Your consultant Ute, y'r eyes & ears on the ground
Roho Ya Chui
- Offices In:
-
Netherlands
Germany
Austria
United States
Australia - Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, APTA & SATSA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $500 to $900 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
US
Email Derek Peacock | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent communication, outstanding safari
See above excellent communications
safari lodge exceeded our expectations
NL
Email Chana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Roho Ya Chui thought of everything.
We booked our safari vacation with Roho Ya Chui on Christmas, left mid February. We were first timers and booked on a whim when we finally got a break in our schedules. We had done little research, Roho Ya Chui thought of everything for us. We were provided with visa information, packing list, itinerary etc. All our transfers were seamless and our accommodations were excellent. It was really an amazing holiday, every detail was taken care of.
US
Email Ellen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Detailed, prompt and professional
I had a few unfortunate experiences when I started contacting tour operators for my trip. Tour operators were slow to reply, were not interested in my business because they felt my budget was too small, or had snarky responses to some of my questions. Although I was not hopeful after those experienced, I contacted Roho Ya Chui and was pleasantly surprised. As other reviewers have noted, Ute is really helpful and amazing to work with. She answered all of my questions in a timely and professional manner. If my questions were dumb or naive, she never let that on in her replies. Everything was explained in documents that she provided, and I really just needed to show up at the correct time and place because all transfers had been arranged and were professional. I don't typically use an agent, but her help made this trip very easy to plan. The accommodations were good although one hotel was perhaps a 4 or 5 star by African standards, but possibly not by western standards.
US
Email Janeen | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Competent, knowledgeable, cheerful & handled seamlessly
All details handled up front & safari went as planned without a hitch. Completely met expectations (my safari #5). See my reviews of each lodge in TripAdvisor under LucyLu_Texas.
HR
Email Kate Sutton | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Babymoon beyond all expectations!
My husband and I both travel for a living and pride ourselves on our independence (whether we're visiting Yogyakarta, Lofoten, or even just London.) But after our plans for a Babymoon in Vietnam and Cambodia fell through due to a sudden resurgence of Zika, we found ourselves with less than a month to put together another itinerary and turned to Roho Ya Chui and Ute. While this was our first experience working with a travel agent, Ute was extremely patient and thorough, developing multiple potential itineraries based on our collective brainstorming (and we did bombard her with ideas!) Her research and advice on each of the stops was incredibly helpful and informed, which is particularly important since this year's rains would have made stays at some of our suggested destinations less than ideal. Our final route ended up based on the Victoria Falls/Botswana itinerary, but with added time at the luxurious Camelthorn Lodge in Hwange, Zimbabwe, and a stopover in Tsodilo Hills to see the cave paintings (just to add some variety to our activities.) Each lodge offered its own adventure, with its own unique character and game viewing, and Ute ensured all of our transfers were as seamless as possible. I have never traveled without first working out all my flight times, carriers, etc, but I quickly learned how luxurious it is to let someone else handle all of that! (Even in Maun, Roho Ya Chui sent someone to the airport to make sure we transferred to our international flights without a hitch.) We came for our Babymoon, thinking this would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. While it certainly was, we now find ourselves eagerly counting down the days (/years...) until we can bring our son back to see even more. We're so very grateful to Ute for all of her patience, persistence and professionalism in making this trip happen for us!
US
Email Tara C. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well Organized, great people, reasonably priced, and wonderful experience
Ute Sonnenberg was very responsive to my emails and even did a WhatsApp call with me from the U.S. She explained everything well and it was just as described. When we got there, Edward, our tour guide was wonderful and very informative. He knew a lot about the animals and seemed very passionate about the park and his work. We were very glad to have him as a guide for Kruger. At Sabi Sands we stayed at Nottens Bush Camp which was a wonderful camp. We got really close to the animals in their natural habitat. The lodging was really accommodating and felt very homely as we had dinner at a long communal candlelight table with the other guest. Every aspect of it was wonderful. The cost was not cheap but a lot less expensive than the other safaris we looked at.
JO
Email Jeries Tadros | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great adventure at amazing Kruger
I did not have enough time to plan my trip properly so I just chose an 5 stars rating company and booked a 3 nights trip to Kruger and Sabi Sabi. They had everything perfectly planned. If I had to change one thing in the trip I would have chosen a different Lodge other than Umkumbe. The Chestnut lodge was perfect.
KW
Email Jen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent
This is our second time booking with Roho Ya Chui and there is a reason why we came back... just excellent.
US
Email Ann | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trustworthy, timely, and helpful experience with Ute!
Ute was a wonderful consultant. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to book a trip with accommodations, transfers, and safaris in South Africa. Everything in our itinerary was smooth, timely, and as expected. We chose the Blyde River Canyon / Panorama Route / Kruger National Park itinerary for 6 days and 5 nights. Ute responded to emails quickly and was very helpful and kind.
The only thing I did not enjoy was that I was booked for two days at the first lodge (Blyde River Canyon) but there were no planned activities. This is usually not a big deal however we did not rent a car, instead relied on planned transfers between locations, so not having a car at this particular lodge was a disadvantage as we could not leave the property to go on activities as nothing was within walking distance (I later learned that other lodges such as the Forever Resort had hikes and sight-seeing within walking distance). When I relayed this to the lodge's manager she seemed surprised that we didn't have a vehicle and made it seem as if we should have known better. She did end up helping us arrange some activities but it seemed like such a hassle to her to help her lodge clients. The service in general at Blyde River Canyon Lodge felt stiff and forced. I would not recommend that particular lodge again (Blyde River Canyon). We also went on the Panorama Tour with a great guide and it was peaceful way to see South Africa's gorgeous scenery. Our second lodge was so much better - Chestnut Country Lodge in Hazyview. It was worlds different than our first lodge. The hospitality was top notch, the managers/staff were so helpful and welcoming, and the food and service were definitely 5 stars! We greatly enjoyed our two day game drive in Kruger Park as well as the Elephant Sanctuary on the last day.
CH
Email Astrid | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Absolutly fantastic organized with a lot of experience and many helpful recommendations.
What we really liked was that Ute called us directly after our first mail. We get the chance to hear more about her experience and she gave us a lot of recommendations to make sure we really plan our vacation as requested.
We also loved how quick she was. That's sometimes something really crucial to decide with wich travel agent you will book.
This Vacations was one of our best we ever had. From A-Z was all perfect organized all our Lodges was just amazing and the nature absolutely gorgeous im May. You spend a lot of money but it's really worth to do it.
Every Camp were totally different and also the nature and the region. That was a point was we really loved. So you are never bored and you see so many things.
The Water Camp Jacana was something what we never expected to see. Palm trees, so many sand, birds, calm and water. All the water Safaris which you can do in May are fantastic. The view is different and it's so relaxed.
The Food and Wine of the hole Safaris was excellent. And we were anytime really happy with all our Guides and the knowledge.
Oh yes and not to forget the donation for the lights we really liked and also all Camps are very eco-friendly.
We are sure we will coming back to book another trip through Africa. We can really recommend this Travel Agent.