East Cape Tours
- Located In:
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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
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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.
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.
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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.”
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!
Email Patrick Goodwin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Trip Ended Up a Massive Success Despite Covid Delaying It Nearly 3 Years
"After some initial issues around Covid rules the CEO, Colin made contact with us and very kindly allowed us to change our trip , as it turned out a number of times, due to the changing world that we were living in at the time. When we eventually went on our trip to Amakhala in March 2022 (nearly 3 years after our initial booking) the trip was a massive success. We stayed in Leeuwenbosch and loved it. All the staff and our guide were exceptional. Although the weather could have been kinder we saw everything that we wanted and our guide ,Ouboet could not have done any more and was always so cheerful and helpful. I would definitely recommend East Cape Tours and Cearl in particular who was incredibly understanding and patient with our regular changes (Thanks Cearl). It was also really nice to meet Colin in PE and chat properly.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Oct 29, 2020I am afraid this has been a very difficult time for everyone in the Travel Industry, ourselves included.
We have been forced to adhere strictly to our terms and conditions that were included on your invoice and confirmation.
Insurance: Please ensure you have adequate travel insurance for the duration of your trip East Cape Tours & Safaris South Africa will not be liable whatsoever for any loss/damage/personal health/ eventualities of war/civil action/act of terrorism/act of God, natural disasters or adverse weather conditions during or resulting from your holiday. We strongly advise passengers to take out insurance covering cancellation, medical expenses, loss of baggage, curtailment and default at the time of booking.
In addition to assisting clients with insurance claims, we have been working with the Department of Tourism and have agreed to postpone bookings without penalty or increased costs until the 15th December 2021 and even some cases to the end of 2022.
We have discussed this, and you will be back in touch in due course with new dates.
Email Emma Smith | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
DO NOT BOOK WITH COMPANY !!!
After nearly a month of waiting to hear back from the 'CEO' we are finally told that they will not provide a refund even though the country is not letting us travel there. This was a honeymoon trip and our wedding is cancelled, so unhelpful. This was the only provider who we have encountered problems with, all other bookings in our trip were kindly refunded. Awful customer service. Silly company really as I imagine everyone who experiences this will not book with them in the future.
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Email Jim Hooper | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
East Cape Tours so helpful in difficult circumstances.
I booked a multi centre trip which we unfortunately had to postpone due to Covid, Lynn helped us promptly to rebook the entire trip for next year, there was no additional cost and nothing was too much trouble, I highly recommend them.
Really looking forward to it, I am desperately in need of a vacation.
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Email Norma | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
She demonstrated excellent attention to details and interest in our comfort and happiness.
Our trip to South Africa was broken into three segments. First of all we toured Johannesburg with a guide, Thabang (Moreafrica Tours) and enjoyed visiting the Capitol Hill and the prison which has been upgraded to a museum for persons who were held illegally for political crimes. We then toured the Nelson Mandela home and museum. Our guide was knowledgeable and friendly. He took us to Soweto and we were able to actually go in the homes of some of the very poor people living there in the projects. We visited a daycare and it was heart wrenching.
The second segment of our trip took us to Embali Lodge where we experienced fantastic food and exciting Safari adventures each day we were there. The accommodations were luxurious and the staff was very attentive. Our guide, Moshe was well educated and a great communicator.
The final segment of our trip took us to Nkorho Lodge which was equally luxurious and also a very accommodating staff. Our food there was wonderful and we experienced the outdoor baumer dining by bon-fire and candlelight.
We again saw many animals on every single safari trip. We saw hundreds of elephants and nearly a 100 lions as well as many leopards, zebras, rhinos, hippos, Giraffe, monkeys, water buffalo, wildebeest, wild dogs, hyena, impala, and various other deer like animals. It was quite thrilling to see so many animals living in their natural habitat. We never felt threatened and we had outstanding guides and trackers each time we entered the bush. Our guide was Peter and our tracker was Chris. They were warm, welcoming and very eager to please.
Email Clarissa | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Efficient and very thorough organisation and personnel
Excellent service and nothing is too much trouble. Would definitely use them again
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Email Julia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional in every way
Cearl was our tour operator. After interviewing us, she went about organizing the perfect trip. We were supposed to go 4/2020 and we subsequently had to reschedule the trip 3 more times before we went this year. She canceled and rebooked this long trip for us each time professionally and patiently. We even changed the itinerary once. This was a fantastic trip, exceeding our expectations. At the end, we tested positive for Covid ( we had no symptoms) and could not fly back to the USA. We found out late in the evening of our last night. I emailed Cearl and she was on the spot, explaining the next step and setting us up to quarantine in a wonderful place. It is so important to have a good tour operator. Also, we are thankful we got travel insurance.