Safari.com
- Office In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2000)
- Member Of:
- Southern Africa Tourism Services Association
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $1,330 to $21,148 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email David | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An incompetent operator prone to repeated booking errors and poor coordination
I’m posting this review so other travellers planning a high-stakes or special-occasion stay understand the risks I encountered booking through Safari.com.
I used Safari.com for a proposal trip booking at Giraffe Manor and experienced repeated coordination failures and inaccurate information from my assigned consultant, Kim , along with later management handling by Bianca. This was clearly communicated as a proposal booking where precision and follow-through were critical.
The most serious failure involved the private dining arrangements. I first asked Kim to reserve the Orchid Room for private proposal dining roughly 8 months before arrival. I was later told it was double booked and was assured she would arrange an alternative private dining experience instead. After I raised concerns and escalated, Bianca told me she would personally oversee this to ensure it was handled. Despite those assurances, when I arrived at the manor, the on-site team informed me no private dining had been arranged by the agent at all, and they had to organise something last minute after I raised it directly. An early request, a fallback promise, and management oversight were all in place — yet the arrangement was still not executed.
Other documented issues included:
• An official voucher issued with the wrong month of stay (later corrected, but highly stressful for a limited-availability property booking)
• Incorrect information given about the Edd Suite location
• Photographer cost requirements not fully disclosed at the outset, with material extra cost added later
• Arrival details not properly handed over despite written clarification
• Internal handover lapses later acknowledged by management
Management later described these as “administrative friction,” but when you are paying premium rates for a flagship experience and a proposal setting, accurate product knowledge and reliable coordination are basic expectations — not optional extras. The fact that the stay ultimately went ahead does not erase multiple preventable planning failures.
To be fair, the property staff on site were professional and helpful and stepped in to fix issues last minute. The failures were in the booking management and pre-trip coordination through the agency.
Even after internal review confirmed communication gaps and errors, management declined any monetary goodwill compensation and closed the matter on the basis that the core services were delivered.
If you are planning an important or once-in-a-lifetime trip, I would strongly suggest using a specialist luxury safari planner rather than relying on a volume booking agent. Well-known competitors that handle Giraffe Manor bookings and focus on bespoke, high-touch travel planning include Brilliant Africa, Wexas Travel, Ker & Downey Africa, and Wild Earth Stays. I recommend verifying all special arrangements directly with the property in writing to avoid preventable stress.
Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Safari.com for critical or milestone travel bookings.
Reply from Safari.com
Posted on Feb 19, 2026David, thank you for sharing your experience, and I'm sorry we fell short on what was such an important occasion.
As CEO of Safari.com, I reviewed your file personally and agreed that the coordination issues you experienced were not up to our standard. Unfortunately, by the time the matter reached my desk, the reviews had already been posted. I wish I'd had the chance to intervene sooner. Nonetheless, we reached out to you directly to apologise and refunded more than we earned on your booking, at a loss to us, because it was the right thing to do.
We take moments like these incredibly seriously. A marriage proposal isn't a holiday, and we should have treated it with the extra care it deserved. We've since reviewed our processes to ensure this doesn't happen again.
We wish you and your fiancée all the very best.
Oliver Bryant
CEO, Safari.com
Email Sen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrible experience
Keep away from booking with safari.com. Absolutely no flexibility in terms of making changes. Lost$3500 with them and communication is so delayed. I had to make schedule changes due to a medical situation (3 months ahead of scheduled dates) and was even ok to get credit for a future trip - they were absolutely not flexible. I would absolutely not recommend them - you are better off with other agencies!!
Reply from Safari.com
Posted on Jan 9, 2026Dear Sen,
We are truly sorry for the family medical situation that caused you to cancel. We understand this was a difficult time.
Regarding your review, we feel it is important to clarify the context. You requested to cancel your booking within 60 days of travel. At this stage, lodges and operators have already been paid and strict penalties apply.
Our team advocated on your behalf to secure a postponement or credit option, but because rooms had been held for months, third-party fees were unavoidable. You advised us that you would only accept a solution that resulted in zero financial loss (100% refund or 100% credit). While we wish we could have offered that, we cannot override the costs incurred by the lodges on such short notice.
We worked hard to recover the majority of your funds, and the timeline for the refund was dictated solely by the international suppliers returning those funds to us.
We wish you the best.
The Safari.com Team
Email Nicole | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Absolutely disgusting service
Travel to the Kruger park at least twice a year but this was the first time booking through safari. Com.Arrived on holiday with a double booking people and after verbal promises from safari. Com nothing was resolved. Absolutely disgusting service
CA
Email daniel | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Awful experience - will never use this company again
After arriving from a fabulous trip in Masai in Kenya which was exemplorary - Kruger experience in terms of accomodation and service whilst trying to resolve the situation was disappointing to say the least. We had spent almost 10k CAD for 6 people and after seeing where we were accomodated (between a caravan park and gas station) and that we would be required to spend most of our family time in this dump (between 2 drives - we decided to leave after 10 minutes of arriving. Our kids would not even sleep on the beds provide in teh chalets (size of a washroom) and washrooms and shower were pathetic (unlike pictures sent to us).
People i dealt with were Bjorn Van Huyssteen and Alexis Boshoff amongst many others...
What a wate of 100 000 ZAR
Spent 2 days driving back to JHB as we could not get a return flight and miscommunication wth tour operator. Alos promised a refund which unsurprisingly we were later informed after numerous call - that they will not refund a cent.
Emabarrassed as a South African who previously spoke highly of SA and services offered here. Never again will i use this company or anyone assocaited with them. Especially as they did not even have an idea of whwre we were staying or never visisted thsi place.
Was also advised that ony after payment was made that airport taxes will be an additional 17% of total package already paid...
BTW - 3 star meal and wine - meant shhopping at local store and cooking in a common kitchen and then carrying your own chairs to "dining area" about 400m away..
NL
Email Linda | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not satisfied
Please do not book at Krugerpark.com. We had booked the 3-days Safari. After several email contact we succeed to let them know we will drive by ourself inside the gate to the camp. That was no problem they said. Arriving at the gate we had to pay to enter the gate again (R560) The gate fee was in the package we booked, so we already paid for it. Arriving at the camp, nobody knows about us. There was no reservation. Tried to chat with Krugerpark.com, nobody responded. Then we call them, I couldn't understand a word they where saying because of the bad connection. They called me back and gave a reservation number. (The calles costed me R300) Back to the reception, nothing to find again even with the reservation number. Asked the reception if they can contact Krugerpark.com for us. Finally the found something. Krugerpark.com called the driver and he picked us up finally, already to late for our first game drive. Back in Holland again I started contact Krugerpark.com to get our money back for the gate fee and my telephone costs. Pff not funny anymore, I think I had to explain 10x what happened to the same lady. 3 months later (february), sending several reminder emails I finally got an email that they will refund my money. No it is june and I still haven't received any money.
Reply from Safari.com
Posted on Jun 10, 2016My sincerest apologies! Your travel consultant no longer works with us and your refund got lost in the process. We are processing your refund and some. Again my sincerest apologies
Email Pauline | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Arrangements for travel/transfers were very poor and (in retrospect) ridiculously expensive .
Advice provided by travel agent, Adelle, regarding travel/transfers was exceptionally poor in terms of logistics and cost. She was not worthy of our trust. We had already chosen Londolozi as our safari destination and found our experience there, and indeed for the remainder of our trip to South Africa, to be very positive. We will return to the southern coast of South Africa and Londolozi for further golfing/safari experiences but definitely will not use the same South African travel agent .
Reply from Safari.com
Posted on May 9, 2016We are sad to hear that. We hope the R8500 refund for transfers finds you well.
All the best
i had no experience because i had to cancel and couldnt go
i phoned one of the operators and tell her i have to cancell due to circumstances and she said to me that they cant refund me but what i can do is making another booking within one year and i must try to book outside school holidays. When i tried to make another booking they said that i didnt make a booking within a certain time and now i have lost my money. i talked to Pascal and he said he will come back to me but nothing happened , the lady said that i have one year to make another booking and not within a certain time. thanks for all the effort
Reply from Safari.com
Posted on Dec 8, 2015Dear Gerhard,
I'm so sorry to hear about your frustration around your booking.
As per your telephone discussion this morning with our agent Pascal, we will be making a full refund immediately.
The error slipped in as we received no alternative dates to make the follow-up booking and therefore entered into the no refund/cancellation period.
But it could have been avoided had we made a greater effort in pursuing you for the information.
My humblest apologies and I hope this gesture restore your trust in us.
Looking forward to helping you make any future experience a joy.
Kind regards,
Riaan Aggenbag
Head of Sales & Marketing.
Email Nat | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not as advertised
The first 3 nights were at Kruger Shalati, which is the accomodation in the train carriages! This place is awesome and excellent value for money. Everything is included - 4 meals a day which is far too many, all free wine etc (you can pay for cocktails but they are cheap), 2 game drives a day, great staff, very attentive, great animal viewing right from the accomodation and one of the 3 pools. We highly, highly recommend Kruger Shalati and will be back for sure.
Our next stop was Rhino Post - don't waste your time or money! It's very dirty, has a very strange energy, feels very unorganised and none of the staff seem to know what is going on. Our booking confirmation also said that all basic wines, water and soft drinks were included but they tried to charge for it all. This then all got paid by the booking company for us as it was false advertising. I wouldn't return or recommend this place to anyone.
We then did 2 nights at Plains Camp (walking safari) the camp is wayyyyy nicer that Rhino Post, very relaxing, great food, nice staff. There is no wifi at all so be prepared to relax and unwind and watch the animals in the plains like Wildebeest, Baboons and Warthogs. You may also hear the lions roaring at night. PLEASE BEWARE, you will basically see no animals at all on the walks. Animals are frightened on humans on foot vs the safari vehicles. When we got on our first walk our guide informed us that walking safaris were not for seeing animals and that was pretty disappointing as it is certainly not advertised that way. You will track prints in the soil, learn about plants and do a hell a lot of walking through thick grass which was not good for my partner as she is terrified of snakes and there certainly are snakes.
The walks are long 2-3 hours, twice a day. So also be prepared for that.
Finally that brings us to 3 nights at Geiger's. This was by far the most expensive of all the accomodations. The chef is incredible but there is no menu, you are just served a 4 course meal as a surprise each night, drinks are included. Its hard to get food, drinks or service in the day (I think the staff take their rest then). It only hosts 5 villas, so its a very small group which is nice. You reason it's worth paying the money is because the game drives on the private reserve that connects to the Kruger are amazing. We saw Lion Mums on a fresh kill with all their cubs, A leopard in a tree eating its kill, a leaoprd walking right up to the safari truck, 5 Rhinos in a group and a baby playing with its mum in the mud, wild dogs and hyenas having a fight, huge crocs and all the usual suspects Elephants, Hippos, Giraffe, Warthogs, Antelopes etc etc.
But for off road viewing right next to the action, this place is worth the money. Our guides Josh and MJ were lovely.
Email Grant O'Brien | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Not great
No hot water in the Chalet and nobody answers the " after hours" numbers to fix the problem. Not a lot of game sighted at all. Actually nothing sighted but the impala at the Chalet.
Email Boyana B. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Call it the Tourist tax on pricing, especially when you see what you get for it
The safari's and guides themselves were great. Thank God I only did the 2 night, 3 day stay. The accommodations are terrible! I'd met a couple on the way down that did the cheaper "tented" version. There experience was much better- and cleaner. For the price you pay, you'd think it would be a stunning room. It is not. The locals I know in Cape Town informed me what it actually costs a local to do this for them. They tourist price us of course and
I'd be fine if I had a beautiful room with an amazing bed and stunning accommodations. This was 2 dirty not even the size of single bed beds, no frame to them, no skirt on the bottom box spring showing it for all it's dirtiness, a dirty shower, dirty walls, old dirty looking towels (they were clean but the vibe felt gross), everything felt dirty. I paid almost $800 for those two nights & not really 3 days. I thought that would mean a beautiful sleep in beauty. We all chatted over dinner on the condition of what we got and felt the same. My recommendation- book a stunning hotel separately. Book the safari's separately. it'll be the same or cheaper. And you can self drive as well but you'll miss out on the amazing information the guides give. You don't need to be suckered into this - some research and a tiny bit of effort and you can avoid all this bs.