Email Miriam Iglesias Vecchio | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Spectacular
My safari I. South Africa was great.
Everything was well organised and I manage to enjoy everything. All the time was full in with activities and very interesting safaris.
BR
Email Rosemere Maia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Culture, adventure, beautiful landscapes, welcoming people: that's South Africa!
South Africa is wonderful. Exceeded my expectations. It is a country full of natural beauty, with a very rich culture and extremely welcoming people. I didn't feel unsafe at any point. I loved visiting its parks and reserves, its museums, learning a little more about its history and its great icons. I had the chance to visit Johannesburg, Cape Town, the wine region, Kruger Park, the panorama route. I stayed in the country for 21 days and found it very little. I will be back!!!
US
Email Elyse | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Better than I could have imagined
My husband and I booked flights to SA but didn't have a full plan, and about a week before we left decided to book a Safari in or near Kruger. I reached out to Safari Bookings who sent out questions to a few safari tour companies and eventually connected us with MoAfrika tours.
MoAfrica had amazing communication - they called me right away, texted and when we talked on WhatsAPP, even sent voice memos with instructions which was helpful and made me feel safe that I was booking with a real person! Their online reservation system was easy, safe and secure. I had origionally thought I wanted to stay in Kruger itself, but many were booked so the agent suggested Kapama Southern Camp.
We were picked up by a bus from JoBerg airport to our destination and I could not BELIEVE how lovely Kapama was!
Our guides Selbie and Dee were amazing - Kapama seemed to pair you in your vehicle with like people, so we were with 2 other younger couples. We had the same guides, and waiter for our 3 nights so we really got to know them very quickly. All food and alcohol were included, and the food did not disappoint!! Everything was absolutely magnificent!
My favorite part though were the animals - we saw everything.. Zebra, Rinos, Giraffe, Lions, Leopards, Buffalo, Wharthogs, Impala, Kudu, Nyala... and my absolute favorite - Elephants! Plus its late spring/early summer so all the babies were out!! The weather was perfect, not too hot not too cold.
We brought hiking gear - and did a bush walk but for packing I would say you could get away with some tough sneakers or hiking boots, breathable pants, and then layers on top - I needed my sweatshirt + rain jacket at night usually to break the wind, though there are also blanks and hot water bottles for the trip.
Absolutely the experience of a lifetime - don't hesitate!!
Email Jessica | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly recommend
My friend and I booked the 4-Day Tremisana Kruger Park Safari with Viva Safaris. I couldn't rate it any higher. The whole experience was amazing, we saw so many animals, all the staff were amazing and the services including the food was fantastic.
CZ
Email Peter | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
fantastic wildlife experience at Sanbona Resort
We had a fantastic stay at Sanbona Wildlife Resort about 3 hours from CapeTown very well organized by Gems of Africa. After this safari we enjoyed a few days in CapeTown, one of our favorite cities in the world. Finally we went to Stellenbosch to visit some wineries including the degustation of very good South African wines. Overall our trip was one of the highligt of our life.
CL
Email María Paz Venegas | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dissapointing
The experience in Kruger Park was ok but not how we expected, we didnt saw too many animals. We think that our guide wasnt good, he drive for the same part of the park most of the time, we spend our without seeing animals.
We didnt saw any cheetas, leopards and Rhinos. The thing is that most of the time you can see them there, so we think that our guide wasnt good. We’ve been in Tanzania but there is another thing, we really enjoy there, the parks, the tour guide and we saw a lot of animals.
We noticed that many people that pay a lot in the private reserve they has more chances to see animals and different species, I dont know if that a point to consider because they own a lot of animals , and the know exactlu where they are, but is very expensive too. Or maybe the option to drive by yourself could bebetter because you can go everywhere..
Also the communication during the tour with the agency wasnt good (Shinzelle Safaris).
We regret to add Kruger Park in our trip to Africa, that money could worth it, in another place, because we visited Tanzania and Uganda and everything there was amazing.
US
Email Lisa B | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful, must see
Awesome experience! Our guide Hoppy was the best guide we could ask for. He was knowledgeable, thoughtful, fun, and cared about the wildlife. We got to see the Big 5 in just three days. Loved our stay at Sabie Bush River Camp, the open jeep drives were great. If you book a safari request Hoppy, he made the experience excellent.
Email Pearl Beynon | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I went on a Safari for 3 nights to Kruger National Park - budget package
Everything was well organised- Big 5 spotted
US
Email Cathy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An adventure everyone should do!
South Africa was more than we had expected, absolutely beautiful! This was a bucket list trip and South Africa did not disappoint us.
Umkumbe Lodge was very nice and the people who work there were very nice and accommodating. The safari tour guides were extremely knowledgeable which made the trip even better.
Email Mary | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful country with so much to offer tourists
On our second visit to South Africa we stayed a week in Franschhoek in the Winelands area. This is a lovely large village with many excellent restaurants, a fabulous Saturday market with lots of craft and local food stalls, and of course many local wineries to visit. We absolutely loved our time there and felt very safe walking to and from restaurants in the evening. We then moved on to Hermanus on the coast to do some whalewatching. This is a much larger town but again with many good restaurants and safe walking at night. it was coming to the end of the whale season but we saw several, firstly on a trip with Southern Right Charters who we would recommend, and then from the clifftop walks which are very accessible.
The food in restaurants is really good and extremely reasonable, aided by the favourable GBP/Rand exchange rate.
From Cape Town we then flew up to the Timbavati Game Reserve for a 4 night safari arranged by Indigo Safaris, who we would also recommend for their organisation of our trip. Timbavati is at the edge of the Kruger and is home to the Big5 all of which we saw. Have only given the Wildlife 4 stars though as animals were rather scarce we felt, but as I have said, we did see all the Big 5 and a lot of other animals too as well as some beautiful birds (though we are not birders). Everywhere was very dry while we were there, but they had had a few days of heavy rain just before we arrived and the rainy season was about to start when apparently the rivers would be full, whereas we were driven along the sandy river beds!
Everywhere we went in SA we were impressed by the smiles on the faces of all the local people, who were very friendly and welcoming.
We can't wait to return, in hopefully two years time.
