Sep 1, 2024
Exceeded our expectations - It was incredible, well organized and great game viewing experience in Kruger National Park. i definitely recommend it
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 12, 2024
Amazing experience 5* - Absolutely amazing experience! The hosts and drivers were all so lovely and went above and beyond for us. We got to see all the big 5!
Review provided by Viator
Dec 26, 2023
Incredible! - The entire trip was amazing. You practically couldn’t ask for better and the only animal in the Big Five that we didn’t see was leopards. Other than that, the lodging was great along with the meals that they provided. Special thanks to our safari guide Aubrey, chef Precious, and host Swazi who went above and beyond with their service and their knowledge of the park and animals.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 9, 2023
What an experience! - Solo safari to South Africa? Yes please! I loved this experience and felt like the entire staff and tour team were so kind and warm. It was very noticeable and I appreciated the way everyone greeted us and wanted to ensure we had a good experience.
The food prepared for lunch, dinner and breakfast was delicious. Dinner was set up under the stars at the lodge where we stayed which was magical. I really appreciated the attention given to the presentation of the food and the overall balance of healthy options.
My room was incredible. It was clean, the AC worked great, the bedding was so comfortable (mattress and linens were excellent) and the shower was wonderful. I also appreciated the mosquito netting to add an extra layer of safety during the night from any bugs.
The pool and overall lodge layout was really nice and you could tell the grounds were well kept. I bring your bathing suit if you wanna take a dip.
The safari experience itself was unreal. Like any national park or outdoor experience, it’s unique and based on nature. I would go back in a heartbeat and was so grateful for the amount of wildlife we saw both at sunset and sunrise. The driver was knowledgeable and the experience overall was great. I really appreciated that we drove in different places in the park in order to optimize the chances of seeing new animals. A big shoutout to Sbu, the driver who took us safely to and from Johannesburg! He was delightful, made a great call to take a backroad when there was an accident, and was enthusiastic about doing a good job for us. I really enjoyed talking with him on the way to the lodge on the first day and loved the background he shared on the country.
Highly recommend this tour group and truly enjoyed my experience.
Review provided by Viator
Aug 27, 2024
Nice experience at Kruger national park - I've participated to this 2 days safari with a friend. The shuttle picked us up at the airport of Johannesburg and drove to the lodge close to the gate of Kruger National park. It's a long drive (around 5 hours) to get there and the driver that drove us from the airport till the lodge wasn't great. We pointed that out and the tour operator arranged a different option for the way back. We really appreciated this sensitivity to our comments. The lodge is not a big place, but our experience there was overall good. We just spent one night there. The food cooked by the chef at the lodge could be improved a bit, it wasn't bad but not delicious even. The safari was really good, we saw lots of animals in different places of Kruger Park. Even if 2 days of safari are intense (mainly because of the long drive from Johannesburg airport), I think it's worth it. It's a perfect solution for tourists that don't have much time to spend at the park. Me and my friend enjoyed this tour and would recommend it.
Review provided by Viator
Oct 30, 2023
Great Safari experience - In general the Safari tour was really good. The location was amazing, clean, modern and super nice located. The staff on site was very friendly and helpful. Accidentally we were the only guest and could really enjoy the luxury conditions and get all the time of both personnel on site and the guide. Our guide, Obry, was really great. We saw almost all the animals in the park and got also explained a lot about the life of animals in the park.
The only thing that could have been handled better was the transportation to the location. We were told that we can be picked up from our location and brought to the accommodation for Safari, in fact it took a lot of communication shortly before the tour and to our surprise, we were put on a regular line bus with other people. A general bus, that transports people between cities. All in all though, really cool Safari and in the end all went well. Thanks again to Danielle for taking care of us in Pretoria.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 19, 2024
Safari great, tour company subpar - I booked my trip on balanta website and not via Trip Advisor.
The communication could have been a lot better than what it was. I had no communication until I reached out a few days before my trip with questions on coordination.
Per their website itinerary it states pickup from airport, hotel to the lodge.
I was transported via private pick up to airport, then bus to Nelspruit and private pick up from Nelspruit to the lodge and same thing on the way back. This itinerary, and transfers were never communicated to me ahead of time. I was put on a public bus without advance notice and information on transfers. Getting to my lodge was a confusing journey.
The fees not covered by the tours were not clearly stated: first it was additional fee for single supplement of the room as I was traveling solo, then it was another extra cost for pickup/drop off from hotel in Joburg, then there is a daily entrance fee into Kruger park that I had to cover which was included in cost of the tour.
So this skews the total cost of the tour if you were trying to compare with other services as all the costs are not disclosed nor included.
For someone that plans, organizes and compares and just for transparency purposes fees not covered should be disclosed upfront especially prior to purchase.
Despite this I enjoyed the safari experience, Two days was enough time for me at the safari. Our tour guide Oberi made sure we saw a lot of the animals especially those we had on our lists as wanting to see. The lodge was beautiful, the food was good and staff was welcoming and provided great service.
Do your research
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 12, 2024
Big 5 - Overall the safari experience was wonderful. The lodging and the guides were very accommodating and made sure we were well looked after. We saw all of the Big 5 thanks to our great guide. Thank you to the whole staff. The downside of the experience was the lack of communication with the tour organizer - we reached out multiple times before our trip for information and were only given details the day we flew to Africa. Also note that transport is NOT private and in a shared shuttle bus. This was a surprise to us, especially with the cost of the trip.
Review provided by Viator
Feb 17, 2024
A little overpriced - I expected slightly nicer lodgings especially for the price. Power went out after a storm so we had no power for most of our stay. The food was mediocre although the staff was super sweet. We had to be up in the wee hours for our trek, would have been nice to have some juice/coffee to start our day.
Our safari was sun though and your guide was amazing. He navigated us through an intense and spontaneous hail storm.
All in all was great but not sure I would recommend to friends
Review provided by Viator
Nov 28, 2023
Needs improvment! - Excelent Safari time
Poor facilities with no shower, awful 7 hr trasportation in a non ac crowded van.
Review provided by Viator
