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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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 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
US
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.
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.”