Nick van de Wiel of Tailor Made Safaris
Tailor Made Safaris
- Located In:
-
Netherlands
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Member Of:
- FGASA, TKZN, MHCTO & EDTEA
- Tour Types:
- Self-drive mid-range & luxury tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $84 to $366 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A perfect combination of wildlife, nature, photography, adventure and relaxation!
We have come back from our lovely trip through Kwazulu Natal (Mkhuze, Kosi Bay, Tembe Elephant Park, St. Lucia, Hluhluwe, Drakensberg) and it has taken us quite a while to work our way through the many beautiful photos and videos.
The trip was a perfect combination of wildlife, nature, photography, adventure and relaxation. Tailor Made Safaris has shown us this beautiful part of South Africa in a special way, with a highly skilled and attentive private guide and a sturdy 4x4 Land Cruiser. An unforgettable safari experience! As active travelers and ‘hobby’ photographers the many "up- close and personal” encounters with Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffes, Lions and Wild Dogs, and the beautiful nature was a real treat.
The trip was diverse and varied: forest, savanna, tropical forest, dune, beach, marsh and rugged mountains; various environments and wildlife parks came into our over three week trip.
We can also tick off 2 more UNESCO World Heritage sites from our wish list: Ukhahlamba in the Drakensberg and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Due to the good organization, the beautiful accommodations and personalized treatment of Tailor Made Safaris, we feel privileged to have been able to experience such a safari.
Darja and Sander (The Hague - The Netherlands )
NL
35-50 years of age
The most amazing trip I made in my life!
During our safari drive in Tembe Park there was an elephant coming at us in a threatening way, while we were sitting in the jeep. This is one of the most impressive moments of our trip. The elephant stopped at only 2 meters away form us, observed us for a while, and then turned around to proceed what he was doing. It’s amazing to see an elephant from this close! We’ve seen lots of animals during this safari at the beautiful wildlife reserves. We’ve visited fantastic destinations, like Kosi Bay and Drakensberg. This is the most amazing trip I made in my life; thanks to Tailor Made Safaris!
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Enjoyed the experience with similar minded, keen photographic group.
It was their first tour group to Namibia, their home environment is Kwazulu- Natal. I found that the team was caring, involved and energetic. Communication and service was good.
NL
Email Sjef Wierink | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful trip in South Afrika
In the preparation we got all possibilities to make an individual trip. It was well organised. We got a lot of information in advance. The guides and tours were on time. The guides told us many interesting things about the country, animal, the people, etc.
CA
Email Marie-Claude | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful family road trip to South Africa
We booked a trip with Tailor Made Safaris through a travel agent based in Canada.
Positive elements:
- We had excellent service before and during the trip. They always answered our questions quickly.
- We really appreciated getting such a nice book of our upcoming trip.
- The reception at the airport was also flawless.
- We appreciated that they gave us a phone for the duration of the trip.
- The itinerary made us visit a good chunk of the southern part of South Africa (including places that we would not have picked ourselves).
Less positive elements:
- Looking back, the travel agent made us buy the plane ticket first, and then looked for an itinerary and accommodations. In the end, we ended up spending more than we had planned and staying in 1-2 places (out of the 6 where we stayed) that were below our expectations. It would have been preferable for us to reduce the duration of our stay under those circumstances.
- We quickly ran out of airtime for the phone and it would have been appreciated to have been given the opportunity to buy airtime ahead of time.
- The itinerary did not fully consider what would be open and closed around the Christmas holidays. We would have appreciated more guidance on that.
- The itinerary mostly focused on expensive activities and not so much on budget-oriented ones (assuming most people do not have an unlimited budget, especially families with multiple children).
Overall, we really enjoyed our trip to South Africa and are happy to have used the services of Tailor Made Safaris, as it gave us the opportunity to discover wonderful places we probably would never have been if we had designed our own itinerary.
Reply from Tailor Made Safaris
Posted on Feb 22, 2019Hi Marie-Claude,
Thank you so much for your valuable feedback, both positive and constructive. We will discuss this with the travel agent you used. I think it is important to clarify that you booked through a travel agent, and we were the 'ground handler' or tour operator for the travel agent. We acted on direction from the agent, and believe we gave them the same valuable information that we give directly to our clients, but obviously we have no way of knowing if this information was passed on to you in its entirety.
Booking with a travel agency instead of directly with us brings many benefits, but unfortunately, it means that we do not get to communicate directly with you until the day you arrive in South Africa. It means we have no control over the amount of pre-trip advice passed on to you, regarding flights, the itinerary, type & quality of accommodation you receive. Due to the nature of the service we offer, we create the tour as per your travel agent’s instructions, which means we are reliant solely on his communication to us.
You have highlighted for us a crucial flaw in our dealings with a third party agency and will seek to improve on that moving forward. I am truly sorry that you experienced some less than positive elements to your South African trip and hope that I have managed to clarify where we believe the potential problem has arisen from. We will be in contact with the agency you booked with to ensure we improve the process of passing on important pre-flight information to our valuable guests.
With best regards, Nick van de Wiel, Managing Director Tailor Made Safaris