ellene

I am starting to plan a safari to south Africa for next year, and looking for travel agent suggestions.

traci_local_in_sa

Don't know if you are looking for someone local or not, but I can highly recommend Simone Paterson at Pentravel ([email protected]). You have the advantages of a big travel group, and Simone moved heaven and earth last year to get us the most amazing deal.

mjulius1

If you are looking for someone in the U. S., I highly recommend Tamsin and Cooke, a small, specialized travel company. Bill Allpress, who is originally from Zimbabwe, planned a wonderful safari for us this past November. He will spend the time needed to find out about you and what you like and dislike, and will plan accordingly. Also, he seems to have an intimate knowledge of virtually all the camps in southern Africa, which is a big plus.

thit_cho

For two of my safaris to South Africa, I worked with Mark at Taga Safaris (www.tagasafaris.co.za)

He was great -- not only was he an invaluable resource with an encyclopedic knowledge of parks and lodges, he came up with an incredible itinerary at a very reasonable price, much lower than I was quoted by US operators.

Michael

azrat

Greenlife eco-tours S.A. website is
e-gnu.com. Use the online planner just for ideas and submit, they actually respond. have fun

Kavey

Ellene
Where are you based and are you after an agent in your home country or in SA itself?
I ask because, generally speaking, most agents are able to offer best deals to their fellow country men because they have deals on flights from their country to the destination. They don't often have deals set up on flights from elsewhere to the destination country.
This is what I was told by a wonderful American agent who was kind enough to give me some advice on my itinerary but also say upfront that he would not be able to price match a UK agent (I'm in the UK) because if the flights issue.
The UK agent I'd recommend would be Steppes Africa who were more patient and generous with their time than I could ever have expected.
Kavey

jcasale

I just got done planning a 2 week trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. I dealt with several people who were quite good as I was narrowing things down. The one I booked with due to willingness to give us exactly what we wanted and overall good prices was Rikke Williams at go2africa.com. We were very particular with what we wanted and didn't want to break the bank. We haven't actually gone yet, but I am confident that the trip will be everything we have hoped for. She even got a really good deal on business class airfare for my parents. If you contact her tell her you heard about her from the Casale's. She is in Cape Town, so I typically e-mailed her in the afternoon and by the next morning there was a reply.