Hi,

Does anyone have recommendations for good tour operators in South Africa? I am interested in reputable tour operators going to Kruger NP from Johannesburg and also those going to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi and/or iSimangaliso from Durban.

Thank you in advance for your help.

I give Southern Destinations my highest recommendation; I used them for a trip in 2007 to SA, Botswana, Zambia.

They cover the entire region and are based in Capetown. Outstanding.

http://www.southerndestinations.com/

We used go2africa.com and they put together a fabulous trip for us. I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see and they didn't try to sell me on somewhere else. We worked with Rikke, but I have talked to other people who used them and it appears that everyone there is very good. What was nice was that when we got to Cape Town we discovered that our boat and shark tour for the next day had been cancelled due to bad weather and we called Rikke to see if we could swap some days and she was able to get our Cape of Good Hope driver switched with the sharks tour.

I use www.naturalmigrationss.com-Paul Swart, and he is over the top with customer service and making sure all goes
smoothly. He can coordinate drivers for you in Capetown, or other city locations. His real niche is in safaris in Southern Africa. Good luck, you have found the right place for help.

www.naturalmigrations.com is the correct spelling, sorry.

Thank you, everyone, for your assistance. I will check out these links. Really appreciate it.

When you contact SouthernDestinations (they have an 800 number for calls from the US, or you can e-mail), ask for Liesl Matthews.

Her direct e-mail is:

[email protected]

I just cannot tell you how wonderful Liesl and her team were in planning our trip in 2007. I knew next to nothing about travel to Southern Africa and we were a bit late in planning. Liesl attended to every detail and every one of my million questions both before the trip and while we were in Africa. She even took us out for a terrific lunch when we were in CapeTown!

I did write a (sadly incomplete) report about my trip which you can read here:


http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...lsbotswana.cfm

If you want a company based in Chicago try

www.eyesonafrica.net

We've used them and they've been recommended by others here.

ekscruchy, you sure do get around!

ekscruchy, you sure do get around!

Contact Tanya at Africa Direct - their website is www.africadirect.co.za - they've arranged each and every safari I've ever been on (and that's quite a few).

Hi SLChicago, we've used Xo Africa and the service was just outstanding (it was recommended by friends) Their website: www.xoafrica.com. Enjoy South Africa!

This may be a little late, but in 2007, we used Naked Wilderness Africa and worked with the owner Fred and we had a fantastic 15 day safari planned to my wants and desires. There were no hitches the entire trip and he even surprised us on the last night and took us to Carnivores for dinner. We communicated by email the whole time as he is in Nairobi and he worked very hard to help me make a custom itinerary that was so perfect. If you want more info on my itinerary or etc, please let me know. We were in Kenya/Tanzania and mostly flew between camps.

The OP is asking about South Africa.

I have just been doing (alot!) of research for a safari in South Africa and accidently came across Tanya at Africa Direct. http://www.africadirect.co.za/ She is absolutely wonderful. She has personally been to practically all of the lodges numerous times and can give great details and advice. I compared her offers to other tour operators and she gave me a much better offer than the other tour operators. She was extremely patient answering all of my numerous questions and helping me find the safari that best suits my needs at the best price possible.

I can also recommend Tanya from Africa Direct. They are a solid competitor of ours and she has excellent knowledge of most of the game lodges in South Africa. They are not a ground operator with their own vehicles - they act as booking agent for various game lodges.
Onne from Wild Wings Safaris

Hi all

As someone who has used Africa Direct extensively, I can just add that Tanya does not ONLY have excellent knowledge of the safari destinations in South Africa, but rather SOUTHERN Africa. Apart from that, all transfers etc. that she has ever arranged for us was with reputable operators and we've never experienced a single problem.

Best wishes

I can also recommend Tanya from Africa Direct
www.kimssouthafrica.blogspot.com

I can also highly recommend Liesl at Southern Destinations. SHE REALLY IS THE BEST!
I am in the process of planning our trip now and she is really wonderful.

As the previous poster stated, she answers each and every question and i have a LOT of questions since this our first visit to SA.

Eurozulu are experts in Hluhluw/Mfolozi area and you can't go wrong with them either, they also come highly recommended on the SA Trip advisor Forum. http://www.eurozulu.com/

www.kimssouthafrica.blogspot.com