Kimkim Trip Reviews for South Africa

Lize did a good job. Some suggestions in hindsight:
At Victoria Falls, I recommend doing both sides of the falls. Pioneer Lodge is very good. The trip to Chobe is very good.
At Cape Town our guide Mario was very good.
Tangala--the tents have no heat. The sleeping and shower were accordingly very uncomfortable. Guests should be made aware of that before hand; we were not.
Elephant Plains is a great property, but the wi-fi is very limited to the bar area--nothing in the rooms. The quality of the wildlife viewing was good, but the quantity was lacking. The quantity at Chobe and Tangala was much greater.

Craig with Capey Tours in Capetown was amazing he made our trip even better with his knowledge of Capetown and fun personality

Eddy and Adolph at Chisomo went above and beyond to make our safari exciting and packed with a great variety of animals.

Lucy was so easy to work with on our entire trip and was very fast to respond to any query. I will definitely recommend Kimkim to family and friends our trip could not have been better short of staying another week.

Tafadzwa (Taf to us) Chindove was the generous genius that helped my family plan and execute our life changing trip to Southern Africa. It was the 50th anniversary of our marriage, the high school graduation of our oldest grandchild, the 15th wedding anniversary of one of our children and so much more to celebrate that the trip just had to be perfect. It exceeded all of sour expectations.

There were 22 of our family on that trip. My wife and I, all four of our kids and spouses and all of our grandchildren ranging in age from 5 to 18. All along the way there were fascinating things for all of us to see and do. We had dinner in a world class restaurant on a Cape Town mountain top with great child care we got to interview ahead of time, we saw the good the bad and the ugly of Soweto, the creation wonder of the Kruger complex including 43 species we counted of animals including all of the “big 5” at Kapama reserve, the Victoria Falls in full bloom, and had dinner on a 19th century luxury steam train on our 50th in Zambia.

Everywhere we stayed we saw the magnificence of Africa. And Taf was right there the whole time. We modified things along the way and she was right there to pave the way. She arranged medical visits to out hotel when testing for travel to Zimbabwe was required, handled small issues of time changes and large matters of air flights with coolness and professionalism.

Taf and her team are all 5 star as far as my family are concerned and all of the adults are professionals used to efficiency and competency and in KIMKIM and Taf we found that in excess. We will always remember our days in Southern Africa and if we ever get the opportunity to return to this sweet land you can bet we will be in touch with Taf before all else.

Taf and her company Salty Travel are amount the best of the best and is affiliated with KIMKIM travel as the consultant for South Africa. We really trust KIMKIM. When traveling in the first world we often plan our own trips though we consult with KIMKIM on diversions into the second or third world areas, or on hard to reach or time constricted travel. We used them to plan trips to Turkey, last fall to Egypt and now to Africa. They are just the best. Period

Our trip was absolutely fantastic! IT was 2 weeks and we did so much. There were a few activities that had to change and we received communication way ahead of time. This is the second time I have used Kimkim Travel for trips and I will continue to use them. I was so please with how Lucy stayed in touch and responded quickly. This trip was only my youngest son and myself. We will be taking the entire family back after such a wonderful time we had. We WILL be contacting Lucy through KimKim.com again! We had a very detailed itinerary with rest days and were able to move things around if needed.

I loved the people in South Africa. I felt at home everywhere we went. I have way too many wonderful pictures, so picking one for this is NOT easy.

The trip was fantastic. The suggestions were very good. We started communicating last minute with very little time left before our departure to cape town.
We didn't figure out the Kruger Safari and we are glad that we connected with Lize and booked our Kruger Safari experience and the Shark cage diving day trip through her.

She is super helpful, knowledgable and our go to person for another trip to SA in future.
Thank you Lize once again, you are awesome!

Hotel Review

Elephant Plains Game Lodge

Bushbuckridge

Great hospitality, food and service. The staff is super nice, pleasing and fun! Everyone was so good. Highly recommended.

Tips for future travelers

None

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Shark Cage Diving

South Africa

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Days on Safari

South Africa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Deborah (AKA the Debz), was such a joy to work with. She coordinated travel for my honeymoon which included stops in Johannesburg, Cape Town, the Winelands, Chobe, Victoria Falls, Kruger and Zanzibar. A trip we coined "Beach Wine Safari." She answered all my questions, big and small, leading up to our trip. Deborah really listened to what we wanted to get out of the trip and made all our dreams come true. She is extremely knowledgeable. Additionally, throughout our trip she was immediately responsive. Setting expectations was very important to us and even though things do not always go as planned, we really had a seamless travel experience. We had the pleasure of meeting Deborah in person as well. She went above and beyond by using her personal contacts to ensure we had the best possible experience. I enthusiastically recommend her for all your Africa travel needs.

Our trip to South Africa was fantastic. We spent some time in Cape Town, drove the garden route, then stayed at Lions Sands for the safari experience. There has not been any major issues and we were very happy with the entire trip. Lize was very responsive and remained very flexible as we planned our trip. She is a professional and I enjoyed working with her. Our guide in Cape town, Rehanna was an outstanding guide, going above and beyond to ensure we had a great trip. We firmly believe our trip was that much better due to her passion and knowledge about South Africa.

There were some minor things I wasn't too happy about. Again, these are not anything major but because I am a detailed person, it bothered me. One could argue I should've caught all these ahead of time but I suppose I trusted that there won't be any surprises since, well, that's why I am paying someone from the area to plan it.

When we arrived and met with our guide, she told us there was a marathon going on the day we were supposed to go to Cape Peninsula. Because of the road closures, we would not be able to go on the designated day. However, thankfully she worked it out and we were still able to visit Cape Peninsula on a different day and get other tours in. A marathon is a well-planned event that should've already been identified when planning our trip. Also, when Lize asked about visiting the winery area, I told her no because my husband and I do not drink. However, Rehanna had a different opinion and told us it was well-worth the visit despite the fact that we don't drink wine. We trusted her and we were glad we did! It was such a beautiful area and she was able to get us in for an Easter lunch at Delaire graff restaurant with an excellent view. We lucked out because she knew someone there so we were still able to get in despite not having a reservation.

There were also some minor confusion with the costs and specific details in the plan. There were few times I had to ask about what was laid out on the plan and Lize had to assure me. For example, she did not provide what time we were supposed to meet our guide in Cape town. When I asked, she said it was in another section(?) of the plan. However, I did not see that in the plan nor was able to access it on my phone. In addition, the plan had stated what meals were covered. However, all the meals were covered at Lions Sands but on the plan, it stated breakfast only.

When we picked up the rental car, I was surprised to find there was an additional cost we owe for dropping the car off in another city. When I asked, Lize did provide me the rental car document and it sure did say it was not included. Hence, it was my fault for not reading the fine print. But in some ways, I felt like this should have been identified up front, not me having to read the fine print. Our entire trip was about $17K (excluding international airfare) so it wasn't so much about the cost itself; it was the fact that I was surprised. In addition, I was not informed of the additional cost that we would've incurred if the rental car company picked up the car from the hotel vs us dropping it off. Our flight was early and we did not know how far it was from one another. Lize did inform me before that there may be a cost but never came back and said what the cost was. I "assumed" there wasn't any cost. Again, another minor surprise. We ended up dropping the car off on our own because it was a very small airport so it was just a walking distance.

Prior to the trip, I asked who I'd contact if there were issues. Lize provided her number but told me nothing should go wrong. I was glad to have her number because the only other method I was able to contact her was through the email/Kimkim conversation. Since I am sure she has other clients, it took little longer for her to respond while we were in Africa.

I also looked up some places to visit on the garden route since Lize recommended we spend 3 days in Knysna. However, we realized all the places we visited were either prior to Knysna or past Knysna. I am not so sure if that was a good recommendation. Furthermore, we had to find our own what places to stop by in that area as it was never recommended prior to the trip. Again, we had to learn it once we got there but in my mind, isn't that the reason why we would hire someone local so he or she can share with us what they recommend vs what we read on google?

In addition, we did not know we had to drive on the other side of the road and the steering wheel was also on the other side. Lize told us many do drive on their own and it's easy. Yes, we did not have any major issues other than the fact that my husband struggled a little since he is left handed and I drove some of the way (my husband is usually the one who drives). I think it would've been good to know that ahead of time.

There were some other minor things that did irritate me a little but perhaps due to managing my expectations. In some ways, I am not sure if it was worth paying that much money to plan the trip esp since I am used to planning our trips and we've been to over 40 countries. To be fair, there were things that I am not aware of which I am sure Lize was able to work it out.

Again, those things mentioned above is very detailed, minor things I found that can be improved. Overall, Lize was great and pleasant to work with and our trip was definitely once in a lifetime trip that we will never forget. Devils are in the details so it was a good lesson learned on my end as well - not to assume and manage my expectations.

Will we use Kimkim again? Probably. But next time, I'd be more hands on and go through the plan with a fine tooth comb so there won't be any surprises :)

Deb was phenomenal! From the start, she was super communicative and eased us into the process of working with a travel agent, as we had never done so before. Every morning we would wake up to amazing updates that got us incredibly excited for our trip.

As she learned more about ourselves and what we wanted from our trip, she never batted an eye about making changes to our itinerary and even made suggestions about things that we never thought possible. When we were on the trip, we had a few hiccups (of our own doing) and Deb was right there with us making updates and helping us come up with a new plan of attack.

Deb, you have given us an experience that we will never forget. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such an amazing person, a stellar travel agent, and for having a gigantic heart. I can't wait to work with you again.

- Marc

Hotel Review

Ivory Wilderness River Rock Lodge

Hoedspruit

Ivory Wilderness was the highlight of my trip. The night tours, early morning treks, and being able to walk around the bush on foot was incredible. The food was delicious, the accommodations were perfect, the setting is unbeatable, and the crew that put the experience together treated me as though I was one of their life long friends. I could not have wished for a better time. Thank you so much!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

A Day in the Kruger Bush with Two Private Game Drives

South Africa

Amazing itinerary and client-focused service by Deb! The itinerary was fairly complex since we were visiting 4 countries, but the activity selection, local guide selection, accommodations, and the *numerous* transfers were all seamless. We are so happy with our trip, and could not have done it without flawless execution by Deb. She was also very mindful of our budget and we felt she maximized the experience and value based on what we had planned on spending. Also amazingly responsive during our vacation whenever we had questions.

Hotel Review

Ivory Wilderness River Rock Lodge

Hoedspruit

Great accommodations, *impeccable* hospitality, and Craig was an amazing safari guide! It was 100% the highlight of our trip.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Private reserve, and can view so many animals right from the lodge deck.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

E-biking Day Tour Stellenbosch to Franschhoek

South Africa

Beautiful way to experience Stellenbosch.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Deborah could not have been more perfect from start to finish.

The start: we were taking a last minute vacation to South Africa as part of our honeymoon (I worked for an airline so that was feasible). When I say last minute, we were coming in a week!!! That was absolutely no problem for Deborah, who took it in stride, perfectly planning every detail from our time in Cape Town to our safari in Krueger. If you are considering working with Deborah, do it! Thanks again for making our trip one we’ll never forget.

We had an amazing time in South Africa and the ease of coordinating on KimKim and our specialist Carla was great. Would definitely book this way again!

Our honeymoon to South Africa was truly unforgettable, and we are already dreaming of our next safari trip. We wouldn’t change anything about the itinerary Petru helped us put together, other than adding more time! We can’t wait to be back and would use Petru again, especially with how communicative she is and how easily she helped us navigate having to delay our trip by 8 months due to Covid. Thanks for helping us create the best memories!

I was very impressed with Stephanie. She was wonderful and i would reccommend her and book with her again. We were loving our trip but then the Government of South Africa declared a national disaster and the Canadian Government ordered all Canadians abroad to come home so we needed to leave our trip early and forego our 2 nights at Addo Elephant park, our 3 night safari at Hlosi and our flight on safair back to Cape Town. Given the circumstances, I am extremely shocked and upset that we have not been refunded for the portion foregone. I am also still waiting on paperwork to show what we lost having to leave early so that i can at least try to make a claim through travel insurance. Please advise. Thank you, Brianna Davies

Our local specialist Deborah was fantastic in helping us organise the trip from start to finish. We encountered a few teething problems along the way to do with booking of flights but all issues were resolved to our total satisfaction without any fuss. Deborah also arranged excellent choice of on the ground personal guides and car transfers which all went very smoothly, they were all very professional and knowledgeable. All in all we would highly recommend Deborah and her team and would like to thank her for making our honeymoon so memorable in South Africa.

My friends and I had an AMAZING trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe. It was probably the best vacation of my life...and I've gone on a lot of vacations. Cindy was such a great agent, and she created an exceptional itinerary for us. I will definitely be telling all my friends to use her when planning their trips to the area. Thank you, Cindy!!

My wife and I traveled with another couple to Victoria Falls (2 nights) and South Africa. We toured the garden route (5 nights), had 3 nights in Cape Town, and had 2 nights at Inyati Game Lodge. Kimkim did an excellent job in making all our travel arrangements. This included internal flights, rental car, and all hotels. All our hotels were excellent with the exception of Ibhayi Guest Lodge in Port Elizabeth.

Our rooms in Victoria Falls Safari Lodge overlooked a watering hole. From our balcony we saw hyenas, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and multiple antelopes. Outside of Knysna we stayed at Brenton Haven. The rooms were large, self catering, and had excellent views of the beach. We also enjoyed the food at their restaurant.

Our last two nights were spent at the Inyati Game Lodge in Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve. Their food was excellent and plentiful. The rooms were also very nice. We loved our guide Diff and tracker Rodger and highly recommend both of them. We were fortunate to see a pack of dogs and a clan of hyenas fighting over a kill. We also saw a leopard in a tree eating an impala. Both Diff and Rodger were friendly and informative. Diff also would identify all the birds. We were able to see the big five before our trip was over.

The service from our travel specialist Lize was prompt and efficient. This included fulfilling our request to move our pick up time up by 30 minutes on our last day. (request was made at 9 am, pickup at 1230). She also arranged to have another couple added to our Cape Town tour with short notice.

This is the third trip my wife and I have taken with kimkim. We highly recommend them.

Stephanie was great, really helpful, knowlegable and able to work within our modest budget. Thoroughly recomend Stephanie and kim kim

Eon was excellent! He was very knowledgeable and gave us time to spend together as a family.
Thanks to Debra for all the helpful tips for the road trip as well!

Our 21 day South African “Investment Trip” was over the top in so many ways: tailor made itinerary by Carla and Deidre @ Salty Travel with revisions, figuring out and responding to our “wants”, including:
Lodgings:
*Cape Town/Presidents Hotel @Bantry Bay - 2 bedroom 2 en-suite bath sitting room and kitchenette, delicious European & full breakfast (eggs cooked to order), delightful staff and daily chocolates!
*Hermanus/Baleens Hotel - unique in style but very comfortable and close proximity to the beautiful beach, delicious cooked to order breakfast.
*Albertinia/Garden Route Game Lodge - “posh” and lovely, 2 adventure filled Safari drives (including ‘happy hour’ adult refreshments), delicious meals served in the Lodge with well appointed tables (linens, floral centerpieces), private and comfortable ‘mini’ self contained lodges with water hole views of animals coming in for a dip or drink.
*Knysna/Belvidere Manor - European styled bungalow 2 bed 2 bath, living room, fireplace and full kitchen fronting a large lawn with a swimming pool and lawn game courts from the lagoon-bay to the east and the Belvidere Manor to the west, Spectacular Service, delicious food and delightful Pub onsite! Clearly one of our favorites!
*Addo National Elephant/Schotia Private Game Reserve - our in the bush private ‘huts’ en-suite full bath, freestanding fireplace, beverage center, and a resident wild cat that guarded our residence,.fabulous guide who shared his outstanding knowledge of animals, habitats, and made the Safaris memorable!
*Kwalucia Private Safari Retreat - the absolute “highlight” of our trip - fabulous B & B hosted by Adrian and Marie Joubert, private, secluded, restful, beautiful extra large rooms with en-suite, personalized service, incredible, delicious, traditional South African food that made our stay EXTRA SPECIAL! Adrian also suggested a whale watching boat trip that also included deep sea fishing - catching a yellow fin tuna that was then prepared and served for our breakfast -SPECTACULAR memories and adventure on the water. Incredible atmosphere, service and friendship!
*Ermelo/Ermelo Inn - a quick overnight enroute to the Panorama Route Scenic drive. Adequate but very ho-hum compared to other “stays” - please note there were very FEW choices in Ermelo.
*Graskop/Graskop Inn - traditional, historical Inn with so much character! Individually designed/decorated en-suite rooms by South African artists & designers. This stay was treasured as we enjoyed an evening ‘a cappella’ serenade by hotel staff during dinner! The warm fun loving staff made this overnight stay WONDERFUL!
*Hoedspruit-Kruger Orpen Gate/ Tremisana Safari Lodge & Marc’s Treehouse Lodge - this was the most unique and in some ways least accommodating of our wonderful stays! We ‘chose’ this Safari lodging because it sounded fun, unique and accommodating. The bottom line - unique/yes, fun/yes because of kitchen & Safari staff, unique / NOT delivered as advertised - treehouses were anything but! ALL would never pass an inspection codes in the USA! We signed a liability waiver for good reason - so many unsafe situations (unsafe tree rooted walking paths to accommodations, poor lighting, electrical issues that left several guests “shocked” while showering, etc...) MAINTENANCE issues too numerous to list! YET, this accommodation will remain a favorite in spite of its ruggedness and disrepair (that could easily be corrected with a bit of infrastructure investment) because of the wonderful staff and fellow GUESTS (from around the world) that provided many discussions and giggles in a friendship forming environment. I can’t thank the cooks enough for a very special birthday cake with candles that was baked in the tiniest of ovens!
*Johannesburg /The Capital-on Bath - Carla had booked a 2 bedroom apartment, but we were initially placed in two separate rooms far apart in the hotel... after producing our printed itinerary to the staff a correction was quickly made and our accommodations were TOP NOTCH! The service was wonderful as well.

Tours arranged for by Carla and staff:
*Cape Town - Hop-on Hop-off - great way to see the city, becoming familiar with the surroundings (would highly recommend). It would have been nice to have pre-paid vouchers for Table Mountain but now reflecting back - we were very fortunate to even get to the top due to erratic weather!
*Robben Island Museum Tour - prearranged/prepaid tickets made this MUST SEE Cape Town landmark a wonderful trip without waiting in walk-up lines.
NOT INCLUDED ON ITINERARY-Cape Point/Boulder Beach/Cape of Good Hope private tour arranged by another private tour company once we realized the time and difficulty of doing it “self drive” - highly recommended when in Cape Town! .
*Spier Wine Farm - fabulous, wonderful setting, great wines and knowledgeable staff! Thanks for the recommendation!
*Garden Route Game Lodge - absolutely “posh” but a bit contrived as far as animals in “natural” environments. Being familiar with San Diego Zoo Park - not much different but the Garden Route Game Lodge is a whole lot farther away!
*Knysna - Knysna Eco Adventure/Featherbed Eco reserve (outstanding). In spite of a rainy day, we loved this active hiking Eco Tour! The Lodge, newly rebuilt after being leveled by a wildfire in 2017 was AMAZING! The buffet style lunch was incredible offering locally sourced fresh foods, some cooked South African meats, soups, salads, and Malva pudding or ice cream sundae bar!
*Addo Elephant Park - Schotia Private Game Reserve Safari included 2 dusk drives, 2 dawn break drives and 2 nighttime after dinner drives - EXCELLENT Safari GUIDE/Naturalist. Additional Safari to Addo Elephant National Park - outstanding opportunities to see over 8,000 + elephants in their natural surroundings.
*St. Lucia - Hippo & Croc Sunset Cruise - at best “okay” crowded with boats on the estuary.
*iSimangaliso Wetland Park Tour - UNESCO World Heritage Site - absolutely WONDERFUL!
One of the best Guides we had our whole trip! We didn’t get to snorkel due to high winds/waves but were allowed to wander the beach for two hours and then stopped at several beach heads on the tour!
NOT INCLUDED ON ITINERARY: but arranged by B & B host - a pre dawn departure whale watching (migration season) and deep sea fishing tour by a private provider... breath taking, incredible, thrilling and a MUST DO tour in St. Lucia!

Rental Cars
Cape Town delivery - seamless in the pouring rain - however we didn’t notice a sizable dent as a pre-existing damage during the initial inspection. When loading our luggage we then noticed the dent and took “time and date stamped” photos - we then presented photos at drop off in Port Elizabeth with no problems and no incurred charges!
Durban - airport pickup very easy but time consuming.
Hoedspruit /Eastgate Airport - Very Easy once we found The airport!

Maps/printed directions:
Schotia Game Reserve - drove right past it! Poorly marked! We were 1/2 hour late checking in and missed part of the afternoon game drive - Schotia Reserve was very accommodating and quickly made adjustments to deliver us to the tour already underway in the bush!
Hoedspruit Airport - directions took us to the South African Air Force Airport and after several local inquiries and our own GPS locator we finally found the Eastgate Private Airport/airstrip 1 hour later than anticipated!

SIM Card: unfortunately, not being familiar with SIM card replacement on my apple iPhone we thought we had accomplished the set up when in actuality we had NOT! We did rectify the issue six days into the trip. Fortunately, we did not have the EMERGENCY of NEED to use the SIM card but we did have the USA based SIM card with us and could have used it for an expensive option if absolutely needed. Very minor detail that was easily corrected.

OVERALL - our itinerary was wonderful and the website information was easy to refer to, maps were primarily correct (our experience with Google or Garmin GPS is 95% accurate) useful and helpful. We certainly appreciated Carla’s accommodating us via Skype on several occasions - even though our emailing was equally useful - talking to and seeing who you are working with is MOST ASSURING! The importance of working with local travel specialists ie, Carla, Deidre and Shonna @ Salty Travel is ADVANTAGEOUS ! We would HIGHLY RECOMMEND others to use Kim Kim Travel and their localized selected travel specialists.

We had a great trip to southern Africa! Deb booked everything we asked for and more. Our favorite experiences included shark cage diving in South Africa, the Chobe photographic safari with Pangolin lodge in Botswana, a great Kruger safari, and the eye opening Soweto tour in Johannesburg. Beautiful parts of the world with comfortable lodging and memorable moments. Deb took away all of the logistical issues I was stressed about when I initially started planning, and incorporated experiences I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Loved it!