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Reviews: KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields & Game Reserves

KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields & Game Reserves

Let us show you KwaZulu-Natal in all its glory. From the mountains to the beach, covering the game reserves and major battle fields. 6 unforgettable days in the African bush, with style.

star rating Trip rating 5/5 from 3 reviews
Operator rating 5/5 from 30 reviews
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21.
Client: The Brozos - from United States
Trip: KwaZulu-Natal Top 5 Game Reserves Lodge Safari
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: We just recently returned from our "Kwa-Zulu-Natal Top 5 Game Reserves" safari with this safari operator. It was fantastic. Our guide, Pierre, was very knowledgeable about the areas were visiting and could spot animals in the distance that we had to use our binoculars to see.

He spotted a cheetah far up on the hillside that was not even visable to our naked eyes. We were "up close and personal" with a very very large elephant. He walked out of the bush right in front of our mini-van, walked right up to us, turned and walked beside the car, and then proceeded to make a snack of two large tree branches, knock the rest of the tree to the ground with his huge tusks, and then wander off into the bush. Very exciting !!

We would recommend touring with Pierre to anyone. P.S. He is a really good cook too.

The Brozos
22.
Client: Caroline Tsaw - from United States
Trip: South Africa Safari - Kruger National Park To Durban
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The personalized service provided by Pierre made all the difference. His itinerary is the one of the very few that stayed out of the big cities. I liked the combination of private and private parts of krugal, so we get a taste of both.

Shakaland was a pleasant surprise - the cultural village was well done and the tours informative. To top it all, the food is excellent.

The people of couth Africa are friendly and warm. We felt very comfortable touring the country.

Caroline
23.
Client: Brett - from United Kingdom
Trip: South Africa Safari - Kruger National Park To Durban
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: Myself and my friend had an excellent holiday with Pierre as our guide.

The safari's he sorted out for us were very good, and we had the chance to see just about everything there was to see in the parks, including the elusive leopard on our first drive!

As for the accommodation and it's location, both were excellent, all situated in the heart of the parks with excellent locations and views. The staff and guides at the parks were very friendly and informative as well. There is nothing quite like the feeling of sleeping in your accommodation and hearing hippo's sniffing around outside your door, or sitting on the balcony watching the game grazing a few feet away from you.

As for Pierre I could not sing his praises enough! His knowledge of his country, it's parks, history and wildlife was phenomenal. He answered all our questions, as well as many more besides, with a wealth of information showing his great passion and pride in his country and it's heritage. Pierre catered for our every whim throughout our safari (and even helped us in our planning after the tour) and his cooking skills were just as adept, helping to give us a real taste of the local food and drink.

He certainly made the holiday one to remember, and not just for his Zulu dancing which will always stick in my mind and make me chuckle, myself and my friend would recommend him to anyone looking to book a safari to South Africa.

I doubt you could find better.
24.
Client: Joan Hutfles - from United States
Trip: Mpumalanga & Kruger National Park
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: I'd be happy to provide you with feedback about our tour. We, four adults from the United States, spent four weeks in South Africa. The first five days we spent in Kruger Park. We spent two nights in rest camps and two nights in a private reserve all arranged by the tour operator after consulting with us. We were especially pleased with how flexible they were in scheduling the trip. We made several changes and also benefited from some excellent scheduling advice from them.

Pierre,our guide, was great. He was very knowledgeable about the animals, their behavior, and especially good at spotting them. Without him, we would have seen much less than what we did.

To our surprise, Pierre was also a good cook, treating us to local fare such as wart hog, South African wines, and biltong (my favorite)! His pleasant and relaxed personality made for a wonderful beginning to our four-week stay in South Africa. We were so pleased with his services, that we went an additional day with him as our guide to Hluhluwe Imfolozi.

We could not have asked for a better start to our vacation, and all of us agree that the best part of our trip was this safari.
25.
Client: Derek Russell - from United Kingdom
Trip: KwaZulu-Natal Top 5 Game Reserves Lodge Safari
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: This was our third safari, with previous trips in the Kruger and a longer safari in Tanzania. It is a tribute to Pierre that this safari was as fresh and exciting as our first. Pierre was enthusiastic, friendly and knowledgeable; we ended our week as friends and knowing that we had been very lucky to have him as our guide. He has obviously taken care with his itinerary, and this safari was a great mix of game drives, different country, a variety of animals .. and with relaxation at Cape Vidal to make sure that we still enjoyed the experience.

We thoroughly enjoyed his cooking during the safari, with a braai brunch after our morning game drive and a relaxed evening meal. This makes a welcome change from eating in lodge restaurants and packed lunch at mid-day.

I know that I shall recommend him to any of our friends, and be confident that they will enjoy their safari.

I add thanks to Africa Guide. It's always an act of faith to make a booking by Internet in a foreign country. It is very helpful having an organisation like yours which maintains good standards and which provides feedback to new clients. I found it very useful in making our decision about our holiday.
26.
Client: Katheryne Feltham - from United Kingdom
Trip: Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve Safari
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: I can honestly say that our safari was the highlight of our trip to South Africa.

Pierre, our guide, tailored the trip to our needs, was knowledgeable, entertaining, and fed us extremely well too!

We had varying weather conditions throughout our tour, but these did not affect Pierre's ability to give us an excellent trip, nor hindered him spotting all of the wildlife - from far away buffalo, down to the tiniest dung beetle - things which our un-trained eyes would surely have missed!

The vehicle we travelled in was comfortable and spacious, and well stocked with food and drink.
27.
Client: Graeme Jennings - from United Kingdom
Trip: Mpumalanga & Kruger National Park
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: We have toured this area before many years ago, and also been to Kruger Park before, so we had a good idea what to expect. Our expectations were well exceeded. We can't imagine it could have been better prepared.

Accommodation at Mogodi Lodge near Hazyview, and Skukuza and Pretoriaskop in Kruger were all excellent. Our tour of the Mpumalanga region, accompanied by Pierre's knowledge of the geography and history was excellent, and our last visit before going into Kruger Park to a Shangani village gave us a very real taste of Africa.

We are totally convinced Pierre has a special game spotting radar hidden somewhere, which works as far as we could see, and sometimes even where we couldn't see…! His knowledge of the animals and birds and his infectious passion for it all was a total pleasure. We managed to see four of the big five, plus lots lots more.

There was quite obviously lots of thought given to the special needs of our family, (one diabetic; one allergic to eggs and nuts and one worm eater…ask Pierre…) We enjoyed a very clever mix of good restaurants and braais and a chance to try different things as well as the lovely wines and steaks that you could easily start to take for granted.

We would give this company full marks in all areas.
28.
Client: Melanie Mary Simpson - from United Kingdom
Trip: KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields & Game Reserves
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: Overall the tour was excellent and meeted the needs of all 6 participants.

The zulu battlefields were very intersting and Pierre our guide was very knowledgeable. From there we travelled to the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi game reserve. The game sitings here was amazing and considerably better than those from our visit to the Kruger Park last year: we saw the Big 5 in only 2 drives.

Our original itinerary included a visit to Shakaland. However, our guide, Pierre, suggested that we might want to see the crocs and hippos at Lake St Lucia instead (at no extra cost). The group did decide to visit the latter and were all delighted with the cruise on the lake.

It was very easy to plan our trip from the UK via email with Pierre. He was very helpful and only to pleased to customise the tour to suit our wishes, during the planning stage. Once on tour, Pierre did a splendid job of showing us the battlefields, game reserve and Lake St Lucia. The accommodation and restaurants he chose were of good quality too.

My party and I would highly recommend this company to other visitors to South Africa.
29.
Client: Jay Finch - from United States
Trip: currently unavailable
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: We had a wonderful time - it exceeded our already high expectation. Pierre and Karin were excellent hosts and guides- his eyesight at spotting game was tremendous. A close encounter with a 12 foot crocodile crawling next to our minivan got the adrenelin flowing. We will definitely return to South Africa - a beautiful country.
30.
Client: Michael Pique - from United States
Trip: Create-Your-Own Tour in South Africa, or 18 other African Countries.
Rating: rating 5/5
Comment: I was a bit apprehensive, arranging my first African safari by e-mail from California: fears always in the back of my mind of Internet frauds, disappearing tour deposits, and never-to-appear tour guides. Fortunately, I chose well and enjoyed a thoroughly satisfying holiday. Pierre and Karenare wonderful hosts with the skills of rugged outdoorsmen and gracious ambassadors. As I rode with them last December through Kruger Park and Limpopo Province, their roomy van became a Visitors' Center on wheels: generally, Pierre tells about animals, trees, and nature while Karen specializes in the Veld's fascinating human history.

Of course they drive you around and point out the elephants and baboons, but you expect that. Having their eyes and minds enriched my visit in too many ways to list, so a few examples will have to do. We stop at a tiny roadside shop to watch biltong being made - and pick some up for snacks. At another shop, Karen opens a battered white-painted deep-freeze chest to show plastic bags stuffed with frozen chicken heads and feet - ``walkie talkies'': how would I ever have known where to look or what they're called? Pierre points out some trees we've been driving next to for a while, and tells of the tree's medicinal value and how its wood is sacred to the Zulu people. As I board an open-air night-time tour bus, even though I've just eaten a much-more-than-sufficient late lunch, Pierre reaches up and hands me a snack for the ride, ``just in case''.

Perhaps the hightlight of the trip for me was seeing the hippos marching across the road before dawn, in perfect single-file, returning to their river to soak after a night of grazing. Yes, without them, I might have been able to wake up at 4:00 AM for the hippos, but knowing that Pierre had the coffee ready and Karen was waiting with fresh Rusts (spelling?) made even 4:00 AM a pleasure to look forward to. And I would not have had any idea where to park and quietly wait for the tip-toeing hippopotamus parade...

I would highly recommend them to anyone making a visit to South Africa.
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