Part of the happy Pembury team having a laugh!
Pembury Tours
- Office In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 1996)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $2,000 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
Email Sandy & Annette | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Pembury Tours provided excellent service, value for money and a fabulous holiday.
We were recommended to Pembury Tours when we contacted Lalibela Game Reserve asking about a safari and planning a trip to South Africa. I looked at their website and reviews on Tripadvisor which were all positive.
I e-mailed Pembury Tours and was contacted by Tammy Harding.
What impressed us was the prompt response, the attention to detail and a real desire to get things exactly how we wanted.
Paying money these days over the internet is always a worry. However, the systems Pembury Tours have in place worked well and were reassuring.
All the accommodation was excellent. We had an unbelievable time at Lalibela, the staff were amazing, the food excellent and of course the animals and safari drives 1st class.
Having Tammy at the end of a phone was reassuring just in case we had an issue. But the trip ran like clock work and every need taken care of. Well done Tammy and everyone for making our holiday a trip to remember.
US
Email William and Kathleen Campenni | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great company, outstanding client service and attention
When we were first planning our trip to South Africa from our home in the USA we did not know much about the attractions and accommodations, other than there were a lot of safari options and operators available. With our Internet searching we stumbled upon the highly rated Pembury Tours out of Port Elizabeth, and its representative, Laurette McKinnon.
Over numerous email exchanges from afar she was able to sort out our desires, budget, and concerns (e.g., Cape Town's drought) to arrange our itinerary to include 4 event-packed days in Cape Town and 5 days on safari at a game reserve in southeast South Africa, away from the crowds and commercialization in the northern Krueger areas most visited by tourists. Even with the 9 hour time zone differences, it seemed like her replies were immediate to our numerous queries.
They were wise choices on her part. We did almost everything we wanted to do in Cape Town and environs, given our short stay, and our safari out of the recommended Lalibela Game Reserve exceeded our expectations. The proximity to the game animals, the splendid accommodations at Lentaba Lodge, and the knowledgeable ranger guides made our visit all the more memorable. Every transportation option we needed was arranged by Laurette and there were no glitches - airport pickups, local area tours, internal SA flight connections, special requests, etc.
It is difficult to plan an extended trip like we had when you are doing it from 8,000 miles away with an agent you had never met. It takes a lot of trust and patience on both sides. We went through frequent changes and revisions to our travel plan. And it all had to fit in the budget constraints we had.
So we were very fortunate that our search took us to Pembury Tours and its representative, Laurette McKinnon. We highly recommend them to others, knowing they will make your trip as memorable as ours.
CA
Email Suzanne | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Heidi Bedford led us through an awesome adventure in beautiful Africa!
After trying to get info from several safari tour operators in Canada, we miracously found Pembury Tours and Heidi Bedford answered our email promptly. We gave her the desired outline of our trip: our budget, places we wanted to go to and our dates. She came back with a customized itinerary that we fine tuned and voilà!
After some 18 months or so of planning, we finally arrived in Johannesburg to start our journey and Heidi was our guardian angel for the four weeks of our African Odyssey...an email or phone call away if needed. Hotels gems and transfer vouchers, car rental, pick ups at airports...9 flights total, 4 safari lodges and 16 game drives...everything was clockwork and exhilarating ! She even met us in Port Elizabeth with our printed itinerary...a brick of information on every detail with maps and driving instructions how to get to our various destinations.
We had such a great relationship with Heidi that we shared our pictures and FB posts with her! We will always remember our experience in Africa passionately and be forever grateful to Heidi for sharing her knowledge and for her guidance!
Email Roy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A tour company that really understands its customers requirements and delivers a first class service
We asked for a tour that gave us a feel for South Africa and included the Rovos Cape Town to Victoria Falls train.The whole tour took 3 weeks and the planning and delivery were of the highest order.It was truly the classic 'trip of a lifetime'.The instruction we received were faultless and down to the smallest detail.We used 6 different hotels and all bookings worked like clockwork.The tour more than lived up to our expectations.
Email DEB | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Helpful and efficient and spot on recommendation.
Recommendation by Susan of Lalibela Game Reserve excellent. Great communication and efficient service. Thanks very much.
Email Sue Shackell | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Above and beyond, another amazing family holiday.
Just had the most amazing family holiday, arranged by Kerry Rerie of Pembury Tours, with members from Australia and South Africa and my husband and I from UK. Kerry couldn’t have been more helpful and the accommodation she found for us in Blyde River and The Kruger game park was excellent. Kerry put together a very comprehensive itinerary for us and each family had a complete booklet with details of everything we could possible do in each area, bearing in mind the age range was 13 to 80! I can’t thank Kerry enough, this is the second time she has arranged a holiday for us in SA, last one three years ago, and we will definitely be in touch with her the next time we come. With great thanks, Sue Shackell.
Email Corinna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Efficiency,professionalism,humanity,kindness,care,love,comfort,organisation,informative
excellent!
loved the location& esp the staff , owners and team that run Blyde River Canyon Lodge-excellent choice of booking.
loved the animals& nature there and all the things that we could do in the immediate vicinity
Kerry Ririe organised a sublime holiday for us and our friends-
loved hillside house too!
US
Email Raji | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Heidi Bedford was brilliant. She gets a 5* rating.
Communication with Heidi Bedford was excellent. She was prompt and provided great guidance when we were planning the trip. Once she understood our itinerary, she completely laid out the detailed plan for us. We were a group of 12 people and I was the main point of contact but she fielded questions/concerns from other individuals in the group as well. She was always extremely polite and professional at all times.
I found Pembury Tours on the internet and I had read good reviews on Trip advisor but was skeptical in the beginning but Heidi put my fears to rest after the booking process went smoothly. None the else, we as a group were nervous wondering how the trip will go once we landed in Cape Town. All I can say now after the trip is over is that Heidi did a fabulous job for making this trip an amazing and remarkable experience of us. The entire trip went according to plan, like clock work. The stay in Cape Town was excellent, the safaris were brilliant-once in a lifetime experience, all the transfers were on time, and the accomodations were comfortable.
Heidi's services exceeded our expectations and this sentiment is shared by our entire group of 12 people.
We give Heidi Bedford a 5* rating.
Heidi - Thank you so much for a fantastic, memorable trip!!
CH
Email Antonio | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
excellent service and first class faciliies
I bought a Cape Town (Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel) + Kruger Park (Dulini River Lodge) + Victoria Falls (Royal Livingstone) + Chobe Park (Ngoma Lodge) + Okavango Delta (Shinde Camp) 2 weeks tour with Pembury Tous and i must say that i was very happy with their services at every moment and i recommend them.
I started asking for quotations 18 months before i travelled, i had to postpone the tour, i asked for new quotations one year later and they still maintained their offer in their files, rebuilt the whole offer in one day, gave me very good advice on every detail i needed, their wise lodges selection, activities...
The quality of the services provided by Pembury and their representatives (drivers, guides, extra activities etc.) at every place and the accommodation i had was superb. Also their advices (topics for the trip, recommended restaurants...) were very helpfull
All I can do is thanking Ms. Tammy, who was in chage of my tour for all the good services i have received.
Email Andrew | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent ,everything was beautifully organised by Tammy via email.
This was our first trip to South Africa so we sent Tammy our wish list, what type of accommodation we liked and an indication of our budget.She came back with a proposal which I don't think we even need to tweek.Between booking and the date of our trip Tammy kept in contact and promptly answered any of our queries. We were met at the airport ,taken to our hotel and given our itinerary. Next morning Lele Mbinda picked us up promptly and took us on the first of three tours in Cape Town. The tours were adapted according to the weather and our special interests. We flew to Durban to pick up a hire car for the next stage of our trip. All the instructions got us to our hotels easily and each had its own character.The Rhino Ridge Lodge was one of the highlights. During the three nights we stayed we went on six game drives with Hala who ensured we saw an amazing variety of wildlife,identifying any we didn't know. The truck seldom had more than four passengers and you felt like you were on your own private safari. The staff at the lodge itself were friendly and helpful, and the food well balanced in terms of size and variety. The staff sing for residents birthdays was something special. As visitors from the UK the only hairy bits were driving on dirt tracks in a hire car in Rorke's Drift and Hluhluwe Imfolosi Park but that was inexperience. It was a wonderful holiday beyond our expectations and we are very grateful to Tammy for her organisation and suggestions.
