Rachel's Travel Agency
Based on 137 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
My husband and I had a fabulous honeymoon. The travel agency provided us with every piece of information we needed throughout our trip. We felt extremely taken care of on every leg of our trip and we had no hiccups. We were able to really enjoy our time together and not worry about any details.
Kent's Travel Agency
Based on 65 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
The trip was great. We got to see everything we wanted to see, including the big five and the migration of large herds of wildebeests and zebras.The travel company was extremely helpful. The pre-trip prep was very thorough, but the true test came when I lost my cellphone in Mara towards the end of the trip, and then our return flight was unexpectedly cancelled. So I was stranded in Nairobi with my 12-year-old, having almost no means of communication with the rest of the world, and the rebooked flight was not until 5 days later. The travel agency worked with local providers and put together a 3-day side trip for us to go to Lake Nakuru to see rhinos, rebooked our local transportation, and made sure that a local agent would be at the airport to help us when we departed --- and they made all the arrangements within a day. They helped make a really stressful situation a lot easier to deal with.
Murray's Travel Agency
Based on 434 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
This trip resulted in the most extraordinary two weeks of my life! Everything, and I mean everything, was absolutely perfect. I had a vision of what I wanted this trip to be and worked with Sherilyn at the travel company to bring the vision to life. She provided sound advice and created an itinerary that was spot on! Throughout the year of planning, Sherilyn was extremely responsive to any questions or concerns that I had. I was provided a very detailed trip itinerary, along with everything I needed to know about traveling to Africa. No stone went unturned and we were very prepared as a result of all of the information provided.The trip itinerary covered both Southern Africa and East Africa over the course of two weeks. We pulled out all the stops and included as many activities as time would allow. From a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls to a rhino walking safari in Zambia to a hot air balloon ride over the Maasai Mara in Kenya—none of the activities disappointed!Every one of the guides we had was excellent. The service we received at the airports (both inbound and outbound) was exceptional. All of the accommodations (hotels and camps) were amazing and we would definitely stay at any of them again.This was definitely a trip of a lifetime and I don’t believe it will ever be outdone! Thank you Zicasso for connecting me with this travel company!
Neil's Travel Agency
Based on 15 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
We kept asking each other, were we just extraordinarily lucky or had Neil deliberately arranged the best guides and trackers, the most comfortable accommodation, and four lodges each with a unique setting?All transfers and internal flights happened on time. The staff at each lodge and transportation providers were an example to anyone in the hospitality industry. Their help and guidance made the entire experience just awesome. That’s a much over used word but it’s an understatement here.The rangers made sure that we saw the big five and the endangered wild dogs (even a den of puppies) but also insured that we could see the animals going about their wild and free activities. Rangers provided context and their training in natural science extended to birds, plants, trees, geology, even the brilliant stars in the southern hemisphere skies.
Charles' Travel Agency
Based on 28 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
From start to finish, this trip exceeded all expectations. Every question and concern was addressed. Karen and Charles seem to have a passion for sharing this part of the world. We could not be happier with our experience and plan to tell everyone we know to just GO!
Daniella's Travel Agency
Based on 59 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
My wife and I used this travel company for our honeymoon and we couldn’t have had a better experience. From the jump our travel specialist was extremely responsive, listened to our needs, and steered us away from bad ideas. The trip was in two parts. In Cape Town, our itinerary was full but left a few days for self exploration. Must do’s are the food tour and the wine train in Franschhoek. Our favorite was the second part which was safari in Kruger. We stayed in two game reserves near there. Each location has top notch service, food, and game sightings. The best part of using our travel specialist and her team was not just the trip planning for us but the transfers were well communicated and executed. We truly did not have to worry about a thing while also getting great value. 5 stars in everything.
Simon's Travel Agency
Based on 121 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
This was the trip of a lifetime: three weeks in 4 different countries (South Africa, Zambia for a few hours, Zimbabwe and Botswana), all without any logistical problems. The travel company and the subcontracted providers were all top professionals, timely, friendly and accommodating. Each of our guides, especially each one on our safari excursions, was outstanding. Due to Covid, we had to postpone this trip twice, We are happy we didn't give up on our dream.
Jamie's Travel Agency
Based on 46 reviews
Destinations:
Verified Review
The trip planners at this tour company were wonderful to work with and planned an amazing adventure for us (4 nights in the tented camp, 2 nights in Victoria Falls, 2 nights near Hermanus). It was a great choice to work with travel agents from South Africa who were very familiar with the experiences, lodges, etc, that they plan for their clients. Our trip planner was readily available by email and by phone. It was helpful to talk with him over the phone to get more details about travel in South Africa. He was very responsive to our questions, worked within our budget and found the BEST possible places in our budget. We also had him arrange all of our transfers from airport to hotel, or hotel to tour, etc, which was incredibly helpful. I would recommend that to anyone - it gave us peace of mind that someone would always be there to meet us when we got off a plane or need to get to the airport. We didn't have to think about much besides just enjoying ourselves. And all the folks from the transfer and tour companies that the planner arranged were on time, friendly, informative, funny. Our trip planner also arranged our flights for us, booking solely on South African airlines. After our experiences in airports, we understood why. All of our flights were great, on time, with wonderful service. Whereas we saw other airlines with long delays, long lines, etc.Once we arrived in South Africa, we wanted to make a few last minute changes to our itinerary and the planner was able to make the changes for us without any problems. He even met us for a glass of wine in Johannesburg and it was lovely to meet him in person. He was able to give us more advice on traveling around South Africa. Our planner has traveled to many of the places he arranged for us and he took the time to understand how we like to travel and made sure that everything was a perfect fit. It really was a perfect trip.
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I just got back from a wonderful 2-week trip to Southern Africa, and wanted to thank Zicasso for putting me in touch with the travel agency and Shannon, who did a wonderful job of constructing my dream trip! Everything was top notch and well executed, and Shannon was friendly, responsive (I'm very picky and made many revisions), and a great communicator. When there was a wrinkle (which fortunately was very rare), she was right on top of it (e.g., in one case, a lodge had booked us in their other property and tried to move us there, but Shannon showed them proof that we had booked over a year in advance, and insisted that we stay in the original property, and they honored that).
Here is my review of specific aspects of the trip:
Cape Town - I can't say enough about the hotel, which was one of the best we'd ever stayed in--both the property itself (it's a very modern and beautiful boutique hotel steps from the beach) and the customer service were wonderful. We stayed for 4 nights, and I can't imagine a better place to stay in Cape Town. We spent one night in the wharf area before coming to the hotel, and I'm so glad we opted to stay by the beach instead. Having a beautiful ocean view and being able to walk to the beach to watch the sunset every night was incredible. Also, the staff were over-the-top amazing - they were so flexible and accommodating (e.g., if you wanted breakfast early or late past the regular serving period, they would happily oblige; if you walked in with take-out, they would plate it for you and bring it to your room; they would also pick up take-out and deliver it to you). There were also many special touches - free wine, free stocked mini-bar, free hot cocoa and popcorn that they would deliver to your room any time - that we felt very cared for. One of the managers led us on a guided hike up Lion's head mountain, which was super fun (he not only brought tea and snacks, but is an excellent photographer and took beautiful photos of us that he shared), and I highly recommend it to anyone who is reasonably fit (the views at the top are outstanding). We also did a peninsula tour one day and an all-day food and culture walking tour the next, and highly recommend our guide - she was delightful and fun.
The lodge - Wow, I had read all the 5-star reviews of this lodge on a private reserve near Kruger before we left and wondered how it could ever meet such high expectations, but it exceeded them! This was more like 10-star than 5-star! The staff (much like the staff in our hotel in Cape Town) was so friendly and professional and responsive--they would do anything to make you happy. And like them, all of the warmth and special treatment felt genuine rather than fake or forced. The food was amazing (and plentiful - all meals and alcohol plus high tea was included), but what sets this lodge apart was the amazing rangers (we were lucky to have the head ranger, and his tracker). I learned so much from them about animal behavior, as they were incredibly knowledgeable (and extremely respectful) of the animals. As a result, we saw all of the big 5, multiple times (my favorites were seeing 3 different leopards and 7 different lions, including both male lions sleeping and after a kill, and female lions slowly hunting cape buffalo in the early evening). We met people at this lodge who had stayed at multiple other 5-star lodges, and they all said that this one was the best, which I can believe.
Victoria Falls - the lodge was the number 1 rated lodge in Victoria Falls, and though it was very nice, it did honestly pale by comparison to our lodge near Kruger (e.g., the outdoor bathtub and pool were both dirty and not usable; I'm not sure how to remedy this, other than to perhaps go in a different order to the trip, so that one ends in Sabi Sands). The staff were nice and the food was wonderful, and like our other lodge, activities were included (the guided trip to Victoria Falls was very informative as was the private "sundowner" river cruise we had on our arrival night--we saw male elephants engaging in "horseplay" in the water, a trip highlight; however, the game drive - no tracker and a much smaller park - paled in comparison to those we did in Sabi Sands). The optional (extra charge) elephant interaction at their sanctuary was really amazing, and we highly recommend it to anyone staying in Victoria Falls! The Falls itself were about 1/3 dry because we went following the winter dry season - Shannon had warned us about this in advance - so they were a little underwhelming, but I'm still glad we went, because we wanted to see them and weren't sure if we'd get back to this part of the continent on another trip. If you want to visit the falls, be sure to look up photos of how they look during certain months so you're expectations won't be violated.
Chobe River Cruise (Namibia) - I'm SO glad we did this cruise, because it was a great way to end our trip on a really high note. We originally wanted to book the Zambezi Queen (which is bigger, more modern, and more luxurious), but only the Chobe Princess was available for our dates, and we ended up getting the smallest one (4 rooms) of the three CPs. I thought it might be underwhelming, but I was wrong. We had a great time on our small ship with 6 members of a German family, and the staff was wonderful (amazing food from Chef Edgar!) and doing "game drives" on the river turned out to be a game changer. Although we saw many animals during our land-based safaris, we did see different behavior from the water (e.g., we saw elephant herds cross the river; we watched baboon communities at play for 30 minutes at a time, whereas on land baboons would run away; we saw huge groups of 12 giraffe in an open field). Unlike on land, where you would sometimes drive 30 min or an hour in search of a siting, we saw animals the ENTIRE time were were on the small boat excursions from the larger boat--essentially, we'd spend 30 minutes watching elephants and then move to crocodiles and then to baboons and then to giraffes, etc.). Of my top recommendations for people going to Africa, it's to do this river cruise in addition to land-based safaris.
Thanks again for Shannon (and Zicasso) for making our dream trip come true--although we've been to many wonderful places (including Patagonia, Bora Bora, Australia/New Zealand, etc.), my wife and I both agree that this was the best trip we've ever taken. And we will be back!
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I just got back from a wonderful 2-week trip to Southern Africa, and wanted to thank Zicasso for putting me in touch with the travel agency and Shannon, who did a wonderful job of constructing my dream trip! Everything was top notch and well executed, and Shannon was friendly, responsive (I'm very picky and made many revisions), and a great communicator. When there was a wrinkle (which fortunately was very rare), she was right on top of it (e.g., in one case, a lodge had booked us in their other property and tried to move us there, but Shannon showed them proof that we had booked over a year in advance, and insisted that we stay in the original property, and they honored that).
Here is my review of specific aspects of the trip:
Cape Town - I can't say enough about the hotel, which was one of the best we'd ever stayed in--both the property itself (it's a very modern and beautiful boutique hotel steps from the beach) and the customer service were wonderful. We stayed for 4 nights, and I can't imagine a better place to stay in Cape Town. We spent one night in the wharf area before coming to the hotel, and I'm so glad we opted to stay by the beach instead. Having a beautiful ocean view and being able to walk to the beach to watch the sunset every night was incredible. Also, the staff were over-the-top amazing - they were so flexible and accommodating (e.g., if you wanted breakfast early or late past the regular serving period, they would happily oblige; if you walked in with take-out, they would plate it for you and bring it to your room; they would also pick up take-out and deliver it to you). There were also many special touches - free wine, free stocked mini-bar, free hot cocoa and popcorn that they would deliver to your room any time - that we felt very cared for. One of the managers led us on a guided hike up Lion's head mountain, which was super fun (he not only brought tea and snacks, but is an excellent photographer and took beautiful photos of us that he shared), and I highly recommend it to anyone who is reasonably fit (the views at the top are outstanding). We also did a peninsula tour one day and an all-day food and culture walking tour the next, and highly recommend our guide - she was delightful and fun.
The lodge - Wow, I had read all the 5-star reviews of this lodge on a private reserve near Kruger before we left and wondered how it could ever meet such high expectations, but it exceeded them! This was more like 10-star than 5-star! The staff (much like the staff in our hotel in Cape Town) was so friendly and professional and responsive--they would do anything to make you happy. And like them, all of the warmth and special treatment felt genuine rather than fake or forced. The food was amazing (and plentiful - all meals and alcohol plus high tea was included), but what sets this lodge apart was the amazing rangers (we were lucky to have the head ranger, and his tracker). I learned so much from them about animal behavior, as they were incredibly knowledgeable (and extremely respectful) of the animals. As a result, we saw all of the big 5, multiple times (my favorites were seeing 3 different leopards and 7 different lions, including both male lions sleeping and after a kill, and female lions slowly hunting cape buffalo in the early evening). We met people at this lodge who had stayed at multiple other 5-star lodges, and they all said that this one was the best, which I can believe.
Victoria Falls - the lodge was the number 1 rated lodge in Victoria Falls, and though it was very nice, it did honestly pale by comparison to our lodge near Kruger (e.g., the outdoor bathtub and pool were both dirty and not usable; I'm not sure how to remedy this, other than to perhaps go in a different order to the trip, so that one ends in Sabi Sands). The staff were nice and the food was wonderful, and like our other lodge, activities were included (the guided trip to Victoria Falls was very informative as was the private "sundowner" river cruise we had on our arrival night--we saw male elephants engaging in "horseplay" in the water, a trip highlight; however, the game drive - no tracker and a much smaller park - paled in comparison to those we did in Sabi Sands). The optional (extra charge) elephant interaction at their sanctuary was really amazing, and we highly recommend it to anyone staying in Victoria Falls! The Falls itself were about 1/3 dry because we went following the winter dry season - Shannon had warned us about this in advance - so they were a little underwhelming, but I'm still glad we went, because we wanted to see them and weren't sure if we'd get back to this part of the continent on another trip. If you want to visit the falls, be sure to look up photos of how they look during certain months so you're expectations won't be violated.
Chobe River Cruise (Namibia) - I'm SO glad we did this cruise, because it was a great way to end our trip on a really high note. We originally wanted to book the Zambezi Queen (which is bigger, more modern, and more luxurious), but only the Chobe Princess was available for our dates, and we ended up getting the smallest one (4 rooms) of the three CPs. I thought it might be underwhelming, but I was wrong. We had a great time on our small ship with 6 members of a German family, and the staff was wonderful (amazing food from Chef Edgar!) and doing "game drives" on the river turned out to be a game changer. Although we saw many animals during our land-based safaris, we did see different behavior from the water (e.g., we saw elephant herds cross the river; we watched baboon communities at play for 30 minutes at a time, whereas on land baboons would run away; we saw huge groups of 12 giraffe in an open field). Unlike on land, where you would sometimes drive 30 min or an hour in search of a siting, we saw animals the ENTIRE time were were on the small boat excursions from the larger boat--essentially, we'd spend 30 minutes watching elephants and then move to crocodiles and then to baboons and then to giraffes, etc.). Of my top recommendations for people going to Africa, it's to do this river cruise in addition to land-based safaris.
Thanks again for Shannon (and Zicasso) for making our dream trip come true--although we've been to many wonderful places (including Patagonia, Bora Bora, Australia/New Zealand, etc.), my wife and I both agree that this was the best trip we've ever taken. And we will be back!
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