Christine Sales Office
Wildlife Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 1971)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $217 to $243 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Lisa and David Algie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent safari and brilliant guide!
We went on a 3 day safari over New Years Eve 2015. Hoppy was the name of our guide, he was so knowledgable about all the different animals, birds, creatures. He was also so patient with us and great company, we were very sad to leave him after spending 3 full days with him, he is such a great person all round, a pleasure to have met him. We seen all of the big 5 in our time there, even on the first day we seen nearly everything we needed to, so the other days were just an added bonus. The communication from the office staff was great, they arranged to pick us up at an address where we were staying with friends instead of the airport and called a few days before, then a day before to confirm everything. I can't reccommend this enough, we expected the food would be a canteen with "self serve" basic lunch/dinner but actually it's a lovely restaurant where you can chose whatever you like from the menu for dinner, lunch is at any other place you stop at whilst out on the safari, again you order what you want and it is included in the price. We were also the only two on our trip, in a dedicated air conditioned van, where we expected to be amongst a large group, another bonus. We did go out on a safari one night with the resort in an open top bus and a guide who works at the resort, this was pretty awful, the guides have no respect for the animals - racing around at high speeds just trying to get from one place to the next to enable a "big 5 spotting" regardless of any other animals you could see on the way. It made us realise how amazing our guide and safari trip was, and also how grateful we were!
We will never forget Hoppy our guide, he was just brilliant, we have such great memories of our trip with him :-)
Incredible South Africa Honeymoon With the Help of Wildlife Safaris
My wife and I were celebrating our honeymoon in South Africa, and wanted to cap it off with a 4 day safari in Kruger. We selected Wildlife Safaris, and were not disappointed. We spent 4 weeks in Tanzania prior to South Africa, and went on several shorter safaris, so our expectations were rather high. We made our reservations pretty far in advance, and there was occasionally delays in getting responses to our questions, but everything went without a hitch. Our guide was Nik, and he's been going to Kruger for his entire life, and spent most of those years as a guide with Wildlife Safaris. We were picked up promptly at our hotel when communicated, and made the 5+ hour drive to Kruger, though there were a couple breaks built in, so it wasn't a bad drive. It was actually quite interesting to see the terrain changes throughout the drive.
We arrived to the park around 1:30 pm, and an afternoon game drive revealed lions and a leopard; not bad for the first few hours. It should be said that February is possibly the worst time to go to Kruger, as it is very hot, rainy, and the grass is high. A drought made conditions the opposite, so we were able to see lots of wildlife. In fact, we saw all of the Big 5 on our second day, all before lunch! (Warning: Results not necessarily normal and guides can't make animals appear, even if clients wish it, though Nik seemingly had Superman powers and could see through trees to spot game). We did the safari in an air conditioned minivan. At first I was skeptical, and worried it would constrict views, but that was not the case at all and the AC was a nice bonus (Nik said something about larger groups using the traditional open trucks). Just open the window to take a picture, and then close it after. An evening game drive was included in the price for the second day, which is put together and operated by Kruger staff with 20 or so passengers. It was ok, though we didn't really see anything new, and the night viewing was mostly a bust (a few passengers were given a spotlight to find animals, but it's hard).
The schedule was typically a very early morning game drive for 2-3 hours (we started at 5:30 am, though it can start as early as 4:30 am, or as late as 6:30 am, depending on when the front gates open), breakfast at a camp restaurant, a game drive until lunch, a "siesta" for a couple hours, then an evening game drive for a couple hours before the gates closed at 6:30 pm. Dinner together followed at around 7 with the group at the camp restaurant.
We stayed two nights at the Skakuza camp and one at Berg-en-dal. Skakuza was larger with more amenities, including free Wifi at the restaurant. It is also very centrally located and lots of drives can start from there. Berg-en-Dal was at the far Southern end and more remote, but the bungalows were larger and made the drive back to the airport quicker. But, it had no Wifi. Both places had AC and en suite bathrooms. Overall, the food and the accommodation was better than expected, and we were both very pleased. From what I gathered, Skakuza is often utilized, with the second site more variable, though it's all based on park availability. Staying inside the park was key, since we got such an early start and beat everyone coming in from outside the park. Our favorite early morning moment was coming across a pack of wild dogs in the middle of the road and watching them play with each other for 10 minutes, without another car in sight.
On the last day, we left the park around 9:30 after an early game drive and breakfast, and got to airport pretty quickly, no later than 3 pm. They advertise a 4-4:30 arrival, but we had no problem with the early arrival. So, no worries if you have a flight to catch in the evening.
Nik was a fantastic guide; a true animal lover who had great information, not only about the animals and the park, but anything else about South Africa we had questions on. We had a nice small group for the 4 days, and had some fun and enjoyable meals and conversations together. We can't speak highly enough of Nik and the whole team at Wildlife Safaris, and want to thank them all for helping create a wonderful finale to our honeymoon in South Africa. We'll be passing their name along to anyone we know that heads to Kruger, which was by the way, the best and our favorite park we saw in our journeys across Tanzania and South Africa.
Email Anna & Donal | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Trip
We took the 4 days Kruger tour, including 1 night at the Mohlabetsi private safari lodge, one night at Satara and one night at Skukusa. I had been on a Wildlife Safaris tour in 2007 which was excellent, so I didn't hesitate to book with them again. As in 2007, Clive was the guide. Clive is a fantastic guide and professional. He is totally committed to making sure you see as many great things as possible, and when we were on the public park drives he talked to the drivers prior to the drives to tell them up to the minute spottings. He did everything he could to make our holiday fantastic, and it really was. We saw all the big five, with a number of very good leopard sightings. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and would certainly book with Wildlife Safaris again.
Email Graham Horlock | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable experience!
We had 4 of the most fantastic days of our lives in Kruger Park in February 2016 with Wildlife Safaris.....Hoppy was an excellent guide, for whom nothing was to much trouble. He has an in-depth knowledge of the bush which he is keen to share with his clients and which he uses to great effect in finding the wildlife....through his efforts we'd seen the 'Big 5' by the afternoon of our second day...The rest camps were in fantastic locations with great views of the Sabie river and the wildlife which come to drink from it at dawn and dusk.....This really was a most memorable experience provided by a fantastic guide and a company with a vast experience of providing quality safaris...thank you so much and see you 2017...!
Email Geoff and Di Morton | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
An outstanding experience in every respect. The 4 day KNP tour via the Panorama route hit the spot.
From the initial email contact onwards, it was a delight to deal with such a professional organisation, as well as a really knowledgeable and informative guide, Liesa. We not only saw a wonderful array of wildlife, and scenery, but also learned a lot about the country. It was the perfect opening chapter for our visit to South Africa.
We would definately recommend Wildlife Safaris to all our friends in Australia. Liesa's efforts to ensure we completed the Big 5 were very much appreciated, as were her explanations of the wide range of animal behaviours that we were fortunate enough to observe. Who could forget the attempted hippo kill by the young lioness, and the hippo's escape into the Sabie River.
All the accommodations and meals were just great, as we expected.
NZ
Email Shirley Stringer | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome
What an utterly awesome experience I had on my 3 day Kruger Park Safari with wonderful Tour Guide - Hoppy. With his vast experience he spotted everything we wanted to see and then some. All in a very short space of time - from elephants, hippos, zebra, rhino, lions, baboons, wildebeest, giraffe, snakes, beetles etc, etc to many, many beautiful native birds and the trees, bushes and plants of the area. He angled his vehicle so we got the best views and the best pics. Nothing was rushed and nothing was too much trouble so I can thoroughly recommend him to anyone considering a Safari. The overnight stays at Skukusa Camp and all the meals we had were superb to say the least. I couldn't have asked for any more. I was picked up and dropped off at convenient places to suit the family I was staying with in Joburg - so thank you for that. I am now pinching myself to make sure that this experience was real and I didn't just imagine it. The Company fitted me, a single person, into an existing Tour for which I am so grateful. The only glitch for me, was a small hiccup with trying to pay with my New Zealand Credit Card at the booking stage, but we got it sorted quickly. So thank you Wildlife Safaris and thank you Hoppy for giving me this awesome experience and I have no hesitation in recommending this company to anyone thinking of going on a Wildlife Safari :)
US
Email Walter Vinci | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable 3-day safari in Kruger National Park
The 3-day safari surpassed our expectations. Our guide was very professional and super friendly.
Email Luke & Sian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We loved it, thank you Hoppy!
We based our booking on previous reviews and were not disappointed! We chose the 5 day via the Panoramic Route during the Easter weekend and we had an amazing time. Hoppy was an excellent guide, very knowledgable and great company throughout the trip. We really explored the park and and were able to see breathtaking scenery and lots of interesting animals and birds. We were a small group, just 4 of us, and even had the last day on our own. Accommodation outside the park on the first night was excellent and if you go for chalet accommodation in the park, as we did, it is more basic but absolutely fine (and allows you an early start!). The whole trip was exceptional value for money. Would definitely recommend WS and if you are with Hoppy you will have a brilliant time :-)
Highlight of our trip to South Africa
After researching, for what seemed like forever, for safari options to take from our short stop in Johannesburg we opted for the three day Classic Kruger Park safari with Wildlife Safaris. I am glad to say it was the highlight of our holiday to South Africa. We had a small group and a fantastic tour guide, the wonderful Hoppy, which meant it was a very personalised experience and there was very little we didn't see. We saw all of the big five right up close and so many different animals and birds that we lost count! It also didn't feel rushed at all, despite the short timeframe. The booking process was very easy and the Wildlife Safaris team were always very prompt in replying to any queries I had. I would recommend them to anyone looking to go on a Kruger safari. I would also like to thank Hoppy for his vast knowledge on what seemed like absolutely everything and such a great experience!
US
Email Marguerite | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
All You Could Hope for--and More
A fantastic safari. Hoppy, our safari guide, was knowledgeable, friendly, and committed to providing the best possible visit to Kruger National Park imaginable. His keen vision was particularly helpful, the result of which was our seeing spiders hanging from trees, turtles in the road, even small exotic birds--all in addition to the Big Five (we saw them all) and hundreds of other animals, many in hard-to-see locations. The park is beautiful, but Hoppy's knowledge and enthusiasm (and keen eyes; did I mention his incredible ability to see animals) made the safari fantastic. Food was excellent; lodgings were not fancy but very nice--exactly what we expected: clean, comfortable, and conveniently located. A+++ safari. A+++++++ guide. I highly recommend Wildlife Safaris; ask for Hoppy by name.