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Email Douglas Tanner | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The beauty and diversity of the wildlife in South Africa is truly amazing.
We stayed at the Ku Sungula resort and were extremely pleased with the resort. The staff was amazing and so very helpful. The bush guides new exactly where to go to find the animals and were in contact contact with other guides to provide locations of the animals. Kruger national park was epic. We saw so many different animals, in their natural settings. The guides are amazing and always willing to help. The only issue we had was the multiple load sharing black out due to the South African electrical grid problems. The power would be shut down for hours at a time all over.
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Email Lucia Malzone | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Full of life and beaty, kindness and history...
South Africa is a amazing country.
Full of life and beatufull scenes, kind people and a great history.
Garden route is amazing, flower, vegetation, landscape... Food is amazing and a good price!
We feel a little of disconfort in Johannesburg and Cape Town (big cities) at night. Everyone told us to not walk at night in anywhere... Dispite this it was a great trip! Great experiences. We want to come back!
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Email Itay Dahan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A beautiful country with diverse scenery and beautiful nature, with complex history and present
My girlfriend and I started our trip in the safari.
We went to Umkumbe bush lodge, a luxury lodge in the private sabi sands reserve.
The experience was incredible. the game drives, food and gatherings were special and in high level, and we enjoyed any second of it.
We landed in Johannesburg and personally we do not recommend it as a destination. The city does not feel very safe.
Continuing our trip we went on to the garden route, starting from port Elizabeth all the way to cape town.
WOW! what an experience. I WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANY ONE WHO LOVES NATURE, ADVENTURES, HIKES AND SO MANY OTHER THINGS.
We done it for a week and still do not feel we did a lot.
We finished our trip in cape town, enjoying the food and parties, although we found the harsh reality of so many people disturbing and hard for us in the daily life there. So many beggars and homeless that also don't really contribute to the notion of safety in the city.
overall south africa is a destination I would warmly recommend. It is filled with scenery, warm people and really good food.
we traveled in september, and although the weather was great for hiking and the safari, we could not really enjoy the beaches that much.
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Email Marcella de Leonardis | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Smile!
Our Safari in South Africa with Wildlife Safari was interesting and well organised. Our guide/driver, Hoppy, picked us up at Joburg Airport and from there we set off on a 5-day itinerary. Our guide was always kind and helpful. The route is relatively demanding, because it still involves long daily journeys, but it allows you to see interesting and varied landscapes. We saw all the famous big 5, as well as numerous other animals present in abundance in the Kruger. The landscape, at least in this season (South African spring) is rather dry and this allows you to spot fauna more easily. Overall a positive experience, although decidedly different, in my opinion, from Safaris in Kenya and Tanzania, essentially due to the high number of tourists present in the park compared to these other realities. South Africa has a lot to offer, even on the human side. I found very smiling people
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Email Bruce Geller | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Greater Kruger has it all, abundant animals, outstanding lodges, knowledgeable guides, friendly loca
I started researching this trip to South Africa with an internet search for safaris. I found SafariBookings and they were the most comprehensive site with the most safaris. From there, read about the various national parks in SA, and decided that Kruger was right for my family trip. I went back to SafariBookings and filtered for safaris in Kruger, mid-range cost, about 1 week in length. The best fit was Wildlife Encounters (WE) , which offered a 5-day safari to 3 different game reserves in greater Kruger. As it turned out, the lodges that WE had chosen for us were all fantastic. The lodges themselves were like something out of the movie "Out of Africa" or a Hemmingway novel. The food was excellent, often including meat grilled on an outdoor wood fire, lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, and tasty desserts. We found that all the lodges where we stayed used water purification systems that allowed us to eat all the fresh food without concern for disease, which was a huge plus for us. The guides knew their areas well, and did a fantastic job driving and navigating the dirt 2-track roads. We saw the Big 5 animals in the first 48 hours. The abundance of animals is remarkable. Our favorite stay was Tusker Lodge in Kliseri-best food (Victory), best guide (Troy), best tracker (Vucy). Judy at WE gets a shout-out for arranging such a trip of a lifetime.
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Email Charlotte A Fulton | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Spectacular
We stayed at KuSungula lodge near Kruger Nat Park. This was the most amazing trip ever. We spent time doing open air bush rides through the reserve as well as several days with a guide in Kruger. The entire experience was awesome. The local people were lovely and so helpful and our lodge experience was simply amazing! Seeing the animals in their natural habitat without fear of us was indescribable.
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Email Nikki Schmidt | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
S Africa should be on everyone's bucket list!! Amazing animals, Amazing scenery, and amazing people
S Africa has always been #1 on my bucket list. I planned a trip to visit as much of S Africa as I could in 25 days. Johannesburg, Kruger, Port Elizabeth, and the garden route to Cape Town.
We arrived in S Africa and spent 1 night before being picked up for our first safari camp the next morning. I found Viva Safari online and they provided everything I wanted in a 6 night safari trip. They picked us up on Johannesburg, and a driver takes you the 6 hrs to the greater Kruger area. You stay in a lodge (tent, luxury tent, cabin, or room lodge) right in the middle of beautiful wildlife. You have all your meals, and 2 game drives per day; except the 2 full days that you have in Kruger Park. The employees are friendly, the drivers are excellent at finding wildlife, and you meet people from all over the world. At the end of your safari, the company drives you back to Johannesburg.
Johannesburg isn't safe to explore on your own so we took a tour to the Apartheid Museum and to Soweto Township.
Next we flew to Port Elizabeth, rented a car, where we drove to our next safari camp in the Amakhala area. Bukela was a luxury resort much different than Viva Safari (but also more expensive - *check out TravelZoo.com for great deals). Here we spent 5 nights with 2 game drives every day. Beautiful, beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife.
From there we're spent a day at Addo Elephant Park. *All of our overnight stays from here, down the garden route, and to Cape Town were booked through Airbnb.
We then took 9 days to travel down the garden route. We stopped at Tsitsikamma National Park, went bongee jumping at Bloukrans Bridge, spent at day with the elephants at an Elephant Sanctuary, visited Monkey land and Birds of Eden, went through the Cango Caves, visted an ostrich farm, and saw beautiful views of the coast while driving.
In Cape Town we went to the District 6 Museum, took a free informational tour of the City (guruwalk.com), visited Bo-Kaap, and did a township tour of Langa. *We really wanted to visit Robben Island, but tickets sell out days in advance so plan accordingly.
Overall, we had an AMAZING trip. All of the people that we met were welcoming and friendly. We will definitely visit again.
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Email Kyle Burkholder | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Kapama Pure Joy
The solid infrastructure of South Africa allowed our family to enjoy a glorious holiday on safari.
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Email Kenny Murray | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
incredible experience
Vaneshree from Safari bookings designed our family holiday with perfection. Following a short brief from my wife and I she designed a two-lodge safari, Cape town adventures and exquisite dining experiences, Whale watching in Hermanus, and wine stay and tour in Franchuk. This was the easiest, most professional holiday proposal we have had; every detail was covered from drivers to flights and dinner.
South Africa didn't disappoint. From arrival in Johannesburg to departure from Cape Town the welcoming people and mesmerizing countryside will be a long-lasting memory.
Our Safari in Sabi sands started at Nkorho Lodge the Idubi Lodge. Both completely different but both brilliant. Lodge, Guides, cuisine and the animals could not be improved. Cape Town was magical, we stayed at table Bay on the waterfront, again the staff were incredible. Table Mountain is a must and easy to get around. We used a private driver who also doubled as a tour guide which was brilliant. Hermanus was good, the whales were spectacular. Franchuk was too short, when we go back, I would like to stay two extra days to enjoy the mountains and more vineyards.
The country is fabulous, but our biggest thanks go to Vanashree who arranged everything within a few days, she was always on hand for advice if we fancied a change to the Interary or extra place to visit. We look forward to our next visit to South Africa
Email Karel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience!
The tour was amazing and a real enjoyable experience. We stayed at the Kruger Gate Hotel which was great with beautiful sunsets overlooking Kruger.
Kruger National Park was exhilarating - we did a sunset game drive and an all day game drive, managing to see the BIG 5 and many more of South Africa's incredible wildlife!
Having a private transfer from Johannesburg with the extra stop offs to God’s window and Blyde River Canyon were an added bonus to our trip.
Our guide Norman, was with us the entire way. He was a great guide with lots of knowledge, personable and extremely friendly.
I would definitely recommend Nhlalala travel to anyone considering Safari in Kruger.
