ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
a trip through the desert country
i booked our trip with a company, through the safaribookings website, there is a wide range of tours available on the website, so it was easy to find a tour which suited us perfectly. Unfortunately a lot of the accomodation had already been taken because we booked fairly late, but the travelagent managed to get us adequate and similar accomodations. We found the overall standard to be very good, all accomodation was in excellent condition, well cared for.The dining was also very good in general, although we found a few places where the menu we were given was not really up to standard. The tour was very well organized, and the guide very knowledgeable. The roads are well mantained and easy to drive on. We managed to see a lot of wildlife- very often just alongside the road, and the scenery was impressive: wide open spaces, few people or traffic.The semi desert and desert views were awesome especially.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari!
We went on a 4 day trip with Ecological Wilderness Adventures in 2009. The trip was fantastic, easy to plan, great guide, great camps, great food, and best of all great wildlife. Even though the great migration was further north in the Serengeti, our guide found a huge range of animals to see, and then finished off our trip with a one day stop in Ngorongoro Crater so we could see the wildebeest and anything else we might have missed. We even saw a Caracal and baby Leopard. I'd highly recommend a trip with Ecological Wilderness Adventures.
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience at MKHAYA gamereserve!
Easy way to get from RSA to Swaziland, can be crowded at the boarder, what results in long queues.
Infrastructure is very good, especially the main roads, enough stores and petrol stations. The people are very kind!
We stayed in stonecamp at MKHAYA gamereserve. Sleeping in the bush without ectricity and windows is a great experience and I would do it again. All of the meals were fabulous.
We saw Rhinos, Impalas and others, crocodiles, hippos, girafe, wonderful birds, zebras, warthogs, monkeys, bushbabies...
There are no lions or elephants, though.
In Swaziland are several National Parks, we'llcertainly visit them an another time.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful
We had an amazing adventure. Lots of animals, birds, fish and even wonderful people
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable
The weather was fantastic and our accommodation Altezza Lodge, Moshe was fantastic. The one day Kilimanjaro hike was a great day out and I would like to go back and do the full 5 day. There are plenty of big animals to see around the national park areas. The food is all of a good quality.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
If you want a real South African experience, then you should really go with Tailer Made Safaris!
At Tailer Made Safaris you can compose your own South African safari trip. They know the best and most beautiful places and things to do. They offer a good variety of nature and culture. Very well organized for a reasonable price! We can recommend it. It is also very nice for kids. If you go to South Africa, don't miss Tembe National Park, Kosi Bay, Drakensbergen and Soweto!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kenya is amazing!
My son and I had a wonderful experience. The parks were spectacular. The drivers were personable, friendly, and knowledgeable. If you go economy, know you will be in an older van, with older shocks, and older seats. And that if you go to more than one park, you will be traveling a fair amount in the van. My son and I were fine but you should be aware of the hours of travel on fairly rough roads. But other than that, it really was a once in a lifetime experience. The only of the big five that we did not see was a leopard. I guess we will have to go back.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
This was a trip of a lifetime-amazing!
Kenya Walking Survivors Safaris was everything they advertised. If I could give 10 stars, I would and the price was very reasonable. Our guide, Al, was so knowledgeable and actually called animals so that they stood up for us to see (black rhino). We saw all the big five as well as many, many other animals including hundreds of birds. September was a perfect month because it was nice and cool but not rainy and certainly not crowded. We traveled in a Toyota van that handled the rocky roads easily. We visited Samburu, Nakuru, Masaii Mara, Elsamere at Navaisha, Ambroselli and Tsavo. Each park was different and had its highlights. Seeing a cheetah go for a wildebeest kill and a leopard trotting down the road in front of us were highlights but just watching the hippos in the river at the Masaii Mara and the elephants at Ambroselli and Samburu was fun. At Elsamere, the animals came to us with dik-diks, warthogs, giraffes, zebras and hippos coming into the yard of the compound to graze. Our accommodations in all the parks were very comfortable and even luxurious at some places (how many hotels welcome their guests with 2 dozen beautiful roses for the room). Our guide was patient and kind making sure that we saw whatever we wanted and he worked really hard to find the animals. The people of Kenya were so welcoming to us. Everyone should experience this.
UY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best experience ever! totally recommendable
Everything was amazing, people, food, wildlife and scenarios. The only thing I couldn´t do was the panorama sighting because there was a fire.
IL
A pleasant trip, with a wonderful itinerary, but with too cheap a way of travelling.
I booked my tour with Kruger Park Tours: they were absolutely perfect from all points of view.
The tour itself was organised by Nomad Tours. It was an overland tour, South African Explorer 2018-South, 20 days, accommodated. I have not enough words to praise the excellent staff, the guide, the driver and the cook, all of them great professionals. The itinerary was perfect, although the tour should have been a couple of days longer to enable a more relaxed pace. The truck was comfortable, even for somebody with joint pains like me, but it should be heated: we spent several hours in a snow storm in a freezing vehicle, and many other days in a very cold one; on the other hand, warm weather is not a problem as it is possible to open all the windows. Moreover, the truck is good for ordinary transportation, not for game viewing, as it is too large to get into the narrow paths where game usually hides: therefore, only the safaris done with special vehicles were really rewarding, not the ones done with the large truck. Most accommodations were good or excellent - only the Kudu Ridge Lodge near Addo N. P. did not meet the required level, as the heating in the quite dilapidated tents was not working despite the very cold temperatures -, but due to the type of tour we could not enjoy the common areas: we used to eat outside in the cold, or in areas near the kitchen or even in the room of the guide. The food was generally OK, enough for me - a petite 66 year old woman -, but again the type of tour made us spend a lot of time buying food, preparing meals, washing the dishes, etc., a time that would have been better spent visiting the wonders of the country; furthermore, this type of tour forces the staff to reach the accommodations quite early in order to have time to cook dinner, late afternoon hours being the best to view game, together with early morning ones. But I guess the very cheap price of the tour is possible only with this type of tour called overland.
My advice: South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho are marvelous countries where you will enjoy extraordinary wildlife, beautiful scenery, interesting culture, good food and bear, and excellent wines, so do visit them. However, take an overland tour only if you really cannot afford something better; if you can spend some more money, do yourself a favor and choose a tour using lodge restaurants for meals - at least for breakfast and dinner - and special vehicles to watch game.