South Africa Travel Guide

It was amazing to see how animals are happy to be free!

Wildlife is all expected from my childhood. Accommodation was very good at night, as I was in a tent, during the day it was a bit hot, but nothing different from what I expected. Food was surely much better than I could imagine. The guides were very friendly and know a lot about wildlife.
I am very keen to go for another safari, I would just go to different spots next time, instead of staying 4 days in the same camp site.

South Africa is much more beautiful than I ever imagined. Every turn was a picture.

Wildlife was amazing. Weather was cooler than expected. Scenery was much more beautiful than expected. Accommodations we booked were beautiful and the people I contacted were so friendly and hospitable. Car rental went great, roads were very nice and easily traveled. Our Safari guides were wonderful and did all they could to make our Safari successful. The only negative thing I had happen was at Tydan African Safari someone stole my money from my tent while I was on Safari, so please keep your money with you at all times.

It was the most amazing experience I have ever had .

I loved it all weather was great the animals were amazing in there natural habitat our guide his name was Simon absolutely fantastic he cooked for us took us on game drives all day love every moment I’m saving to go back again.

Wild Planet Safari was an excellent experience!!

We had a beautiful experience with Wild Planet Safaris. Booking the tour was easy-Ryan was very open and easy to communicate with. For our guides we had Anton and Lungi. Anton was very knowledgeable about the animals and knew where to go in the park. Lungi was an excellent cook and animal spotter-he spotted a leopard across the way (I would have never caught it on my own) which made my day-probably the most beautiful animal I have ever seen in the wild! My dad made it a game to try and spot an animal before Lungi did-needless to say, Lungi always won haha. We are also very very lucky to have seen the wild African dogs! We got to see them interact with a huge family of baboons, it was absolutely wild, a once in a life time opportunity! Both of the guides made our trip very enjoyable-would definitely recommend!

Fantastic

Our safari in Kruger with Wild Planet Safari was everything we hoped for - and more. We got to see the 'Big 5' - our initial objective - and the 'Ugly 5', but we also got to see so much more. A pride of 21 lions, two lions eating their kill, a group of several hundred buffalo walking single file towards water and a fight where two wildebeest were locked together for almost half an hour plus lots and lots of other animals and birds.
Our guides, Chris and Luin (?) were excellent and amazing at spotting things we couldn't see - even after we started to know what to look for! They also did the cooking and the food was excellent - and there was always too much!
Accommodation wise, I loved the 'African feel' of the huts in which we stayed. The huts were spacious, comfortable - and well airconditioned which was needed!
We were there in September, but I was still slightly surprised both as to how dry and how hot (temps up to 41 deg) it was. However, whereas the dryness (and also being the end of winter) made the scenery somewhat uninspiring, it was fascinating to see how tough the animals were and how they were surviving.
My image of an African safari prior to going was doing it in an open Jeep. However, after the initial disappointment of realising we'd be in an enclosed vehicle, both my wife and I very soon realised its benefits! Being able to have the airconditioning on in that heat was great, and also the visibility was still excellent. Furthermore, if I needed a photo )and I took a LOT!), Chris would stop, position the vehicle as I needed and I could open my window and never missed a photo opportunity!
To summarise: A tremendous time giving us wonderful memories.

South Africa has a large number of geographically separated National Parks and Private Wildlife destinations. These have a wide range of landscape types and climates resulting a diversity of vegetation, animal and bird life. Each area has its own special character and atmosphere providing a unique variety of experiences.

Big 5 in a day

The Kruger safari was more than expected. Our guide was knowledgeable and found all the wildlife we could ask for. No problems all of our outings and transfers went as planned. I would use safari bookings again.

Best experience ever! totally recommendable

Everything was amazing, people, food, wildlife and scenarios. The only thing I couldn´t do was the panorama sighting because there was a fire.

A pleasant trip, with a wonderful itinerary, but with too cheap a way of travelling.

I booked my tour with Kruger Park Tours: they were absolutely perfect from all points of view.

The tour itself was organised by Nomad Tours. It was an overland tour, South African Explorer 2018-South, 20 days, accommodated. I have not enough words to praise the excellent staff, the guide, the driver and the cook, all of them great professionals. The itinerary was perfect, although the tour should have been a couple of days longer to enable a more relaxed pace. The truck was comfortable, even for somebody with joint pains like me, but it should be heated: we spent several hours in a snow storm in a freezing vehicle, and many other days in a very cold one; on the other hand, warm weather is not a problem as it is possible to open all the windows. Moreover, the truck is good for ordinary transportation, not for game viewing, as it is too large to get into the narrow paths where game usually hides: therefore, only the safaris done with special vehicles were really rewarding, not the ones done with the large truck. Most accommodations were good or excellent - only the Kudu Ridge Lodge near Addo N. P. did not meet the required level, as the heating in the quite dilapidated tents was not working despite the very cold temperatures -, but due to the type of tour we could not enjoy the common areas: we used to eat outside in the cold, or in areas near the kitchen or even in the room of the guide. The food was generally OK, enough for me - a petite 66 year old woman -, but again the type of tour made us spend a lot of time buying food, preparing meals, washing the dishes, etc., a time that would have been better spent visiting the wonders of the country; furthermore, this type of tour forces the staff to reach the accommodations quite early in order to have time to cook dinner, late afternoon hours being the best to view game, together with early morning ones. But I guess the very cheap price of the tour is possible only with this type of tour called overland.

My advice: South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho are marvelous countries where you will enjoy extraordinary wildlife, beautiful scenery, interesting culture, good food and bear, and excellent wines, so do visit them. However, take an overland tour only if you really cannot afford something better; if you can spend some more money, do yourself a favor and choose a tour using lodge restaurants for meals - at least for breakfast and dinner - and special vehicles to watch game.

You all ROCK!! Super place to visit, and we want to come back soon. Awesome trip from Kruger NP south to Cape Town for a total of 4 weeks. Just a super trip!!