Self-Driving is the best way to experience AFRICA!
Go Self-Drive Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- IATA, IMEC, KPAP & KNYSNA TOURISM BOARD
- Tour Types:
- Self-drive mid-range tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $850 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
Email Fiona | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari in Addo, then self drive on Garden Route to Cape Town
We were a family of 5 adults, visiting SA for the first time. We drove between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town via The Garden Route. Our first destination was Schotia Private Game Reserve, were we stayed in lodges within the park for 2 nights. We had several game drives and saw plenty. The accommodation was very comfortable, our guides very knowledgeable and the food was tasty, but simple, however, they were not really geared up for catering for vegetarians!
Our next stop was Jeffrey’s Bay, which was great for surfing, but that was about all! We stayed at The Savoy, which was dated and in need of some re-decoration.
Tsitsikamma next, where we thoroughly enjoyed our Treetop Canopy Tour. We stayed at Swallows Nest, where we had a small cottage, which was well equipped and very comfortable. We ate at Rafters restaurant, which was walking distance, good food and very friendly staff.
Then on to Knysna, where we stayed for 2 nights over Christmas. We stayed in Moncrief Manor, lovely accommodation with stunning views, but a bit too far out of town and sleepy. The walls between rooms were very thin, which meant that you could overhear conversations and snoring! The breakfast was delicious and our host, Kevin, very friendly.
We had Christmas lunch at Simola Hotel and Golf complex which had stunning views and a Christmasy vibe. The food was buffet style, with plenty of choice and the wines were great. Thankfully, our Tour operator Elaine, had pre-booked a transfer there and back, so that we could indulge ourselves!
On Boxing Day we drove back along the coast, went for lunch at Cornuti Al Mare in Plettenberg Bay. The service was terrible, we waited for an hour and a half for our food, which when it arrived, was cold. This made us late for our visit to Monkeyland and meant that we didn’t have time to see Birds of Eden. In the evening we drove quite a way to eat at Butterfly Blu in Brenton-on-Sea, which was a beautiful location, but the food was average.
Next day we drove to Oudtshoorn, where we stayed in Gumtree Guest House. Our host Phil and his wife were extremely friendly, helpful and entertaining. The accommodation was lovely. We visited Cango Caves and an Ostrich farm....both well worth a visit.
A long drive the next day to the stunning Franschhoek! This place was the highlight of our trip. It is a place where we wished we had stayed for longer. Our accommodation in Cape Vue Country House was luxurious and the scenery was out of this world. We went on the Wine Tram, stopping at three different wineries, Rickety Bridge, Holden Manz and Chamonix. We ate at French Connection, where we had a fantastic dinner. We will definitely return to Franschhoek in the future, there are lots of lovely restaurants and wineries to visit and more!
We drove to St Helena Bay via Stellenbosch, stopping at Kannonkop winery and then had lunch at Delhiem winery, which was really good.
We arrived quite late in the day to St Helena Bay, but had a stroll along the vast beach. We got the impression that this is a place to chill out! Our host at Absolute Beach was very friendly and hospitable.
The final leg of our trip was 3 nights in Cape Town. We stayed centrally in Cloud 9 Boutique hotel. The rooms were very comfortable and the roof top bar had stunning views of Table Mountain and surroundings. There was a great choice at breakfast, which was served at the adjacent bistro.
We visited Table Mountain, some of us via the cable car, for which we queued for 2 hours in the heat and others walked up.....a strenuous climb taking about 2 and a half hours. Amazing views at the top. We avoided the 2 hour queue for the cable car and chose to walk down.
We had New Year’s Eve on the V &A waterfront, which we had Pre-booked. The fireworks were amazing and the whole ambience was lively.
Our trip was organised by Go Self-Drive Tours. We were very pleased with the itinerary, car, restaurant recommendations and accommodation. The communication was excellent and the trip was a great eye opener to see what SA has to offer and has left us keen to return to some of the places we visited.
US
Email Paresh S. Parekh | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good, prompt, and responsive during bid and during our travel.
Recently, my wife and I traveled to South Africa from October 24 to December 12, 2019; and itinerary was primarily decided by us. We solicited bids from number of local travel agencies to book 3-4 star accommodations, purchase SanPark Wild Card, book premier classe train tickets from Cape Town to Jo’Berg and provide a 4x4 SUV to be able to drive on paved & unpaved roads in SA and Swaziland’s National Parks and country side. We selected Go Self-Drive Tours (Fleet Foot Safaries) primarily because of Hennie Beker’s promptness to our requests and willingness to communicate on WhatsApp to finalize our plan on a short notice. Hennie was very positive and responsive to our recommended changes, provide his company’s Toyota Prado (insurance included) for 46-days self-drive tour; and put together a well-organized travel binder and a folder with road maps and site visit brochures. Our interaction with him and his staff (including Elmor Beker and Sadi Schelan) during our travel in South Africa has been pleasant & prompt. One exception was the vehicle given to us has had problems the day after we took possession in Jo’Burg with its air-conditioning and couple of days later with starting. The A/C was promptly fixed outside of Kruger NP at a Toyota dealer. The high-mileage 2014 Toyota Prado SUV failed to start and we had to jump at least five to six times in first 11 days. One time while watching wild dogs at a water hole in Kruger at high noon and second time on a bridge (to Mpila Camp site, iMfolozi NP) stopped to observe two adult elephants ‘fighting or playing rough’ and one of them aggressively advanced towards our stalled vehicle. After repeated requests, the company-owned Prado was replaced with a rental SUV in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi’s Hilltop Lodge. During our 46-days of 4,000 mile-drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town, I had to use four different rental vehicles instead of one! I would have given a five-star rating if we have had no problems with Toyota Prado stalling and its air conditioning. It took them eleven days to replace a poorly maintained vehicle. Regrettably, I have to give a four-star rating to Go Self-Drive Tours & Fleet Foot Safaries and advise them a ‘customer Safety First’ approach in their future travel business.
Paresh S. Parekh, Citizen of the USA, Retired Senior Citizen.