South Africa Travel Guide

Big 5 in a day

The Kruger safari was more than expected. Our guide was knowledgeable and found all the wildlife we could ask for. No problems all of our outings and transfers went as planned. I would use safari bookings again.

Best experience ever! totally recommendable

Everything was amazing, people, food, wildlife and scenarios. The only thing I couldn´t do was the panorama sighting because there was a fire.

A pleasant trip, with a wonderful itinerary, but with too cheap a way of travelling.

I booked my tour with Kruger Park Tours: they were absolutely perfect from all points of view.

The tour itself was organised by Nomad Tours. It was an overland tour, South African Explorer 2018-South, 20 days, accommodated. I have not enough words to praise the excellent staff, the guide, the driver and the cook, all of them great professionals. The itinerary was perfect, although the tour should have been a couple of days longer to enable a more relaxed pace. The truck was comfortable, even for somebody with joint pains like me, but it should be heated: we spent several hours in a snow storm in a freezing vehicle, and many other days in a very cold one; on the other hand, warm weather is not a problem as it is possible to open all the windows. Moreover, the truck is good for ordinary transportation, not for game viewing, as it is too large to get into the narrow paths where game usually hides: therefore, only the safaris done with special vehicles were really rewarding, not the ones done with the large truck. Most accommodations were good or excellent - only the Kudu Ridge Lodge near Addo N. P. did not meet the required level, as the heating in the quite dilapidated tents was not working despite the very cold temperatures -, but due to the type of tour we could not enjoy the common areas: we used to eat outside in the cold, or in areas near the kitchen or even in the room of the guide. The food was generally OK, enough for me - a petite 66 year old woman -, but again the type of tour made us spend a lot of time buying food, preparing meals, washing the dishes, etc., a time that would have been better spent visiting the wonders of the country; furthermore, this type of tour forces the staff to reach the accommodations quite early in order to have time to cook dinner, late afternoon hours being the best to view game, together with early morning ones. But I guess the very cheap price of the tour is possible only with this type of tour called overland.

My advice: South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho are marvelous countries where you will enjoy extraordinary wildlife, beautiful scenery, interesting culture, good food and bear, and excellent wines, so do visit them. However, take an overland tour only if you really cannot afford something better; if you can spend some more money, do yourself a favor and choose a tour using lodge restaurants for meals - at least for breakfast and dinner - and special vehicles to watch game.

You all ROCK!! Super place to visit, and we want to come back soon. Awesome trip from Kruger NP south to Cape Town for a total of 4 weeks. Just a super trip!!

Awesome experience, will definitely go back!

The entire safari experience was great. Our guide, Matthew, from African Safari Guru, picked us up in Johannesburg and made sure we had everything we needed (including helping us to get a local SIM card for our phones). During the transfer to Arathusa, Matthew provided tons of interesting information about the area, the people, the economy .. the country in general. After 3 days at Arathusa, Matthew picked us up and drove us to Lukimbi. He took us through Kruger National Park, took us to the top of a "koppie" to get a 360 degree view of the park, which was amazing. My husband finally understood what I meant when I said "the bush" ... After our stays at the lodges (6 nights total), Matthew drove us to Nelspruit airport where we caught a flight to Cape Town where we spent another week. The lodges (Arathusa and Lukimbi) were very different but both amazing in their own way. The food and service was excellent all around. I can't think of anything negative at all. It was a great experience and we plan to go back. African Safari Guru did not disappoint and we will use Matthew again.

Magical

I was a solo female traveler who was eager to see the wildlife but was also nervous about traveling by myself. I should not have been. The safari was wonderful! Fantastic and knowledgeable guides, incredible scenery and excellent lodge all of which quickly relieved me of any trepidation. The lodge itself was built overlooking a small valley and a vast open-air balcony. It was a beautiful and restive spot for wildlife viewing. The staff were warm yet professional, and the service was excellent. Food was also very good. I went on morning and evening game drives. Our guide grew up just outside of the park, and was informative about both wildlife and Zulu culture. I also went on a bush walk which was the highlight of my trip. Why travel so far and stay in a car when you can walk with the animals and see things you would otherwise miss? For me the only drawback was that I am a birder. The game drives were in jeeps with five to six other people who were not asinterested in stopping to see the birds as was I. As a result, the bird watching was rushed but we did see many animals including four of the big 5.

Poor Communication and Follow up

We saved money for our South African vacation for over a year and a half and the part we were most looking forward to was our 2-day Safari in Pilanesberg. My husband even purchased a new camera for the game drives.

Shortly after we arrived at the Bakubung Lodge in Pilanesberg we were told by another guest that the evening game drive had been cancelled due to wildfires. The entire park had been closed for the first time in history. We were told that we would be informed of the status of our morning drive later that night. Had it not been for this individual we would not have been told of the cancellation- we did not hear anything from Go Safari.

We inquired on the status of the morning game drive several times that evening and nobody at the resort seemed to know anything. We went to bed disappointed but hopeful for a morning drive.

We awoke the next morning at 5AM to get ready just in case the drive was going to occur. We went to the lobby and, again, nobody had any information. Worse still....no word from Go Safari. After standing in the lobby for an hour exchanging awkward glances with the front desk staff we finally went back to the room assuming the drive was cancelled (we were literally the only guests standing in the lobby). Still...no word from Go Safari.

Our ride back to Joburg was not scheduled to pick us up until noon so we had 6 hours to sit there and do nothing. So, we sat on a bench outside and waiting for 6 hours to be picked up. As we sat there, we had hoped for word from Go Safari. Anything would have been nice. "We are sorry about the cancellations", "Would you like to try again another day?", "Can we provide a voucher for a future date?" But Go Safari did not reach out.

We understand that the wildfires were not anyone's fault and those things happen. We can tolerate disappointment. What we are upset about is the total lack of communication from Go Safari and the horrible customer service we have received.

We spent nearly $900USD on one night at a lodge with crappy food and poor service from the staff.

We had several more days to spend in Joburg and would have gladly paid for another driver to take us back after he park opened so we could even get one game drive in.

This was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime. Go Safari really messed this one up.

Fabulous and Perfect time of the year.

We used Kruger Park Tours, for our Safaris...Johann was our personal Safari planner.
It was perfect from beginning to end.
I specifically like that we stayed at so many different wildlife preserves and accommodations. Living in Tents in different locations, was magical. Safari walks with armed guides was thrilling.
Going to several location every 4 days is perfect.
The differences are amazing and it makes each Safari experience unique.
My favorite was Sabi Sands with Kruger a close runner up
BBQ dinners in the bush with only lanterns for light. And the fire pit glowing.
The most special Safari Camp was Tydon Safari.
We stayed in the main camp for 4 nights, then moved to the Bush Camp. It is limited to 4 tents with private baths. It is located right in the Bush, with wildlife. It is fabulous. They do not allow small children- for safety reasons. If you are lucky enough to get a reservation in the bush camp...grab it.
DianeB

This trip was incredible.

Safari bookings website was very useful to narrow down some criteria for our trip. Once our criteria was entered, Safari bookings webpage produces all of the tour companies who meet that criteria. From this list, I narrowed my search to about 6 tour companies as Safari bookings suggest obtaining a few quotations from different tour companies to compare cost, itineraries, etc. When I narrowed down my search, I contacted the tour companies directly and asked more specific questions, such as availability and some more details about what was included. We booked through Viva Safaris, this company was a great organization for first time travellers to South Africa. The itinerary was busy, but well organized and included both visits to Kruger and Private reserves as each has a different feel. The busy itinerary made good use of the 6 day safari but also had good down time as well. The accommodation at Tremisani Lodge were nothing short of fantastic, it was a bit of an upgraded price but well worth it and would definitely be happy to stay there again - zero complaints. Very private, secluded chalets and a private chef for the 8 lodges. The staff at the lodge could not have been more friendly and helpful and the chef was passionate about the food he prepared. The time of year we went was winter, the trees are sparse and it makes viewing the wildlife better. The scenery was spectacular and the stop at the Blyde River Canyon on the way back to Joburg was great. I particularly enjoyed our guide Nico, he made the safaris fun and interactive. One thing about these guides that impressed me the most, that being a guide isn't just a 9-5 job, but a way of life and conservation is of the utmost importance to all of the guides that we encountered - very impressive. The one thing I also noted was that safari wasn't as expensive as I originally imagined, there are all sorts of packages available. This is a must do bucket list kind of trip. Prior to this trip, we could only see wildlife like this on television on nature specials, so thankful I was able to see these beautiful animals in person, its almost like a trip back in time. Lastly, I was very impressed with the efforts at the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehab centre, the job at hand that these people are undertaking is difficult and trying, but I so appreciate their efforts at conservation.

amazing

It was really amazing, a very good experience. I highly recomend it.