The Tailormade Africa team - Cape of Good Hope SA
Tailormade Africa
- Located In:
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United Kingdom
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, SATOA, ATOL & Fair Trade Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $125 to $1,880 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Tony Glaser | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb all round
I initially got in touch with Rob Morley at Tailormade Africa to arrange joining his Africa Marathons group to run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, and mentioned that my wife and I were planning on a few days' R&R on the beach in Zanzibar afterwards, followed by a safari in Tanzania. He asked about our itinerary, and when I told him what we were considering he came up with a far better one, which we decided to go with. The itinerary, the accommodations (both in Zanzibar and Tanzania), the food, the safari guides, the transport (regular airline flights, light plane flights, 4WD drives) were all superb. Not only that, but Rob's communications were great, both before and during the trip, and he kept us informed about every last detail (including arranging the seemingly impossible task of getting a COVID PCR test in northern Tanzania for our onward flight to Qatar). He was personally available by WhatsApp at any moment. The game drives were fabulous - we got to see four mass crossings of wildebeest across the Mara River, plus closeup views of leopards, lions, cheetahs and large numbers of many other animals. Apart from one day when we shared a jeep with another (very nice) couple, our guides were always just for the two of us. No doubt you can get this kind of experience from a very expensive, top-end tour company, but in this case the cost was very reasonable indeed, and only modestly more than a budget tour - well worth the difference. I am happy to recommend Tailormade Africa without any reservations at all, and am beginning to think of where else in Africa I might have Rob take us!
CA
Email Rittu and Ali | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Clyde from Tailormade Africa put together an epic once-in-a-lifetime trip that was par-excellence!
Clyde and I started discussing our African safari trip over a year ago. My husband and I were thinking about embarking on a month-long trip to Eastern and Southern Africa to celebrate my milestone birthday. I had done some research and kind of knew what we wanted to do and so I reached out to 4 tour operators and asked them to send me their proposals. The highlight of our trip was going to be the migration and viewing the river crossings of the wildebeest in the Serengeti. Needless to say I picked Clyde because of his intimate knowledge of the country and his insistence to pick a camp on the north side of the Mara, the reason being that you want to see the wildebeest cross the river from the opposite bank coming towards you. Best decision we ever made!!
I discussed every detail of the trip with Clyde for over a year: things that were non-negotiable and had to be included (Giraffe Manor), experiences that we wanted to include, some that Clyde talked me out of (thankful for that!), the time of year that would be best to view the migration, covid hiccups, safety, how to travel, the kind of luggage we needed, Visas required and so on. Clyde was always a WhatsApp call or text away and at no time did I feel that he was actually across the pond in the UK. The travel arrangements were made and our 30-day journey went as smoothly and seamlessly as one could only hope for. We travelled across 5 countries and stayed in over 10 camps, some of which were very remote and getting to them involved changing small planes at different airstrips. On arrival there was always a jeep and guide waiting to pick us up and each and every camp was special and had its own charm! They were spotlessly clean and the food was great. The service was excellent, all the guides went out of their way to ensure that we got the best safari experience , plus they were a great fount of knowledge! Let's just say that we came away much better informed about animals in the wild and their behaviours. At no point in time did we feel unsafe or threatened, nor did we get sick for the entire duration of the trip. Along the way, Clyde had made special arrangements for the camps to have lovely surprises waiting for us in the form of a bottle of champagne or a bathtub prepared with roses and chocolates or a special birthday cake after dinner. These gestures were much appreciated and shows the kind of attention to detail that Clyde and Tailormade Africa provided. We managed to see all of the Big 5, the ugly 5 and most everything in-between! We saw hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, herds of elephants and buffalo, hundreds of zebras and antelope, lots of giraffes and of course 3 river crossings which Clyde had guaranteed that we would see atleast one. We ended our trip in Cape Town and Franschhoek and Clyde had organized sightseeing tours for us in South Africa as well and booked dinners at some amazing restaurants there. Clyde planned a trip that we will remember for the rest of our lives and it was well worth the cost! I highly recommend Clyde for any African itinerary given his intimate knowledge of Africa and his first-hand experience of being a guide in Zimbabwe.
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Email James Rugg | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top notch bespoke Safari Travel service.
I can't say enough good things about Tailormade Africa. They arranged what I consider to be "once in a lifetime" travel experience for my wife and I. I really liked their process. It is very personal and very user-friendly. I talked extensively with Clyde Beaty, one of the company's founders. He listened attentively to my objectives and ideas and asked a lot of questions. He used his extensive knowledge and experience to answer all of my questions and to guide and direct me in formulating our rough plan. He then prepared a detailed itinerary for us and it was spot-on, showing that he understood what we wanted. Clyde and his staff were invariably professional and highly competent throughout this process..
However, we had to reschedule our trip due to the pandemic. When it came time to reschedule, a couple of small tweaks were necessary. Clyde made the rescheduling easy and seamless for us.
Now that we have completed the trip I am even more impressed. I can't imagine a better trip. We were extremely pleased with every aspect of the trip. All of the accommodations, guides, food, etc. were excellent. Aside from these main aspects there were a lot of logistics involved. We stayed in four different locations in Botswana and Zimbabwe that required transfers via small planes, private cars and also border crossings. All of it went without a hitch.
Prior to the trip, we had some concerns about Covid-19. In fact, the trip had far less Covid-19 risk than we had anticipated. We flew from the US to Johannesburg and all flights into South Africa require that all passengers and crew wear masks throughout the flight (as of late May 2022). Also everyone flying into South Africa from overseas is required to show either proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test. All of the flights(4) we took within Africa also required mask wearing. Our hotel in Johannesburg required masks in all public areas. Likewise the van service and hotel vans we used required masks. All of the safari vehicles were obviously open so wearing of masks was unnecessary. All of the lodges and camps we stayed in had open air dinings so we really didn't have meals indoors. Finally, throughout our trip hand sanitizers were commonly available in public spaces. Overall, we felt less risk of catching Covid-19 on our African trip that we do in the US.
On top of everything else, Josh from Tailormade Africa was able to make a change to our flight from Johannesburg back to the states at the last minute (same day of the flight). That was amazing and we were very grateful for his great performance.
So, we found Clyde Beaty and the whole team at Tailormade Africa to truly fantastic!
Email julie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Tailormade Africa have outstanding knowledge about their destinations and organise the most trips.
We have traveled with Tailormade Africa on several occasions to lots of different destinations both with and without the family. Every time they have guided us to locations that have been the perfect balance of adventure and relaxation. Whether it was Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia, Zanzibar, Mozambique, the Seychelles or Rwanda everything ran incredibly smoothly and created brilliant memories. I have recommended Tailormade Africa to friends who have also had similar experiences.
Email Kara and Rory | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Knowledgeable and personable- went above and beyond to give us the honeymoon of our dreams!!!
We stumbled across Tailormade Africa by chance and we are so grateful that we did! We explored several mainstream travel agents when planning our African safari honeymoon and none of them were hitting the mark.
After only one zoom call with Clyde at Tailormade Africa we knew we were in the best hands and could finally start getting excited about planing our dream honeymoon!
Clyde took time to understand what we enjoy during our holidays and what makes us tick as people. This was so important before jumping in to what resorts look like as this determined the type of places we’d probably enjoy best! It was evident that they really are experts on Africa and could guide us in the best way!
We agreed on Tanzania and Pemba Island (a bit more off the beaten track than Zanzibar which was right up our street!)
Clyde was extremely patient with us when presenting different ideas and options- especially when the trip was only 8 weeks from our first discussion! We left it to the wire but we never felt rushed to make a decision.
The website itinerary platform that Tailormade Africa use made planning so much easier. Following our chats, new accommodation options or locations were added to the itinerary so we could look through in more detail. This also really helped during the trip as we could access it offline on an app.
The trip itself went so smoothly. We had the most incredible honeymoon and couldn’t be more grateful to Clyde and the team! It felt completely tailored to us and not just ‘plucked’ from a brochure. We had a fantastic guide and we were so pleased to have a private jeep as it meant everyday was tailored exactly to what we wanted to do! We were fortunate enough to see all the animals we hoped to and more!! And several times too! We have some incredible memories to treasure.
All of our accommodation was brilliant and we honestly had no complaints throughout the whole trip! We were even lucky enough to get a couple of upgrades as we were in honeymoon!
Clyde checked in a couple of times to make sure we were okay and having a good time. We even received a printed note at one of our lodges which was a nice touch!
I have already recommended Tailormade Africa to friends, family and colleagues as we honestly had the best time and we would definitely book again with them! We are already saving!!
Thank you so much to Clyde and the Tailormade Africa team!!
Email Gaziano | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Phenomenal. Can we go again already?
Myself, and my now fiancé, have just got back from the trip of all trips embarking on a six day safari in Botswana. Just wow.
There aren’t really enough words to express the incredible experience that we had. From start to finish we were looked after impeccably. Clyde and the Tailormade team were available 24hours a day for any of our queries that we had really making the experience seamless, we never had to worry about covid rules or restrictions because the Tailormade team took care of every step.
We booked a Ker and Downey safari, staying at two fantastic exclusive camps.
Tailormade really went the extra mile with making our engagement extremely special and most definitely memorable, fine touches like leaving us a departing letter to congratulate us personally.
This experience was like no other, we can’t thank you enough and will be sharing your excellence and recommending Tailormade Africa for the rest of our lives.
Email Lynne Shields | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
No detail left unsorted
I’ve recently returned from a 5 week trip around Namibia and South Africa. I gave Clyde quite a project as I wanted to experience the best of both of these countries in what was really quite a short time. Clyde prepared a wonderful itinerary covering the best of both countries in a whistle stop tour and he accomplished the complicated logistics (travel by air and train, luxurious accommodation and even COVID testing) so that we were able to travel without a care in the world. He kept in touch with us and our destination properties to ensure we arrived everywhere safely and I don’t believe he was able to sleep until we had arrived at each destination where a warm welcome was always guaranteed. Tailormade Africa is absolutely the right name for this company - we never felt we were on anything like a package holiday and we felt so privileged to travel this way. I have recommended them to everyone I met on my trip and I know that I can trust them to do an excellent job wherever one wishes to travel in Africa.
Email Michael and Christine UK | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Tailormade Africa provides magic - sit back and relax
We have had the pleasure of another trip organised by Clyde. There is never any reduction in the level of attention and expertise when the itinerary is put together which is followed by the supervision when you are actually on the trip. So again we rate highly Tailormade Africa – and their approach during the Covid-19 period was appreciated. This is never cheap and nasty but value for money and expertly suggested. Whilst we had luck on our side, our safari was brilliant, travel was not complicated and Clyde was always there in the background.
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Email Nerissa & Russell | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Impeccable service and planning!! Rwanda & Tanzania
Rob Morley and team at Tailormade Africa were fantastic to work with from start to finish! I vetted multiple safari travel agents and knew that when I spoke to Rob I had found the right one. Rob asked all the right questions to really get a true sense of the trip we wanted to take and then made great suggestions as to where we should consider going. Once we landed on the countries, he again provided detailed overviews of potential itineraries - what I really appreciated was that he gave us options but did not overwhelm with too many options while at the same time provided insights into compare/contrast of different areas and camps we would choose from. Having lived in Tanzania and traveled extensively in Africa, he could really give us a true sense of the experiences we would have in each place. He really made the planning process enjoyable and once we arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, everything was fabulous from start of trip until the end. Covid testing was arranged and never an issue - our local guides were knowledgeable about the testing and whether it required PCR or rapid antigen; guides brought the physician to do the testing and/or we went to local clinics at the/near the airport. The local guides became friends - they are highly knowledgeable about their countries, the history, the geography and really made every day wonderful. If ever we had a question or request, we felt very comfortable asking and received the highest level of service in a friendly manner. Rob was also available on WhatsApp for questions or concerns (although we did not have a single concern while there - the ability to clarify a travel arrangement or question through this communication method was an added sense of security throughout!). The camps - WOW!!! Singita Lodge in Volcanoes Natl Park, Nwungye House, Namiri Plains in Serengeti and The Highlands in Ngorongoro Crater area - all were very different and wonderful - the staff, the food, the camp guides - everyone was so welcoming and again, knowledgeable - from wait staff who could identify every bird we asked about to chefs who provided us recipes for food we enjoyed. We really cannot say enough wonderful things about Tailormade Africa, Rob and all of the local teams that took such great care of us throughout the trip. We said this was a "once in a lifetime" trip but we are already discussing when and where to go next in Africa!! (and when we do it will be with Tailormade!)
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Email Baiba | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top class concierge travel facilitators!
I worked with Clyde. I could not have asked for a better service. Besides making a fantastic safari itinerary, he made sure our trip was flawless in real time. He was our guardian travel angel always looking over us!
We did not book our airline tickets from the USA to Zimbabwe through Tailormade but Clyde was there to solve our problems real time. Our departing fright was canceled and the airline said that the best they can do is rebook us for the next day. I texted Clyde that unfortunately we would be a day late. Within five minutes he sent us an alternative rout that the airline could rebook us on. I showed the flight proposal to the airline desk and sure enough they could rebook us without any delays. Clyde had made sure we had a person greet us at the plane upon arrival in Johannesburg. Very professional service! The concierge walked us through the airport & immigration in a breeze. Clyde must have been checking all arrivals and departures. We received a welcome text upon every landing and well wishes with every takeoff.
Our experience in the safari camps was fantastic. Clyde had chosen the best fit for us. And thank you for the personalized notes in each camp!
I would highly recommend Tailormade Africa and Clyde specifically! We didn't have a single thing to worry about and felt pampered!