Ker & Downey® Africa staff
Ker & Downey Africa
- Located In:
-
United Kingdom
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- APTA, SATSA, CTT & Safe Travels
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $500 to $950 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Jenny | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Finding the right place for our South African safari experience in late summer
The majority of our communications have been with Emma Perrin, except towards the end with Razaan. Emma spent a lot of time with us to find the right part of South Africa for us to visit for a safari. Emma considered our budget and the time of year. We were in South Africa for Guy's air force reunion and we were spending just over 3 weeks in South Africa.
Emma was so friendly and great at communicating everything to us. Nothing was too much trouble including securing a booking for us at the Test Kitchen in Cape Town.
We are usually independent travellers but for booking a safari it was good to have expert advice, on the ground, as there are so many to choose from. We were very happy with the area we selected and the lodges recommended by Emma. A once in a lifetime experience and totally worth the price. The two different lodges both offered something different to each other.
We were fortunate to meet Emma in Cape Town. We already felt we had a good relationship and it was lovely to meet her in person. Interesting to hear her impressions of being an Australian living a new life in South Africa. We would certainly recommend Ker & Downey to anyone we know interested in travel in Africa (maybe us to Namibia?) and especially the Emma's great care and attention to a client's needs.
DE
Email Haley | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Surpassed All Expectations!
I wouldn't change a thing! I booked with Ker & Downey Africa and am so grateful that I did! Our Adventurist Emma and Razaan really took care of me and my group. They managed everything to include accomodations, transportation, dinner reservations, and booking activities! I provided dates, budget, and ideas for things that my group wanted to do, and they really made it a personalized and memorable experience. We spent 5 nights in Cape Town and were blown away by the amazing cuisine, weather, culture and activities of the city (to include shark cage diving, wine tours, kayaking with penguins and more!). We didn't want to leave, but what was awaiting truly exceeded my expectations. We stayed at the Elephant Plains Lodge on Sabi Sand Reserve, which is gorgeous, where we saw all the Big 5 within the first two game drives! The next four were just a cherry on top! The place was perfect...we had an amazing guide, saw wildlife up close and personal, went on bush walks, enjoyed pool views overlooking a plain packed with elephants and enjoyed great food as well. Finally, we went to Zambia and experienced the wonders of Victoria Falls. The destinations alone would have made this an incredible trip, but Emma and Razaan really went above and beyond for me. They were with me every step of the way and even arranged birthday surprises for me throughout the trip! I have never felt so special and cared for. They really took away all the stress of travel and I can't thank them enough! After seeing pictures from the trip, all of my friends are anxious to replicate our trip. I'll absolutely, without a doubt, be recommending them Ker & Downey Africa (with a special plug for Emma and Razaan). Thanks so much girls!
Email David Poulter | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Ker & Downey Africa arranged my booking to Sanbona Wild life Reserve during my recent visit.
KDA team were great in advising which reserve to visit, making the reservation and confirming all details in advance of my trip. Sanbona itself is a wonderful place - the beautiful views, peace and quiet, amazing sunrise and the vast numbers of stars at night. I also had fantastic close up encounters with lions, cheetah, rinho, elephant and much more. The standard of accomodation is excellent and I would have no hesitation in recommending anyone else to visit. I will also look forward to the KDA team supporting me again when planning my next African adventure - hopefully a longer trip to Botswanna & Victoria Falls. Thanks David.
CA
Email Lucky & Ashley | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An Amazing Adventure in Namibia and Cape Town!
It's hard to put into words how truly wonderful our entire journey was but we've tried to capture some of the highlights.
Namibia was absolutely breathtaking - the ever-changing landscapes we encountered throughout our four camps were so majestic and somehow seemed other-worldly.. While we enjoyed each of the areas we stayed in, we would consider Sossusvlei and the Skeleton Coast as our highlights. There is nothing quite like the red sand dunes in Sossusvlei and to see the sunrise casting shimmering lights over them from our hot air balloon ride was simply magnificent! Another favourite memory for us is climbing the dunes - if we close our eyes, we can see ourselves laughing as we slide down the dune towards the striking beauty of Dead Vlei.
The rugged beauty and the remoteness of the Skeleton Coast was also equally impressive. Driving to the coast was just as much fun as being there. Along the way, we saw a cheetah with a fresh kill! Then our guide took us down a steep sand dune in our truck - COOL! And then imagine our surprise when we got to the coast - lunch had been set-up and was waiting for us on the beach, which we enjoyed as we watched the rough waves crashing on shore - amazing! What a way to end it by having a plane ride to appreciate the coast from the air!
We had expected that Namibia would be more about seeing the awesome landscapes and scenery but we were also fortunate to see a lot of game. Along the way we saw elephants, giraffes, oryx, zebras, ostriches and black rhinos. But the real highlight for us was unexpectedly coming upon a group of 11 white rhinos as we were heading back from our sundowners in Ongava - fantastic! Even our guide was surprised at our good fortune as that does not happen very often!
With respect to the four lodges we stayed at, each was quite unique and luxurious, and fit very nicely with their surroundings. The service, the people and the guides at each camp were fantastic and they made our stay and experience very memorable. It was nice that each camp acknowledged our anniversary with cards, fruit and champagne. At Little Kulala, they set up a special dinner for just the two of us in their wine cellar - a wonderful evening!
Cape Town was a very pleasant surprise for us - what a charming city with wonderful restaurants, the V&A Waterfront, the nice people, all topped off with the magnificence of Table Mountain. Our highlights here were the day tour to Cape Point and going up to the top of Table Mountain - the views and scenery are incredible! And then off we went to Stellenbosch and Delaire Graff. WOW! Delaire was a distinct highlight for us. We absolutely loved it! The exquisite grounds, surroundings and the villa were stunning! The exceptional attention to detail and level of service was extraordinary. We wish we had more time here and look forward to returning to explore the winelands further! We were also very pleased with the service and the professionalism that Samsara Travel provided on our tours and transfers.
From start to end, the wonderful planning and assistance that Razaan provided was marvelous and most appreciated. It was great to be able to have all my questions and concerns answered, and to have an itinerary tailor-made for us. We felt taken care of from the moment we landed in Johannesburg and all the way through our trip, until we were home again. It was also very nice of Razaan to stay connected with us throughout our entire journey and it was a comfort to know that we were being looked after. Thank you to Razaan and Ker & Downey for everything and for making our trip and anniversary so special!
Email Naufel Vilcassimn | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent service before and during the safari
Fully lived up to expectations - the safari experience with the ability to go off-roading and see animals close up with a really wonderful and absolutely positive attitude ranger and tracker was absolutely wonderful. The accommodation and service was great at Bush Lodge.
At KD Emma was truly wonderful - responsive, flexible and very very accommodating. Equally, in my previous experiences, the agent was very helpful upto confirmation and start of the tour but did not hear anything after that. Here, Emma followed us through the entire trip even doing the checkin for the local flight. Highly recommend her. Do what it takes to keep her if she thinks of moving on.
BTW: the year should be 2018. - need to update the system
RU
Email Maya | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
You will be cared for by true experts
We loved the assistance Ker & Downey gave us with our first trip to South Africa. They managed to put together a stunning and unforgettable trip even though we were rather late to book (mid-October) for the busy holiday season. Emma Perrin was particularly helpful, stayed in contact throughout (both before, during and after our trip), and even arranged a re-booking of our lodgings at the drop of a hat when we didn't like one property where we were scheduled to stay.
We saw Cape Town, self-drove a rental SUV on the Garden Route, stayed at a fabulous safari lodge and saw wonders on our safari drives, and then finished off the trip by a half-day in Johannesburg including the Apartheid Museum. Ker & Downey arranged all our lodging, internal flights, airport meets, and excursions where we weren't driving. Emma also made great suggestions for things to do. I would highly recommend Ker & Downey and Emma Perrin for their care, consistency, attention to both safety issues and small details, and ability to influence various providers to do better, if needed!
And most of all, go visit South Africa, it's fantastic.
Email Christine | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience thanks to Ker and Downey
My Husband and I usually book our own holidays but not knowing enough about travelling in Africa we thought we could use some help organizing our tour. We asked Ker and Downey to put together a tour, giving them an outline of what we wanted to see and do in a tight time frame. What Terri -Ann suggested and came up with was fantastic and just what we asked for. The accommodation was lovely, the transfers on time, the game watching terrific and everything was just perfect. With good email communication from Razaan, our personal concierge, they held our hands all they way, and we were so pleased we booked with them.
ES
Email Antonio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great holidays thanks to Ker & Downey
We have travelled to Botswana with Ker & Downey and everything was perfect. Ker & Downey knows how to make you and your family feel special from the very beginning to the day after your trip has ended. We followed their recommendations on everything and it was our smartest decision. I strongly recommend everyone planning a safari in Africa to contact Ker & Downey.
"An unforgettable trip to Tanzania thanks to Ker & Downey”
Although being used to organising our travels on our own, for this trip to Tanzania we decided to engage Ker & Downey as we wanted everything to be perfect. From the beginning we felt in excellent hands with Rory. He worked everything together making us quickly an exciting proposal fit in with our budget. Until the moment we actually started the trip, he answered always immediately and had an immense patience with all our tiny questions.
The team of Ker & Downey managed to not only fulfil our very high expectations but even exceeded them. We had a fantastic experience, wonderful in every way: all the camps, their staff, the food, the car and its equipment, the parks, the nature, the animals, even the weather with only some short refreshing rains, really everything was perfect. Ker & Downey organised everything with no problem, booking some wonderful accommodations and allowing us to fully enjoy our trip.
Our guide David understood immediately our desire to be away from the crowds and with his kindness and calm, his great respect for nature and its wildlife, he made our journey an unique and amazing experience. He made it possible that most of the time we really were on our own, having the feeling that we were in Paradise on Earth with only animals around us. His enormous knowledge about all kind of animals and their habitat has enriched the experience even more.
We thank all those involved for setting up such an awesome trip and recommend Ker & Downey without any doubt!
DE
Email Walter | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ker&Downey made a wonderful job
Ker&Downey prepared a wonderful trip to the Ulusaba Lodge with all bookings. They took care of us from arrival at Johannesburg Airport with the transfer to the regional airline to the lodge, gave a lot of useful information and also prepared a tour along the Garden Route according to our personal requirements. We always felt well taken care of. It is good to know to have the assistance of Ker&Downey in the background.