Email Mary | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great travel experience
Trip started with the Big 5 in Kruger Park ( 3 days is recommended to get real value ) through Mzansi Experience which was extremely well organised and efficient, while experiencing very friendly people both staff and other visitors. This was followed by 2 weeks in Cape Town primarily for the Hockey Masters World Cup, but so much to see and visit on our free days - the waterfront felt extremely safe with vibrant atmosphere, fantastic sunsets, trip to Table Mountain a must for views , and many informative heritage sites to visit. Using Uber or recommended taxi service meant moving around the city was safe and quite cheap. Overall South Africa has to be on everyone's bucket list !
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Email David Gryzick | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A welcoming country with wildlife that you can't even dream of until you have experienced it!
My wife and I just spent 12 days in South Africa celebrating her 50th birthday. My design was better than I expected. We started with a driver meeting us at Cape Town Airport and taking us to Penguin View House in Simon's Town. We arrived at 8 PM and went for a short night stroll. There were penguins on the sidewalks, walking in the street, and hiding in the bushes! What a start! We got up the next morning at 7 am and walked to Boulders Beach. We were alone on the gorgeous beach with penguins and dasi. Fun! We then took the path to Foxy Beach and watched the morning migration of the penguins back to the beach. The ranger told us they are most active in the morning. The penguins acted like they had never seen the beach before as they ran down the hill in clusters. Cute! There were baby penguins everywhere. Again, very cute! Penguins have social structures and it was wonderful enjoying them for a full day. I recommend this over a short day tour. Our 2nd full day our travel agent, Kerry with Pembury Tours, helped us get a driver on the fly. Uber type drivers are non existent in Simon's Town. The driver took us to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. We walked the beach with about 20 wild ostriches around us! Wow! We also saw mountain zebra and elands. We took the funicular to the light house. We had an incredible view and even spotted a southern right whale below us! There was baboon poop everywhere but we didn't see them at the lighthouse. The staff said they come out at noon. However, we passed a baboon troop on the way out of the park. They looked scary and I was happy to see them from inside a car! Our driver took us to Sea Point for a (late) breakfast. Sea Point is a pretty little beach town. He then drove us over Chapman's Peak. This scenic drive was beautiful but impossible to capture in pictures because it was so grand! We then went to the wharf at Hout Bay and had fired hake for a snack. Hake is a delicious white fish. We also sat on a sea lion that the local fishermen had tamed! From Hout Bay we travelled to Llandudno Beach. His favorite beach. The gorgeous sandy white beach was surrounded by rock formations and expensive mansions. I could see rich and famous hanging out here. Our driver then took us to Ocean View House, our hotel in Camps Bay. For around $130 our driver took us everywhere we wanted to go for the day and also served as our photographer! What a deal! Ocean View House is a beautiful hotel overlooking Camps Bay with the 12 Apostle behind it. Again, gorgeous! We had a 1 mile walk to the restaurants of Camps Bay. We particularly enjoyed Zen Zero. A beautiful beachside restaurant with a perfect vibe and delicious food. The staff and patrons were very pretty people. What a 2nd full day! Our 3rd full day we started with the Hop On/Hop Off Bus at 9 am. We took it to the V& A Waterfront and took the ferry to Robbins Island for the tour of the historic jail. The tour was led by a former political inmate who illustrated the tour with his powerful memories. We saw Nelson Mandela's jail cell of 18 years. It is a great way to learn about apartheid. After the 3 hour tour we had lunch at the waterfront and then completed the Hop On/Hop off Bus ride. The Bus gives you an audio description of all of Cape Town. So day 3 was very complete! Day four we started with a trip up Table Mountain and I ride on the cable car. The views exceeded my expectations! We had a clear sky so we could see all the way to Cape Point! We also saw colorful lizards and sunbirds on top! After Table Mountain we briefly visited a colorful city block in Bo Kaap and visited the V & A Waterfront again. The waterfront has a lot of restaurants and shopping opportunities. We rounded out our day with some beach time at Camps Bay and dinner at Camps Bay. On day 5 we flew from Cape Town to Johannesberg to Nelspruit Airport. Then we were driven to Idube in Sabi Sand Game Reserve in greater Kruger National Park. We were met at reception by a wild warthog, several wild nyalas, and an elephant! Wow, it didn't feel real! Our cabin was incredibly nice and included A/C and a porch. We had lunch and then got on a Toyota jeep for our 1st safari drive at 5 PM. We immediately saw hippos on our trip and then giraffes and elephants. Our first drive concluded in the dark with our ranger following a leopard! The leopard killed a rabbit behind our jeep and we watched it eat the rabbit using a spotlight. Wow! Every jeep has a tracker and a ranger. Our tracker was Ian and our ranger was Mark. The two of them had a wonderful sense of humor and the banter in our jeep was fun on every drive. The jeep can seat as many as 9 guests at a time but we never had more than 6. We had 5 more drives with Idube over the next 2 1/2 days. Idube has a great reputation for seeing leopards because there are many in their reserve. We saw 3 leopards. They don't have a reputation for cheetahs but we got lucky and one came onto the property and we saw it. It was probably the prettiest animal on our trip. Idube does not have any lion prides. We saw several beautiful lions but they mostly slept. Lions sleep 18 hours a day. We saw a beautiful group of buffalo and several rhinos. The rhinos here have had their horns removed to prevent poaching. And we saw countless impalas, many wildebeasts, zebras, mongoose, hyenas, giraffes, and elephants. We had some moments with beautiful wild dogs but they were fleeting because the pack of dogs never stopped moving. The biggest strengths of Idube were probably the leopards and the hippos. The resort itself was beautiful and very comfortable. They give you 3 choices for dinner each night and the meals were delicious. Dinners concluded with a ranger walking you back to your cabin. You can't walk back to your cabin alone because wild animals that can eat you can be on the property. We personally followed a leopard on the property and we saw a hyena on the property. After 3 days in Sabi Sand a driver drove us 2 hours to Umlani in Timbavati Game Reserve in greater Kruger. Umlani had a more intimate feel than Udobe. The owners, Marco and Michaela, bent over backwards to make you feel welcome. The guests at Umlani generally ate meals together at one big table. There were 12 guests. We got very close to the other guests in our two days there. The alcohol and drinks were free at Umlani (unlike Udobe) and you could ask for them or get them yourself. Umlani has a deck on one of its restaurants that faces an animal watering hole. We called it the best deck in the world. Giraffes and elephants commonly strolled up while we were just hanging out! The drives followed the same schedule in Umlani. A morning drive at 5:30 AM and a night drive at 5 PM. Our ranger was Murray and our tracker was Clarence. They weren't funny like Ian and Mark but they were great at their jobs. Timbavati had several lion prides. We saw two of them. If you like lions then this is the place to go! The lion cubs are adorable and they keep the adult lion awake. They constantly harass the lionesses. Cute! We saw several rhinos and the rhinos in Timbavati still have their horns. We saw one leopard with a cub. We didn't see any cheetahs or wild dogs in Umlani. The highlight of our stay and of our whole vacation happened in Umlani. We reserved the "treehouse" for an afternoon. So my wife and I were alone in a glamorous treehouse overlooking a watering hole. When we arrived there was one elephant. Than out of nowhere a long line of elephants marched 2 by 2 down to the pond. At it's peak I counted 65 elephants!!! The personalities that were on display was unfathomable. There was a giant mud pit to the left of the treehouse. Elephants were throwing themselves into both the mud pit and into the pond. They were rolling around and playing with reckless abandon. There were baby elephants everywhere and they were just manifesting joy. Bigger elephants would trumpet on occasion and make me jump. What looked like teenage elephants were jousting in the pond. Sillier elephants acted like submarines and you would just see their trunks come out of the water. One baby elephant acted like he discovered his new trunk and was just whipping it around. The whole lasted 2 1/2 hours and was absolutely surreal. My wife and I just kept laughing. The cabins at Umlani had screens for windows so we heard lots of sounds at night. The sounds were mainly frogs, toads, and bugs. One sound was like a terrible car alarm. The bathroom of our cabin was outside. We loved it but you need to have an outdoorsy personality. The strengths of Umlani was the lions, the rhinos (with horns), and it's crazy amount of elephants. The treehouse is a must do if you go here. The meals at Umlani only had one option but I always enjoyed the one option. After Umlani we were driven 2 hours back to Hazyview. We stayed at Hippo Hollow. The grounds were beautiful and our cabin was very nice. It had a deck overlooking a river. Despite it's name I don't think many hippos are seen here. One of our drivers took us into Kruger Park Lodge and there were several hippos there. I think the same hippos might meander down to Hippo Hollow at night on occasion. We did see several crocodiles in the river. Hazyview set us up to do the Panorama Tour. A driver picked us up at 9 am and he drove us to Lisbon Falls, the 3 rondavals, tSohe Pinnacle, and to Rourkes Potholes. All four sites were beautiful. The tour generally goes to God's Window also but our day was too cloudy. We spent our final afternoon at Elephant Whispers which is next to Hippo Hollow. Here they have rescued 5 male elephants for education. We watched an elephant show and then we road a huge elephant named Shamari. It was educational and fun! From there we were driven back to Nelspruit Airport and we flew home. So in conclusion, the trip felt like a dream. It was surreal it was so awesome. I still can't believe the pictures I took. They look like they belong in National Geographic! I recommend everything we did on our trip. I recommend staying in Simon's Town to see the penguins. 2 hours on a bus tour would not be enough for me. I recommend walking on the beach with ostriches at the Cape of Good Hope. I recommend staying at beautiful and trendy Camps Bay in Cape Town. I recommend the tour of the jail at Robbins Island. I recommend taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. I recommend visiting both Sabi Sand and Timbavati Game Reserves. No one should safari less than 3 days. I think 5 days was perfect. And I hope your travels can be as magical as mine.
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Email David Foreman | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bucket List Trip for Texas Couple
We chose to book with Endless Summer and we were very pleased with our trip. We typically travel on our own but my husband was there on business and I met up with him after his conference. We were only going to be able to spend a few days in Kruegar and wanted to make sure to make the most of our time by traveling with someone who knew more about the area. Rhys took care of all of our bookings and questions. Wade was our guide and from the moment he picked us up in Johannesburg he took care of everything. No way would we have been able to get the most of our time in the park if we had not booked with them. He made sure we saw as many animals as possible, shopped for things we wanted and arranged all our meals and additional tours. If you are traveling to South Africa in September, I can tell you that the weather was awesome but have layers ready as the days are hot but at night it cools down quick. The Kruegar park is so massive that in our three days we only visited the southern portion and would love to return to tour the northern area. We enjoyed staying inside the park and felt very safe. There seemed to be plenty of picnic areas but be alert as the animals also know where those areas are and monkeys are smart and fast!
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Email Tamara | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Authenticity
That was my first time on safari and it was amazing and unforgettable. I met wonderful people, I enjoyed every second of being there and coming closer to the bush. The whole atmosphere was unique, all the people working there are incredible. I really appreciate all their time and effort of walking with us, accompanying us everywhere, being attentive to us and being polite. They are real humans!
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Email Angelika | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Rhinos
Very nice safari in good company, everyone at the tour was very fun and the tour guide very knowledgeable, much better than I expected, managed to see a lot in only half a day, and so many Rhinos!
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Email Gavin and Hope Mullan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stunning destination, that I will have to visit again
Definitely recommend safari online as they made our entire vacation stress free and operated very smoothly. South Africa has so many different natural wonders wrapped up in one country. The Kruger portion of our trip was amazing.
CA
Email Ishtiaq Ahmed | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magnificently beautiful
We had one of our best vacations in South Africa. We would like to go again in the near future.
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Email Sagrista, Javier | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonder of nature
South Africa is really worth visiting. incredible nature, fauna, gastronomy and I highlight, the sympathy of the people. really wonderful.
In terms of safety in Cape Town and Johannesburg, it is better to avoid night walks. I am waiting the next chance to vome back.
Email Lorraine Tarbitten | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful escape to be in nature and see animals in their natural habitats
Shinzelle safaris was a great company! Everything went to plan, had easy engagement and could ask any question, nothing was too much trouble even if the errors were solely mine, the management at Shinzelle helped us out.
We had a great guide, saw amazing wildlife!!! Very intuitive happy guide, knicknamed Mr leopard after our stay, because we were so lucky!
No one was ready for home, amazing trip and hosts, Thank you!
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Email Gloriya Grinsteiner | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unbelievable breathtaking experience
I booked my trip with Mzansi Experience. This company was so patient and answering all my questions about this trip. They worked with my tight schedule. They recommended the tour which fit my schedule. I was a solo female traveler. They sent me information in full details and kept in touch with updates. Everything was exactly like described pickup, lodge, tours, stuff. Everyone was so great. I had safaris and panoramic tours. Weather was perfect. I saw all big 5 and ugly 5. Everyone made sure I had a great time. I enjoyed my time in South Africa
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