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
CA
Email Sharon | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unbelievable trip of a lifetime!
Our trip, masterfully arranged by Bev of Elephant Herd Tours, was magical - the absolute trip of a lifetime. Within a relatively short time - 8 days - we got to see so much of South Africa and Eswatini. I travelled to Johannesburg on a work trip and then extended my stay to go on this safari, and I am so glad I did.
We had multiple safaris in Kruger, enjoyed incredible vistas on the Panoramic Route, and visited several well-known game reserves such as SabieSands, Kruger, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, and iSimangaliso. We got to enjoy the savannah, the bush, the mountains, the high and low veld, the coast, the estuary, and the Indian Ocean. Completely unforgettable moments, the accommodations were great - especially the Zarafa, which was magnificent in every way - we saw the big five multiple times, had close-up and personal interactions with elephants, and got close to wild lions, spotted cheetahs, leopards, rhinos, giraffes, monkeys etc. My teenage daughter learned so much about animals and nature conservation in the process.
Bev was flexible and adapted to our wishes when we had last-minute requests. We felt looked after and cared for the whole way; the guides were stellar, appeared to be having as much fun as we were, and were always ready to answer our many questions and provide in-depth, thoughtful answers. Highly recommend Elephant Herd Tours and all we encountered there, from Bev and Brandon in the office to Trevor and Wesley, Kallie, and everyone else at EuroZulu (namely Johan, Sabelo, and Siyabonga) who took us on several game drives and boat trips up the estuary. I would give this trip 10/5 stars if I could as it exceeded all expectations several times over. Amazing!
Email Fiona | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thank you for giving me a wonderful safari of Kruger game park This was a wonderful time Also my pri
I had a wonderful safari of Kruger and a private tour of the panaromour route Amazing scenery what a beautiful country South Africa is .The mountains the animals Sabi sands and the people Thank you for taking such good care of me You are all excellent the animal sightings in Kruger were really very special Thank you regards Fiona Clarke
DE
Email Aylin | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic and very experienced operator who goes the extra mile
Perfectly organized safari. We had a really nice small group, a guide with 26 years of experience, good stories and an excellent sense of humor. They went an extra mile to make us all happy. We saw quite a lot of animals, learned & laughed a lot about animals, South African culture and landscape. Would always choose this operator again.
BE
Email Andy & Daisy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
second trip, twice amazed
This was the second time we traveled on a multi-day safari to Kruger NP with Elephant Herd (2016 and 2021). We chose Elephant Herd the first time because of the very punctual response on our questions. Brendon, the owner, is always very helpful in giving advise. The 2 guides we had were simply the best and they spared no effort to make our tyrip very memorable.
US
Email Michael | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
GREAT COMPANY- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
We booked our Kruger National Park safari through Elephant Herd Tours & Safaris after getting rave feedback from our work colleagues. Prompt efficient and professional from start to finish. At no stage were we in doubt as to what to expect, with a precise itinerary being received from Carla, which even included links to the accommodation options.
We chose a stunning private guest house called Dreamfields in Hazyview. It was exactly that. Thank you Philip for the service and breakfasts. How’s the little owl that is in the tree behind the swimming pool. Hope he makes it.
Our safari guide Trevor never stopped smiling. What a character. The Leopard man. Thank you Trevor for making us smile at 05h00 when normal sane people are still fast asleep. As for the safaris, Trevor you are the best. One day you can explain to us how you watch the road and see animals in the bush that we can’t even see with binoculars.
The panorama route is spectacular. Thank you for recommending it. We had no intention of sight-seeing.
Simply put, you guys rock and I want your jobs.
Michael Kohler
NL
Email Robin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best safari day we had!
Just a few days before our trip to Kruger we informed with Elephant Herd whether it was possible to do a private day tour. They still had a spot so we booked with them and it was a brilliant choice! Bhekifa was our guide who picked us up at the Skukuza Rest Camp and he knew the park like his pocket. He showed us the rhinos and many other animals. When we arrived at our coffee stop he heard there was a lioness near us and asked if we wanted to go for it or have the coffee first, of course we wanted the lion! It was like that all day, checking for options and talking with us about the animals and what we wanted to see. We really enjoyed our day with Bhekifa, he was a really nice and friendly guide with a lot of experience and knowledge. It helped us a lot through the rest of our safari.
Email Sue | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The tour operator was an excellent guide, with a wealth of knowledge.
We had a range of ages in our group, from 87 - 15, so many different interests
Our guide was patient and kind and quickly realized that we were all seasoned wildlife travelers.
He drove until asked to stop for something specific, doing a route that offered the possibility of lions and leopards.
We had 3 wonderful lion sightings.
We were thrilled with every stage of our safari and can highly recommend Elephant Herd Tours and Safaris
Email Suzie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Friendly, reliable, helpful service which created a truly magical trip
This trip was a positive experience from the outset. I sent in a booking enquiry and received a quote back from Bev really quickly. The quote gave a detailed breakdown of what I could expect from the trip (a 3-day Kruger safari experience), what was included and so on. The price was reasonable (and, with current exchange rates, good value for money). Every time I went back with a query I got a prompt and helpful response, including advice about weather, clothing and what to pack. This was a big adventure for me and my partner to celebrate a milestone birthday, and Bev really went the extra distance to make sure we were well looked after from start to finish and that the experience was really special for us. It felt a bit of a leap of faith flying to a city we'd never been to and then getting on a shuttle bus to be dropped off 5 hours later in a town we'd never heard of. However we were provided with all the information we needed, including the registration and driver name for the shuttle bus, and everything ran to clockwork. Bev was there to meet us on arrival and take us to our hotel, which was stunning. The Elephant Whispers experience was a wonderful way to settle us into our safari trip, meeting these magnificent animals up close and learning more about them. The two safari days were fantastic. The guides arrived exactly when they said they would (and coped with our bleary-eyed incoherence at being up so early in the morning). Both days we arrived at the gates to the park at first light and had a wonderful time. We felt in utterly safe hands with our friendly, knowledgeable and experienced guides (Vuyo on the first day, Bhekife on the second day). They were brilliant, especially Bhekife, who spotted things at an incredible distance, and stopped frequently to peer out and look for footprints in soft sand to spot which animals had been by recently. Both guides were keen to help us find and see a huge variety of wildlife, including as many of the 'big 5' as possible but many other incredible sights. They were generous in sharing their incredible knowledge of the animals and birds and answering all our questions. They also made sure we were comfortable, offering blankets, rain ponchos and bottled water throughout the day. They were very good at picking up on what we were interested in and finding more of it to show us - my partner and I were interested in birds as well as animals and we saw so many species of birds we had never seen - an unexpected aspect to what we thought would be predominantly an animal safari. In our one full day and one half day we saw 3 of the big 5. We narrowly missed the elusive leopard (Bheki had spotted tracks from one and returned to that area several times, but no leopard appeared there until one was reported just as we were leaving the park), but we did see a cheetah instead. We also didn't see rhino - which given their vulnerability wasn't all that surprising, but we were able to catch up on rhino at the incredible service-station on the road back to Johannesburg. On our final day Bev and Brendan arranged a seamless handover of our luggage ready for our transfer back to the airport, and even arranged to print off our boarding passes for us (which was great as our phones were out of battery by the time we got back to the airport!!).
For the wildlife geeks reading this, we have a long list of what we saw -
Animals - impala, gnu/wildebeest, hippo, elephant (many), zebra (many), giraffes (many), kudu, hyena, nyala, buffalo, baboon, velvet monkey, lions (several), warthogs, crocodile, turtle, iguana, chameleon, steenbok, crocodile, cheetah
Birds - hooded vulture, woodland kingfisher, glossy starlings, egyptian goose, blacksmith lapwing, red-billed oxpecker, hammerkop, saddle-billed stork, african fish eagle, plover, grey heron, tawny eagle, white-headed vulture, african hoopoe, brown snake eagle, marabou stork, helmeted guinea fowl, swallow, bataleur eagle, grey lorrie, white-backed vulture, purple heron, yellow hornbill, red hornbill, white-fronted bee-eater, magpie shrike, lilac-breasted roller, brown hooded kingfisher, goshawk, ostrich
A special mention should also go to our hotel, Ashbourne Country Escapes. Rob and his staff treated us like royalty from the moment we arrived. Our room was wonderful (even though we didn't have as much time as we would have liked to lounge around and enjoy it). The sundowner bar is a magical spot and our dinner both nights was utterly delicious. We also set off both days with a delicious packed breakfast to eat while out on safari. Rob is a truly delightful host with lots of interesting tales to tell at the bar of an evening. It's a wonderful hotel - the service is discreet, attentive and meticulous and it is in a breathtakingly beautiful spot. Can't recommend it highly enough.
I was hoping that this trip would be a memorable, magical experience and it exceeded my expectations by some way. We felt safe, confident and well looked-after throughout the experience and were able to relax and concentrate on soaking up the sights and filling our heads with incredible images and memories. I think that is a tribute to the personal care and attention to detail by Bev, Brendon and the Elephant Herd team, and the superb guides Vuyo and Bhekife. We are enormously grateful to all of them for opening our eyes to such wonderful experiences. We hope to return someday. We definitely left wanting more!!
NL
Email Eric | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best safari ever
Our ranger was very good, he knew everything about the Kruger Park and the animals, he was born there
MX
Email Alex Martin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excelent service and quality of the stay and tours inside Kruger
After a detailed search we choosed Elephant Herd because of the opportunity of interaction with elephants at "Elephant Whispers". We saw pictures of the lodge which had great quality and the best of all, were the private tour into Kruger with one of the best guides we ever meet: Bhekifa Ngomane
