Our three owners of BST Tours.
BST Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- AAO & DTTAS
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $17 to $278 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CA
Email Warren H Johnston | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent communication and was always on time
Communication right from the original booking was excellent. All pick ups occurred as planned and service was escellent.
US
Email Carrie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip
Everything was great. I had challenges paying with my US credit card (because of my bank, not their system) and BST's office manager was incredibly helpful and supportive through the process. Everything else went quite smoothly - I was picked up on time at both ends of the journey and felt comfortable along the way, the lodge itself was gorgeous with friendly and attentive staff and good food, the game preserve was beautiful and not crowded with jeeps at each animal sighting. It was a great experience and I never felt at all nervous as a solo traveler.
US
Email Daniel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsive, Helpful, Pleasant, THE BEST
Maryke, Gerrit, and Johan made this portion of our honeymoon totally seamless. Maryke responded very quickly to questions and was extremely proactive in sending our itinerary and travel details early. Gerrit and Johan are both extremely pleasant to travel with and knowledgable about Southern Africa and its wildlife. We felt so well looked after and can not recommend BST Tours and Mr. Shuttle more highly.
NL
Email Michael Witting | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BST organised our Morokolo Lodge Safari tour
Exceptionally fast, clear and efficient communication. Everything was done via email and then super quick WhatsApp. Couldn’t have been better with our flight time known by BST. Our driver was there to meet us at the airport.
Safari was fantastic (3-days).
DE
Email Julia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The description does not match the tour; There is no help whatsoever on site ...
Stay away if you want what you've booked!
We had booked the "private tour", "luxury tour". The tour description was written by a four-wheel drive vehicle or minibus, a land cruiser was confirmed to us. Unfortunately, we ended up in a monstrous 22-passenger bus with the side open. We have tried several times to change this on site, but the way this provider deals with the situation is beyond description. After it was explained to us again and again (and always researcher) that it was not the task of the provider to set the correct information, the owner finally came to the conclusion that the size of the vehicle was not relevant anyway.
We found this really disappointing after 2 days of telephone discussion!
Next time we will book directly through the lodge: it really cares, has contact persons on site and provides accommodation and safaris anyway ...
Reply from BST Tours
Posted on Apr 14, 2020Dear Julia and Sue,
As communicated telephonically and via email, on numerous occasions we apologized for the wrong description given through via the email. We tried our utmost best to assist you with your request and you were initially very happy with our services, it was just the Safari Vehicle that was an issue. After numerous telephone calls with the Director, he tried to keep you calm and communicated with the Lodge as well, we were disappointed in the manner you handled and spoke to him and our staff, still we remained calm through it all. We also have numerous unanswered emails. Safaribookings.com also mentioned that there is no other option to choose from for the vehicle other than the one we chose. It is also the Lodge’s discretion which vehicles are being used as the specific Lodge takes over 100 guests.
The tour you booked is indeed a Private tour, but it also states “Game drives will be shared with other guests” so we are unsure as to why you think this was not a Private tour as this is the only time you had to share anything with other guests. Besides for Safari Vehicle, your tour included exactly what you have booked for. The Lodge website link is also listed on your selected tour, therefor you can also see what the Lodge and Game Drives entail. In the mean-time to avoid the disappointment for other potential clients, we have updated our Gallery with the Vehicles that the Lodge uses, and we have mentioned the size vehicles in our day-by-day section as well. This was an honest mistake and the very first time we are dealing with a complaint as this. Once again, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience that was caused to you to regards with the Safari vehicle. A e-mail with a special offer was sent to you and we await your response.
Email Tania Norton | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great group to deal with
Although Covid-19 stopped us actually having our dream holiday, BST Tours were fantastic in helping us plan, change and organise our dream trip. Staff were helpful, responded quickly to emails and questions, thought of things we hadn’t and made the planning of our trip super easy. We can’t wait to re-book our trip with NST Tours.
Email Janice Barber | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic - no other words to describe this company!
As a family, we booked our trip 2 years before we travelled. As a result of covid it took us nearly 3 years to get to SA and I think Maryke and team must have booked 3 / 4 dates for us. We finally made it and it was amazing. They were so accommodating and helpful leading up to go and altering bookings. Then on arrival communication was so clear and easy, our driver to the lodge Gerrit was brilliant so friendly. The lodge and safari we did was great the whole experience has been a lifetime one for the family. I could only say if you are thinking of using but unsure do not hesitate they were brilliant.
Awesome
Everything was extremely well organised, from the pick up at OT airport, transfer to Hoyo Hoyo the lodge and game drives , food was amazing.
Johan our driver was brillant !
BR
Email Eduardo Kalinowski | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
No problems on a Pilanesberg tour
My tour was quite simple: just transportation between the airport and a Pilanesberg lodge. But everything went fine. The tour had to be postponed due to Covid, and this was not a problem.
The only issue is that the driver did not take the most direct (and mostly on highways) route, but rather a more circuitous route through secondary roads. But since I had time to spare, that wasn't a real problem.
US
Email M & A | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent!
We were lucky that the lodge that I originally inquired about was fully booked. Tanya at BST suggested Lush Private Reserve as an alternative and we are so glad she did. It was absolutely wonderful; beautiful, comfortable rooms. excellent, friendly service and lovely meals. We were fortunate to see all of the "big five" (even the elusive leopard) during our two day stay and learned a lot from Avi, our personable and very knowledgeable safari guide. One of the reasons we chose Lush is that they have a limit of 6 guests to a safari vehicle. There are no "middle seats" (unlike many other lodges that carry 9 passengers.) We had one game drive with 6 of us aboard. On the other three drives, there was a maximum of 4 guests.
Pilansberg is roughly three hours from Johannesburg but we did not mind the long drive. We spent it chatting with our terrific driver Gerrit, who had great stories to tell and was very accommodating. I would not hesitate to book with BST--they will take good care of you.