35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
One of the best places to view wildlife in KwaZulu-Natal
One of my favourite parks in South Africa, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi has so much to offer visitors. It’s excellent Big Five territory, and the landscape, which varies from gentle woodland savannah to rugged flood plains, is beautifully wild.
Years ago, Hluhluwe and Imfolozi were two separate parks. Imfolozi became known as being ground zero for Operation Rhino, Dr Ian Player’s very successful initiative to bring the white rhino back from the brink of extinction. Today still, the park is a very good place to see white rhinos. Also in the Imfolozi section of the park are the famous wilderness trails, where you go out on multi-day walks through areas accessible only on foot. These walks are not for the faint-hearted, but should be on the top of every serious nature-lover’s bucket list.
Hilltop Camp, in the Hluhluwe section, is the park’s flagship camp. It feels something like a resort, with a busy restaurant (with incredible views out and down over the park) and shops, and there is a variety of accommodation available here. Throughout the park, there is a variety of accommodation that suitable to different size groups: rondavels, cottages and what once were warden’s houses.
The last time I was at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi I came across five collared wild dogs that had recently been released. They’d just killed an impala, and the twilight battle between the dogs and three hungry hyenas will always stick in my mind as a true indication of survival in the wild.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mount Kilimanjaro 6 day expedition
Guide: Epaphras Mgina
Our experience climbing Kilimanjaro was excellent. The days were very well planned and our guides prepared us well to reach the summit. The living conditions were clean and comfortable and our cook made great food. The first four days of our trip we slowly gained altitude up to 15,500 feet, which allowed us to acclimate to the high altitude. On the summit day, all 6 people in our group reached the summit without problems. Overall the trip was a wonderful experience and I look forward to doing it again some day.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tanzania is so beautiful But Jiwe adventures exceeded all our expectations
My husband and I enjoyed a 9 day safari around Tanzania with Jiwe adventures with Kent as our guide, and if I could give a higher review than excellent, I would. From booking to pick up through drop off, the entire experience was higher level class. Kent has an encyclopedic knowledge of birds, animals and flora, including behaviors and habitats, which is my joy. He taught us so much about the wildlife of Tanzania, but also about the culture and people, which is very important to us when traveling. Our lunches, even in the Savannah and in the Migration, included tablecloths and wine and hot meals eaten around a portable table set up, versus boxed lunches, a memorable and very classy and appreciated touch. The tent camps were beautiful and well stocked with great food and lovely and comfortable accommodations.
My husband benefited greatly from Kent’s shared love of wildlife photography, so they were able to share tips and Kent could always find the best spots for angle and light. The photos are amazing as a result. An added benefit was Kent’s years of experience, which showed in finding the animals, knowing the routes, and having great communication and relationships with his colleagues to best share information for the benefit of all of the tourists. In general, Kent was laid back and engaging at once, able to read us immediately and figure out our pace and preferences from the outset. His driving (a vital part of the journey, as many of the roads were difficult to pass), was competent, confident and careful, allowing us to relax knowing we were in great hands.
Overall, Kent and Jiwe adventures went above and beyond to give us the most incredible experience in Tanzania. I would and will recommend them to everyone. Thank you!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The park to visit for once-in-a-lifetime game-viewing experiences
If you want to visit a park where you’re virtually guaranteed of seeing the Big Five, as well as incredible sightings of other animals, MalaMala is the one to choose.
Luxury is central to your time at MalaMala, and so when you’re not enjoying the facilities at the exquisite lodge, you’re required to sit back, relax and let someone else take care of the driving. Guests are taken on game drives in open game-viewing vehicles, and are accompanied by a ranger and a tracker. The rangers are in constant radio contact with each other, and calls are sent out when “special” animals are sighted.
Because MalaMala is a privately owned area, you’re allowed to be out in the park after dark, and the usual drive-only-on-the-road rule doesn’t apply. Once you get over the shock of your first true bundu-bashing experience, you’ll realise that being able to look for and track animals off-road drastically increases the quality of your game viewing. Over the course of a few days, I found myself literally in the middle of a herd of 300 buffaloes; hot on the heels of two lionesses as they chased and then killed an impala; and spent almost an hour sitting under a tree while a leopard ate her kill.
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience!
I was referred to Chels Tours by two friends I met while in Tanzania, and a tour guide named Beatus in particular. Unfortunately, my time for the safari was limited to one day, but Beatus did a wonderful job of squeezing everything in. He was very knowledgable, went at my group's pace, and had a wonderful sense of humor. I recommend him and Chels Tours to anyone looking for a quality African safari experience (it should be noted that I went on safari to the Tarangile, not the Serengeti. I would recommend the Tarangile to anyone, as well!).
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Colors beautiful and lodges wonderful but deception for big cats
All perfect except the weather (too much rain so grass high and dificult to see lions cheetahs and leopards... ). All zebras, and antilopes are outside the reserve of Maasai mara or Mara Triangle because of high grass (too dangerous)
Maasai Mara is not well done because very expensive and complicated to change from a reserve to another (and not posible to stay for watching animals when we crossed the Noth Conservancy, this is a very bad point: a chetah was hunting and the guide did not want to satay because he was afraid of the penality...)
Guide (Stephen) not very good and we had to change him 2 days before the end of the Maasai Mara tour.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A safari experience that's accessible to all types of travelers
The beauty of South Africa’s flagship park is that it’s accessible to almost anyone – whether you’re travelling alone, in a large group, a 4x4 or in a small sedan. The extensive road network is very well maintained.
It’s a park that has so much to offer – from walking trails in very remote wilderness areas to mountain biking trails, 4x4 trails, camp sites, luxury accommodation and regular cottages. Of course, this park boasts the Big Five, but you really will experience so much more of the bush if you take time to go on a guided walk (ask at your camp’s office about guided walks and night drives) and stop to notice the small things: the insects, grasses and bird calls.
The park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa, and it can get particularly busy during the South African school holidays. That said, it’s usually the roads close to the camps that are busy, and the further afield you drive – and the further north you travel – the quieter the roads become.
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great unexpected experience!
This was a real paradise vacation for me and my wife! We did a Garden route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and a Kruger park safari.
We did not expect such high quality of hiking trails (signs, markings, parking, supporting facilities, etc.) and got a lifetime experience.
The SA nature is just astonishing.
Food and accommodations were not expensive - we did not try to save, preferring better quality, but in general the offering is quite wide to match any budget.
Driving is easy, highways have great quality, expect to get some fines for over-speeding which is widely enforced :)
Safari of 2 days as more than enough - we would not be able to spend more days sitting in the car for such a long time.
Consider adding some bush-walking.
We got an excellent guide for the Panorama route, which succeeded in a short time to visit the best spots on the route and convey important and interesting facts of history, geography and economy.
We did the whole 2-weeks travel plan by ourselves and used Mmilo Tours via SafariBookings just for the Kruger safari and Panorama route.
Great vacation, will probably come back soon!
Extremely recommended!!!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Where the "wild west" takes on new meaning
The smaller and quieter of the two Tsavo parks, Tsavo West fits that old cliché: it really is an undiscovered gem. “Undiscovered” because, although together with Tsavo East it forms part of Kenya’s biggest park, Tsavo West seems to enjoy far fewer visitors than its larger cousin, and a drive through the park, particularly the further west you go, will have you believing you’re the only people for hundreds and hundreds of kilometres.
If you head to the far south-eastern border of the park, where Kenya meets Tanzania, you’ll find yourself in a very remote area on the shore of Lake Jipe. There is an abundance of wildlife in this area, and we saw huge herds of waterbuck, eland, gemsbok, elephants, and troops of baboons.
There is a camp site and bandas on the shore of the lake. We camped alongside a large herd of waterbuck; had hippo grazing past our tent in the evening, and woke in the morning to views of Kilimanjaro. A short drive along the lake, where we breakfasted on top of our Land Cruiser, we spent more than an hour watching a herd of elephants moving over to an island in the lake.
Within an hour, this park had become one of my favourites in all of Africa.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris