Viva Safaris team look forward to seeing you soon!
Viva Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 1991)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Mid-range tours that, when possible, use accommodations owned and operated by them
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $81 to $200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
US
Email Matt Lloyd | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience of a lifetime!
There are a huge and overwhelming number of options when researching a safari to Kruger: I can say without hesitation that you will not be disappointed on a trip arranged by Viva Safaris! I very much enjoyed my stay at Mark's Treehouse camp: the staff were very friendly and professional, and the trips to Kruger and surrounding game reserves very well organized. We saw all of the big five in one day! Loved it!
Email Georgia and Andrew | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly enjoyable and recommendable
Selecting a safari can be mind-boggling. We chose well when we chose Viva for Kruger Park. Clearly Viva understands the importance of their guests' expectations and meets them admirably. It was not expensive and gave us a brilliant first-time experience. Although the "processing" of guests runs like a well-oiled machine, the politeness, hospitality and grace of staff members was unfailing. Furthermore, when I was ill, they arranged a doctors' appointment, had one of their drivers take me to it and a staff member collected my medication. We had a room at Katekani which matched my dreams and delicious home cooking with plenty of variety, served with style. Gertrude and Margaret, our "hostesses", are gems. I hope they're treasured as employees, along with the Guides and Drivers. Having worked in hospitality and as a Guide, I recognise that shifts can be long, tedious and underpaid, especially in the affordable sector. I hope they are all rewarded suitably. Our game drives always included lots of thrilling animal sightings and entertaining, informative commentary. One tip: never rely on the weather and always take a jacket, preferably hooded. When night falls or the wind comes up, you don't want it to spoil your enjoyment.
CA
Email Laurence | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip
We did the 5 day safari with Viva Safari. The first night was Tremisana Game Lodge. This is an good quality for the price. The rooms are basic but complete and clean. As for the staff, they are great !!! Whether guides, drivers or staff of the lodge, all are very friendly. We particularly enjoyed the guides (Rex and ) who made the Bush walk with us, what an experience !!! All the other activities were really great and for a first safari it's perfect.
After that, we stayed at Katekani Tented Lodge. Our stay there was amazing and I recommend this wonderful place without any hesitation.
It is a small camp with 4 bedroom (and 2 other building), very quiet and cozy. The rooms are gorgeous, very well equipped and the beds are very comfortable. You cannot feel that your are sleeping in tents.Elena is an amazing host. She is very dedicated and made sure our stay unforgettable. She is an excellent cook, every meal was a delight. All meals were prepared according to our tastes and preferences. We really enjoyed our trip with Viva safari.
HU
Email Balazs | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
6 days Krüger park safari, Tremisana lodge
Everything was perfect and the service level was much higher than we expected. We spent 5 nights at the beautiful Tremisana lodge and we meet only friendly people, great staff, got great food and relax in a perfect garden. Rangers are superb and funny, we enjoyed every single moment there, morning bush walking, morning game drive, afternoon/sunset game drive, night drive. I can't be thankfull enough what we experienced there.
US
Email Steve Ingraham | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Value if Wildlife is your primary interest
I spent 6 days at Tremisana Lodge and 4 days at Mark's Treehouse Lodge. Both lodges are comfortable but not lavish. The Treehouse Lodge is more of a bush experience and seems to attract a lot of young people. Bush walks, night, sunrise and sunset game drives, and the full day game drives in Kruger, met and exceeded expectations. Staff and guides were excellent. Guides in particular took real pleasure in showing us every animal they could find. Saw the big five, and so much more. I have a special interest in birds and they made every effort to accommodate me. On top of that the price was unbeatable. A great experience overall and I highly recommend Viva Safaris for your South African safari.
NZ
Email Lynn & Jacqui | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top value for money Safari experience
From the time we were picked up from the plane we were made welcome. The friendly unpretentious staff, home style food, and traditional accommodations all combined to make our Safari experience one we will remember always. Over our 4 days we met some great people from all around the world and were lucky to see all the animals on our "wish list". Well done Viva, we fully recommend you to anyone who asks.
Super helpful and friendly lodge managers
My wife and I had a great 5 day safari to both private game reserves and Kruger National Park with Viva Safaris. The organization by Viva Safaris was very helpful because they are able to organize tours that visit the private game reserves without having to pay the exorbitant prices to actually stay at the private game reserve. By far the highlight of the trip though were the super friendly and helpful lodge managers. We picked a trip that included accommodations in "an intimate lodge next to Kapama in luxurious tented chalets with private splash pools". The lodge was named Katekani and it was an amazing experience. The rooms were gorgeous and spacious, the food was delicious and custom cooked to our tastes and requirements and the couple that ran the lodge: Allan and Elena went out of their way to make sure we had an incredible time.
IT
Email Paola | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great experience of wildlife and nature, with a perfect organization
We really had a great time, and everything was perfectly organized with Viva Safaris! Nothing was wrong, we did everything as planned and scheduled: a real “Swiss clock” organization, from picking up at the hotel to game drives and walking tours, from accomodation to food!!!
SuperPatti helped us to organize our 5 days tour exactly as we wished, with a perfect sequence of activities perfectly scheduled: we really had the best for each minute we spent on the tour!
The staff was simply wonderful: everybody, drivers, guides, cookers (excellent food also for vegetarians!), men and women at the lodges, did their best to assist us with professionality, kindness and friendship, to make us feel at home, to solve every little problem or request (at Marc’s Tree House they even found an electricity adaptor for us, which we had lost!), to let us appreciate Southafrican nature and culture. They all had a smile and a helpful hand for us! We really would like to thank them all: Pretty, Victor and all the staff at Tremisana and Marc’s Tree House, Meynarth (we do not know if the name is correctly written!) who made our tour to Kruger really unforgettable, Rex with his peculiar way of teaching, and the rest of the staffs and guides whose names we do not remember or know... but we remember all they friendly smiling faces!
Nature and animals are amazing, we met them all (but hyenas and wild dogs), and some of them very, very close!! It was incredible to see all those beautiful animals ... it was like being on Discovery Channel and our guides let us know a lot about them, the way they live, the environment, wildlife problems and projects to help... it was very good for us to realize the love and attention they all had for their natural environment, and the deep knowledge they share with their guests.
Viva Safaris gave us a really great experience, which was far beyhond what we expected! We surely recommend it!
Paola & Mauro
Excellent experience
Viva Safaris is amazing! This was my first trip out of the country and I was a little nervous. Viva Safaris was very good about answering questions and getting back to me in a timely manner. Everything was easy and accurate. I want to go back and use Viva Safaris again!
ES
Email Maria | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good safari operator
Best guides were James (thanks to giving us so much information about wildlife) and Tania (for the fun at our afternoon game drive).
Well organised and nice and knowledgeable guides and other staff in general.