The Giltedge family - end of the year function
Giltedge
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 1999)
- Member Of:
- IATA, ASTA, SATSA & CTT
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $8,585 to $24,037 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Peter W. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Tour Arranged by Giltedge Africa
My wife and I cannot say enough about our 15-day tour to South Africa and Zambia arranged by Philippa Lawrence of Southern Africa Travel/Giltedge Africa. Philippa's recommendations were spot-on and every aspect of our trip was well thought out. She went out of her way to listen to our wishes and she kept us fully informed of all details. All of the properties were stayed in were luxurious and we experienced absolutely amazing safaris. I would highly recommend Philippa to anyone interested in experiencing what southern Africa has to offer.
Email CherylAnn | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
Monique did an outstanding job in helping us plan this complicated African adventure.
All of the plans were executed with no problems at all far exceeding our expectations.
It made for a most relaxing and exciting trip as we were confident that the trip would proceed smoothly.
She selected excellent tour guides and activities at all levels of participation that were a great fit for our group.
We highly recommend Monique and her colleagues.
Email Rich | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
great itinerary, wonderful trip
We worked with Monique who customized our tour of Cape Town and the Sabi Sands Safari. The resorts were outstanding, food was terrific, the guides were wonderful and every pickup and drop-off went exactly according to plan. Would highly recommend.
Email David Wong | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good, they advise according to your expectations and budget.
I live in the UK and have now been using Southern Africa Travel (Giltedge) for the last few years and found them to be very knowledgeable about Safaris, good places to stay and good accommodation. Indeed, all recommendations have been spot on. Communications have generally been good though on occasions a bit of a delay I guess due to workload. On the whole, I would definitely recommend as I have already done so with friends who have used their service recently.
Email Char. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Perfect and Wonderful Experience
When I decided to plan my trip with Giltedge Africe (Southern Africa Travel), I knew nothing about the company other than the reviews I read. Let me tell you, I would plan a trip at any time using this company after the experience I had. Working with Robyn-Lea Meyer was wonderful. She gave wonderful suggestions and always responded to my email questions in a very timely fashion. Not ever being on a safari before and knowing that we wanted to go to Kruger National Park, Robyn-Lea suggested Jock Safari Lodge. We took her suggestion and could not have been more pleased. The accommodations are private, comfortable and in a very natural setting, the food is outstanding, and the safaris are given by guides who love their work. Plus there are only two seats per row in the vehicles so each person has a side seat and no one is stuck in the middle. We learned so much from our guide, Cliff, and fell in love with the total experience. A big thank-you to Robyn-Lea for leading us in the right direction. Everything booked by Giltedge Africa went flawlessly, the flights, the drivers/tours, etc. On our next rip to Africa, there is no doubt we will use Giltedge Africa! Thank you for everything!!!
QA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Safari Experience
My wife and I traveled for 9 days through Tanzania, and had an amazing trip. Monique was extremely helpful in helping us plan our itinerary via email exchanges. After meeting other people on similar safaris, I was very pleased with the parks we visited, our route and our length of stay at each destination. We started in Arusha, and spent a few days at Tarangire NP, Lake Manayara NP, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti NP, in that order. This was really great because it meant our travel between destinations was relatively short, and each park had something amazing to offer. Overall, the entire planning of the trip was very good. A planner met us at the airport and walked us through every detail of the trip, and our guide, Malley, was excellent at taking us from place to place and making sure everything was ok. The lodges and tented camps were all excellent... a lot better than what I was expecting (and much better than previous trips to other African countries). I would definitely use Giltedge Africa (formerly Southern Africa Travel) again to help plan other future trips.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Service! 100% Recommended
It was our first time in Africa, so I decided to book a tour operator to maximize our short time in the region. As I didn’t have any contacts, I decided to look up in the internet for tour operators.
I contacted about 5 of them, but from the minute I spoke to Melissa Oberholzer, I knew this was the tour operator I would choose! (Even though the prices of other operators were lower).
Melissa and her company provided an outstanding and efficient organization of what has been one of the best holidays of our lives!
Despite contacting her only 2 weeks before our trip, she was able to tailor make it exactly the way we wanted!. She put together a wonderful and very organized schedule so we were able to visit the best places that South Africa, Zambia and Namibia has to offer, in only 2 weeks!
Her disposition to organize such a wonderful trip in such a short period of time, plus her availability to answer every question we had (even at 11pm on a Saturday!) made our trip much more special, easier and relaxed.
We had the most wonderful time, and saw the most amazing sites in each of the countries we visited! But most importantly, the services that she chose for each of our stops (drivers, guides, hotels, etc), were excellent, extremely punctual and friendly. Everyone took great care of us while making sure we were happy and satisfied at all times.
All in all, it was really a wonderful and stress-free experience! And I would definitely hire their services again. I also recommend this tour operator to anyone planning to travel to Southern Africa.
Thank you very much and all the best!!
Email Jackie B | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Wonderful trip for Grandparents and 9 yr old Grandson
All in all it was a fabulous vacation. Everything went off without any complications or issues. Flights and car transfers all very good.
Lodges
Kariega: Beautiful lodge in beautiful setting. Staff was good. Guide Monde was great. Game viewing excellent. Room excellent. Lodge was very cold because of weather. We just dressed warm. Missed one day of safari because of rain storm. Nothing to do at lodge but use internet. No board games to play or things for kids to do. They did have stuffed animals in their shop so we bought a couple for our Grandson and he ended up playing with them. Food was good for adults. Did not think this place was set up for kids. Would not recommend to children under 12. Definitely recommend for adults. Great sightings here!
Shamwari: Excellent lodge with spectacular rooms. This is lodge is a "Must" if you have kids. Setting and game viewing not as good as Kariega but still very good. This lodge was EXCEPTIONAL from rooms, to guide - Sam, to staff, to food (the Chef is amazing) and things to do. We were highly impressed. Everyone was so friendly and seemed to enjoy working there. It is a kids heaven and the staff was just great with our Grandson and the other kids. This was definitely a winner! We can't say enough good about this lodge. Grandson wants to go back once a month.
Hog Hollow: Great location for activities. Staff were very good and so was food. Not much to do at lodge. Rooms were outdated and had funky smell. No shampoo or hair conditioner. We had our best weather here 82 F. We went to the Elephant Sanctuary, Monkeyland, Birds of Eden, Wild Cat Sanctuary, Reptile Sanctuary, beaches and Plettenberg. Our Grandson had a blast at all of these places and so did we. It was his first time at the beach and he couldn't get enough of it. Our drive/guide Irma was very helpful and was super nice. Recommend the area but not Hog Hollow. After staying at the other places it was not up to par. Would have preferred a more updated place or something on the beach. But we survived and had so much fun!
Victoria & Alfred: How could we beat this place in Cape Town. I don't think it would be possible. Beautiful rooms and views. Delicious food. Great (BEST) location. Highly recommend.
Monique did such a wonderful job on creating our vacation and we appreciate all of the work she put into it. We will have life-long memories from this trip. Our Grandson was excited to start everyday because of the constant new experiences. It was a 10!
Fantastic
My wife and I had planned on taking our bucket list trip to Tanzania earlier but had to rebook due to first Covid and then when I had cancer return for the 4th time. Giltedge was kind enough to rebook us at the original price and keep the same luxury Elewana Lodges. Our contacts were Tamera Laine and Paula Nobre. They did a fantastic job of keeping us informed on all our preparations. Our trip to Tanzania was wonderful from the meet and greet at the airport to the final send off. We first stayed at the Arusha Coffee House best breakfast buffet ever, and lovely room and nice gardens. The first stop was Tarangire Treetops Lodge. We were treated like Royalty and the last night we were treated to a group of Maasi dancing and singing to us around a campfire and then presenting us a cake for our 53rd wedding anniversary. Our guide for the whole trip was Immanuel Jackson Muna and he did a fantastic job not only pointing out the big five animals but also the many birds that most of the visitors drove right by. At Tarangire we saw the great Elephant Migration, we had to wait for over 100 elephants to cross a road to get to their final destination at the water that is always in the park. We also saw lions kill two zebras and viewed many Giraffes and other animals. Be sure to take the night drive and the daylight walking tours where you not only see animals not active during the day but also learn about the African landscape. The second stop was at Lake Manyara National Park on the way to the Ngorongoro Crater. This used to be a salt water lake with a lot of flamingos but due to flooding it is now fresh water and the road around the lake was partially wiped out so you have to backtrack. You can still enjoy the baboons and white-faced monkeys and other animals. The crater drive was a lot longer than we expected. They limit the amount of vehicle traffic allowed in at one time and
the one way road in was long and slow. For being there during the off season we were surprised how busy it was. We did see all the animals we wanted, including the black rhino. Enjoy all the birds around the picnic areas. We stayed at the Manor at Ngorongoro Coffee Plantation where there were just a few other guests for the 2 nights we were there. Titus was a wonderful host and we enjoyed the gardens and the 5 course meals provided by Peter. I want to thank all the people involved in helping my wife when you fell, an accident, and had to be taken to the emergency room in the nearest town. She just had to have stitches and is doing fine. Our last stop was 4 nights at the Serengeti Pioneer Lodge. It was a tented camp with wonderful service. You had to be escorted morning and evenings to the dining areas because of all the animals going through the camp. We saw monkeys, gazelles and other animals up close. During breakfast one Morning we had a herd of 15 elephants feeding right below our table. The Serengeti is a huge area and you can drive and see so many different landscapes that hold various groups of animals, birds and lizards. Everyday we were able to see something different and unexpected. Again the service was excellent thanks to Big Fred and his staff. I would highly recommend booking with Giltedge for your dream trip to Tanzania.
Email The Rossons | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Giltedge: Vernon was on-point, responsive, & thoughtful to build a trip of a lifetime for us
Vernon W was our consultant from Giltedge from the very beginning when we were assessing our options for African Travel. I have recommended him & Giltedge to numerous people since returning home. He was patient with us as we asked for multiple itinerary revisions based on price and destination. It can feel unconventional for Americans to provide a $ amount without a specific itinerary in front of you, but I can say it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. I also thought that potentially once we paid, that we would lose close touch with Vernon, but he was a part of our experience from the very first conversation on evaluating options, planning our trip, communicating ahead of our trip as well as throughout to make sure we had everything we needed along the way, and followed up at the end. We felt so taken care of and that every moment of our experience was considered!! Cannot thank Vernon W and Giltedge enough for a trip of a lifetime that we would do a hundred times over again!!
