South Africa Travel Guide

Amazing

We spent one day and night at each of the two reserves.
Inverdoorn game reserve, very rustic type accommodation. Smaller resort but this had many good benefits. Not too many guests and smaller numbers on the vehicles for game drives. Very knowledgeable game ranger named charlie. great game drives with him Great food but went cold very quickly as the serving dishes did not have lids on them. Great morning coffee and rusks pre 6.30am game drive. Really nice afternoon tea just before 4,30pm game drive.
Aquila game reserve- much more up market accommodation a lot more fancy. Downside such large numbers of people staying overnight and day visitors very busy around the resort and pool areas. Much bigger game drive vehicles which meant more people per truck. Does not have the little extras like the afternoon tea before 4.30 game drive. Coffee available at 6.30 and was said rusks available but so many people they were gone before we got there. Food in buffet style restaurant was very good but also not kept very hot I did mention to restaurant staff as in the case of a chicken dish i had that was almost cold it could be a health risk.
I am glad we visited Inverdoorn first then Aquila if it had been the other way we may have felt disappointed with the more rustic facilities at Inverdoorn. But in looking at both resorts we as a group felt Inverdoorn was the best experience much more intimate and better service. I hope they don't change it to be the same as Aquila. Both reserves we were very lucky to see all the Big 5 . It is not the same as a big wildlife reserve like Kruger National Park where you spend hours driving slowly trying to spot the animals, here the staff know where to find them and you are almost guaranteed to see them. we only had 3 days off our cruise ship to do this so it was great for us in this game reserve.
Weather was great during our 3 days.
We had a fantastic driver pick us up in Cape Town his name was Andre. Drove us the 2.5 hours to the game reserve , explained all the details about the resort. He stayed at the game reserves overnight and after we had breakfast collected us and took us on the the next game reserve. After our last morning he then drove us back to our cruise ship. What a lovely person Andre was and he was so helpful to stop to get some supplies on our way out to game reserves and on our return trip to ship. I highly recommend him. I would book again with Gems of Africa, excellent service and knowledge of the resorts etc.Fantastic experience.

Rafiki its on a wildlife state and you can live with a lot of amazing animals

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!!!

Amazing experience

It was undoubtedly one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. Everything was wonderful ... the wildlife is amazing. We got to see all the Big Five and breathtaking scenery. The accommodations were wonderful, as were the meals. Our guides were awesome and did everything to make the games perfect. It is very worthwhile, it is an experience that everyone should do at least once in their life.

We had all the support from East Cape Tours through the consultant Tehillah Keller, which carried out all the scheduling procedures as needed. They were really incredible.

Five of the most amazing days of my life!

This trip was incredible! I came into it with low expectations, as I didn't want to be disappointed by being focused on the big five. The wildlife blew me away though, and I was pleasantly surprised with multiple leopard sightings. I'd heard that February isn't a great time to visit because the summer foliage makes it harder to see animals and they aren't concentrated at watering holes, but we saw lots of animals and the bonus of it being summer is that there were so many babies! The weather treated us well too. It was very hot during the day but we didn't get rained on (luckily; it rained like crazy and flooded many rivers in Kruger right after we left). The accommodations Tydon Safari Camp were rustic but fine. At Umkumbe they were phenomenal. I would 100% book this trip again.

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Me & my wife went on our annual vacations. We booked 3 nights stay with safaribookings.com. It was extremely well planned & managed by Mr.Andre. He took care of each and every minor detail and made sure that we did not face any issue during our stay. From airport pick up to arranging halal food to taking us to Pilanesberg & then bringing us back, everything was perfectly executed.We stayed at Manyane resort to enjoy our safari. Our guide Thabbo also proved to be quite nice & friendly. Transportation, accommodations both at Jo'berg & Pilanesberg were quite amazing. Halal food was arranged easily everywhere. In short, if we have ten options to go book our safari expedition, every time i will book with Mr.Andre:extremely thankful to him.

One big adventure

The main attraction is the game life, hands down! Second price goes to the scenery and only third to food and beverages.
But above all are the warmth and friendliness of the locals.
However beware of sudden changes to your itinerary due to abrupt heavy rain (during rain season that is).
This might not really affect you inside Kruger but can hit you even harder in a private resort.
Apart from that, always wear sun protection and a mosquito repellent.

Unforgettable, really wonderful!

We were able to enjoy very nice hotels either in CapeTown or Johannesburg. Environment is very well protected around Cape Town, providing a wonderful sightseeing. The Safary was great, Pilannesberg National Park is the best place when you have limited time at Johannesburg area.

Great first time safari for someone who hasn't done one before

The safari exceeded my expectations and made me want to do another one. This was really reasonably priced, and everything about it was awesome. The chalet I stayed in had a good ac unit, and was modern. The lodge and staff were very friendly, it even had a pool. The food was good. The driving wasn't far to Kruger park, and the guides were very observant and professional trying to show us everything we wanted to see. I managed to see all the big 5, and then some. I would recommend getting the morning drive on the 3rd day, it was worth it. This is a good safari experience, specifically if you are someone on a budget. If you have a bigger budget to do it big, maybe staying in the park would give you more opportunity to see the awesome animals.

Tydon Safaris-Highly Recommended

Went on a 4-day, 3-night safari with Tydon Safaris to Sabi Sands Preserve and Kruger National Park and had a wonderful time. The guides were knowledgable, nice, fun, laid back - just what you needed. The food and tents were fantastic. I have to say, i liked the type of safari done at Sabi Sands better than Kruger. It was truly off-roading and closer to nature. I saw everything i wanted to see and more!

i was picked up from my hotel in the joberg area and was driven solo to the tenting camp - glamping is more like it. it was a long drive, but not bad.

the drive back to Joberg airport was very scenic. we took the panoramic route.