US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely Fantastic first visit to South Africa
Southern Africa Tours customized a wonderful 10-day tour for us, including visits to Cape Town, Kruger Park, and Victoria falls. Our complicated itinerary was massaged masterfully by Craig and his staff until we had a packed schedule of activities and visits. Everything went off to our complete satisfaction. We were particularly impressed as to how responsive Craig and Andrea were to our many questions before the trip and how quickly they followed up when we had questions during the tour. We were especially happy with Derek, our guide for the days we spent in Cape Town. He was supremely capable, competent, entertaining, helpful, personable, a great source of information, and a really nice guy. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and spending our Cape Town days with him. He really went out of his way for us. One of the nicest things was how he always arrived early and we sat down and discussed the day’s itinerary. He actually wanted to accommodate us, and not the other way around. Nevertheless, he still knew how to gently push to keep us on track and on time. For sure I will recommend Southern Africa Tours, and Derek by name, to anybody I talk to about South Africa. Thanks guys!!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely The Best Safari Experience You Could Ask For
From the very beginning of email communication to the end of our trip both owners and our guide Morris were very responsive, caring, and easy to work with. The trip went off without any problems, just as planned. The custom built truck is amazing, with every comfort feature you could imagine to make your Safari one of a kind. And my fiancé and I loved our guide Morris! His knowledge of South Africa, the Park, and every single animal was amazing and he has eyes like a hawk for spotting creatures. He was the most wonderful guide, easy to talk to, warm and friendly, and cooked great meals. If you can possibly request a guide, he is most definitely the one you want. Thank you for a most wonderful experience Armadillo Overland Safaris!! :-)
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful experience
We carried out a lot of research before choosing to book with Armadillo; this company stood out because it was very apparent that this is a family run concern which cares deeply about their beautiful country and who want to show it off as best they can to their customers. We made right choice. Truck Norris has been discussed in detail before, but when you are travelling with children, the benefits of being high cannot be over emphasised. One morning we watched as a mother cheetah and her four cubs took a stroll through the long grass. We had a perfect view but other people in cars and jeeps were craning their necks to see them.
Morris was a charming host; his energy,enthusiasm and knowledge is amazing. He was our guide, driver and chef for the five nights and must have been exhausted by the time we left him. For us this was a perfect holiday; we loved the rhythm of the days, early starts, picnic lunches and eating outside by the fire in the evening discussing what we had experienced and what we hoped to spot the following day.
It was a wonderful experience and it was quite hard to leave at the end - thank you Armadillo.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mamaland Safaris is a great tour operator
We really enjoyed the Safari though Uganda and Rwanda with Mamaland Safaris. Our guide and driver, Moses, was extraordinary. With his skills we have been able to find many safari animals. As well he helped us very good with any questions and obstacles on the way. Since we haven't had so much budget, we were is most of the cases very happy with the accommandations. All great, thank you!
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
2 days Masai Mara - road trip & safari experience
Initially while booking this trip i had requested for some changes in the itinerary as some of our friends were flying back early & it was planned accordingly with a reasonable price USD 200 per person (group of 5). Rose came to pick us up at the airport shows her dedication towards clients. Next day early morning we were off to Masai Mara in a VAN which was a bit old & you can hear the loud sound of shaky windows specially when the journey reaches the bumpy part, however it wasn't too bad if your not traveling with kids because you get to see nice views and animals even before reaching national reserve (6 hours journey). By mid day afternoon we reached our camp miti mingi eco camp, we were warmly welcomed by camp staff & get to choose the tents as we wanted. Lunch at the camp was a bit disappointing, no choices specially for those that doesn't eat red meat although the chef PAPA made it up for Dinner & next day breakfast. Its advisable to request the food preferences in advance. The best & most amazing part was the national reserve game drive, our driver James was the best loads of experience & all the requests were fulfilled as we saw almost everything with close encounters. We were very lucky that day :)
Overall good experience, dedication to improve the experience. It can be better the with few fixes.
I will definitely refer safari line defender to my friends.
US
Unforgettable Gorilla Tracking Trip in Uganda
We had a really fantastic time last weekend! Aside from the problem with the Aerolink flight to Kisoro on Saturday, everything went very smoothly. Thank you for being available early on Saturday morning to help us troubleshoot. Even though you weren't able to get through to Aerolink, I really appreciated that I was able to call and reach you.
Lake Matunda Resort is wonderful! We were the only guests there. The staff were very warm and hospitable. Service and food was excellent. Our room was perfect. Views were breathtaking. It's one of the best mid-range hotels I've stayed in.
Our transfers to Entebbe, to/from Kisoro and to/from Rushanga were very smooth and timely. Our drivers were safe, reliable, and great ambassadors for the region.
Our gorilla tracking experience was phenomenal! We had one other person in our group. It was only three of us tracking. We only hiked for 40 minutes before reaching the gorilla family. The guides and trackers were excellent, kept us informed and safe. The hour we spent with the family was unforgettable. We lucked out with weather-- it only started to pour rain after we returned from tracking.
So, I'd say we had a really lucky low season experience--benefiting from no crowds, finding the gorillas quickly, and no rain while tracking.
Thanks again for all your help and coordination! I'll be recommending Matoke Tours to friends interested in tracking.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very professional
Great management.
Friendly drivers.
Good in time management.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience and a pleasure to work with!
Working with Heidi at Pembury was a real pleasure. We had a lot of back and forth over email while trying to put together a stay in Kruger in South Africa, and she was always prompt in reply and clear in communication, which made me feel at ease while trying to book this trip from a different time zone and country. I don't think I was the easiest client, but she was always professional and definitely made me feel accommodated and taken care of.
We stayed at the breathtaking Ulusaba lodge in Sabi Sands, and she found the best prices I could find anywhere. Transportation to and from the lodge was seamless and professional, even after I had to make some last minute changes due to a tight itinerary.
If we ever do make another trip to South Africa, I will be going straight to Heidi, she was great to work with and I'll be recommending her to everyone else looking to plan a safari as well.
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful trip to Arusha and safari tour.
we travel for 3 days. the first day we were in Arusha and in the second day we drove to Tarangire. in the last day, we drove to Ngorongoro crater.
first, daniel was great. we talked with him via what's up and email and he was kind and answer all our questions with patience. We compare many companies and Daniel gave us the best price and service. He is an honest person and gave us confidence before the trıp and at our stay there!!!
The Safari Driver (sorry but I forgot his name) has a lot of knowledge about the wildlife and nature andHe was a professional and nice.
I must mention we had a small problem on the first night with the hotel but this is a small problem compared to of the excellent trip we experienced.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A real wildlife experience
Hwange is a superb destination to experience a real wildlife adventure. The guiding is of an exceptional standard, the best I have experienced on a number of trips to Africa including Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. The use of concessions allows for walking safaris which add another very enjoyable element to the experience.
I visited during November which is a season of change in Hwange, we only had one day when it rained in the 8 nights we spent in the park. 2016 was the second year of drought in southern Africa and the landscape and scenery were affected by it and clearly animals had suffered. However we saw excellent wildlife and were lucky enough to see a Leopard at the waterhole at one camp one evening.
The camps are all of a good standard with good food and service. None of the camps we stayed in were fenced so perhaps not for the nervous or first time safari.
Roads are rough so be prepared to be bounced about a bit.
Overall an unmissable destination if wildlife is your thing.