The Wayfairer team training in our UK office
Wayfairer Travel
- Offices In:
-
United Kingdom
United States
Thailand
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, ATOL & ABTOT
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $394 to $2,495 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 Dale Johnson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Complete Tanzanian Tour Package that Exceeded Expectations
This was the second time I used Wayfairer Travel this year for two amazing African adventures, and I would highly recommend their services in the future. With so many choices of parks, camps, lodges, hotels, etc., it can be a bit overwhelming in trying to research and plan an African safari on your own. Late last year my wife and I were trying to plan a trip to Namibia on our own, with only a few weeks before we planned to leave. I sent out a few inquires through Safari Bookings, and Wayfairer quickly responded, followed by a phone call to find out in more detail the type of trip we were hoping to have. I gave them a budget to work from and the resultant trip blew me away in the quality of the lodges, and the organization of the trip. So when some friends approached us earlier this year, wanting us to join them on an epic adventure to celebrate their 30 year wedding anniversary, I reached out again to Wayfairer Travel to help plan our latest trip.
We ended up visiting Tanzania, with stops in both Selous and Ruaha parks. I was reluctant at first to not visit the more popular parks up north, such as the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, but we were happy to find an abundance of wildlife, great guides, and the feeling that we had the park almost all to ourselves. We followed up a week of safari's with beach time on Mafia Island and Zanzibar. The overall trip was well planned with all the details taken care of. When on our first morning in Dar es Salaam, our ride to the airport didn't show up, we grabbed a taxi to make sure we didn't miss our flight. An email to Wayfairer, and the issue was resolved and the cost of the taxi quickly reimbursed.
Overall, we were all very satisfied by the quality of the trip and the attention to detail that was put into the planning.
Email Amisha | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thank you Wayfairer for working with us and arrange an amazing family holiday.
Hi, we had all our documents and details sent to us by email and post. All the information we needed was there.
We chose Riverdene lodge for our eastern cape safari. We would recommend this lodge to anyone with children especially under the age of 10. The lodge is beautiful set with only 9 rooms and a children's clubhouse with wall climbing and small zip wires. The children's centre seems almost entirely your child's with never more than a few children there at any one time and a small team exclusively there's to entertain them. The chef was happy to make most food requests. Our ranger Jess was brilliant. It is a really good way to introduce safaris to kids with no need to take antimalarials. Although it is a different experience to the Masa masa or the Serengeti we were pleasantly surprised by this safari experience as it had its' own charm. Thank you for Wayfairer for organising and the team at Riverdene lodge Shamwari for an unforgettable experience especially for our 8 year old.
SE
Email Samantha | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very efficient - they arranged a perfect itinerary for our family safari adventure
Communication was very efficient and the service was excellent. The trip far exceeded our expectations and we consider ourselves to be quite well travelled.
The safari tour was excellent, we saw so many different types of animals and our guide was superb. He really went out of his way to make sure that we got the most out of our trip and was very experienced and competent. We loved tenting in the Serengeti and having lunch at a hippo pool.
Zanzibar was fantastic and we really enjoyed our time there. The resort was of a very high standard and the staff were very friendly and helpful.
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Email Camila | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent pre-trip planning and support; room for improvement during trip - solved at the end
I planned two safari trips with Wayfairer this year. The first, in Kenya in March, went without a hitch. Planning was courteous and responsive and local partners were spot on for what we were looking for. Memorable staff, beautiful lodge, and astounding animal sightings. Logistics went smoothly.
Trip two comes along in June for a longer, two week adventure spanning Rwanda, Uganda an Tanzania. Things in Rwanda and Uganda did not go well. Local partner was unprofessional. Sent a guide that did not speak English, had next to zero professionalism or knowledge and did not know the way to hotel. This would have all been OK had we received a prompt response and solution from Wayfairer. Our emails went unanswered and private messages followed the same route. Eventually, I reached out to the local tour operator hired out by Wayfairer and it happened to be the case that Wayfairer had not even communicated the situation to the local travel partner. They were appalled and immediately sent another driver. This was a world away: professional, courteous, knowledgeable. As we tried to figure out what had happened, this is what we were able to discern: Wayfairer subcontracts to a reputable local partner for Uganda and Rwanda; lets call them "A". Said local partner then subcontracted the hotel for our driver/guide. The hotel then went on a third round of subcontracting and hired a small, new, non-reputable Rwandan agency to deliver the service. Agency "A" did not know the hotel had further subcontracted. Needless to say, neither did Wayfairer.
We completely understand that hiring local partners is normal and part of the way travel works nowadays. What is problematic is that in this case communication channels were not established, we got no response from Wayfairer which were the only ones with which we had communicated, and there was no accountability for what took place while we were there.
Once we left Rwanda and got plugged into their Tanzania partner, the trip was everything it should have been from day 1: engaging, professional, surrounded by experts during the game drives and caring staff at lodges.
Wayfairer did eventually react, apologize and issue a refund for the transportation costs of the Uganda leg of the trip.
All in all, I think it is a well put together agency with its values in the right place. It just needs to smooth out and address the growing pains of receiving more bookings and keeping track of their clients all the time, regardless of who they have subcontracted out to.
Email Mike Bazett | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
From start to finish we felt personally cared for - a great experience. Recommended
The communications before we travelled were excellent. In particular they were personalised. This personal service continued throughout the holiday. I felt I mattered to them as an individual. At each stage we were met by helpful and friendly people as we went to or from airports and safari game reserves. I quickly gave up thinking about the arrangements at all - it just happened. The personal service at each game reserve was lovely. In particular the smaller Madikwe reserve felt you were part of a family but left alone whenever you wanted. Both guides were very friendly and hugely knowledgeable - clearly so enthusiastic about what they do. The mix between the two lodges worked well. I look forward to booking again with Wayfairer.
DK
Email Deirdre | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great suggestions and smooth travels
Tom at Wayfairer offered us thoughtful choices for our holiday, working within our budget. The travel information was well organized and easy to follow. All the transfers went smoothly. The whole trip was efficient and effortless for us. I have already recommended Wayfairer to friends and hope to talk with Tom soon about our next adventure!
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Email Sue | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The tour operator was friendly informed on the topic enthusiastic and a dream to deal with
Our tour was above standard. We were at all times helped by friendly informed people who took their job seriously. From the pilots to the rangers. The organisation was impressive and we were completely at ease in transit to the parks. At the parks we were made welcome treated to an impressive level of organisation, kindness eventhing was on time above expectations. Worth every penny. The lodges were superb clean immaculate
organised friendly. The food was healthy varied beautifully presented. A dream holiday. I am so very glad we booked through this company and we are already talking about returning. There are many many companies out there but this was the best decision we made in a crowded field. I am over fifty and have traveled extensively all over the world but was still very impressed with this company.
QA
Email Nicholas Pugh | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The itinarary, choice of accommodation and excellent guide made for an unforgetable experience.
Our experience exceeded expectations and lived up to the detailed and excellent communications prior to our trip. The Serengeti especially was overwhelming with the migrations leading many incredible game sightings. The tented camp was a real gem and it certainly helped having a proficient driver/guide. Breezes was a great choice of hotel on the Zanzibar east coast, while its food was truly outstanding. I have lived a total 15 years in Africa, with experience of Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa, but this Tanzania safari tops everything. My three co-travellers were not especially into wildlife but this trip made for them a holiday of their lifetimes.
Email Raphael Taylor | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Can't recommend highly enough.
We booked our honeymoon through Wayfairer, after having spoken to a number of agents. From the first conversation they were excellent, and very good at turning our half-formed ideas into concrete suggestions. The service they offered throughout was also great, very responsive and easy to get hold of, and always extremely helpful.
The tour they put together was fabulous. Our guide was amazing, and the lodges/camps where we stayed were all memorable and very comfortable. The second week of our trip was spent on an island resort which was everything we could have hoped for - luxurious and beautiful, while feeling like a totally private hidden gem.
Travelling responsibly was important to us, as we knew we would spending large sums of money in a much poorer part of the world, with an ecosystem which has seen tremendous damage in the past. Booking through Wayfairer we knew that all the staff we encountered were fairly treated and paid, and that we could feel confident that our presence was not harmful.
Lastly I have to say what an absolute treat it was to go on a trip where every detail had been thought of in advance, and arrangements put in place so that from the moment we stepped off the plane we felt completely in safe hands, without having to do any of the hard work of figuring out where the hell we were supposed to go or how we were going to get there. This was the first time we've booked through a travel agent, and for a trip like ours I would absolutely recommend doing so, and can only say positive things about our experience with Wayfairer specifically.
Fantastic honeymoon in Netherlands/Kenya/France!
We couldn't be more happy with our experience with Tom at Wayfairer Travel! We knew we wanted our honeymoon to include a safari and emailed many travel companies to get a quote; Tom was the only one (out of many!) to take the time to ask us exactly what we wanted and what aspects were important to us. He was also very respectful of our budget and gave us some fantastic recommendations on how to organize our trip to get the most bang for our buck. The two places he picked for us (Basecamp Explorer and Waterlovers Beach Resort) were phenomenal; the service and experiences at both places were top notch. The entire process of organizing our trip and booking was seamless and easy, even with the time difference. Highly, highly recommend!