Dear Lauren, 

Everything about our South African adventure was fantastic and memorable.  Starting with our pickup and drive from the airport to Motswari, which was a fun way to start to see animals in the National Park.  The staff at Motswari were warm, full of energy, attentive, and always helpful. We loved talking with the staff as we were waiting for dinner or sitting in the open-air community room. We enjoyed spending time during our breaks overlooking the river and all the animals that came to peacefully drink at the water's edge.

The food was outstanding and plentiful.  We loved the singing and joy the staff had in presenting the meals.

The safaris were so amazing that it's hard to put into words how much we enjoyed them.  Our driver and tracker were so knowledgeable.  We saw so many animals, and even though we went on 10 safaris, every day we saw several new species of animals. 

I appreciated the fact that connectivity was limited, as it was a good way to ensure we just disengaged and enjoyed our time.

We are very appreciative of all you did to make this a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us.  Starting with your first communication, you provided outstanding service, and your follow-through was exemplary.  Your notes and communications throughout our trip preparation and during the trip made us feel confident that we were going to have a great time... and we certainly did.

I'm so glad you were able to get us into the Motswari.  We are considering returning in the next 1-2 years, and it's all because of your help and the great time we had at the Motswari.

Thank You for everything you did to make our trip so memorable.  You are our friend for life.

Hello Lauren,

We are done with Kruger and on our way back to the airport. We had an amazing time with Nicky. She is amazing and really enjoyed her depth of knowledge about the animals and the birds and also the food that she cooked. So glad we chose Wild Wings Safaris for this tour. Thank you for your help.

Hi Clare

Our Botswana trip was more than we dreamed of!! It was exceptional, so much so that when Michael, Gavin's eldest son, gets married, we will include a trip to Namibia and other parts of Botswana that we didn't get to.

Clare, you did a fabulous job of organising our itinerary together with Desert and Delta. It was a great mix of land safari, water safari (including the walking safari) and the safari in the semi-desert, including the night out on the salt pan, which was unbelievable!

Of course, we met many other safari travellers and shared our stories. A number of them had been to Savuti and raved about the different and amount of game they saw and the kills. It seems a popular game lodge, so maybe it was fully booked by the time we contacted you to arrange our trip, or Savuti may not have fitted in with our itinerary. We will definitely visit it on our next trip.

The morning we arrived at Leroo La Tau, we were the only guests there, with a few guests arriving later that day. It was weird having lunch by ourselves (maybe our guide Ollie joined us, I can't remember), and, of course, there was very little atmosphere at that point. However, that changed in the evening when there were 8 of us. Our room (no. 10) overlooked the waterhole, but the water stopped outside room no. 8. We did ask if we could move rooms. They could only offer us room no. 6 for our 3rd night. As that first day progressed, we realised room 10 was not so bad as the elephants came to that end of the waterhole to enjoy the mud and sand bath, so we decided we would stay. We believe it was a good decision.

Baba, our guide at Camp Moremi, was incredible!! The staff at the other lodges knew him 😊. He was a guide to 6 of us, and within the first hour or so, he worked us all out pretty quickly, so much so that he allowed an older elephant to come right up to our jeep and let its trunk have a good sniff around and sniff certain people, including Franco, without any of us freaking out! He also knew how to read the other animals very well and knew when it was time to get out of the way of a trumpeting elephant mum with her baby! He had a great sense of humour too.

Joe, our guide at Xugana, was very good too, as was Ollie at Leroo La Tau.

The sleep-out at the salt pan, as we said, was an amazing experience. We are so pleased we did it. It is certainly worth the 4-hour trip both ways. We felt very honoured that the team who set up for our night – Reuben and Monare went to so much trouble to make our stay unforgettable. They cooked us a delicious dinner and breakfast, and we enjoyed chatting with them and Ollie around the campfire before retiring to our "bedroom😊" for the night. We were very warm under the stars and had a fantastic night's sleep. Ollie was very good at making conversation with us as we spent a lot of time with him over the 3 days, and we were his only guests except for the last game drive after we arrived back from the salt pan. We realised the guides need to know a lot of information regarding the politics of Botswana, the different stars in the galaxy, the different game, the bush, etc.

The agent from Desert and Delta who met us when we arrived and left Maun Airport was terrific too. I think her name is Promise or Precious. She had our soft bags and showed us where to pack them, and on our return, she had the map for us.

We were fortunate to meet Ernest (Erny), the assistant manager of Desert and Delta. He was on our flight from Maun to Moremi, which was great as he made decisions for the 6 of us on our flight to go to a restaurant outside the airport to have drinks and food (although the food arrived too late) after our flight was aborted on the runway as the brakes had failed. It didn't take too long to get another plane and pilot before we were in the air on our way to Moremi. The delay meant we didn't have time for the afternoon game drive, but we managed to see some game between the airstrip and Camp Moremi. Erny was working with the staff at Camp Moremi the whole time we were there, and then we "bumped" into him when he was visiting his in-laws at the village outside Leroo La Tau, which I am sure was arranged!! Erny was a great guy, and we enjoyed our conversations with him too.

I think we stayed the right number of days at each lodge. 3 nights at Leroo La Tau we feel would have been too long if we hadn't visited the salt pan.

Gosh, there is a lot in our email here, Clare, but I hope it is beneficial to you, your team and future guests.

Thanks again for arranging the fruit basket and wine at Camp Moremi and Xugana – that was very special.

Afternoon Ilaria,

We had the best time on safari - hands down one of the best trips and experiences we've had. The pickup/transfer with the external company and then Wild Wings Safaris into the park was super smooth, as was the trip back to J’burg for us on the transfer bus for our evening flight.

The safari itself was exceptional - we felt 4 days was perfect for us - we were really fortunate to see the whole magnificent 7, and the way the guides communicate with each other to help ensure that all clients get a great experience in the park was fantastic. As you know we were the only people on our safari and the experience of having Rufus to ourselves and timings/locations, then being entirely flexible was excellent - we were surprised at how little free time we had by the time we'd been out on a drive, detoured to various sightings and then popped back for a brief lunch, before back out again and home for dinner.

Accommodation was simple (as described) but perfectly clean and serviceable for what we needed. Rufus cooked for us each evening, and this was also great - plenty of tasty and varied food. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Rufus and sitting with him. Both of us were astonished at how nice ostrich was and the meals Rufus made were delicious, with us still having a few hours in the evening before sleeping ready for the next day.

A really fabulous trip with great communication and smooth pick up/organising. We would (and already have!) recommend you to friends/family as a fantastic tour provider.

Thank you so much for your help and organisation along the way!

Hello Clare!

Our trip was WONDERFUL! Our 4th time in Africa for safaris……..we love them all!

This was our first time having Wild Wings arrange everything for us. I must say…….it’s pretty easy when you do all the work. Everything was seamless. Every pickup and transfer. All went smoothly with no glitches. Everywhere we went, people were friendly and welcoming. In summary, we were very pleased with our entire trip. Thank you, Clare, for all your work and for making our trip so special. If we ever return to Africa, we will not hesitate to reach out to you.

Hi Clare,

Thank you so much for helping us plan a trip of a lifetime!! Every aspect of this trip was extraordinary!!! The details were impeccable!!

Each driver we had was so kind and helpful. Our driver, Ryan, who picked us up and drove us on our wine tour, was friendly, engaging and an excellent driver. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with him!

Ohhhh, and Arathusa ❤️❤️❤️ was a beautiful lodge, we did get a water-facing suite which we were very excited about, excellent service, friendly staff, great food and entertainment. Our guide, Debeer, and tracker, Ishmael, were just the best, very knowledgeable and fun! We saw The Big 5 and soooo much more, including a honey badger and a pack of African Wild Dog puppies!! I had an awesome massage with Winnie; she is a gem of a person, and we loved hearing story time from sweet Ronnie, who was very attentive to our needs at every meal. The first day we arrived a bit late for our safari drive, but Amen had made us some delicious sandwiches and brought them to our room with two bottles of wine; we really appreciated his kindness. One morning after our game drive, the staff had a beautiful breakfast set up out in an opening in the bush. It was beautiful to ride up to this incredible site! So very special! We just can't say enough great things about Arathusa!

The Commodore Hotel was charming; we really enjoyed the view and location. Staff were friendly and the breakfast was always good! It was a good hotel choice for us! We booked a couple of tours on our own through Viator, which worked out very nicely.

Thank you again, Clare, for planning this awesome trip for us! We highly recommend you and Wild Wings Safaris! Excellent job!

Hi Clare,

I'm home and settling back into my routine. Thank you for your email and for orchestrating this fantastic trip. I had an amazing time, and it wouldn't have been possible without you and your team.

Caz made Cape Town a dream come true. She was knowledgeable, friendly, hilarious, and prompt. She was attentive and listened to my wants and needs, and then made sure they were fulfilled. She made sure I got to see all the things I wanted to and taught me so much history about the area. I will continue to recommend your team (especially Caz) to anyone looking to visit the area. I also plan to use you all for my next African adventure.

Although quirky at times, Simon was a great host, guide, and chef. He, too, was knowledgeable and skilled in his profession. Because of his skills, we were able to see all the animals we set out to see. I still don't understand how he has time to sleep because he is always catering to his guests.

I really don't have any complaints other than having warmer weather during morning game drives. However, you and the team gave fair warning about the temperatures, so thank you for that.

Again, I'll never forget this trip and look forward to working with you in the future.

Hi Clare,

It was simply an amazing experience. One of the best weeks of my life! Communication from yourself was excellent, always quick to respond, accommodating and giving great information and making the whole process easy. The pick-up was on time, even if we quite weren't!

Nicky, our guide, was unbelievably knowledgeable and really easy to get on with. She was very clearly ensuring we had the best time we could. She was awesome, ensuring we got some great sightings and some pretty incredible full-on ones too! Always able to get the vehicle in the best position to ensure we could all see. Not sure where she gets her energy from... Even better for me, I'm a keen photographer and so is Nicky!

The cook, Riana, kept us well-fed with fantastic food. Even the early starts were no problem due to the excitement of the day ahead! My 20-year-old son, who is not the best at getting up before midday, was up on time, just...! The accommodation was lovely, but we didn't spend very long there!

We all loved it, and I highly recommend Wild Wings to anyone going on a safari.

Thank you!

Dear Lauren

The trip was amazing!

The pickup and drop-off worked perfectly, everyone was very punctual. When we arrived in Hazyview, Emanuel was already waiting for us. Emanuel was an awesome guide; he was really motivated and told us so many things. He really went the extra mile, and we saw and learned a lot. He had a great program planned for us, and we even saw the rhinos that are really hard to spot. We saw so many different animals! The only animals we missed were the leopards (I saw one running away for a sec) and the cheetahs. Apart from that, we saw almost all the animals that even exist in the park.

We really enjoyed our time with Emanuel, you could really feel that the animals are his passion. He was also very open to our inputs, and he let us decide on the program and how long we wanted to stay on a game drive, etc. We had so many interesting discussions with him, also regarding life in SA in general.

I would absolutely recommend it to everyone, it was especially awesome that we had the car for ourselves so we would switch sides whenever there was a sighting. So many other cars were filled with a lot of people, so that is a huge advantage. We also loved, that we had the same guide for all the days and game drives, so we could get to know each other quite a bit.

The accommodation was also nice, cleaned daily. Only thing that we noticed was that there is no WiFi, not a problem for us, as we had a SA Sim, but might be good no mention for some people that depend on it. In the restaurants, there was WiFi.

The food was also great, we went to a lot of different restaurants and places, depending on the location of the game drive. So we were able to see a lot of different places and eat different food too.

Overall, 10/10 experience!

Thanks a lot for the great organisation!

Hi Clare

We had the time of our lives, the working with wildlife trip was 10/10. The hosts were fabulous and every day was a new adventure. The accommodation was beautiful, lovely to sit on our deck and watch for wildlife. The food was so good and varied and our trips out mornings and late afternoons were always a surprise as we never knew what we'd see or do which was amazing. We have fallen in love with Africa and will definitely be back. Big thanks to our hosts Gary and Edyta. Their love for what they do shows all around. We will miss them and their dogs.

Our transfers were brilliant, we had two stops along the way and our driver Matthew was so friendly and helpful with suggestions from where to grab the best coffee to our bathroom breaks. Fantastic driver.

As always, Clare, your help and guidance has been faultless, so nice to know you are always there to help with any questions we have and with Wild Wings we know we are in good hands.

Thanks very much.

Thanks Clare! It was amazing. Simon and Emmanuel were awesome guides. Our whole group had a great time! I will be recommending Wild Wings to all my friends!

Hi Clare,

We had an amazing trip!! You made everything super easy and were a dream to work with. You explained everything and made sure all the details were covered. Thank you!!

Simon was a terrific guide for our Kruger Park portion. He helped us have some amazing views and encounters at Kruger. His meals were top-notch. Very fun guy to tour around Kruger Park with; we were always laughing. He even surprised my parents with some champagne to help celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The transport and lodging were very comfortable. The family lodging was nice as we could all share time together but still have our own rooms.

Our time at Kambaku was magical. My parents and kids were blown away by the level of service, as well as the accommodations. Having an adjoining room with the kids was a nice surprise! My husband and I had a nice private room, but, we were still close enough to the kids to feel comfortable. The kids loved the "kids club" and got to go out on their own game drive and cast lion prints to take home (very cool). The meals here were 5-star, we even got to experience a bush dinner (one of our favorite experiences). Savannah and Sharon (managers) welcomed us, and made us feel like family. Our guide and tracker (Aidan and Moses) ensured we had some once-in-a-lifetime encounters on our game drives. They were quite knowledgeable and answered every question my kids had (and they had a lot LOL).

Overall, this was an 11/10 experience!! Every day brought some new experience and we always felt safe and cared for. Thank you for helping us have a magical holiday.

Dear Mike, 

We don't have enough words to thank you. Thank you for everything: the excellent communication before our trip, your organization, and, above all, for sharing Nicky's passion for Kruger National Park with us.

It wasn't just about seeing the wildlife—although we were fortunate enough to see so much. What made this trip truly special was sharing those few days with Nicky. It was an experience that will stay with us for a very long time, and one that we are still talking and thinking about.

Despite the challenges caused by my wife's reduced mobility, we were able to complete the trip, and we enjoyed every single day.

Once again, thank you for everything. Please give Nicky a big hug from all of us.

Our next destination: Namibia!

We'll be in touch again in a few months to start planning it.

Hi Lauren, 

From start to finish, we thought this was one of the best travel experiences we've ever had.

Appreciate that you've been exceptionally responsive and thorough with the planning. Thanks for replying quickly to every email and query, and making sure our needs were taken care of from the very first conversation until we landed back home in Singapore. I really appreciated how you've consistently checked in on our travel status and experience throughout the trip - a rare level of care compared to many agencies that go quiet after payment. Having someone so attentive behind the scenes gave us real peace of mind.

At Ivory Wilderness River Rock Lodge, the staff were incredibly friendly and hospitable. We felt genuinely looked after - even calling our safari guide back from the drive so we wouldn't miss the afternoon outing after arriving just a bit late. They also accommodated our food requests and surprised us with beautiful honeymoon decorations in our room, which was such a thoughtful touch.

Our safari guide also deserves special mention. She was kind enough to return for us, worked tirelessly to find the animals we hoped to see, and was a wealth of knowledge - easy to talk to and clearly passionate about the bush. One standout moment was her navigating through rough, thorny tracks after dark to help us catch a rare sighting of a leopard. We didn't manage to see it in the end as it was getting too dangerous, but we really appreciated her effort.

All in, the combination of meticulous planning, heartfelt service, and extraordinary guiding made this safari truly outstanding. We left with full hearts, wonderful photos, and immense gratitude for everyone who made it happen. Highly recommended. :)

Ilaria

Thanks for your email. We are now safely back from South Africa and adjusting to the cold and rain!

We continue to think that the 5-day Best of Kruger safari is the best safari we have done. We saw the Big 5 on all 3 trips, and the Magnificent 7 (with the addition of cheetah and wild dogs) on 2 of them. The guides were all excellent, seemingly always in the right place at just the right time, with Simon and Nicky in particular showing their passion for the bush and getting us in just the right place for the perfect photo.

The SAN Parks accommodation in Skukuza and Satara is perfectly adequate and suits our requirements (we don't need more than 3-star accommodation). That said, experiencing the refurbished accommodation at Skukuza on the trip with Nicky was a treat!

The Perry's Bridge Hotel was excellent, with very helpful staff and good breakfast options at Kuka Restaurant.

We found that linking 3 5-day trips worked well, giving us one night after each short trip to reset (lie in, do some washing, and rest) before embarking on the next trip. If you were ever to offer a 6-night group tour, with 3 nights in each of Skukuza and Satara, we would be interested.  

As you know, we are doing 2 more 5-day safaris in October, and are planning another trip in May next year, so we will shortly be back in touch to book some more!

Dearest Clare

Our stay at Thabamati at the beginning of December last year was exceptional! I could not have asked for better hospitality. The lodge, the private experience, with only the four luxury tents and a few guests, was everything I could wish for my 60th. Thank you for suggesting it to us and making all the arrangements to ensure a glitch-free trip.

We saw beautiful wildlife, both on our game drives and from the deck at the lodge, and have never seen the Kruger region as green as during our visit! It was a truly unforgettable experience.

Unfortunately, Barnie became very ill on the second day of our stay. Our hosts were very compassionate and did everything they could to make him as comfortable as possible. Even the transfer company were champions. We were taken to the Hoedspruit Mediclinic instead of the airport, and overnight accommodation and additional transfers to the airport the following day were arranged. Everyone was extremely helpful and caring.

Thanks again for helping us find this beautiful place and making our stay such a special experience in spite of a few humps in the road.

Hi Lauren,

The safari was absolutely amazing!!! Legitimately one of the biggest highlights of our trip to South Africa!

The arrangements were great. The transfers from the hotel in Johannesburg to Kruger and back were smooth and easy. Once we were there, our tour guide Steff was incredible. He was SO knowledgeable and personable. We loved getting to know him and hearing his countless stories about "The Bush"! Steff truly went above and beyond in everything that he did. The huts in camp were simple, but sufficient for the nights! One of the biggest highlights for us was getting up early both mornings to go watch the sunrise. It felt like a spiritual experience getting to be out there, in the middle of Kruger, at the break of dawn. Truly something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

The only thing that we talked about that would have been awesome is to have a more traditional meal cooked at the campground. We know that because our trip was just the 2 of us on the Safari, that may have been tougher. But cooking a traditional meal at the campgrounds instead of going to the restaurant both nights would have been an awesome experience. However, the meals each day were delicious!

Overall, we loved the experience and will suggest it to all our friends! We have attached some photos for you to see! Thank you again for all of your help with us on this trip. We really, really appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!