JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experiens!
We enjoyed the safari very much. It was a wonderful memory for us. It was good to join World Tours & Safaris' tour. Thanks to Stanley and Bitlis.
Sabi Sands - An Amazing Experience
I stayed at Mala Mala for four days before volunteering on a Primate and Leopard project through Earth Watch. It was a fantastic experience. I was hoping to see Leopards in Sabi Sands, and I was please to have sighting every day we visited. We also had some great sightings of lion, elephant, endangered rhino, zebra, girafe, and more. I wanted to see a snake and our guide was nice enough to point out a cobra slithering into its den.
Our guide was knowledgable and passionate about wildlife and consideration. He was interested in making sure we all were seeing the kinds of things we were interested in and generally having a great time. Everyone in the truck with us were the lovely people; everyone got along and were respectful of each other.
I have been to Africa three other times. The one things I will say about South Africa and Sabi Sands in general is that it is more focused on driving out, seeing animals, returning to camp, eating. Repeat. I have taken longer walking safari trips where we had an opportunity to meet more people who live in the area and see the countryside as well as see the animals. In those instances I got to learn about the history of the country, the geography of the land, the different cultures that lived in the area, and the different wildlife. It was a much more holistic experience.
I would recommend stopping in Sabi Sands or similar for an opportunity to get a good look at all the different animals on a short stay, but would also urge anyone with an interest in Africa to take more than 5 days and really experience the country and all it has to offer. As mentioned, I paired four days in Sabi Sands with an Earth Watch volunteer program.
Also note: Sabi Sands is really expensive. It is great because you really get to see the animals in without feeling completely packed into a truck. The lodges are small and everyone is already really nice and helpful. That kind of thing will cost you, so I think it is a personal choice. Many people I know have self driven through Kruger and enjoyed it.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience
We had a wonderful experience with KET around the main parks in Kenya and our guide, Jackson, a very practical and quite reserved man, has been fantastic, we managed to see the big five very close. Beautiful lodges with just a little lower vote for the Masai Mara lodge, the Sopa Lodge, which was very nice, but not at the same level as the other ones.
Also, but this has nothing to do with KET, we found the visit to the Masai village was too commercial, though expensive.
I would definitely recopmmend KET.
MX
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The whole safari package was remarkable, Wonderful and imaginary.
It’s really one of the best holidays that I ever hand. John was knowledgeable, friendly, and honest. The accommodations were fantastic. The whole safari package was remarkable, Wonderful and imaginary.
This was our first time in Africa, and it was more than what we expected.
We would like to thank everyone participate in the arranging of our incredible safari, so thank you John, thank you Anne ,and thanks to all Cats Africa team.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible first safari experience
Visited Honeyguide Mantobeni camp for about a week in February 2008. Our guides (Lyton & Eres I think) were very friendly and impressive in their knowledge of the varied wildlife, tracking and spotting. Despite hours and hours of exploring we rarely saw other safari jeeps (never private vehicles) and it often felt like we were the only people on the reserve. We saw just about every animal I can think of, with the exception of one very elusive leopard. The food was great and freshly prepared, and we watched monkeys, elephants and giraffe wandering by camp during meals. In the mornings and evenings we could hear baboons, lions and more wildlife nearby from our tents. The bush was beautiful, and the weather was just right - chilly mornings, warm days. Hoping to visit again someday!
HR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wild Root Safaris was most amazing thing in my life!
Mathew is great person. He will help you through tour, so you feel best. It will be a trip of your life.
PE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful scenaries
All was Nice. Staying inside the Kruger Park is one of the Best experience in the life....
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Masaai Mara Safari
Let’s start with the Mara Lodge 5***** lodge service and 3*** food
The pickup was seamless
The drive took 8.5 hours as we got stuck in Mud after entering very rough Terrain in the Mara and it’s a single lane hi way with numerous stops for random construction
Every tour driver stops to help the stranded driver
Nice when we got stuck but after three others got stuck it wasted 2-3 hours of day1
Unfortunately the roads were so bad that in no time my back was out of sync
The rest of the two days was at the wonderful lodge getting pampered by the staff as the only guest on the premises.
The ride back was equally long but after complaining a lot I was given the front seat
Also asked for a refund for the 2 Nd day entry which was given unwillingly
Take the LandRover or Jeeps DO NOT take the MINI VANS
They are uncomfortable unreliable and the drivers are a clique
Ensure you enter the park all 3 days as the charge is for 24 hr entry from first entry
This tour Co only entered the park in the first 24 hours and pocketed $80 USD for 7 passengers
Would not use them again
A dream come true; the place I left my heart.
My fiance and I stayed at one of the luxury lodges in Sabi Sands Game Reserve and it was way more than we could've ever expected. I've been a life long animal lover, watching National Geographic and all sorts of wildlife shows and documentries since I've been at least 4 or 5 years old. South Africa has always been a dream of mine; specifically to see elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, african wild dogs and hyenia. We were lucky enough to see all of those, along with hundreds of other mammals, birds, reptiles and insects. Coming from New Jersey (northeast United States), the weather was perfect - during the time we stayed the temperature ranged from 60-80 degrees; even though it did rain one day, I still enjoyed every minute in the busch. Our accomidations were absolutely amazing - in fact, our lodge over looked a waterhole where hippos and crocs hung out all day and night - in fact, you could hear the hippos grunting all night. Our ranger Stefen, and tracker, Rodney quickly became like family to us - in fact, it was a teary goodbye for me at the end of our trip. It was as if we had known them for our entire lives. The highlight of our trip was the siting of about 50 elephants who surrounded our safari vehicle, including babies, young elephants, young adults and older females. Two of the females even approached our vehicle to check us out - the one was about a 3 feet away and looking straight into my eyes. Also, one of the local prices of lions (Tsalala Breakaways) were 4 lionesses about 3-4 years old who recently broke away from their mother's price (Tsalala's); we saw these beautiful girls almost everyday. The day we left was bitterswweet - I could finally say that my dream came true but it was heartbreaking to leave such a paradise. I may live in NJ, but I left my heart in Sabi Sands. Until we meet again :)