South Africa Highlights & Safari Reviews

5 Rating 161 Reviews

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smarTours is a leading provider of direct-to-consumer, affordable travel experiences to exotic global destinations. The Company offers travelers curated, pre-packaged itineraries to over 50 destinations across the globe. By offering tours directly to consumers, the Company provides premium-quality experiences at value prices, and as a result, has cultivated a highly passionate and loyal community of repeat travelers. More than 200,000 travelers have taken a smarTours trip since the founding of the Company in 1996. smarTours is… the smarter way to see the world.

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“A wonderful trip of a lifetime. Our guide Ron McGregor made the trip so stressfree with his super organizing skills and telling us the history of the country while we were on the buses.The safaris through Kruger Park and Zululand were wonderful seeing the Big 5 each time.This was our first trip with Smart Tours and we will try them again as we truly thought for the money they offer great service.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Every trip I take is good, but South Africa was extraordinary. Its hard to describe the thrill of being up close and personal to the wild animals. The numerous safaris were amazing. Our guide Ron, was knowledgeable, interesting and helpful; accommodations and food were good; and we saw everything that I had hoped to see plus many I didn't expect to. The trip of a lifetime.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Wonderful trip! Jeremy Poole was a great guide, very informative and organized. Saw the Big 5 and much more. Loved the penguin colony, petting the cheetahs, walking with lions, helicopter ride over Victoria Falls. Especially enjoyed my upgraded loft at Victoria Falls with a view of the waterhole!”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Having traveled quite a lot, but never with a group of 40, the size of the group was my biggest concern. It turned out not to be an issue. All of the people on our tour were friendly, and polite and our guide Shaun made sure they were always on time. The guide was well informed, flexible and helpful. The accommodations were consistently good particularly the location in Kruger and Victoria Falls. The only exception would be the hotel in Swaziland, which was far below my expectations. Although I do not like buffets generally, they were quite consistently good, with many options, including fresh fruits and vegetables. The meal that was below expectations was the "going away dinner." Although described as a special African meal in the Smartours literature it was actually a very basic mediocre buffet. The extension to Victoria Falls was very good. It could have been better if our guide was able to continue with us for the extension. The fact that the flight from Cape Town to Durban was not direct was disappointing. Overall the itinerary was excellent and provided a great overview of culture as well as plenty of safari time.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“The tour director was knowledgeable and interesting and the safaris and animals were fascinating. We stayed in two amazing hotels in Cape Town and Kruger Park. The guide offered optional tours which were definitely worth it, and reasonably priced. The guide managed a large group well, and my only complaint is beware the early wakeups. Meals were also excellent and the guide gave us much needed advice at each stop. The scenery was magnificent. A trip of a lifetime.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Excellent guide with a wealth of information. First rate hotels. And, the animals cooperated!”

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Posted 8 years ago

“This trip was amazing. No other way to describe it. The 15-hour flight was completely worth it! Although it is definitely not a relaxing trip, it was beyond anything I had expected! I would recommend doing all of the optional tours (Cultural Heritage Tour, Winelands Tour, Chobe National Park Tour, & Robbens Island Tour- although ours was cancelled due to bad weather). The only complaint is that we stayed in Cape Town a bit too long and the night in Swaziland, I think, was unnecessary. I would say MORE SAFARIS! When in Kruger, ask your guide about the night safari! Food was delicious and super cheap! Another tip- bring a journal to write down names of animals! & bring lots of camera memory cards! :)”

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Posted 8 years ago

“This tour was fantastic! We explored a huge array of urban and nature landscapes, ate amazing food and saw incredible animals throughout the tour. Ron is an extremely well-spoken and knowledgeable tour director, and we came away from this tour both exhilarated at what we saw, and our eyes were also opened to the story of South Africa. The best parts of the tour, in our opinion, were: * The cultural tour in Cape Town, including meeting people in a township. * Safari drives in Kruger * The Walking with Lions tour near Pretoria (this could really be a non-optional tour...it was incredible to interact so closely with lions of different ages!) Our only constructive feedback is: * Provide better up-front information about the optional tours that will be offered. Very thorough information was provided during the tour, but it would great to have this information in advance so tour guests know the up-front total cost. * Provide at least 1-2 more opportunities throughout the tour for down-time. This is a high-intensity tour, which is great, since there is so much to see and learn! However, having 1-2 additional quiet afternoons with no optional tours would be great...a little extra sleep would make subsequent tours all the more pleasurable. This was the tour of a lifetime, and I will heartily recommend it to friends!”

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Posted 8 years ago