Everybodies favourite guide, Trevor
Elephant Herd Tours & Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- SATSA & MISA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $69 to $1,104 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
BE
Email Nollet Family | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
High flexibility
Very organised company an very flexible adapting to our wishes and needs.
FR
Email James | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We did our homework...Narrowed Down to Elephant Herd from 5 vendors, NO REGRETS!!
We first found out about Elephant Herd "EH" through Safari Bookings. We have reached out to approximately 5 service providers, and ultimately settled for Elephant Herds for 3 simple reasons:
1) Fast Bias of Action
2) Customer-Oriented/Hospitality
3) Price - Experience Ratio
Where it took us about 3-4 days on average to hear back from other providers, EH on average came back in 0.5-1 day, with very concise and informative experience. Not only was Bev super patient, she was practical - and even proposed a couple version of itineraries to our needs.
We coordinated with Bev, and found out it's a relatively cozy family-owned dedicated team, where they focus on the quality instead of quantity of service. For example, due to a delay of flight from Europe, we missed Day 1's night safari drive - team EH was proactive enough to suggest on their own accord a replacement in Day 2, allowing us the full experience, we even had the owner Brandon picked us up one of the evenings himself.
In terms of Price - Experience ratio, team EH ensures the best - for example, in typical Kruger safari drives - most cars would be loaded to the maximum of 9, whereas in EH, they focus to ensure no more than 6 per jeep. These are the small little things that stands out.
We also had a lovely time with one of their guides, Bhekifa, and it felt more like a tour with a long lost friend, that has deep knowledge and great hospitality across.
Once again, a big thank you to team EH for the fantastic experience - they may not be the biggest in the industry, but they are certainly big in EXperience and ensuring a great memory in Africa.
BE
Email Roeland | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect mix of expertise, customer orientedness and quality
Feedback to Bev Miller and colleagues : THANK you for the unforgettable experience you gave us with this magnificent travel arrangement. It will be a lifelong highlight for me as long as my brain will work properly.
A nice compliment to Trevor who helped the full day Kruger safari to become an unforgettable birthday.
Specifically to Bev : you are the BEST person who crossed our path during our wonderful South Africa trip. Hannah and I will always remember your friendliness and how your arrangements and efforts were targeted and did contribute to our joy of travelling through your country.
Feedback to Zarafa (if you want to pass it on) : very nice setting and environment.
Enough space, beautiful accomodation, coffee and tea available.
Barry was very welcoming and friendly.
We received a very nice breakfast and lunch box for the full day Kruger safari, very much appreciated.
Some minor attention points :
- I would have loved a table in the (spacious sleeping) room to sit at, and to arrange my papers and read
- I missed a good reading lamp at the bedside
- Several power sockets were not easily accessible
Feedback to Umkumbe River Lodge (if you want to pass it on) : nice and professional welcome by our guide Shannon who looked after us during our stay.
The 'Buffalo' lodge was big, nice and clean. Coffee and tea available.
The careful arrangement of the mosquito nets was appreciated.
The safari drives with Shannon were excellent (4 x leopard, pangolin !).
Good meals : lunch, BBQ diner and buffet breakfast.
Beautiful river view at the restaurant.
Some minor attention points regarding the lodge :
- The outside shower was difficult (temperature either too cold or too hot, balance was difficult)
- WiFi in the lodge would have been appreciated
- International power socket would have been nice
Email Cara | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The most amazing experience ever
The whole trip was organised to our needs and wants. Brendon and Bev made sure all our questions were answered and checked in throughout the trip. This reassured us as two females travelling to South Africa for the first time they made us feel safe. We were picked up by Bhekifa from Johannesburg, he was an amazing driver and very knowledgeable and had so much love for the animals when talking about them. Our tour guide on the morning Game was Trevor, he managed to find 4/5 animals of the big 5 within the first hour of our drive. He was so passionate and knowledgeable on all the animals and Kruger National park. The Accomodation we were provided exceeded our expectations. Zarafa was our first stop and absolutely breathtaking, so beautiful and the service from the staff and owner was so accomodating to our needs. Overall had the best time on our 5 day safari tour with the Elephant Herd Tours and Safaris and you should definitely book with this company.
DE
Email Jen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Elephant Herd provided a well-organized tour with a very friendly and helpful team
We recently had the pleasure of touring with Elephant Herd and were very happy with our experience. The team was incredibly responsive before and during the tour and answering all our questions and regularly checkin in to ensure everything was going smoothly. Our tour guides were very friendly and knowledgable and always on time. B. with his eagle-eyes spotted every animal close and distant making the Safaris a great experience! The accomodations provided were comfortable and very nice places. We can recommend Elephant Herd for anyone looking for a well-organized tour experience with the option of pre-arranged tours and the possibility to tailor activities to your own needs.
BR
Email Jalmar Junior | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing Team, kind and extremely helpful.
We booked transfers and a Kruger safari. Everyone was very kind and punctual, always giving tips and explaining the culture!
Email John | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
First class from start to finish.
From the moment they picked us up at the airport to dropping us off a week later, this company was brilliant. Picked up exactly when you were told you would be and the driver/guides were so polite and knowledgeable. During the safari they went above and beyond and made our trip so much better than we expected. We saw the big 5, on our first safari and many more animals than we expected to. Commentary was great and we learned so much, not only about the animals and Kruger but about SA in general.
Even using them as transport to and from restaurants in the evening they were so attentive. Having the desk in reception also made it easy to talk to and find out things from the rep. If we ever go again we wouldn’t go past them.
NL
Email Haenen | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Just great
Great tour. We regret we only booked the half-day because it wasn’t tireing at all. Well worth the money though and the guide was great.
The fact we booked a private tour enhanced the experience.
NL
Email Uwe | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent sundowner game drive
This was our third tour in three days with Elephant Herd…
First we had the panorama tour, then full day Kruger and finally the sundowner safari/game drive.
We had three different guides and with every day we had a better one, Smiley was the last guide and definitely the best of these three.
During the both game drives we saw the big five and lots of other animals more than once.
The guides explained a lot and drove the cars with elegance and safely.
What can be improved:
1.Full Kruger, second break: we were brought to a luxury hotel in Skukuza Safari Lodge - why not in the middle of the camp where more action was? At least the guides Elsa’s could have asked. Rest of the day was fantastic.
2. Panorama tour was nice but compared to the game drives too expensive, also our guide (cannot remember his name) wasn’t very communicative. The lunch location was again top.
All in all, we would do the game drives again with Elephant Herd Tours but would skip the panorama tour or would do it by ourselves.
DE
Email R. and P. Buchwald | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our operator was professional, friendly and helpful.
The tour was what we had expected. We were picked up on time at our hotel in a comfortable safari vehicle. We always felt safe during the complete tour. The tour guide answered all our questions and pointed out wildlife we would not have spotted on our own. All in all we were happy that we had booked a tour with Elephant Herd Tours Safaris and would do so again.