Kruger, Eswatini and South Africa's Garden Route

Our trip leader Samantha was outsanding and went above and beyond in making sure everyone had a great time and everyone's needs were taken care of. She was attentive, energetic, caring, knowledgeable and funny! She really made our trip that much more amazing!

The trip was full on, especially the Kruger, Eswatini section of our itinerary. The optional extra trip to iSimangaliso Wetland Park was a disappointment, as we raced thru the park to arrive at the beach to sit with nothing to do, as beach not suitable for swimming, for 2 hours waiting for a Braai. Then raced back as other clients (not Explore) had to be back an hour earlier than the stated finish time. No discount was offered. I would suggest just doing the Wetland Drive without the Beach option. The Garden Route was slightly less busy but a great trip, not to be missed. The animals and wild flowers were excellent. The biggest downside to the holiday was the inappropriate vehicle for a group of 16. The rear side seats had no windows, very few windows opened, and Air con was non existent.. I would think by the amount of bad reviews on Explore’s transport (for this trip) they would have reviewed and corrected this issue.

South Africa is an amazing country with its vast natural beauty in the south and the amazing wildlife in many parts. Our tour had unseasonably cold weather for two thirds of the trip. I am not rating the tour negatively for the weather, I am simply stating this as a warning for future travelers to be prepared for all types of weather. The weather finally warmed up on the day we (my spouse and me) left SA. The beginning saw a few days of perfect mild weather, after which I had to purchase winter apparel. As was expected there were long travel periods in northern SA but there were many appreciated stops/breaks. On the first half of the 21 day tour we had Andrew as a guide. He was top notch, very experienced and professional. It was not until half way through the tour that I realized Andrew was driving a bus with manual transmission. His switching of gears was very smooth. The one part of this tour I would recommend leaving out is the stop at the battle field of the war of 1838 in Zululand. The presenter droned on in too much detail and the stop added two hours onto our otherwise 8 hour drive. The game drives were top notch and very informative. Plus we saw all of the big five within 3 game drives and wild dogs which is very rare. Months go by without sitings of wild dogs. On the second part of our trip we had a guide who was aggressive shifting the manual vehicle and was not concerned with our comfort. Also he was a chain smoker so we had way too many stops so that he could smoke. He had a wealth of knowledge but he did not consistently follow the itinerary and did this without discussion with the group. The lodging was better than anticipated throughout the trip. The only complaint was at Storm River Tsitsikamma National Park where the temperature was near freezing but our unit did not have heat. The highlights were the game drives, the hike at Cape of Good Hope, the penguins at Betty's Bay, the hike at Robberg National Park and the botanic gardens in Cape Town (optional activity).

Chantel was tour guide on second part of trip - she was outstanding

Even though 18 could go on this trip I think 16 should be the maximum