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
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Email Erel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding Service from Tammy
I normally like to do all my own planning/research for trips, but we were extremely busy and needed help. So we contacted Pembury based on reviews we had read, and were put in touch with Tammy. Thank god for this.
It's rare to find someone so responsive, and thorough...and just good at her job. We outlined what we wanted, she gave us options, and basically did all the legwork in putting together our itinerary. We never had to chase things down or make corrections, everything planned happened without issue, and she assisted with numerous curveballs we threw her way. She just made it all so easy. It was a tremendous burden lifted...and the result was a vacation that exceeded our already high expectations.
The communications in particular were incredible. Very responsive, managed our expectations re: when we could expect to hear back from her, incredibly friendly...we even got her phone number and were WhatsApp'ing during the trip, so she could make sure things were going smoothly.
By the end of it all, we had invited her to our wedding. !!! So in short, we recommend Tammy/Pembury wholeheartedly and without reservation.
AT
Email Wilhelm | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our holiday was - thanks to Tammy and her excellent service - a great experience!
We had so many wishes and requests (that house in Knysna, this golf course at that date and so on ... :-))), even some short-term changes we made after having already arrived! And Tammy and her collegues at Pembury Tours managed to arrange all our accomodations, means of transports - without any complaints or problems. Thanks to Tammy and her collegues, we had a really memorable and wonderful holiday. I would really recommend to contact them when planning a trip to South Africa!
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Email Anshul | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
7 stars !!
We had the most amazing trip to South Africa and a large credit goes to our super advisor - Anya!
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Email BostonRU | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great customized trip to Johannesburg, Victoria Falls, Kruger and Cape Town for 3 adults
Excellent service from Heidi, working around our travel dates to build an itinerary (including activities) in Johannesburg (1 night), Victoria Falls (3 nights), safari (2 nights Sabi Sands, 2 nights Timbavati), and Cape Town (6 nights). Very helpful to have a single point of contact when planning the trip, as well as for any questions during the trip. We had a couple of minor requests during our trip - everything was handles promptly and very well.
The first night (Johannesburg) was also due to the flight schedule, but that turned out to be a good thing. Pre-arranged tour of the city and Soweto was quite interesting, and it helped recover from the jet lag. We stayed at an airport hotel (City Lodge) - very convenient for the flight to Livingstone next morning.
Flying into/out of Livingstone for Victoria Falls was fine, but unfortunately Zambia/Zimbabwe ran out of the Kaza Univisa stickers, so we had to get a bunch of separate visas for Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana at each border crossing. Nice view of the falls from the right hand side of the plane on approach to Livingstone. Good day trip to Chobe for a river/land safari. Very nice hotel (Ilala Lodge). Water flow in Zambezi during the dry season is quite low, but that make it possible to swim in the Devil's Pool.
We had an extra night in Nelspruit between Victoria Falls and safari due to our flight schedule. Try to avoid doing this if your schedule allows it - there is nothing to do there.
Safari was definitely the highlight of the trip, and it was nice to visit two different game reserves. Transfer was timed perfectly so we didn't miss any game drives. Both lodges (Elephant Sands and Simbavati River Lodge) were very good.
Stayed in a serviced 2 bedroom apartment (Lawhill) at V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Again, good pre-arranged tours - city tour, Cape Point, wine country. If you have a couple of days on your own, you can go to the Botanical Garden (great free walking tours with volunteer guides at 10 am, 11 am, and 2 pm), Table Mountain (as soon as the weather is good), and the Old Biscuit Mill (excellent food market on Saturdays). You don't need a guide for any of this, taxis are easy to find and there is also Uber. If you want to have a nice dinner in Franschhoek after the wine country tour, you need to make a reservation weeks (if not months) in advance. Totally worth it. We went to Ryan's Kitchen, there are a couple of other restaurants that are similar.
Again, great trip and great service from Pembury Tours! Thank you , Heidi!
NL
Email Carolina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Another amazing experience!
After our great visit to South Africa last year assisted by Pembury Tours, we didn’t waste time to check on our calendars in order to ask them to plan our second trip.
And let me tell you something, Heidi surpassed herself! When she organized our tour last year, she tailored an amazing itinerary, making sure that all our requirements and wishes were met and the result was fantastic.
This year, and noting that the trip was to celebrate my birthday and that we wanted an especific Safari programme, she went out to find the best options possible, even if our favorite Lodge was full.
Not only she managed a seamlessly itinerary, including suitable flight and transportation connections, but she found the way to accomodate our expectations, giving us another wonderful time in South Africa - including some thoughtful surprises along the way!
We are, once more, grateful to Pembury Tours and Heidi for the dedication and level of attention to our innumerable questions and for tailoring another holiday to remember.
Hopefully we will be able to count with them in our next vacation!
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Email Manny | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip!
A large group of us traveled to Africa for our friends' wedding (they organized the trip with Tammy from Pembury) and we couldn't have been happier. Each leg of the trip was planned by Tammy: Victoria Falls then 2 lodges in Botswana for safaris. The wedding couple worked with her to plan the trip and she did an amazing job. We all loved the places we went, the activities that were included and of course the safaris themselves. Tammy communicated with us all over the course of months and was very helpful for us to plan things like what to bring, how much, etc.
I would definitely recommend Pembury and Tammy for an African vacation.
Email Brad and Claire | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Cape Town, timbavati and Sabi Sands safari
This was our first trip to South Africa and we were keen to utilise an experienced tour operator to guide us through the safari experience. After much research we felt most comfortable to book with Pembury Tours since the reviews from previous travellers were very positive. The packages they offered were very flexible and fit right into our busy itinerary. Our tour consultant throughout the entire process was Heidi Bedford. During the planning stage Heidi was extremely helpful, professional and patient as we worked through many scenarios. We felt at ease for our first visit to Africa and booked without hesitation. Arriving into Cape Town tired after long flights we were pleased to be met by our driver. From that moment on everything ran perfectly. The welcome pack, tours organised, safari locations, accommodation and the extra touches that were delivered to make our honeymoon special, just cemented our pleasure in booking with this operator. We are already planning another trip back to Africa and Heidi at Pembury will be our first and only contact.
Email Sandra & Adrian | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very friendly, knowledgeable and efficient Tour Operator
We have recently returned from a two week tailor made holiday organised by Susan Paterson Wait of Pembury Tours. Susan provided suggestions and options of accommodation during the various sectors of our holiday along with providing the necessary immigration and entry visa requirements to the various countries visited.
Subsequently all our accommodation, transfers and tours during our whole holiday were organised by Pembury Tours & all went like clockwork.
Our holiday initially comprised of three nights in Ilala Lodge, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and included a day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana.
From Victoria Falls we flew to Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, and stayed one night at the wonderful Oliver's Restaurant & Lodge where we met by the manager Amanda who allocated us a wonderful spacious room. The friendly greeting from Amanda was extended to us by all the staff we met. The food in the Restaurant was amazing and was of excellent quality and value.
Our Holiday continued with a transfer and a 3 night stay at Arathusa Safari Lodge in Sabi Sands. We were given a freindly greeting by the always helpful reception staff and showed to our delightful lodge. Once again all the staff we met were so friendly, the food was really good, the bar had a decent selection and was good and the Safari Drives were excellent. Thanks to Sebastian our Ranger and Solley our tracker for giving us a wonderful wildlife experience with lots of stories, memories, photographs and appreciation for the beautiful wildlife. A big thanks also to all the staff at Arathusa.
The final leg of our holiday was a transfer, flight and then a 6 night stay at the Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town. What a wonderful hotel on the V&A waterfront and what a wonderful city. Lots to do in Cape Town and plenty of good quality dining restaurants for a relaxing meal or a quick bite to eat. The 6 days we visited, Cape Point, Robben Is., City Tour including history of S.A. & Cape Town, Table Mountain, Wine tasting tour to mention just a few. A great city to visit.
Finally we would highly recommend Pembury Tours and a special mention to Susan for arranging this holiday for us and having the patience with us. Thanks for providing such a memorable experience of Africa, the wildlife on Safari and the people we met at the Lodges, Hotels, Tour Guides and Transfer Drivers.
Sandra & Adrian.
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Email Chris Garman | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top notch tour operator
We did a Pembury-arranged safari in Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. All of the lodges were amazing, the communication with Pembury leading up to the trip was excellent, the price was well worth the quality and completeness of the safari, and it was an amazing experience of a lifetime. Great guides, great food, great game viewing, great everything! Everything exceeded expectations by a wide margin. Definitely would use Pembury again.
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Email Vinod Pillai | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Trip of a lifetime to South Africa
Anya is one of the best travel partners one could ask for. Our flights got delayed, which meant we had to lose a day and cancellations/ postponements galore. But Anya had been super helpful, helping us manage all the disruptions. She managed to keep our morale high, by taking care of small details as well as the big revisions. She planned a perfect itinerary and was super responsive through out the trip. Every location we travelled had soemthing new to offer. Anya also helped us with additional things like where to shop, where to book tickets for skydivign etc. We kept buggering her with queries at times at late night and she always helped us out, no matter what. I am super impressed and super happy. 5 stars +