Reviews of wild planet safari

Loading SafariFind...

So, when the bestie and I decided to book our holiday of a lifetime, we had no idea where to start, or even what to expect on a Safari. We could have picked any company out of hundreds, but oh, thank goodness we chose Wild Planet Safari!! From the minute Ryan collected us from the Jo’burg airport our adventure began. The first night was spent in a lovely B & B a short drive from the airport then it was up early the next day for a 7hr drive across to Kruger. For the entire 6 days all of our needs were catered for and all we had to do was sit back and enjoy. And when I say ‘our needs’ I mean it. Apart from us both being veggies, my travelling companion is disabled with extremely limited mobility - oh and lots of mobility aids! But throughout our trip, Ryan and his little helper Lungisani coped admirably. Nothing was too much trouble and they quickly began to anticipate when and where help would be needed - from opening car doors to unloading scooters. Our meals were superb, loads of freshly prepared fruit & veg dishes and BBQ’s in the evenings. And they even do the washing up! Every day was packed full of anticipation and excitement, and what Ryan doesn’t know about animals simply isn’t worth knowing. His determination for us to see the Big 5 paid off and we were able to tick each animal off the list – and many more. During our time together Ryan shared many amusing stories with us of his previous animal encounters, explained the safari ‘etiquette’ and we also learned a little about the life of young Lungisani. It was sad to be dropped back in Joburg for the final night, we had all become good friends and it was with a heavy heart that we had to hug the big guy Ryan goodbye, knowing that he was off to do it all again with is next lucky people the next day. Ryan, you are amazing, totally dedicated to your work and long may it continue. Lungisani, you will make a terrific guide yourself one day and maybe take us yourself! Must also mention the excellent communications from Thale during the planning of our trip and cuddles to little Felix. Oh, and congratulations to you both, Mr & Mrs Ker!

Attentive to all the details, customized and personal experience, and incredibly knowledgeable.

My partner and I absolutely loved our 5-day experience with Wild Planet Safaris. We started with four days on safari in two different camps in Kruger, followed by a day of exploring the Panorama route. Thale (Wild Planet coordinator) advised us on every aspect of the transportation, activities, logistics, and options. Thale responded very quickly and professionally to our questions and requests while planning the trip. Before and during the trip, she helped incorporate everything we wanted into our itinerary. Our guides, Chris and Sani, drove us on morning, afternoon, and evening game drives and shared their incredible knowledge of the bush. They tailored the drives to our interests, and took us to the best locations to see rare game. Because of them and their knowledge, we saw a huge number of animals and birds. Highlights included baby cheetahs, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, vultures, lions (male, female, and cubs), and elephants galore! They even took us to the rare sighting of an elephant carcass with predators feeding at dawn. They also set up a night drive and a morning bush walk with the Kruger park rangers at our request. Both were incredible! The service was excellent. They made sure we were comfortable with prepared meals four-times a day. We chose to camp during the trip, and they set up and packed camp quickly, allowing us to maximize time enjoying animals and exploring. They cooked almost every meal, and we especially loved the freshly barbecued bush brai, shared family-style. Sani's curry was a huge hit after a long day of adventure. The five day package was great value, and we were lucky to have such an accommodating guide to plan our customized tour. We had a completely private tour experience. We slept in comfortable and warm cots in spacious tents, with electricity provided. I'm 6'5" and could stand up straight in the tent. All of the camp restrooms and showers were clean and well-maintained. Almost all meals were included in our package, and we spent very little money on the occasional lunch during travel days. Our guides Chris and Sani were incredibly respectful and we enjoyed getting to know them and their backgrounds. They both were extremely gracious to us, helping us have the best experience possible. They were attentive to the smallest details, ensuring we ate with a table cloth and tailored the menu to accommodate our dietary restrictions. We felt very safe during the entire trip, both in terms of security, animals, and Covid 19. We would absolutely use Wild Planet Safari again in the future and have already recommended them to our friends and family.

Benson

An extremely satisfying safari

We found Wild Planet Safari on the internet, but got really interested when we read the reviews here on safaribookings.com. They sounded too good to be true. Should we dare take a chance on this? We did, and we were more than totally satisfied with the entire experience. As we thought about it, we began to realize that a 3-4 day tour of Kruger Park was not going to be nearly enough, especially considering the cost of flying to South Africa; a long-enough tour was needed to make it worth the cost. Ten-day tours sounded interesting, and when we contacted Ryan and Thale about it, we worked together to custom-design a 13-day private tour for the two of us. We can’t say enough about how easy Ryan and Thale were to work with. They helped us figure out what we were wanting in a safari experience, and then they designed the trip around that. Whenever we had questions, they were ready with straightforward answers that were proactive, answering our follow-up questions without us having to ask. They were always a step ahead of us in working everything out. They thoughtfully accommodated all of the special situations that accompanied us, and went out of their way to make everything work out just perfectly. The safari itself was a dream come true. We had been planning to do something like this for many years, so we had plenty of imaginative ideas about how great a safari should be, but our experiences with Ryan and Thale far exceeded them all. Every detail of the safari was perfectly planned. Ryan and Thale work together extremely well and make everything happen just like it should. Our days were organized as efficiently as possible, to maximize the amount of time we could spend on game drives. It’s hard to imagine a bush guide that could be more knowledgeable than Ryan. He’s got an incredible knack for finding animals. He knows how they think and behave, and his explanations are both amazing and easy to understand. He understands how the “bush” works; how all of the plants, trees, insects, and animals are interrelated. We were spell-bound by everything he had to tell us. There was nothing we could ask him that he couldn’t explain to us perfectly well. You’d expect that the Kruger Park guides would be even more amazing, but that’s not the case; Ryan out-shined them all. The accommodations were great. We spent some evenings in tents, one night in a bird hide, and some evenings in bungalows. The food was terrific. Thale’s cooking expertise really showed in the evening meals. Everything was cooked over an open fire, and we enjoyed long conversations over delicious suppers. Even though they were the tour operators and we were the guests, most of the time it just felt like we were camping together as friends. Beyond the safari, Ryan and Thale helped us plan the extra time we had available in Johannesburg. They arranged for some extra tours, accompanied us at meals, and even had us to their own home for meals and to meet their family and friends. If we ever go back to South Africa, it’s a slam dunk that we’ll be signing up for another tour with Ryan and Thale.

Karl & Martha Kirkman

Reviews of wild planet safari — SafariFind | SafariFind

Explore

Partners

Company