East Cape Tours
- Located In:
-
United Kingdom
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 1998)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, SATOA, ATOL & SATSA
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $28 to $110 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CZ
Email Petra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great service
In The East Cape Tours we were in touch with Nerine. She was always quick in responses and planned our tours in South Africa customized on our specific needs. We went with East Cape Tours to safari and vineyard tour. Everything went smoothly, all the guides and drivers were always on time as planned and we really enjoyed our stay. The Kariega Homestead was beautiful place with nice people around and amazing food. We can only recommend!
US
Email Marcella Wickham | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Made us a spectacular Safari, but communication was very poor.
The good: East Cape made us a truly spectacular safari and trip to South Africa! It was a dream come true, and for that we are grateful. We were put up in top of the line hotels and tents, with delicious food and wonderful people. Treated like royalty the entire time. We told them what we wanted, and they arranged the entire thing. Originally, we were put up in a different accomodation which seemed stuffy to us, and when I voiced we wanted an upscale tent with about 10 days to go, it was arranged for us (Best thing we ever did!). So, the trip was nothing short of spectacular, everything was absolutely incredible, and I thank East Cape wholeheartedly for memories that will last us a lifetime and beyond.
The bad: Communication with East Cape was on pointe until they received payment. Once that happened, it was like pulling teeth to get answers. At initial contact, the owner Colin actually called us from South Africa, asked us our preferences and budget, then asked if we wanted to pay in Rand or US Dollar. Being naive, we said "US" which turned out to be an expensive mistake. He should have told us to pay in rand, though I understand he needs to make money too. Readers take heed; pay in Rand, your dollar will go exponentially further. Colin was super friendly, and then we were turned over to Denise, who's communication skills were poor. At one point about 3 weeks out of trip, we still didn't have a completed itinerary, and after multiple attempts to get it, I reached back out to Colin, who told me it was the "time difference." We were inside of one week when I finally got the itinerary, which consisted of our flights, and I had to go back to the initial proposal and type the entire thing out myself. I knew airport transfers were arranged for us, but had no idea we had a private driver until he picked us up - which was a pleasant surprise, but a detail we should have known. There were more small details that we didn't get, but that's the jist of it. Overall, I would recommend East Cape Tours, but would ask for somebody other than Denise to help you along.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Feb 7, 2020I am very disappointed by this review as Denise and I spent ages making sure “the trip was nothing short of spectacular, everything was absolutely incredible.”
I am also confused about certain parts.
We quoted and took payment in South Rand through our Nedbank virtual terminal, I don’t understand the comment about paying in USD. We paid the substantial credit card charges as we always do.
I am afraid the time difference is a reality, as it is a 14-hour difference. However, I arranged to call several times at midnight our time and managed to be super friendly.
We sent a full itinerary prior to you booking with us.
We clearly didn’t get the message across properly that it was a private tour, but can’t really understand why as it was on all our documentation. I even explained on the phone that one of our guides would be at the airport to meet you and thus no tickets or vouchers were necessary, the timing of all the transfers was arranged around your needs.
We gave you the guides mobile number, mine and Denise’s - just in case there were any problems. Nonetheless, there were no issues and it worked like clockwork, and the private driver became a pleasant surprise.
To reiterate, I think this is very harsh on Denise who went beyond the extra mile to make sure “the trip was nothing short of spectacular, everything was absolutely incredible, and I thank East Cape wholeheartedly for memories that will last us a lifetime and beyond.”
Email Jenny | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A reliable company with conscientious staff who go that extra mile to be flexible.
The staff employed by East Cape (either directly or indirectly) proved to be very reliable, friendly and helpful. It was a pleasure to do business with them. East Cape Tours booked a safari; several transfers and restaurants in both the Eastern Cape and the Cape Town. All proved to be very successful. Shamwari safari at Lobengula lodge was also booked by East Cape Tours. The safari drives were conducted by a single driver/guide and varied from the regular early morning and early evening game drives to a complete day out. The driver/guide was informative, but in my opinion because of having to drive and spot animals at the same time, there is was something lacking in quality of the game drives. It felt at times just like a very bumpy car journey, without the joy of the animals. The accommodation at Lobengula is very good; large rooms with great facilities, however, the service is not of the same high quality. The stay was on an all inclusive basis, however, many of the items included on the menu as all inclusive were not available for the whole period of our stay. On check in it was advised the mini bar would be replenished daily; this was not the case. The service at breakfast was excruciatingly slow and then only partial orders would arrive. Having done many safaris in the past, this one, unfortunately ranked as below average.
US
Email Paul | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great and professional
I only had 24 hrs to explore and this company made the most of my limited time. Great people and food and very nice lodging. I was a single traveler adding this on to a work trip and the employees and other guests were a good, fun group to be with.
NL
Email Gabriel Martel | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Deliver to promise with great and inspiring offers and smooth communication!
Communication through e-mail was very accurate and fast. Friendly professional staff.
SE
Email Peter Anto | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A very good experience.
Communication were swift both by e-mail and phone, issues were quickly corrected. We were very happy with service on site, meals/beverages and the safaris, our expectations were exceeded. I can highly recommend East Cape Tours.
Email Helen | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
ZIMBABWAE WHAT A WONDERFUL COUNTRY
After returning from our two week holiday to Zimbabwe I just wanted to again thank East Cape Tours namely Colin, Kia,and Tehillah for an amazing job in helping us create such a wonderful adventure.
From my first contact with Colin I was instantly impressed with his professionalism and the effort to guide me through our booking process. Colin emailed me through a few itineraries to look at which made it easy to map out our final destinations.
We had 3 nights at the Rhino Safari Camp, 3 nights on the Umbozha house boat sailing on the Lake, 3 nights at Sable Sands then onto Victoria Falls for our last 3 nights.
This trip has everything you would every want from a holiday. All our accommodation was excellent and the food was so impressive and plenty of it. Our game drives were made so much better as our guides were both intelligent and informative their calming nature make you feel extreme safe which is kind of important when those very large elephants stroll on by.
The highlights of the tour were of course the animals, but the people of Zimbabwe were warm and friendly and we learnt so much from them.
If you are looking for a company to create your next adventure I can’t rate East Cape highly enough.
IF YOU HAVEN’T CONSIDERED ZIMBABWE – GIVE IT A GO YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED
Life changing AND life-affirming in every way possible
Thank you for the trip of a lifetime. Starting with Denise in Reservations, Patrick My ever-faithful driver, Addo elephant park the, De Drift Inn, and then the amazing Shamwari . I can’t speak highly enough....Simbu, Marley, my ever gracious hosts, James my dedicated and delightful Game driver and all of the staff to say it was exceptional is a massive understatement. And then on to 5th Ave., Beach’s house in PE with Chantelle, Ada, and Sandy. I made friendships that will last a lifetime I loved it so much I did not want to leave!! I plan to return and hopefully purchase a home there in the next two years. Thank you for the gracious, welcoming, delightful, trip of a lifetime. It was not only life affirming, is life-changing. I will be back as soon as possible....and hoping to buy. Home there in2 yours. Amazing country and amazing people. Thank you so very much for welcoming me to your country and guiding me through a a solo trip of a lifetime.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jun 24, 2019Good day Katherine,
Thank you so much for the wonderful review! We are so glad you enjoyed your time in South Africa. We look forward to welcoming you back to our beautiful country!
Email June Smith | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Last minute weekend tours
We were in J’Burg on business and had two weekends for Safari. Last minute booking so it needed to be very efficient. Cape Tours found us excellent residences with lovely rooms and good tours. Thank you!
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Mar 26, 2019Good day June,
Thank you for your review! We're so glad to hear that we could help you. We look forward to helping you organise more custom-made holidays in the future!
Email Les and Margaret | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsive , flexible, light-touch planning with perfect selection of countrywide hotels and lodges.
We had originally planned to self-book our month's tour of South Africa for 2019, but having made contact with Colin and his team at East Cape Tours, their professionalism and effort to tailor a perfect plan for us, won us over. Their light touch and total flexibility to meet our initially sketchy ideas enabled us to fit in all the places we wanted to cover, plus give us extra confidence in the quality of accommodation, as well as providing us with a one-stop-shop
Our personal travel consultant , Lynn Bowers, managed everything for us as we fine tuned the locations and local travel together. She was highly responsive , with comprehensive , clear and rapid communications , always backed up with East Cape Tours' really smart systems integration that delivered us plans, accommodation details and travel information by return e mail.
Flexible to the end, Lynn was able to manage changes without any fuss , and provided invaluable support when our inbound flight to Cape Town was delayed by a day - notifying the hotel and rearranging the car-hire.
The location and quality of the hotels and lodges was perfect for us and bookings were always faultless and comprehensive : the booking at Madikwe Safari Lodge , our final stop, was really special and proved to be a stunning finale to our trip. Part way through the trip at Port Elizabeth, Colin from East Cape took time out to meet us for dinner which was very kind. Thank you all at East Cape Tours
So if you have some vague future travel plans for South Africa , we heartily recommend you talk to East Cape Tours first.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Mar 26, 2019Good day Les and Margaret,
Thank you so much for your awesome review! We're so glad to hear that you enjoyed your holiday. We look forward to planning your next East Cape Tours getaway and connecting with you again in the future.