African Welcome Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 1999)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $123 to $472 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 Nerilda Miller | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Phenomenal experience from start to finish!
Our experience with African welcome Safari was exceptional. Kathi who handled all of our bookings for the entire trip and paid a great deal of attention to our needs and expectations. The trip stayed within our budget and the value for the money was better than expected. The tours in Cape Town, the Winelands and Safari were ALL wonderful. Our tour guides were knowledgeable and friendly. Our hotel accommodations were wonderful and what we were expecting. We traveled with our daughter and husband and you would think that it would be hard to to please all 4 people. Somehow we all came away extremely satisfied with the entire trip. I highly recommend using African Welcome Safari. You will not be disappointed!!
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Email Natalie Alfredson | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kathi was excellent in providing all the details and answers for our trip!
Kathi was excellent in executing our trip to SA! She was professional, easily accessible and made all of our trip SO seamless! We can’t wait to come back!
Email Jayne | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely first class personal service.
Our trip to South Africa and Mauritius was tailor made for us by African Welcome Safaris (AWS had been recommended to us by colleagues who had previously used AWS). At the start of planning, we discussed the type/style of hotels we like to stay in, the type of safari we'd like to do. AWS gave us suggestions as to 'on the ground tours' we could do. From there, a personalised draft itinerary was created and agreed with us.
So - what was it like? Absolutely fabulous. AWS got it 'spot on' with the hotels, the private guided tours, the safari and the Mauritius 'unwind' part at the end. The other great thing was that we were regularly communicated with by WhatsApp during our trip to check everything was okay and going to plan. Any questions etc were immediately resolved.
What did we do? Our trip started with 6 nights in Cape Town. We stayed on the V&A Waterfront and had a number of private tours organised by AWS - including Stellenbosch and Cape Point. We then flew across to Johannesburg and then onto Madikwe for a 3 night safari. The lodge 'blew us away' as did all of the game viewing. After that, we returned to J'Burg and spent a night there (AWS organised a Soweto tour and a visit to the Apartheid museum for us). After that, we flew to Mauritius for 5 nights. Like I say, an absolutely splendid trip - we'd go so far as to say our best ever family holiday (we were travelling with kids of 11 and 13). We wouldn't hesitate to recommend AWS!
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Email Gordon & Dale Viberg | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Organization and Superb Execution
This trip was planned almost 2 years ago however due to Covid was postponed giving us the bonus of time to fine tune our original itinerary to insure visiting the areas we had determined in the time frame desired. We did not want to be part of a "tour group" but rather wanted to have a personalized and tailor made a la carte adventure. African Welcome Safaris gave us all that and more as from our Cape Town arrival to the Vineland area to Kruger, Chobe and the Trans Frontier Parks we were able to experience all the Big 5 and many more animals in their varied natural habitats. The bonus was seeing a huge variety of eagles, hawks and birds in tropical to desert environments. Kathi Simon of African Welcome Safaris was terrific all through the 2 year process dealing with making, canceling reservations and adjusting to our desire to do the trip in 25 days. We got to know Kathi face to face via WhatsApp which gave us that personal attention and upon arrival we met her and felt we had a friend. We also knew that she would be following our agenda every day (24/7 as she would say) making sure nothing failed as far as pick up, guides and transportation were concerned. We actually hated to leave this South African adventure as we found the people to be very friendly, extremely helpful and so very welcoming to their respective beautiful countries. In the end we could not have been more satisfied and would highly recommend African Welcome Safaris and in particular Kathi Simon as a 5 star knowledgeable outfitter for seeing Southern Africa at its best.
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Email Max | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent!
We loved African Welcome Safaris - they were excellent! We could not have had a better experience. Thanks, all!
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Email Craig & Mary Lou Anderson | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
22 Days in Africa
Alex on planning and Kathi on follow through could not have done a better job. We started oour planning in 2019 to get bookings and scheduled for Sept 2020. We cancelled and Alex rescheduled us for May 2021. Again we had to reschedule and Alex made all arrangements for Sept 2021. Each time he meet our requirements to be first class and followed through on the trip.
Kathi arranged all the Covid test (6) and never once did we have a travel problem.
We gave him our objectives and he more than delivered
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Email Mike & Connie Long | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wow! What an incredible experience
Alex and Kathi arranged a wonderful trip for our group of 6 U.S. travelers.
It was rescheduled at least 3 times due to Covid restrictions, but they continued to work with us to come up with an amazing adventure.
Each of the properties that they reserved for us was first class and each was a unique property.
The drivers/guides were knowledgeable and added greatly to the experience.
Kathi was always available to promptly resolve any issues that arose.
We visited South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Rwanda.
We would not hesitate to refer African Welcome for your trip to Africa.
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Email Meg Elam | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kathi was outstanding and was extremely helpful and responsive when we had questions.
My mom and I went to South Africa for a safari. We had a fabulous time and enjoyed 2 beautiful lodges that were recommended by Kathi from African Welcome Safaris. She managed our itinerary, transfers and payments. Everything was flawless! She was extremely organized and had exceptional communication skills. I would absolutely book through her again!
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Email Suzanne & Jed Ackerman | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEYOND ALL EXPECTATIONS
We used African Welcome safaris for The Rwanda portion of our trip to Africa. From the moment Moses, our guide, picked us up at the airport until the evening he dropped us off several days later, he was nothing but outstanding. Everything was planned for and taken care of. Our stay at Serenna hotel in Rwanda was good. We went to Volcano National Park staying at Sabyino Silverback Lodge. The Lodge was more than we hoped for. First class in every way. The staff were remarkable.
Kathy, who pulled all this together for this part of our African trip did a phenomenal job.
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Email Laura | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfectly executed - even during Covid lockdown!
My family of four (including two teenagers) had the trip of a lifetime thanks to Kathi Simon’s expertise and attentiveness. We planned our trip two years ago and decided we would travel during Covid no matter what! Over those 24 months, Kathi invested a great deal of time listening to our requests, answering our questions and crafting the perfect trip, just for us. As the date approached, she was wonderful reassuring us about traveling during Covid and was able to make a few last minute adjustments to comply with current restrictions.
Once we left home, all of our stress and anxiety disappeared. Travel to South Africa was incredibly seamless and we were shocked how open and welcoming everyone was (even at the airport and passport control!). We kept saying “that was so easy!” We had heard that the average level of service in SA is 5 star service and this is the truth! At each of our 3 destinations (Four Rosmead Hotel, Hamilton’s Tented Camp and Elephant Plains) we experienced superior service and attention. We were treated like family and developed great relationships along the way. We never once felt nervous, unsafe or concerned about the pandemic. In fact, we loved having most of the typical tourist spots much to ourselves! Of course, Cape Town was unforgettable and the safari game drives were epic! The hubs and I loved Hamilton’s for its level of luxury and romantic setting. My kids loved Elephant Plains for the game drives, pool table and family accommodations. We all loved Four Rosmead for it’s quaint homey feel and fabulous breakfasts. In the end, we couldn’t believe how much we experienced in 9 days, with still plenty of relaxation time! Before we even left for home, my husband and I were planning a return trip! And we will definitely be using Kathi and African Welcomes Safari again!
