J. Stotsky                                                             Traveled to:  South Africa

September 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Richard Schwartzel 

Richard was a delight to work with! My clients LOVED the South African trip! The transfers, hotels, private tours and flights were excellent. I wouldn’t book with anyone else. Will definitely use Richard again. Thank you.

J. & P.  Mitchell                                                              Traveled to:  South Africa

September 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Kristina Kowalczewski 

John and I decided to take this trip at the last minute. We were truly amazed at hoe quickly Kristina was able to develop and provide our itinerary. She arranged ALL of the activities that we wanted to see and provided us with the ultimate South African vacation. She went beyond the call of duty to ensure that we had her contact information and her colleagues(Karym Lopez, Jessica Acosta, Lorraine Yoyo and Maritza Valenzuela) when she was herself aboard a long international flight. She made sure that all of our questions and concerns were answered and she made sure that we received all our tickets and necessary documents even in the short amount of time that we had to prepare! Outstanding customer Service Kristina. John posted amazing pictures of our trip and many of our friends and family members are interested in visiting South Africa now! Thanks Kristina and all the staff at SAA for your outstanding customer service.

H. Byrd                                                               Traveled to:  South Africa

September 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Richard Schwartzel 

I requested that a tour be tailored to meet my interests and everything I desired was built into the tour for the two of us travelers. Drivers were waiting for us at each airport and transported us to the airports. Excellent tour guides were provided for us. As requested, Robben Island, the Mandela Museum, Soweto, and Victoria Falls were built in our tour as well as several other historical sites in Cape Coast, Johannesburg and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
All of the people were friendly and the service was excellent. We had a great time. Thank you very much.

P. Woodard                                                               Traveled to:  South Africa

September 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Maritza Valenzuela 

Leigh Ann Simpson was my agent and she did an outstanding job ensuring we received everything we wanted from this South African trip we took starting Sept 5, 2019 until Sep 14, 2019. All the places we wanted to go and see, experience, she made it happen in an itinerary specific to our desires.

This was a once in a lifetime trip for us and she made it exceptional.

I will be in touch with her again if we save enough money to go to Africa again.

I wholeheartedly recommend her excellent services.

Thank you Leigh Ann. God bless you and yours!

T. Gibbs                                                               Traveled to:  South Africa

September 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Hallah Karaman 

We’re in the lounge in Johannesburg right now waiting on our flight later this evening.

This trip has been AMAZING!!! From start to finish, it has been nothing but spectacular and exceeded my wildest expectations. Cape Town was gorgeous and the tours included were perfect. We serendipitously got on the waterfront ferris wheel at sunset the night we arrived in Cape Town – the views and sunset were breathtaking, there couldn’t have been a better welcome to Africa. We went to the top of Table Mountain on the best weather day.

Chapungu tented camp was the perfect safari resort. The staff were so nice and very attentive to every guest. It was definitely luxury – from accommodations to food to relaxing! Our game drives were always eventful, as was the animal activity right outside our tent at night. We quickly checked off the “big 5” and were lucky to even get the “elite 7”.

In Johannesburg we had a long layover, so we jumped on the train and went to Mandela Square for lunch before settling into the lounge. And to put the cherry on top, SAA accepted our upgrade bid!

I can’t thank you enough for the experience you put together for us!! It is a trip I will never forget (and hopefully get to do again!).

B. Clayton                                                               Traveled to:  South Africa

August 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Maritza Valenzuela 

Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our wonderful our trip to South Africa. Everything exceeded our expectations and it was so well organized with the tours, hotels and lodging, that it couldn’t have been a better trip. Christine Stevens and I want to commend you and everyone else that made it so memorable. I will surely recommend it to everyone interested in such a vacation!

D. Benz                                                               Traveled to:  South Africa

August 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Richard Schwartzel

My wife and I were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. We worked with Richard on our itinerary to South Africa and Zimbabwe and it worked out perfectly. All 3 legs of our trip (Cape Town, Kapama Private Game Reserve and Victoria Falls) were unique and memorable. Our accommodates and tours were top notch and Rich went out of his way to make sure we got into the exclusive Elephant Camp at Victoria Falls. Having grown up in South Africa, Richard was a wealth of information and recommended a number of places to visit and eat. We would definitely recommend SAA and Richard to our family and friends.

Calhoun                                                               Traveled to:  East Africa

August 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Richard Schwartzel

This was by far the most amazing vacation we have ever done. Our travel specialist, Richard Schwartzel, was responsive, knowledgeable, patient, put together our vacation from start to finish, picked the best companies to take care of us along the way, and went above and beyond to make this a fantastic experience. We give Richard a super A++++ and will use him in the future. We could not have had better service from a Travel Specialist or any of the companies used.

Pitterson Family                                                               Traveled to: South Africa

August 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Lacy Hill

Good afternoon. Thank you so much for arranging such an awesome trip for our family. It was truly amazing. We enjoyed every minute of it. The tours were great and the tour guides were excellent and super knowledgeable. We were surprised by the stop at the Little Bees Daycare ……It was heart warming and my entire family just loved the children. We embraced them with all our hearts and plan to adopt them. I’m in contact with the Principal. Robben Island’s trip was cancelled on the scheduled day, as the boats were not sailing but we were able to fit it in on one of our leisure days. We also visited the Table Mountain on one of our leisure days. That was very good planning on your part to leave a few free days for us to decided what to do and we thank you wholeheartedly. Please convey our thanks to the drivers and everyone involved who made these activities possible, The hotels were very accommodating and the service excellent. Travelling on South African Air was comfortable and incident free. On behalf of my family, I say 100 times thank you.

Reno-Munro                                                             Traveled to:South Africa

August 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Richard Schwartzel 

Every aspect of this vacation met or exceeded our expectations. The pace was perfect, the hotel in Cape Town was modern and the breakfasts were unbelievable. The Shepherd’s Tree lodge was perfect, with huge California King beds and mosquito nets draping from the ceiling to the floor, very romantic in an “Out of Africa” kind of way. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and led us on a wonderful adventure where we saw the Big Five and more. We have already given Richard the names of some friends who we know with his guidance would be in excellent hands. Thank you.

Gibbs                                                                     Traveled to: South Africa

July 2019

Trip Created by Africa Specialist Hallah Karaman

We’re in the lounge in Johannesburg right now waiting on our flight later this evening.

This trip has been AMAZING!!! From start to finish, it has been nothing but spectacular and exceeded my wildest expectations. Cape Town was gorgeous and the tours included were perfect. We serendipitously got on the waterfront ferris wheel at sunset the night we arrived in Cape Town – the views and sunset were breathtaking, there couldn’t have been a better welcome to Africa. We went to the top of Table Mountain on the best weather day.

Chapungu tented camp was the perfect safari resort. The staff were so nice and very attentive to every guest. It was definitely luxury – from accommodations to food to relaxing! Our game drives were always eventful, as was the animal activity right outside our tent at night. We quickly checked off the “big 5” and were lucky to even get the “elite 7”.

In Johannesburg we had a long layover, so we jumped on the train and went to Mandela Square for lunch before settling into the lounge. And to put the cherry on top, SAA accepted our upgrade bid!

I can’t thank you enough for the experience you put together for us!! It is a trip I will never forget (and hopefully get to do again!).

I’ll get some pics to send when I have better WiFi.

Thank you again!

Clayton                                                               Traveled to: South Africa

July 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Maritza Valenzuela

Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our wonderful our trip to South Africa. Everything exceeded our expectations and it was so well organized with the tours, hotels and lodging, that it couldn’t have been a better trip. Christine Stevens and I want to commend you and everyone else that made it so memorable. I will surely recommend it to everyone interested in such a vacation.

Conway                                                              Traveled to: South Africa

July 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Kristina Kowalczewski

Traveling was executed perfectly, the accommodations were exemplary, the attention to details was exquisite and we even experienced activities and pleasures (like a bottle of sherry in our room) that were unexpected. Thank you for a most beautiful vacation experience!

Cohen                                             Traveled to: South Africa

June 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Nicki Bechtol

The hotel was perfectly located in Cape Town which made it very easy for us to book our own adventures in the area for the several days we had on our own. The lodge for our safari was incredible, the food was outstanding and the service was terrific except for our checkout day. Besides that we would highly recommend South African Airways, Nicki was an absolute pleasure to work with and we would definitely call her again and recommend her in the future.

June 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Lacy Hill

It has been very busy since we arrived home. We loved our trip to Africa and would love to go back. The people are wonderful and it is an amazing place. The most amazing part of our trip was the time at the private reserve in Thornybush. It was perfect in almost every way. The couple who run the lodge, Chewy and Monica were wonderful. We felt like they were welcoming us into their home. They made you feel so comfortable. Chewy was an excellent ranger and we always felt safe. He took time to find out what we wanted from this adventure and made it come true. We tracked a leopard the first night and it was exciting to be so close. In Thornybush, you can go off road which we did quite a bit so the animal were up close. You really need to be able to trust your ranger and tracker, which we did. We saw almost every animal in Thornybsh except the wild dogs which are rarely seen. The only thing I would change about that experience was a later flight out the day we left. We were unable to go on the last game drive the morning of our flight as we were booked on the early flight. We did not get tired of going out in the truck at all.

We enjoyed Capetown. The Cape tour was very informative and we loved seeing the Ostrich and penguins. We booked our own wine tour and would recommend that also. We met so many new friends from all over the world on these tours. They were small groups on each so we really got to know each other. Next time, I would prefer a hotel closer to the water front. It seemed to be more tourist friendly with more activities and restaurants to walk to in the evening. The breakfast at our hotel was incredible. The room was also very nice.

Our last adventure was Zimbabwe. The Victoria Falls hotel was so iconic. We enjoyed staying there. The location and views were great. The staff were very friendly. We had a small problem with the room as it was two twin beds and it was our 35 year wedding anniversary. When we called down to try to get this rectified, they had no other rooms. We found out two nights later that they could make it into a King. HAHA. Apparently the only staff who knows this tidbit of information is housekeeping. It is a funny story and the hotel was apologetic and gave us a free dinner with African dancing to entertain us. The sunset cruise made our anniversary so much more special. The falls were magnificent. We also enjoyed the day in Botsawana with the cruise and the afternoon safari. It allowed us to see more animals including crocodiles and hippos. The safari drive was a little more commercial than Thornybush but very enjoyable.

You may want to warn your clients about the beggars in Capetown and Victoria Falls. They are fairly harmless but very persistent and annoying.

It was so nice not to worry about all the transfers and these worked out so well. We also appreciated the guidance that your agency gave us prior to our vacation especially the amount to tip. Fellow travelers were asking us if we knew how much to tip and we were able to show them your recommendations.

We are recommending this vacation to everyone we know.

Thank you,

Sheila and Michael

Griffitt

June 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Lacy Hill

Amazing experience. Wonderful, life-changing interactions with the Serondella Game Lodge staff – especially Chewie (guide) and Monica (host) – during our stay and on our safari game drives. Great support from SAA (Lacy Hill) throughout.

Without getting political, would recommend providing travelers with some fact-based information regarding poaching and the problems caused by patronizing big cat “petting zoos”. Would be good to let them know how / where they can get involved to support anti-poaching efforts…

June 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Mark Black

Hi Mark – I apologize for not writing earlier, but I wanted to let you know we had an AMAZING time on our trip. Cape Town was beautiful and the safari was just a dream come true. I couldn’t believe how close we got to the animals. All of our transfers worked out perfectly, our guides in Cape Town were great and the staff at the lodge in Sabi Sands were wonderful. I didn’t want to leave!
I’m hoping I’m able to get back to Africa some day soon. I’d love to do Tanzania next!
Thanks again for all you help putting this trip together. It was perfect!

June 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Cathy Lenox

Safely home and I know we can all say this trip exceeded our expectations! It was everything we had hoped for and more. Thank you so much for making the arrangements. We especially enjoyed the Ngoma Lodge at Chobe. It’s the perfect safari setting and we got up close and personal with four of the big 5. Didn’t see a leopard, but did find an impala hanging in a tree where one had left it. I have a couple of information items to pass along for future travelers when we get settled. But we had a perfect time from our first day and I got all the research info I needed for my current books!

May 2019                                                        Traveled to: East Africa

Trip created by Africa Specialist Mark Black

We just got back from our Botswana trip yesterday and I wanted to thank you for helping us plan this most epic trip!  This was our favorite vacation ever and we just fell in love with Botswana.  Every step of the trip was executed perfectly and no detail was missed.  The lodges were all incredible and the staff were amazing.  The guides were especially outstanding and we saw so many animals and learned so much.  Thank you again for helping us with this dream trip!  We will definitely return to Africa and will use South African Airways Vacations again!!

Wooden                                                                              Traveled to: South Africa

May 2019

Trip created by Africa Specialist Kari Boys 

Good Morning!

Got your gift on Saturday, with pictures better than and I could have taken.  Thanks!
I would rate my trip 4 of 5 stars and recommend it readily.  Logistics were good and reliable, the accommodations fine and even better than expected, and the activities what I wanted.
Why not 5 stars, then?  Small things that were likely unknown to you and me.
For example, both hotels had very limited wifi – not access but limited to 350-500 MG daily of data which goes by real fast.
The Cradle of Humankind deserves more time, and perhaps a visit to Stenkfontein as well. The Lesedi Cultural Tour would probable be better in the afternoon, and might include a night’s lodging there.  (I also found it disconcerting as it involves black people in tribal clothes, which in the US would be seen as racist. But this was South Africa after all.)
Let me lift up the tour of Soweto as very effective, marred only by having too little time to take on the Apartheid Museum which truly requires 3 hours.  Consider a day that starts with a gold mine, which is why so many migrated to the city, and then Soweto.  Bundle the Museum with the Constitutional Court and Prison 4 (which my guide added and was fascinating and had too little time to take in).
District 6 in Cape Town, worked well with the Townships as they were related.  A little more context would have helped bring it all together.  On my own I went to the Slave House which added to that story in helpful ways.  Doing all three in one trip would make a full day.  The Cape Peninsula was very good, well paced and would have been enough without Kirstenbosch, which we saw very late and could only taste.  It deserves more.  Maybe pairing it with Lion’s Head or the Company Garden would work better. I took myself to Pretoria for a day, just to walk around and had a fine time. The Sandton hotel was close to the Gautrain and it took less than 40 minutes to get there. The Natural History Museum is small and easy, but also very dated. The Burgers Garden is beautiful and Melrose House across the street would have been fun but it is closed on Mondays, which is when I went.
I think that covers the bits and pieces.  It was a memorable and very enriching visit, perhaps my only one to Southern Africa.  The toughest part was flying there and back, as that is one loooooong flight.  Of course, any others flights would be longer. South Africa is far away!
Thanks for the cards and all the help. If you need a recommendation, I will happily supply one!

Lehr

May 2019                                                                                              Travelled to:

Trip created by Africa Specialist Lacy Hill                                         South Africa

Hello Lacy,It has been very busy since we arrived home. We loved our trip to Africa and would love to go back. The people are wonderful and it is an amazing place.  The most amazing part of our trip was the time at the private reserve in Thornybush. It was perfect in almost every way.  The couple who run the lodge, Chewy and Monica were wonderful. We felt like they were welcoming us into their home. They made you feel so comfortable. Chewy was an excellent ranger and we always felt safe. He took time to find out what we wanted from this adventure and made it come true. We tracked a leopard the first night and it was exciting to be so close. In Thornybush, you can go off road which we did quite a bit so the animal were up close.  You really need to be able to trust your ranger and tracker, which we did. We saw almost every animal in Thornybsh except the wild dogs which are rarely seen. The only thing I would change about that experience was a later flight out the day we left. We were unable to go on the last game drive the morning of our flight as we were booked on the early flight. We did not get tired of going out in the truck at all. We enjoyed Capetown. The Cape tour was very informative and we loved seeing the Ostrich and penguins. We booked our own wine tour and would recommend that also. We met so many new friends from all over the world on these tours. They were small groups on each so we really got to know each other. Next time, I would prefer a hotel closer to the water front. It seemed to be more tourist friendly with more activities and restaurants to walk to in the evening.  The breakfast at our hotel was incredible.  The room was also very nice. Our last adventure was Zimbabwe.  The Victoria Falls hotel was so iconic. We enjoyed staying there. The location and views were great. The staff were very friendly. We had a small problem with the room as it was two twin beds and it was our 35 year wedding anniversary. When we called down to try to get this rectified, they had no other rooms.  We found out two nights later that they could make it into a King.  HAHA. Apparently the only staff who knows this tidbit of information is housekeeping.  It is a funny story and the hotel was apologetic and gave us a free dinner with African dancing to entertain us.  The sunset cruise made our anniversary so much more special. The falls were magnificent. We also enjoyed the day in Botsawana with the cruise and the afternoon safari.  It allowed us to see more animals including crocodiles and hippos. The safari drive was a little more commercial than Thornybush but very enjoyable. You may want to warn your clients about the beggars in Capetown and Victoria Falls. They are fairly harmless but very persistent and annoying.  It was so nice not to worry about all the transfers and these worked out so well. We also appreciated the guidance that your agency gave us prior to our vacation especially the amount to tip. Fellow travelers were asking us if we knew how much to tip and we were able to show them your recommendations. We are recommending this vacation to everyone we know. Thank you, Sheila and Michael

 Koch

May 2019                                                                                              Travelled to:

Trip created by Africa Specialist Lacy Hill                                         South Africa

Lacy was extremely accommodating trying to figure out the perfect travel plan for us. She was very quick to respond to any questions and made sure we were taken care of before, during, and after! We will definitely try to use her again for other vacations in the future. The international flight on the way to South Africa was wonderful and flight attendants came around often to serve us. However, on the way back to New York we didn’t have air conditioning throughout the cabin to the point a woman passed out and everyone was sweating for 15 HOURS. The flight attendants told us they knew there was a problem but continued to be rude to everyone that inquired about it. We barely saw them during the flight and I was super disappointed with the experience back. The transfers throughout our trip were awesome! The drivers were so nice, knowledgeable, and very prompt. The accommodations were way better than we were expecting! The Cape Town hotel was new, beautiful, and very clean. The lodge at Thornybush was SO nice and we had the best view! The entire trip was more than we could have imagined. All the activities provided so many memories for us. The only thing I would suggest is we heard other people that went through a different travel company were offered a night in Franschhoek and I think that would have been a great option to add to the itinerary.

 Jansen/Van Etten

May 2019                                                                                              Travelled to:

Trip created by Africa Specialist Kristina Kowalczewski                South Africa

Just wanted to let you know what an absolutely wonderful trip we had. It was a dream come true for all of us.  Each day we thought it couldn’t possibly get better, but it did!  Thank you so much for you expertise….. transfers went incredibly smooth, accommodations were superb, tours were beyond amazing… not to mention your assistance with the spa which could not have been more perfect with timing. Please know we greatly appreciate how you went above and beyond to help us plan.

N. Van Etten

April 2019                                                                                              Travelled to:

Trip created by Africa Specialist Kristina Kowalczewski                South Africa

Our African adventure was beyond amazing! Kristina was there every step of the way assisting us with our plans. Her expertise and guidance was invaluable… from accommodations, to transfers, activities and even best times to visit the spa. Each day we thought could not possibly get any better, and it did! If I could give her a 10 on a scale of 1-5, I would. Our room At Thornybush was upgraded to a 3 bedroom, 3 bath unit. It was beautiful!!! Our dream trip was above and beyond anything we ever imagined.

Hi Kristina,

Just wanted to let you know what an absolutely wonderful trip we had. It was a dream come true for all of us.  Each day we thought it couldn’t possibly get better, but it did!  Thank you so much for you expertise….. transfers went incredibly smooth, accommodations were superb, tours were beyond amazing… not to mention your assistance with the spa which could not have been more perfect with timing. Please know we greatly appreciate how you went above and beyond to help us plan.

N. Van Etten

April 2019                                                                                              Travelled to:

Trip created by Africa Specialist Kristina Kowalczewski                South Africa

Our African adventure was beyond amazing! Kristina was there every step of the way assisting us with our plans. Her expertise and guidance was invaluable… from accommodations, to transfers, activities and even best times to visit the spa. Each day we thought could not possibly get any better, and it did! If I could give her a 10 on a scale of 1-5, I would. Our room At Thornybush was upgraded to a 3 bedroom, 3 bath unit. It was beautiful!!! Our dream trip was above and beyond anything we ever imagined.

Hi Kristina,

Just wanted to let you know what an absolutely wonderful trip we had. It was a dream come true for all of us.  Each day we thought it couldn’t possibly get better, but it did!  Thank you so much for you expertise….. transfers went incredibly smooth, accommodations were superb, tours were beyond amazing… not to mention your assistance with the spa which could not have been more perfect with timing. Please know we greatly appreciate how you went above and beyond to help us plan.

Best,

Noel

N. Van Etten