Guest Feedback & Independent Reviews

Morning Madi, Just wanted to drop you a note about our trip.

Thank you for putting together what was truly the trip of a lifetime.

We could not be more pleased with our safaris', accommodations, guides, transfers. . ..

Africa Sky Guest House

Perfect lodging to get over jetlag. Can't remember the hostess' name, but she was very pleasant and even supplied us with a 220V adapter--no charge. I'm a bit embarrassed about that, as your literature explicitly outlined what was needed, and I still somehow managed to bring something that didn't work--close but no go. Staff and meals were fine.

Wild Wings Safari within Kruger

Transfer to Kruger with JP was very enjoyable. JP made the 5+ hour drive pass quickly. You were absolutely right about Pretoriuskop, as days were quite busy with safaris'. I don't have anything to compare it with, but we were very happy with the camp, as well as, accommodations.Frank was our guide, and we shared meals with Simon's group.

Very happy with Frank and the wildlife he was able to locate for our viewing--some very close to the vehicle. He's a sweetheart of a guy, who is very professional/knowledgeable. Simon is quite the character, who's company we enjoyed during meals.

Meals were catered by John. While I was surprised that our guides didn't BBQ for us, I have no complaints, as John was very entertaining when presenting his dishes, which were delicious. In the end, I think catering meals makes sense, as it makes for quite a long day if guides also have to prepare meals.

As we said our goodbyes, I let Frank/Simon know that they had set the bar pretty high for Dulini.

Dulini

What can I say--we were just blown away with the amount of wildlife we saw, and how closely they passed by the vehicle. Just feel awe inspired, lucky, and fortunate.

Ben was our guide, and Dyke (then Chris) our trackers. Again, very professional/knowledgeable/entertaining--could not be happier.

Dulini Lodge and its staff are all over the top. Likely, the best accommodations we've ever experienced.

Cape Town

Shaun picked us up at the airport, and, again, a sweetheart of a guy. We actually ran into him twice later--both times at a "Tiger Milk" restaurant. Definitely someone you wouldn't mind having a beer with at a pub.

Very happy with our accommodations at the Cadogan, who surprised us one night with a bottle of champagne for our anniversary! Room was spacious and nicely outfitted.

Simone was our guide. OMG, what a sweetheart! We quite enjoyed her company during all three tours. Simone was actually able to provide us with a tour inside City Hall, including posing with the newly erected Nelson Mandela statue--I initially felt it would be disrespectful (and a bit bad tourist), but Tyrone Africa (the facility manager) assured us it was ok. We thoroughly enjoyed all three tours, especially the Wineland tour--probably because drinking wine was involved, but also because it was a beautifully gorgeous sunny day.

Stanley's

We enjoyed Stanley's. It's is set up so that you safari and have meals with the same group throughout your stay. We were also able to enjoy the company of others at the bar before dinner and during sundowners. We enjoyed the facilities, meals, and staff.

The elephant experience was probably the highlight of our trip! Interacting with Jabu and Marula just left us emotional and speechless.

Again, thank you for putting together an amazing experience.

Hi Madi, I left a detailed review on TripAdvisor. Again, really well-organised trip (by yourself and on the trip itself). A couple of the guest houses were really high quality and beyond expectations.

Steph reacted to the different weather conditions to make the most of what we could do.

Fantastic whale-watching trip, and other wildlife interactions (penguins, Addo Park)

Thanks again for all your help!

Hi Madi, The trip was fine and our photo guide Jamie did a great job of touring us around for the half day city tour and the full day tour to Hout Bay and Cape Point park. It is good to be with a professional that knows photography. Thank you. [Custom photo safari arranged]

Hi Madi, Just a short note to say thank you so much for organising our safari, from start to finish we had the most amazing time!

We were lucky enough to have our guide Nicky and the open vehicle all to ourselves which made our honeymoon even more special.

We managed to see the Big 5 twice and then some. Nicky was a wonderful guide who did everything in her power to provide us with the most wonderful sights, her knowledge of the area and the animals were so interesting, we learned a lot from her. The accommodation at Lower Sabie was just perfect, and the food cooked and provided by Nicky was fantastic.

The only problem with our safari was that it was too short and we wished we could have stayed longer!!!!

Thank you so much again, you were fantastic to deal with. I will highly recommend Wild Wings to all our family and friends. Please pass on our thanks to Nicky!

Dear Madi, We are back in Germany after our wonderful holiday in South Africa and just to give you a few details as to how well everything went and how superbly Wild Wings organized everything for us. We were met fine on arrival at Tambo and found Africa Sky Guest House to be perfect for us, everything that we wanted on our 1st night in South Africa. We were collected as arranged for our tour of Joburg and Soweto, etc. Our guide Martin was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and we learned a lot from him about the history of the area. Too many places to mention, we visited the constitutional court, Soweto of course, the city centre, Mandela’s house, the Hector Peterson monument, etc. All very interesting.

After our night in Africa Sky which I cannot praise too much, the dinner in the evening was excellent, we were picked up by Simon for our drive to Kruger. This is a very special man. With 2 other couples he looked after us at Skukuza camp and then from there to Satara there was just the 2 of us. His enthusiasm is boundless and his cooking was great, we were very pleased that we could dine with him during our time at Satara. His knowledge of the animals and birds of Kruger is extensive. We saw everything we wanted including leopards on numerous occasions, 2 close sightings of cheetahs, and of course elephant, lions, rhinos, hyena, jackal, crocodile, impala, giraffe, hippos, buffalo, kudu, nyala, lots of small mammals and too many birds to mention. We did a very interesting bush walk at Skukuza and also did a night drive seeing a wild cat, a genet, a python and a puff adder, all very interesting. We were quite astounded at the numbers of animals it was possible to see.

From Satara we went to Bateleur Camp in Timbavati where we could immediately see the difference between Kruger and a private game reserve. Bateleur is a very special camp, it suited us perfectly, run by Sophie and Brad who we really must thank for looking after us and being so enthusiastic, including the armed escorts to and from our accommodation. Our thanks also to Temba, our tracker, who could see animals where nobody else could. They have wonderful staff there who all contributed to us having a great time. On our morning and evening safari drives we again saw a multitude of animals, we really had a great time.

We must compliment Wild Wings on the organisation of our trip, everything was easy-going but efficient, everything went perfectly. For our 1st visit to SA and Kruger your ideas and recommendations were perfect. Again we must thank Simon for looking after us in Kruger and Sophie and Brad for the great time we had in Timbavati.

We are sure we will return to SA in the future and will be in touch with you for the next trip as our plans take shape. Many thanks for everything.

Dear Clare, We have just got back from South Africa. The Wild Wings safari was as before wonderful. Simon was on top form and John doing the meals was a new innovation for us and very enjoyable. We had a great time with nice travelling companions, We saw animals not seen before (Wild Dogs) and lots of birds. My wife and I just wish we were a bit younger! Thanks to everyone, including yourself, for giving us such a rewarding experience. Best wishes.

Hi Gavin, Oh my goodness I really can't find words to do justice to the safari! It was truly amazing. My wishlist is always a bit of a laugh but Python and leopard cubs ticked off - was seriously beyond my wildest dreams! There was so much interaction between the animals and possibly as there were no first-time guests we spent time at each sighting which was such a privilege. Spending an hour with the leopard cubs watching them play is something I will never forget. Elephants were incredible as always and I've not seen such huge herds before. Unbelievably we got a bit cross with them on one occasion as they were blocking the road when we were on our way to a cheetah sighting just ahead!! The cheetahs waited for us though and then 2 wildebeest arrived. The sound of them alarming is still with me.

Simon has posted his photos on Facebook today and I'm reliving the emotion of it all! I spent a fair amount of time crying!! Haha!

Volume 2 of WildWings, Kruger and Us is underway as is my next list - a leopard a day and the honey badger - Simon has only himself to blame for tweeting these things!!

Thank you so much. It was fab meeting everyone and the beanie was well worn!!

Hi Madi, the only feedback I can give was that everything was fantastic. Accommodation at Cape Town was gorgeous and location perfect.

Kruger was absolutely amazing - Simon’s knowledge and his whole manner was brilliant. Together with the 2 girls who were on our tour, our whole family had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Simon’s kind thought of cake and champagne on my birthday made it even more memorable. Simon was fantastic with my 2 sons and his photography knowledge has inspired Damian to purchase a new camera and do a photography course.

Then on to Thonga which, again, wow. We were worried that we’d made a mistake of making such a long journey over to Thonga after Kruger but that first glimpse of the beach as we drove down the track to Thonga Beach Lodge put our all my fears aside. Stunning. Again accommodation was lovely, staff fantastic, setting completely amazing.

Thank you so much for all your hard work and input. It was definitely a holiday we will never forget. I would have no hesitations in recommending your company to anyone who wished to travel to South Africa.

Hi Clare, The safari experience was fantastic - Simon was a wonderful guide who knew exactly how to get us the best sightings, taught us so much about the animals and took great care of us the whole time.

We found the whole process really smooth sailing from start to end. John who cooked for us in the first 3 days did an awesome job as well - the food was delicious and we got a crash course in South African cuisine through him too.

Would absolutely recommend Wild Wings and Simon as a guide to my friends and family. Many thanks for all your help in arranging for our tour as well. This was definitely the highlight of our trip to South Africa!

Hi Madi, Thanks for arranging and organising such an awesome 4-day safari for my daughter and myself.

On our marvellous 5-week African trip the Kruger safari was the highlight for both of us.

The transport, food and accommodation were great and absolutely appropriate to our particular budget. Your prompt replies and consistent updates were beyond what we would have expected.

My daughter is a vegan and the efforts made to accommodate her dietary requests without bother were much appreciated.

The facilities and services in the park camps were also beyond what we expected. At times a little crowded but it was the SA school holidays while we were there.

We were very impressed with Simon, our guide. His passion, knowledge and bush instincts for the wildlife and park was outstanding. We felt engaged and included on all the game drives and we never felt like a couple of tourists just being transported from A to B.

We had seen all the big 5 by the second morning and there was never a dull moment with Simon making the most of our daylight time.

Highlights were many but our vehicle being charged at by a big bull elephant (unharmed), watching 2 lions stalk a small herd of zebra, witnessing a stampeding herd of buffalo, seeing a leopard up on a big rock silhouetted against the sunset and close encounters with 2 rhino and 2 young hyenas deserve a mention.

Unfortunately we didn't see any cheetah or wild dogs. But it seems they are quite rare and gives us both another reason to come back sometime in the future.

My only regret is that we didn't spend more time in the park. It is a great asset to your country and I hope it always remains so.

Thanks again for an amazing and uniquely African experience. I would not hesitate to use your services again or recommend them to others.

We had the most fantastic time on safari in the Kruger! Apart from the delay with the pick up from our hotel in Johannesburg(!), everything else went really well. We were joined on part of our journey by a lovely American couple, who were great safari ‘buddies’.

Frank, our guide at Skukuza, is an amazing man!! So knowledgeable, personable, so many stories – and such enthusiasm and love for the animals and the park! And Jonno, our chef, was a delight – delicious food, accompanied by a short history of South African food – we couldn’t have wished for a better start to our safari adventure. We were extremely fortunate, and saw all ‘the big 5’ at Skukuza, thanks to Frank’s knowledge and planning (Hannah’s last count, 104 giraffe, 76 elephant, 3 leopard, hundreds of impala!!).

And then to Kambaku River Sands – well, we were blown away – beautiful rooms, lovely people, great food. Phanuel and Rifos, our guide and tracker, were so friendly and looked after us really well, as did all the other staff.

It was our son, Daniel’s 21st birthday just after we returned from South Africa. Frank very kindly gave him a bottle of Amarula (we had seen and been talking about the Marula trees), and at Kambaku, he was also given a gift – which was all so thoughtful – thank you for your part in that!

Thank you to you, Madi, for your brilliant communication, reassurance and planning of our trip – we couldn’t have wished for a more spectacular ‘once in a lifetime’ family holiday – one we will never forget.

Hi Clare, We had a wonderful time - we were very impressed by the changes between 1998 and 2018, lots of progress! The caliber of the museums has really improved - we were particularly impressed with the District 6 Museum in Cape Town and the Apartheid Museum in Jo’burg. The Mandela Museum - oh, my. Not kept in good repair, and Winnie Mandela’s story as a noble leader is given center stage.

The Spur Wings guide was great, we had a lovely time at nThambo, and I would be happy to recommend Wild Wings to friends.

Thanks for checking in, we had a fantastic trip - it’s such a pity SA is so far away, or we would return more often!