1 independent reviews for Kruger & coast holiday in South Africa
Reviews for Kruger & coast holiday in South Africa
Ellen Kinsley review 25 Mar 2025
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Camping in the national parks was a memorable experience, I loved hearing the insects chirping and squeaking through the night. Meeting the Black Mambas was amazing, I had read about them years ago and it was fantastic to meet them in person and hear their stories. We were very lucky with the animals we saw - all of the "big 5", four of the "ugly 5" and two of the "little 5", plus many more beautiful animals. The night drive at Kruger was wonderful, an opportunity not to be missed.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
You don't necessarily need everything on the kit list - make your own judgement and save valuable space in your luggage. Bring some padlocks: for the lockers in the truck and for keeping baboons out of your tent! Bring a variety of charger wires as some may not work in the truck. Bring plug adaptors to make use of electricity in the campsites. Be prepared for early starts and not much down time It's worth considering the single supplement for the tent in order to have more space, especially in the hot weather.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I feel the holiday supported conservation to some degree through supporting the Black Mambas. It wasn't evident that there was an intention to reduce environmental impacts as this wasn't discussed, and we were given plastic bottles of water by some of the guided tours that were used. They could have built in more opportunities to support local people, e.g. through stopping at local cafes/kiosks/fruit sellers/craftspeople, rather than supermarkets and retail parks.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
I had a great experience camping in the national parks and I'm really glad I went on this trip. The crew worked well together and our cook in particular was great fun and made the trip very enjoyable. We were well fed and vegetarian alternatives were made e.g. veg curry, veg pasta salad, bean patties. The structured approach and emphasis on precise timings gave a "school trip" feel at times, which might not suit those who prefer a more flexible approach. But I would recommend this trip as a good way to see several wildlife destinations in a short time, especially for people travelling solo as it provides safety and companionship.Read the operator's response here:
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and review following your travels with us! We passionately believe that businesses have a responsibility to take consistent action to minimise environmental impact, conservation efforts and contribute to limiting global warming to 1.5C in the next decade. Businesses need to be part of the solution, and that is our commitment. As part of our Carbon Management Program, (we measure our electricity, gas, paper waste, flight emissions; aim to reduce and be more resource efficient and then offset the rest). We offset the carbon emissions from our global business offices and the emission created on our trips. Through these offsets, significant monetary contributions are made on behalf of our business, suppliers, staff and travellers to internationally certified carbon abatement projects.
We also aim to minimise the carbon emissions on our trips as much as we can by (not limited to) the following:
o engaging locally owned and operated services, thus avoiding use of long, carbon-intensive supply chains
o use local public transport wherever possible, and particularly minimise the use of flights within itineraries, and
o include and encourage locally produced food and goods which reduces the energy consumed by production and transport of food and goods
For some destinations and itineraries it can be more difficult to implement these, for example - some local suppliers might rely on an income stream from selling plastic water bottles, or public transport options may not be available to service the itinerary, making it quite a complex issue. It is difficulties like this that make our other efforts an important part of our approach.
We have also recently launched ‘carbon labels’ for our trips, which reflect the carbon emissions produced per person per day. The aim of these is to educate our travellers about their impact, and encourage low-carbon options where possible.
Thank you for specifically highlighting that you feel we could support local businesses more on this itinerary, I have shared this feedback with the relevant teams to consider.
I hope this helps highlight how important environmentally responsible and sustainable travel is to us.
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