Sun Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $350 to $1,800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Drew C | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best planned trip, perfect accommodations, superb staff and locations, Sun Safari is the best!
Liselle,
I, and my party were so impressed. As you know, you never really understand what you might get by booking long distance, not knowing locations and totally trusting you, you could have told me anything and I needed to trust you. I can't thank you enough, it was better than words can describe. You made it fanatic, made me look great too! I hope you use that as a review, or tell where to write that. You did a great job all around.
Did you tell Montidor it was our honeymoon? We had rose petals, and small champagne!!!! Of course I claimed it! What a surprise and felt sorry for the couple that might have be shorted! This place is very good and I would highly recommend use it like you did with us. I would return.
First, we had dinner with Bryce the last night, what a great guy. He speaks very highly of Sun Safari, and so did I.
River Sands is amazing. See Christina S's review on Expedia written yesterday. I won't go anywhere else. Food, comfort, staff, setting, Elephants at the pool several times a day, animals 1 m from our deck and toilet window (now that's a surprise!!) was perfect. Cost was great value and the best!
Did not know that the driver / ranger spent all the meals with us. He was the assigned host. What a great idea! We had Justin, and he made sure we were taken care. (for example no sandals at night to protect against scorpions, and other safety tips). He was most pleasant and knowledgeable.
Luckily it rained 3 weeks prior to our arrival, so the shrubs were in slight leaf so the animals had something to eat. As you may know it is desperate time of drought. So we saw a lot of activity.
We saw the Big five, almost everyday, large herds, multi siting of Leopard, several Rhino's,, female Loins, male Lions, "Wild Dog" hunting Impala, Hyenas, birds, beetles, Tortoise, Elephants, everywhere, in camp, around camp, at night (not recommended, they spooked when we stopped on the road heading back and got in between several young ones!) The question might be, did we miss anything!?
I was lucky enough to do a tracking walk with two rangers that needed time in the bush, over cast and cool weather. I hunt back home, so for me this was so awesome, we got way to close, about 15-25 m, to a Buffalo due to the size of the herd spread out 100 m plus; got about 30-40 m, close to a very large Elephant with impressive tusks, and the final surprise, we "bummed" two female Lions who were sleeping in a ditch 3-4" below us at 10'. OH MY, those big brown eyes were not friendly! They ran off 40-50 meters and stared back at us. Rangers were very upset with themselves, I am to dumb to be scared! Awesome! All worked out, we went got the truck and relocated the Lions for viewing by others.
CA
Email Bryan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Safari Adventure!
My wife and I recently returned from a 2 week trip to South Africa, organized by Michelle Astbury at Sun Safaris.
Michelle was extremely helpful throughout the booking process, offering us many suggestions to create an itinerary that exactly fit our requests. We visited 3 private lodges in the greater Kruger area (Cheetah Plains, Chapungu and Kambaku) and also did a day tour of the Panorama Route. Each lodge was a real pleasure to visit - luxurious accommodations, friendly staff, great food and excellent game viewing!
Michelle expertly organized every aspect of the entire trip, including several domestic flights and many transfers between destinations. There wasn't anything more we could have hoped for from our trip to South Africa!
Email Matt | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional, friendly, and knowledgeable - Michelle's passion for game viewing is infectious
Our first safari experience was organised by the friendly Michelle Astbury - three nights at Naledi Bushcamp in Balule Nature Reserve.
While we were organising our safari two impressive aspects of Michelle's service stuck out - Firstly, Michelle's recognition that my partner and I liked to communicate over the phone rather than over email. Even though there is an 8 hour time difference between Cape Town and Melbourne, Michelle re-arranged her commitments in order to be able to call us multiple times when it was convenient for us, and at short notice. Because of her willingness, we were able gain huge insights into what sort of experiences were available to us, and fast-track our planning. We really felt Michelle shared our enthusiasm for planning our trip of a lifetime, and related to our position as first time safari goers well. Her passion for game viewing is infectious. Secondly, even though Michelle had plenty of recommendations, she never pushed a certain transfer company/lodge on us, and would willingly take on board suggestions for lodges/flights/transfers etc we had found ourselves and incorporated these into our short list of itineraries. Her email communication was frequent, friendly and clear- and continued in this vein after we had paid in full.
The accommodation that Michelle organised for us was in a beautiful setting overlooking the Olifants River with an abundance of game around even just the lodge itself, and had warm welcoming South African staff throughout. The transfers were reliable, comfortable, and safe.
Don't hesitate to reach out to Michelle or Sun Safaris if you are planning a trip to Africa - even if you just want to throw some ideas around and get a feel for your options. Thanks again Michelle :)
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Email Aneta & Scott | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime!
We just returned from a 3 1/2 week trip to South Africa, Victoria Falls and Botswana. Michelle Astbury of Sun Safaris organized an amazing itinerary for us. Our trip included numerous transfers, pick-ups and flights and Michelle's attention to detail ensured that everything went smoothly. Working with Michelle to design our trip was a pleasure. She was knowledgable, responsive to our concerns, and helped us make the best choices for a trip of a lifetime. We had a wonderful experiences at four lodges (Motswari and Arathusa in South Africa and Ngoma and Machaba in Botswana). Each lodge was a different experience, but all included luxurious accommodations, friendly staff and delicious food. And the animal viewing at all locations was terrific. Michelle also used her expertise to create great experiences for us in Cape Town, the Winelands, and Johannesburg. And uur stay at Oliver's Lodge in White River was a highlight.
We highly recommend both Michelle and Sun Safaris. We hope to plan another trip with them in the future!
AT
Email Joanna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A Perfectly Orgainsed Safari
We have just returned from a 3 centre, 2 week, family safari organised by Michelle Astbury.
We had a really fantastic time and everything was perfectly organised by Michelle, who was extremely helpful in finding the best options for us as well as making sure that everything ran like clockwork.
She answered every one of our many questions and queries, helpfully and informatively, which was very much appreciated.
Her recommendations were perfect for us and we enjoyed the entire trip enormously, all the transfers and flights were easy and well orgainsed.
In all it was a fantastic experience, exceeding all our expectations and I would not hesitate to recommend Michelle of Sun Safaris.
This was our best family holiday so far!
Amazing safari experience
My husband just returned from a Safari in South Africa organized by Michelle Astbury from Sun Safaris and it was just amazing!
We were surprised about how easily Michelle organized everything for us, even though we had only contacted her 2 weeks before our trip. We weren't sure of what to expect but everything just worked out perfectly. We wanted a wildlife focused safari and had few days so she suggested going to two close but very different game reserves within Kruger. I’m really happy she did so because both experiences were wonderful and gave us the opportunity of enjoying different scenery and wildlife. On top of the short notice and the few days that we had, we were travelling with stand by tickets (airline staff tickets), so there was a chance that last minute changes might have been needed (thankfully we were able to follow our schedule as planned) .She relieved us from any worry and made herself available to us at every moment, making sure that all was taken care of and that no question went unanswered.
We loved the Panorama Tour and both the lodges she selected for us, Xanatseni (Klaserie Game Reserve) and Kambaku (Timbavati Game Reserve) were outstanding with lovely staff, and above that we saw all the wildlife we wanted (including the big five) and even more… what else can I say? we were pampered!
We strongly recommend Sun Safaris for anyone searching for a wonderful safari experience, they are efficient, friendly and responsive!
Thank you so much for organizing a terrific trip for us!
FR
Email Olivier | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First but not last trip with Sun Safaris...!
Michelle Astbury was marvellous. She worked very hard to create a tailor made safari experience for my first visit to Africa, having paid great attention to my wish list, suggesting options and adapting the itinerary to design a 4 camp safari tour that gave me everything I wanted and more.... All the aspects of the organisation went smoothly including the transfers between camps and the extra excursion to the Endangered Species Centre and finishing with a stay in Cape Town. The camps she suggested gave me ample animal viewing and were very comfortable indeed. I hope to book through Sun Safaris in the future.
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Email Virginia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Sun Safari South African trip
Every aspect of this trip was amazing. Arathusa lodge in Sabi Sand was just the best- animals every where and our room was absolutely amazing!! We felt like kings during the entire trip. We loved nThambo treehouse lodge too and the food there was really terrific. Cape Cadogan in Cape Town was so beautiful- our room was fantastic and the staff was excellent. There is nothing bad that I can possibly say about our trip and I can't thank SunSafari enough!! Liselle, our specialist at Sun Safari, came up with perfect trip for us and she was available to us via email by rapidly answering all of our questions. She was extremely helpful during the entire process. If I return to Africa, I will absolutely use SunSafari again to organize my trip!
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Email Karen S. | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exceptional personal service and attention to detail
Sun Safaris did an exceptional job helping us plan a custom 8-day safari (which was really an extension to a 10-day Sun Safaris trip that friends had already asked us to join). We asked for a wildlife-focused itinerary that would complement our friends' 10-day safari in South Africa. "I want it to be the same, but different," I said. (Big help, I know.) Somehow they read my mind and delivered the perfect mix of safari experiences. Each of the three lodges (Ngoma in Botswana, Elephant Camp in Vic Falls, and Somalisa in Hwange, Zimbabwe) offered exceptional wildlife viewing, luxury surroundings, great food and an unparalleled level of personal service. But they were markedly different in scenery, style and ambiance. We had thought that 18 days of wildlife viewing might be too much of a good thing, but thanks to Sun Safaris' careful planning, we left wanting more. Somehow they put together a package that was well-rounded, interesting and affordable. Though Jako was the planner of the trip, Michelle took over with grace and enthusiasm. She made sure that all the last-minute details were taken care of and that no question went unanswered. I would highly recommend Sun Safaris to anyone who wants to "do their own thing." They will help you figure out what that precisely means and make it happen!
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Email Walt Hess | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sun Safaris will go out of their way to plan a wonderful safari experience
This is our second trip to South Africa using Sun Safaris and we went back to them because of the excellent service we received on our trip last year. We had two other couples go with us and they all enjoyed the entire trip. Our trip this year lasted 10 days, included 3 game lodges and every day was wonderful! I also recommended Sun Safaris to another couple (friends) and they are in Africa now doing basically our itinerary.
We initiated our trip with Jako and our details were handled by Michelle due to Jako's departure. She did a great job keeping us fully informed. The planning, scheduling and yes even the payment process was extremely easy and efficient, just as it was last year.
This year we went back to our favorite lodge, Arathusa, and visited two new ones based upon Sun Safaris recommendations. Ezulwini River Lodge was really fun. The staff could not have been friendlier or more helpful and the guide and tracker went out of their way to find us all of the Big Five. The next lodge recommended was Rhino Post, in Kruger. While I was initially concerned that visiting Kruger would be too restrictive (compared to the off road travel available at the other lodges) I relied on Sun Safari's recommendation and we were again extremely happy. Again, great staff and wonderful game viewing. Of course Arathusa was as expected, and our ranger Sean was wonderful, extremely responsive and passionate about his job.
We do not hesitate to recommend Sun Safaris as the place to go for a great experience in Safari travel. They are extremely friendly, responsive (even by returning phone calls to us in California) and efficient. Give them an opportunity to help you plan a trip of a lifetime to Africa; you will not be disappointed!