Chris Payne New Zealand flag

NZ Visited: May 2023 Reviewed: May 31, 2023

Email Chris Payne | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari

Great safari experience

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 5 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 0 / 5

Three weeks in South Africa - had a great time spending 10 days in Capetown and Paarl before driving up to Port Elizabeth. Fantastic trip with everything packing in - from township visit to safari - we saw, learnt and experienced a lot.
First time safari-ers, found the prospect of choosing pretty daunting but found this site excellent in sorting out priorities. We settled on Pembury Tours who were brilliant to work with - they understood the brief and went through some options until we were sorted. Ended up going to 2 camps - Sabi Sands and Timbivati - which was great advice as we got two different but equally enjoyable experiences (Arathusa and Umlani). The hospitality and organisation was unbelievable.
Totally recommend visiting - yes you do need to be careful and the power cuts are annoying - but probably one of the best trips we have had.

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Valerio Sciarra Italy flag

IT Visited: May 2023 Reviewed: May 30, 2023

Email Valerio Sciarra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari

a lovely view

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 4 / 5 Bush Vibe 3 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 2 / 5

Beautiful trip with amazing panoramic views and modern cities to visit

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Daniel Muller United Kingdom flag

GB Visited: May 2023 Reviewed: May 22, 2023

Email Daniel Muller | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris

A beautiful country with wonderful people and full of adventure

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 5 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 0 / 5

We did so much on this trip and found it all so rewarding. Afrikaburn, Soweto, (unreal) Safari, Cape Town, Robben Island, Franschoek wine tram and a day driving the Cape Cobras. What a trip!

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Bahaa ****** Qatar flag

QA Visited: August 2019 Reviewed: May 22, 2023

Email Bahaa ****** | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari

Amazing nature and plenty of places to go

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 5 / 5 Bush Vibe 4 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 4 / 5

The journey was amazing where ever you go there is something new to see. great nature, food good and many options and the people are nice, never had any annoying event

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Wojciech Koziołek Poland flag

PL Visited: May 2023 Reviewed: May 21, 2023

Email Wojciech Koziołek | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Beautiful landscapes, amazing bush vibe, good safari

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 4 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 5 / 5

South Africa is a stunning and extremely beautiful country- from the vast and wild Kruger National Park to Drakensberg Mountain. Simply amazing! Wildlife viewing was excellent even though we had no luck in Kruger- 2 days in the Park without seeing any predators at all (no rhinos too, only 2 out of the Big Five- elephants and buffalos). Kruger NP is beautiful, wild and I loved it, but sometimes (especially during a hot day) wildlife sightings were poor- the park is huge and sometimes you can drive for an hour or more without seeing anything. Private reserves such as Balule were great- lots of animals very close to the jeep (hunting lions, rhinos, etc.). I would suggest mix your safari when going to South Africa (private game reserve+Kruger NP). We went for a safari with Viva Safaris- overall very good operator, good value for money even though we didn't see as much wildlife as I would want. Weather in May was fabulous but it was way hotter than I have imagined! We had no safety problems

An spectacular country full of nature and great people

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 5 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 5 / 5

We were very well impressed with the country and its nature: we experienced the beauty of Kruger National Park as well as Cape Town and it’s surrounding areas full of great landscapes, awesome tours and tour guides and friendly people! The country is a must if you are considering visiting Africa.

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Molly Warren United States flag

US Visited: April 2023 Reviewed: May 16, 2023

Email Molly Warren | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari

One of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited.

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 5 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 5 / 5

South Africa is such a diverse and interesting country. Full of ever changing landscapes and interesting animals and birds. We found the people to be warm and welcoming.

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Jason Sinnarajah United States flag

US Visited: April 2023 Reviewed: May 14, 2023

Email Jason Sinnarajah | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari

Incredible trip

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 5 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 5 / 5

What an amazing trip. From the schedule, to the quality of the guides, to the wonderful hospitality, it was an amazing trip. I can't thank Ilana Mahoney enough, she did an amazing job of putting a great trip together for us!

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Norman Goodwin United States flag

US Visited: April 2023 Reviewed: May 12, 2023

Email Norman Goodwin | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari

Very interesting and informative

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 4 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 0 / 5

Tour guide for safari was very informative and helpful. I learned a lot more about apartheid from the museums and it was good that past austracties were not covered up. Melrose Arch was very nice
Overall food was good and reasonably priced. People quite friendly and professional.

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Kristi Canada flag

CA Visited: March 2023 Reviewed: May 2, 2023

Email Kristi | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari

Amazing bucket list experience

Overall rating

5 / 5 5 _/5

Wildlife 5 / 5 Bush Vibe 5 / 5 Scenery 5 / 5 Birding 0 / 5

I had a unique opportunity to travel solo for the first time in many years, and decided to use it on a bucket list trip. I had always wanted to do a safari. I found Viva Safaris online and was impressed from the get go by their responsiveness and flexibility. The on the ground experience also impressed. I was advised that Jo'burg was a 'fly over' city. I spent a single night at an airport hotel upon arrival, and was picked up the safari operator the next morning. The overland trip to the Kruger area took several hours but was a chance to see the countryside and meet my fellow travelers. By the time I arrived at the lodge, I had new friends and felt a real sense of community. I did the 6-day safari - which was (honestly) a tiny bit too long. I saw every kind of wildlife, the guides were fantastic, and the staff at the lodge went above and beyond to accommodate my restricted diet (vegetarian, celiac). I would highly recommend Viva Safaris and would also suggest beginning

South Africa User Reviews

Average User Rating

Rating Breakdown

Great safari experience

a lovely view

A beautiful country with wonderful people and full of adventure

Amazing nature and plenty of places to go

Beautiful landscapes, amazing bush vibe, good safari

An spectacular country full of nature and great people

One of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited.

Incredible trip

Very interesting and informative

Amazing bucket list experience