Guides & Their Toys
Go Touch Down Travel & Tours
- Offices In:
-
United States
Canada
Australia - Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range & luxury)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $300 to $800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Linda | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Agency presents a picture of the tour that exceeds expectations and reality
Safari - The Seasons hotel fair. Only positive is the food. A/C and TV not working, no hair dryer. Needs updating. The tent camp was a unique experience that was very nice. Our safari guide, Tandi was excellent. There were only 2 of us at the hotel which was sad. No choice in the meals, but they were good. The lion enclosure was a disgrace. Very small fenced in space with several lions laying around. Our guide was knowledgeable, but his actions disintegrated as the week passed on.
Capetown - great overview of the city and had a wonderful guide in J.P. J.P. was outstanding; knowledgeable, timely, professional; perfect. Showed us everything on the itinerary and we were not disappointed. The hotel staff and food was excellent. The chef made us ostrich one evening and it was well prepared and delicious. Hotel does not have elevators, only cement stairs, which should be told to guests beforehand. Only one guest room on the main floor. Although the hotel was nice I would have preferred to stay in the city where more shops were readily available and you could walk around the city and talk to residents. The location is on the beach, but isolated. Only one small shopping area and it was quite a walk from the hotel.
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Email William R Cavins | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolute Amazing African Adventure
We participated in a drawing at Gay Days back in 2017. We were contacted and decided to book the tour to mark our 20th year together and our 10th Wedding Anniversary. We’ve gone through a few different people handling various portions of the trip. Everyone tried to make us happy.
Touchdown handled the airfare and all aspects of the tour. We were pleased with the easy payment plan that fit our budget. Sadly I understand the 5 year plan isn’t available for future travelers. However they will work with you to make your Adventure in South Africa is a memorable one.
I will write a separate review of the tour itself at another time. For now know that Go Touchdown’s staff in Sarasota, FL is there for you.
Could they have have done more. Perhaps a few little things that should be improved. Adapters that said they were for Africa weren’t. So perhaps a brand recommendation or make them available through Touchdown. Also I don’t recall seeing a reference to a limit on ATM withdrawals to 3000 Rand per card per day. I also suggested they provide us with a cheat sheet of some local languages for staff members so we could say hello, goodbye, please and thank you in Swazi, Zulu or one of the other 9 languages. All little things.
Rest assured they have the big items nailed down! They even mark birthdays and anniversaries.
We will always.remember the work Angie, Deborah, Natasha, Deon, Joseph, Bakkies, Thabo, Bill, Rosemarie, Tandi, Buffalo Soldier and Anisa did for us. We look forward to booking Cape in the future.
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Email Susan | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Go Touchdown provided a South African tour which was personal, service centered and upscale.
For those of you considering a safari in South Africa, we highly recommend Go Touchdown Tours. If you are looking for a small upscale group tour which is guided by caring, knowledgeable and detail oriented professionals, then this tour company is for you.
Their stateside representative, Angie Main, was very knowledgeable and accessible. She answered emails within 24 hrs and was flexible in arranging her schedule when a group conference call was requested. Upon arrival in South Africa, we were greeted by a tour guide who was prepared to take us to our first hotel, Seasons Spa. It was clean and fairly spacious with a front or back porch. There was a common area in the middle of a 4 room configuration. We took the Elephant and Monkey Sanctuary tour. Highly, highly recommend it. Very interactive.
Thabo, our guide, was with us the entire tour. He was punctual, organized and very knowledgeable. His attention to detail went even so far as to warning us about the potholes in the road in case we got jostled. I could write a lengthy list of the many thoughtful things he did to to make this a memorable trip for us. Suffice it to say that Go Touchdown has an invaluable employee in this man. He is a wonderful representative for this company.
Dunkeld Estates is a beautiful resort. We highly recommend the horseback riding. The rooms are beautiful!
Humula Lodge is exactly how we envisioned a first rate accommodation. Our room had a front porch next to the river. The flowing water was a constant background sound. The staff truly cared about our needs and our wants. A special shout out to Blessing and Ayanda. They both are hardworking young men who catered to our every need. Ayanda not only made our soups and delicious bread but served our meals, as well. Blessing was the bartender, front desk clerk and conceriage. He did everything with a warm and gracious smile.
Our safari guide, Lindo, possesses exceptional tracking skills. He drove our group on 5 safari outings. Each time he never stopped looking for signs of animal activity. We were so lucky to have him as our guide through the Bush.
We returned to Seasons for our final 2 days. Visiting Plainsburg Reserve was one of the highlights of our trip. There was an abundance of animal sightings including elephants, giraffes, hippocampus, kudus and even a jackal. Buffalo Soldier was an outstanding and knowledgeable guide.
If you are contemplating a South African safari you would not regret choosing Go Touchdown. We loved every minute of it.
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Email Lauren | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience - Amazing Trip
Booking my Safari thru Go Touch Down was an easy experience from start to finish. I felt like I could email or call my operations guide at any time for questions and the responses were quick. I also loved how organized my documents were and how easy it was to pull them up online at anytime and print out what I needed. Before the trip, the communications team checked in with me and made sure I had everything I needed for a successful trip. My transport was waiting for me at the airport with a large sign that was easy to find. The van had air conditioning and water for guests. Check in to the lodge was easy and my Tour Guide was in touch with me right away to talk about the plan for the week and meet up times.
The Tour itself was well thought out. Travel and accommodations met expectations and having a group of 6 or less makes a huge difference. The best place was Humala Lodge for a totally unique experience. Communication about the next day's events was clearly explained each night at dinner.
All in all a great value for the money and felt like I had the information I needed on time. The only issue I had was at the end of the trip and very situational to the times in which I had to request a PCR Covid test instead of the rapid test that was suggested for me. I had to have the PCR to get into my home country.