous. An amazing guide who made our trip so much better!
Philip was absolutely amazing throughout our trip! He treated us with so much kindness and warmth, and he is truly one of the most generous people we’ve met. He is an excellent guide, incredibly knowledgeable, helpful, and always willing to go the extra mile to make sure we had the best experience possible. Our trip was so much better thanks to him, and we couldn’t have asked for a better guide. We are truly grateful for everything he did for us and would highly recommend him to anyone!
On the other hand, Axis should review the Naibaisha day and also maybe organize the cars between the ones that are doing the 3 day or 6 day safari and also depending on the lodge. The experience also would be better if we hadnt share all of the days with a couple that was really disrespectful with us, but thats not Axis fault.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful exploration of Africa
Our guide Peter's approach was fairly standard, but what really stood out to me was our cook — the food was incredibly delicious and hygienic. Overall, this was a trip that lived up to expectations: we got to witness the wildebeest crossing the river and saw a wide variety of wild animals.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A reliable and well-organised safari operator with excellent coordination and professional service.
We had a very good experience with Sunstrip Africa Safaris during our visits to Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. Tekala coordinated our trip very well, and our guide, Philip, was friendly, professional and helpful throughout the safari. Everything was well organised, and the service was excellent. Highly recommended for anyone planning a safari in Kenya.
OM
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was amazing. Super coordination and arrangement
Its Value for Money but little expensive. But we have faced internet issues in hotel .
JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The tour company was excellent
Galagos safari was excellent. The guide （Mozes）was not reliable and proffesional.
The staff I communicate was so reliable.
He answers everything quickly.
The meal, hotel, and the car were all excellent.
Our budget was so tight so I can't believe this cost peformane.
The only thing dissappointed me was the guide.
He was very not proffesional, and every guest feel we wasted whole day in Serengdti national park.
Tour company came to see and apologized about it.
They also promised us to improve about it.
Overall, the tour company was so reliable and professional.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall good, but tons of effort required to confirm/resolve the details upon arrival
I have to say that overall experience is still good. But I spent serious effort managing key details that deviated from the contract significantly. For hotels (other than the kili-base hotel they owned), I recommend that you put in the contract that they email you the invoice within a week after you sent in upfront money.
The major flaw in Kwesa's service was that they did not quite stick to the contract. None of the deviations (technically breach of contract) were due to force majeure. Rather, every incident was Kwesa-caused, foreseeable, and the worst part is that none was communicated to us ahead of time. So imagine how pissed I was. These issues were eventually resolved to our satisfaction after I sat down the owner Edward for a pretty serious talk. But it would only earn them a 4 star at the best.
The two of us (both females) booked a PRIVATE 6-day Kili-climbing tour, and a 3-day safari tour with them. We sent in upfront money (20% of total) for the entire trip more than a month ahead of time.
We arrived at the hotel(also the kwesa office) around 3 am. we planned to start climbing the next day, so we planned to spend the whole day chill around Moshi. around 9/10-ish am, Edward caught us on the way going into the city center and said that he wanted to have a meeting with us, during which we found out: 1) he thought we would climib kili on that day, not the day after as we contracted. 2) he added an Austrilian girl to "tag-along" with us. After stating that we departs tomorrow, and our tour was private. Edward agreed that things should go as we planned. He also promised the other girl would have her own team, which turned out to be a total lie. He basically sold the team we paid for a second time to the girl. We ended up liking the girl. but when we returned to the hotel, we and the girl both complained to Edward. His attitude for making up for his operational mess was not bad. we ended up getting some money back, and I think she did too.
This was when I realized Edward can be full of BS. So I hammered him about the safari details esp. the hotel we contracted. Just as we suspected, he didn't book the hotel (serengati classic view) we paid for. instead he booked a lower-class hotel and tried to slip past us (no meantioning whatsoever till that moment), and then tried to persuade us it's a good choice. I took out the contract and told him how serious breaching of contract was, and the consequence is severe, and I didn't accept anything less than SCV, and if SCV is sold out, I need something at least as good as SCV. He agreed, and did what I requested. Our safari trip was great, mainly (by some serendipitous miracle) due to the guide who happened to agree to be hired by Edward for this trip. Edward was BS'ing again by putting his apprentice a 17-year-old, in the car to learn from our guide, and dared to tell me that I should tip him as a guide. I complete ignored his words and gave the kid 0 tip to make a point.
We still think the overall experience is postive, because the safari guide was really great, knowledgeable, honest, transparent, and considerate. The kili-climibing team was also quite good:
1.the assisstant guide is a really honest hard-working guy who actually helped us along the way. ( Lead guide is the same person as Edward, dishonest when a problem was spotted, but not as much, generally OK)
2. the cook was really good. we had hot lunch every day.
3. the waiter who was also a porter was really caring for us. I left him two new water bottles and some hiking nutrition packs.
4. the porters and guides provided a supporting and naturally happy mellow vibe, which mentally made our days easier.
5. the stuff they used were not new, nothing fancy, but comfortable. food was all locally sourced. but we had no GI problems for 6 whole days, which testified for the quality of the goods and the preparation.
6. the price was fair.