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
RO
Email Razvan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A total dissapointment! Avoid them at all costs!
I travelled around the world and I haven't found a travel agency worse than East Cape Tours. I booked with them a 4 night stay at Jackalberry Lodge, I paid 30% and I asked them to pay the difference after I would receive my visa for South Africa at the beginning of December. They spoke with The Reservation Department from Thornybush Game Reserve where Jackalberry is located and it was agreed that I will pay the difference after I have my visa issued. On November one month before leaving to SA, East Cape Tours have charged my credit card for the difference even if the agreement was to pay at the beginning of December. The bank was asking me if they should block the payment but in the end I have received the visa and I said no.
But the worst things were still to come.
3 weeks before leaving to South Africa Thornybush Reservation Department informed me that they have no availability for 4 nights at Jackalberry even if I paid in full our 4 night stay and I have received the confirmation of booking. East Cape Tours and Thornybush Reservation Department were so incompetent in dealing with me and my reservation and offered me a lower value lodge N'Kaya. I was very very dissapointed and frustrated to see that these 2 companies were trying to turn my holiday into a disaster. The accomodation that they were offering was 500 USD cheaper than Jackalberry. In the end I had to settle with N'Kaya because we had already paid the transfer to Thornybush and there was no lodge available left for the period before Christmas. I had to phone my bank 4-5 times to see if the difference was reimbursed of not, in the end the money entered my account.
I lost a lot of time speaking with East Cape Tours, with their stubborn manager Colin Diland which didn't apologize for the mess and harm done to us. i have all the emails and documents provin the harm done by these 2 companies. Anyone interested can contact me anytime. Try to stay away from East Cape Tours and Thornybush Reservation Department, otherwise your holiday can turn into a disaster!
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jan 14, 2016How do you answer a post like this?
We have been organising holidays and vacations since 1998 and have many repeat guests and countless referrals.
Well, here we go...
This started out as one of our simplest bookings. The client booked with us and we booked the lodge.
What we didn’t know at the time was that despite the fact that the client was a ‘gold star critic’ on TripAdvisor and had visited 105 countries, he didn’t have a visa for South Africa. We did offer to help and delayed taking payment as long as possible, but the client rather preferred that we took the risk and paid the costs if the visa was not forthcoming!!
This was obviously completely unacceptable and we would never have agreed to this when we made the booking. The client was right with his comment that I can be stubborn in such circumstances!
Finally, the client did obtain his visa and had a great time giving Thornybush an excellent rating on TripAdvisor.
I trust that I have suitably answered the post and hope that you will agree that it rather highlights how we always have and always will continue to go the extra mile for our clients.
Thank you for all your help and assistance!
We have just returned from our travels in Africa.
Shamwari was brilliant! Beautiful place and we were fortunate to have Jessica as our ranger and her knowledge of animals, birds, plants and the environment was amazing! We have had quite a few very good rangers take us on game drives on this trip and our previous trips, but Jessica stands out as the best!
The highlight of our two months in Africa was Christmas day at Shamwari where we were able to experience a private escorted walk around the outside of the enclosures of the Born Free lions/lionesses, leopards and cheaters! As a Born Free Foundation supporter for many years it was the perfect Christmas present on the best Christmas day ever!
Thanks again for all your help
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jul 28, 2016Hi Caroline.
Thank you for your excellent review. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your time at Shamwari. It really is a fantastic game reserve, and we are so glad that you had a good stay there.
We hope that you will keep us in mind for your future travels to Southern Africa.
All the best,
East Cape Tours
Thank you very much for your help and your good work.
I would like to say Thank You Very Much for arrange our safari and the drive from Airport and back. Everything was great and we had a really beautiful time in South Africa.
Thank you very much for your help and your good work.
I wish you a good time.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jul 28, 2016Hi Janine.
Thanks for taking the time to write us this great review. We are so pleased that you appreciated our services and had a great time on your safari.
We hope that you will keep us in mind for your future travels.
Wishing you all the best,
East Cape Tours
Thanks again for all your help, brilliant.
Hi Helga
We have just returned from our travels in Africa.
Shamwari was brilliant! Beautiful place and we were fortunate to have Jessica as our ranger and her knowledge of animals, birds, plants and the environment was amazing! We have had quite a few very good rangers take us on game drives on this trip and our previous trips, but Jessica stands out as the best!
The highlight of our two months in Africa was Christmas day at Shamwari where we were able to experience a private escorted walk around the outside of the enclosures of the Born Free lions/lionesses, leopards and cheaters! As a Born Free Foundation supporter for many years it was the perfect Christmas present on the best Christmas day ever!
Thanks again for all your help
Kind regards
Caroline
Fantastic
Dears Ladies and Sirs,
we had just last month a Safari-trip in the Amakhala Game Reserve which I booked through your agency.
It was fantastic.
Now my father and me are planning for next year to visit the Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Parc.
Do you offer also these three destinations?
Please let me know.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Kind Regards,
Adriano Rizza
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jul 28, 2016Hi Adriano.
Thank you so much for your fantastic review. We are so glad that you enjoyed your stay at Amakhala Game Reserve, and it's exciting to know that you are already planning another trip to Southern Africa! We offer some incredible trips to Victoria Falls and Botswana that I'm sure you would enjoy. We will get in touch with you to find out more details about your trip, and we can take it from there.
We look forward to chatting with you soon!
Regards,
East Cape Tours.
Highly Recommend
We booked our safari through East Cape Tours, who provided excellent service, managing to fit in our dates by swapping us between lodges and the free transfer from Port Elizabeth was an unexpected - and reliable - bonus.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jul 28, 2016Hi Simon.
Thank you for taking the time to review us. We are so glad that you appreciate our services and our complimentary transfers! We hope you had a fantastic time on your safari as well.
All the best,
East Cape Tours
Everything turned out perfect
Thank you for all your help everything turned out perfect. Ebrahim was super I'd highly recommend him to anyone traveling in Cape Town. Ismail was also excellent . We met Robert More at The More Quarters one morning he was extremely nice thought he might be at Lion Sands when we were there but left us a special message because he left the day we arrived and a book signed by him his greatgrandfather wrote.The staff at More Quarters were so friendly we loved our room and the hotel itself. Mont Rochelle is probably the most beautiful place we have ever been.Loved Franschook, The vineyards and wineries were magnificent. Could have spent more time there. The Lion Sands River Lodge was absolutely beautiful the staff was great and we had the best ranger in Neil and tracker Albert. Made friends with two couples we did our safaris with. Trip of a lifetime all we can do is pray we can go back some day. If we know anyone who is interested we will definetly refer you. Thank you again.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jul 28, 2016Hi Wayne.
Thank you so much for this superb review - we really couldn't ask for anything better. We are so pleased that you had a great time on your holiday and that you loved all of the accommodation. It's always nice to know that our services were appreciated by our guests, and that they would recommend us to others.
Wishing you all the best,
East Cape Tours
Thank you again.
I just returned from our South Africa and would like to take this opportunity to Thank you for the wonderful recommendation & stay at Kapama Karula. We all had a fantastic stay & the staff was very accommodating and helpful. Will certainly refer your services to anyone who is considering visiting SA.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jul 28, 2016Hi Ash
Thank you for your great review. We are so glad that you had a wonderful time during your stay at Kapama Game Reserve. It's always nice to know that our guests would recommend us to others.
Hopefully we will get to organise another holiday for you some day!
All the best,
East Cape Tours
Unforgettable vacation
It's a bit late but better than never :)
I wanna thank you both for this unforgettable vacation.
the stay in Luxury apartments - Cape Town - was amazing. excellent place and location.
as for the other hotels on our way to the reserve, each one of them has it's own charm and yet all of them had great service, welcoming staff and tasty food....
But the best was for last with Pumba game reserve. we had the best days of our lives, good mood and good food.
My family and I, we appreciate everything you did for us to make our vacation in South Africa unforgettable.
I would definitely go back and for sure recommend you to everyone I know who wants to visit your beautiful country.
Just one more thing, concerning the white shark dive, it didn't happen due to bad weather and I was wondering how the refund will be done.
thank you again for everything
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Jul 28, 2016Hi Tony.
Thank you so much for your fantastic review - we really couldn't ask for anything better. We are so pleased that you had a great time on your holiday and enjoyed all of the accommodation. Pumba Game Reserve is one of our favourite reserves, and we are glad that you loved it as well! It is great to know that you are happy with our service and would recommend us to others.
Regarding the shark cage diving refund, please could you send us an email to [email protected] (if you have not done so already) so we can get in touch with you directly.
Once again, thank you for your review and we hope to organise another holiday for you in the future!
Regards,
East Cape Tours
Email Tom | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent 3 week Zanzibar holiday
East Cape Tours organised the most fantastic 3 week self-drive round-trip in Zanzibar.
We were picked up from the airport and transferred to Stone Town, where we spent 3 nights. Then we had a hire car delivered to our hotel and we proceeded to travel all around the coast of this beautiful island for the next 2 and a half weeks.
It is one of the best holidays I've ever had, every detail was planned perfectly. All excursions and trips were booked for us according to our preferences, and their choice of accommodation was brilliant. I can't wait to return.
I would definitely recommend East Cape Tours.
Reply from East Cape Tours
Posted on Sep 23, 2016Hi Tom.
Thank you so much for this excellent review! We are so glad that you had a wonderful time in Zanzibar and are happy with our services.
Hopefully we will organise another great holiday for you again in the future.
All the best,
East Cape Tours