Meet the Endless Summer Team
Endless Summer Tours
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- CATHSSETA & TKZN
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $143 to $305 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Kari | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic safari experience!
We booked a 5-day, 4 night, private tour for 3 people in Kruger National Park with Endless Summer Tour. I had researched many tours and companies, reaching out to 4-5 companies for detailed quotes and information.
Rhys from Endless Summer was quick to respond, answering tons of questions, offering some customizable options, and patiently walking me through the process. Where other companies were inflexible on certain aspects, Endless Summer had no problems. (For example, our flight got into Johannesburg at 9:30. Another company's "private" tour had the transport leaving the airport at 9am. When I asked about our flight time, they said, "then that won't work for you.") Rhys' response was "No Problem!" I had a hiccup with the wire transfer, but Rhys patiently and expertly walked us through that. I was pleased with the easy and flexibility of communication.
When we arrived in Johannesburg, we were greeted quickly by our guide, Wade. Wade was amazing and super easygoing. He drove us to Kruger, and immediately started pointing out wildlife. He was excellent as both driver and spotter, always taking into account what we are most interested to see and do, getting the car into position for great photos. He prepared our meals, and we couldn't have gone hungry if we wanted to. The meals were incredible, and certainly more than we expected. You would think that spending 5 days with a stranger would be awkward, but Wade is incredibly personable, comfortable joking around, being serious, and also comfortable with silence. I can imagine him seamlessly adapting to each group he brings. (Seriously, don't hesitate to request Wade.) He clearly loves what he does, and has a great wealth of knowledge about animals, plants, tracks, etc. and is happy to share with you. We spent days driving and looking for animals, but also did a couple of game reserves at night and early morning (when you can only be outside of camp with a ranger). Those were nice experiences, but as Rhys had cautioned me, most people find one or two of those to be enough. He was absolutely correct. We found that having more people in the vehicle, it was harder to communicate with your guide, harder to get the stops you want, harder to get your photo, and also harder to deal with camera equipment in the elements. We also did a bushwalk with a ranger, which was a very educational experience, but you don't tend to get super close to the animals (obviously). Our best and closest animal experiences were with Wade. We saw the Big Five and many more animals. We learned so much about the area, not just Kruger, but South Africa in general, by chatting with Wade, which came in handy when we continued our vacation in Cape Town (knowing and understanding certain cultural norms).
We traveled in July 2019, and the weather was great. It was warm during the day, and chilly at night and early morning (great sleeping weather), though our rooms had A/C also. We had brought anti-malarial medication, but didn't really need it. We didn't see a single mosquito the whole time. I worried about the types of colors/clothes, but that's really only an issue on bushwalks. Most of the time you are in the vehicle, so wear what's comfortable, with layers to adjust. If you have access to a telephoto lens, obviously that allows you more great photo ops, but having a couple of cameras for a range of distances also helps. I had one camera with a long range lens, one with a standard mid-range lens, and still had to use my iphone camera for when the animals were RIGHTTHERE.
Overall, we were incredibly happy with our experience with Endless Summer Tours, with our expectations surpassed at every turn. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
Email Matt | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience with great guide
We went for a custom private trip. Starting from Durban, with day trip to Lesotho, then onward to St Lucia, up through Swaziland (now Eswatini) (staying at Mlilwane Game Reserve) to Kruger NP (staying at Crocodile Bridge and Lower Sabie Rest Camps). Ant was our guide and driver and was fantastic all the way. Everything was well organised and planned, including breakfast and evening Braais. The accommodation was perfect for what we wanted, a mixture of guest house, tented and traditional beehive-style, both en-suite and communual facilities. Ant also worked to get the best possible location for the tented accommodation, which paid dividend by having hyenas and rhinos just meters away. The tour was done at the pace we wanted. As both my wife and I are avid wildlife photographers, there was no problem with just sitting by a waterhole for as long as we wanted to, sitting back and watching leopards and lions rest for a few hours, or driving down random back roads through Kruger. The wildlife did not disappoint with sightings of all the big 5, most fairly close-up! It's clear that both Ant and the other guides at EST have enormous respect for the wildlife and landscape, they do look after you well, but they also look after their own country. With years of experience they understand how the animals may react, and put you in the best (and safest) possible position for both you and the animals. If something wasn't right, or the animal was agitated (usually by too many other tour groups crowding the animal), Ant made the decision to move on and leave it be. Could not have asked for a better guide or company to travel with. The only disappointment was that we couldn't stay for longer. Eagerly waiting to go back!
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Email Andy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Spectacular!
EVERYTHING about this trip was PERFECT! From the very moment we decided to book this trip with Endless Summer, to the very end of the tour, everything was just perfect. Rhys, was the deciding factor in us choosing Endless Summer Tours. Very quick initial response, very professional and very accommodating as well. We had a few changes after the initial reservation and Rhys was more than happy to help. When we were picked up in Johannesburg by Steve and Leon, they were extremely helpful and knowledgeable about informing us on what we can expect during our visit to Kruger Park. Also, since it was our first visit to the park and not knowing what to expect, we felt reassured that we were in good hands with Steve and Leon. They made sure we were comfortable in our accommodations and during our game drives. During our visit to Kruger, the daily meals prepared by Steve and Leon were scrumptious. (Even catered to a few vegetarians in our group) Dinners were a fun time to discuss and share our sightings and pics of the day with them. Their knowledge and insights into our sightings was second to none. I would absolutely recommend Endless Summer Tours to everyone. Their knowledge, experience, and overall hospitality is second to none. THANK YOU guys for making this trip the UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE of a lifetime.
CA
Email HamJo | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Sharing a little bit of nature with wild animals
It was one of the most wonderful trip of our life, if not the one. Four days around the Kruger park is unforgettable. We have seen the big five within only 24 hours, and many other animals. Steve brought us all around incredible sites, giving us the chance to see animals in their natural environment, drinking, sleeping, eating and playing. Steve is also a great cook and he gave us the opportunity to taste South African food, including vegetable and fruits. Everything promised was delivered and even more. Since going back home, we have encouraged our friends to take a similar journey. Many thanks to the whole team for this delightful moment.
DE
Email Felix W | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simply great! Rhys is the perfect guide, saw the big 5 at least twice, did everything we wanted to!
Even though quite some time passed by since our tour we wanted to say thank you to Rhys for our perfect tour!
Rhys and his team planned the tour perfectly around our flights, communication was easy and Rhys and his team answered right away to any question. So planning our tour was simple after we had picked Endless Summer Tours.
The tour started with Rhys picking us up at the airport with the 4WD that was becoming our second home for the tour. We headed right to Kruger park and got a lot of information about the landscape we passed.
In the Kruger park Rhys stopped for pointing out all the animals - and I am quite sure we would have missed mor than half of them without Rhys (and would have missed quite some rare animals for not knowing they were ;-)! He gave us interesting information about the all those small and big animals and it took only 2 days to have the big 5 completed the first time :-) - and we got to see all of them multiple times.
Also saw a hunt of Wild dogs, which Rhys was able to follow quite a long way with his driving skills and knowledge of the park. It was great fun spending time at the BBQ in the nights and got a lot of good food throughout the day *yummie*. He adjusted all plans just the way we wanted - so we spent all day in the car driving around to see as much as possible.
For us it was good to have a closed car for weather and temperature - especially in the mornings.
All in all it was just a perfect tour, we will definitely pick Endless Summer Tours again when we are back for another Kruger Tour!!!
Thank you Rhys (and sorry it took us so long to write our recommandation)!!!!!!
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Email Jerry and Jolyne Berman | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
There really isn't any reason to use anyone else.
We were picked up at our hotel in Johannesburg by Steve Morris for a 4 day 3 night Safari experience. He was to become our tour guide/chef for the next 4 days. Not only was Steve professional, courteous, knowledgeable, and truly concerned that we maximize our experience, he was a darn good cook to boot! We saw the big 5 and more wildlife than we could have hoped for.. Incredible experience. I have absolutely nothing negative to say except I am sad that it is over. These guys true desire is that you walk away with incredible memories. I only wish this site would allow me to give Endless Summer Tours 10 stars.
Email Rebecca Dean | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Safari Experience - couldn't recommend enough!
We booked a private 4 day Safari with Endless Summer Tours and the whole experience was absolutely fantastic. We booked the safari only a week before departing for our trip and we arrived into Jo'burg airport to be greeted by Rhys who drive us up to Kruger. As soon as we arrived in the park the windows went down and the animal sightings began. Due to Rhys' incredible experience and eyes we saw so many more animals than we ever expected. Having dreamt of going on safari all my life it really was a trip of a lifetime for us. Another highlight was the delicious and plentiful food cooked by Rhys, it was a great intro into South African food and we really felt spoilt. We had the best time with Rhys and haven't been able to stop talking about it since we've got home. We really couldn't recommend enough.
FR
Email Yves Jannot | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great and well organized tour with an excellent and friendly guide
We booked a private (5 people) 5 day, 4 night tour in Blyde River Canyon and Kruger National Park with Endless Summer Tour for the begining of August 2018. It was a wonderful experience!
Our tour guide was Brett, who collected us from Johannesburg on day one. We visited Blyde River Canyon in the late afternoon, especially the sunset at Bourke's Luck Potholes was amazing. Excellent accomodation at Mogodi’s Lodge.
We then passed three days in Kruger Park with a very good accomodation for the first night in Berg-en-Dal rest camp where we have seen Buffalos, Rhinos and Elephants passing close to our bungalow in the evening!
We spent the two following nights in Skukuza rest camp. We saw many Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffe, Zebra, Lions, African Wild Dogs, Buffalos, one Leopard close to our vehicle and also beautiful birds! The sunset safari and the night safaris were great experiences. In August, the sunset safari was the best one for us since it begins during the day and it ends at night.
Brett is a good cook and a very nice and friendly guy! Above all, he is an excellent guide, very knowledgeable about wildlife and highly recommandable for people who want to make pictures since he was always looking for the best viewing angle.
We highly recommend Endless Summer Tour.
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Email Sarah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Spectacular!
My husband booked a four day safari with Endless Summers as the perfect start to our honeymoon. He had heavily researched different safari companies, but this one offered everything he was looking for - transportation from Jo'burg, a knowledgeable tour guide, our privacy and freedom to experience the trip our way, staying inside the park, and a fire at our huts every night. It was perfect! Our tour guide, Steve, was so knowledgeable of not only the animals but also the park. He knew exactly where and when to go to increase our chances of having some great animal sightings. We ended up seeing 14 lions, one leopard, and a cheetah during our safari (among countless other animals). Steve handled everything, so we were able to sit back and enjoy every moment of the safari. Steve had a braai for us every night and took pride in introducing us to South African food and beverages. His company was a plus too! We so enjoyed our conversations with Steve during the drive and dinners. My husband even conspired with the company prior to our trip to arrange a private, romantic dinner for just the two of us on one of the evenings. It was so special. They were so accommodating and their attention to detail and our experience was truly incredible. Two drives with the park rangers were included, but we wanted to also go on the morning hike. Steve helped us arrange that as well. It was really up to us as to what and when we wanted to be out or what our priorities were. I highly recommend this company! On our last day, we met another couple who had been there the same amount of days that we had, but they had not booked a tour and were exploring the park on their own. After speaking with them, we realized that they had not seen a fraction of what we had seen and hadn't learned hardly anything about the animals living in the park. They had not been able to maximize their time either because they were handling all of the bookings and fees, meals, and navigating the park themselves. By the end of the conversation, they told us that they wished that they had booked with a guide. We couldn't have been happier! Thank you guys!
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Email Victor K | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding Experience!!
Our 4 day safari with Steve as our guide was amazing!! In addition to being a great chef, his knowledge and enthusiasm was outstanding!!
Rhys and Steve did everything possible to make our trip unforgettable and the definitely succeeded!! From pickup to drop off in Johannesburg they exceeded every expectation!! This is a must do trip and this is the company to do it with!!
