 with you.
First day back at work today and picked up your message.
Thanks so much for organising our trip of a lifetime in South Africa this August. Your attention to detail and your knowledge of the country helped us to plan a perfect holiday to celebrate my 50th Birthday! You tailored the whole itinerary to suit our family – and even managed to work around a few medical issues that we had to consider. We loved all the accommodation and had some fabulous food. We were particularly impressed by Grootbos and Kwandwe reserves. Our guide Chulwani at Grootbos took us on some memorable activities including whale-watching, cave exploring, a fynbos walk, tree-planting, a tour of a township and horse-riding. Our ranger Ruan and spotter Wusi at Kwandwe couldn’t have been better – finding us all the animals (bar the elusive leopard!) and getting us close without feeling like we were imposing. Ruan was also able to give me lots of tips on photography and bird-watching as he loved those activities as much as the wildlife-spotting. I have to confess I cried when we had to leave!
I just wanted to drop you a few lines about my recent trip to Zambia you organised for me. I was first attracted by your advert in BBC wildlife magazine as it prominently states specialists in no single supplement Safari's which as a lone traveller instantly attracted my attention amongst the other adverts. Suffice to say I was on the phone to Sue within a few minutes of reading it for what in all honesty I thought would be a rather desultry conversation like similar ones with other operators in the past and I wouldn't do anything about it. However from phoning Thursday afternoon and being made to feel very excited about a trip to Zambia (as wild dogs were what I really wanted to see) then getting a full itinerary planned around my exact requirements by Friday morning I found myself paying a deposit on the Saturday and paying in full on the Monday!! The whole thing was brilliantly organised and fully explained and I felt fully confident in Sue's organisation when she explained it all to me which as a single, first time traveller to Africa was important.
On reaching the 3 venues in the Luwanga valley I was blown away with it all. The flights, pick ups etc all happened as Sue promised and I felt safe and well looked after everywhere. Everyone I met whether working in the camps or fellow guests were great and all had a shared passion for wildlife. The accommodation was stunning and as it was quiet people wise, I was spoilt rotten by all the staff etc. The guides were brilliant especially when they found out after wild dogs my main passion was birdwatching and it was a constant procession of stops to point out birds especially the walking safaris. It truly was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I finally did it after years of wanting to!!
So thanks again tracks safaris and anyone reading this and thinking of using them to plan their trip I would say go for it as it will be brilliant!
Sue a great trip and good time of the year to go - all accommodation was great and the food at each venue first class. The group I was with were great fun and the guides and the drivers first class.
My wife Janet & I have just returned from Madagascar and your tour provided us with exactly what we wanted. We saw 19 species of Lemur including the Ring Tailed, Verraux’s Sifaka, Indri & even the Aye-Aye. The highlight for me was the Fossa, I think it’s a very difficult animal to see and having researched the likely location we asked Tracks to include Kirindy in our itinerary. We were not disappointed. The barman in Kirindy Lodge found one for us, to Janet he said “It’s under the bed, go tell your wife!” he then took us to hut 13 and sure enough it was under the bed!! We saw several during our stay including a pair mating in a tree behind the lodge.
We also had 59 of the Endemic bird species and saw much of the Madagascar countryside. We felt that we had really experienced Madagascar. Everything worked out well, the guides were good to excellent, transport was good and all flights were met on time or within 10 minutes.
Brilliant trip we shall definitely use Tracks some time in the future!
I just wanted to say thank you for your recommendation and organising my trip - I had an excellent and relaxing time just what I needed. You were right the team at the lodges were very welcoming and ensured I saw lots of animals and had company when wanted it. I have some great memories and pictures to remind me of the trip.
Having sworn never to revisit the Masai Mara because of the vast numbers of Minibuses and Landrovers surrounding every animal, I allowed myself to be pursuaded by Sue Preater to visit the Conservancies just outside the MM. What a pleasant surprise. Both camps at which we stayed - Hemingways Ol Seki and Porini Lion Camp - were excellent. Limited numbers, super staff, knowledgeable guides, comfortable digs, a willingness to accommodate your every wish, and with truly superb game viewing. I cannot fault them.
I know from much past experience that in Africa things don't always go to plan, but transfers and travel to/from the camps, were amazingly good, apart from one small hiccup at Wilson, with a minor 40 min delay whilst they fitted a new engine to the plane (well...a small part that needed replacing actually), timetables were adherred to. Nairobi accommodation overnight was also very satisfactory at the Boma Hotel.
Well done Sue, and to your ground agents in Kenya. I am pleased to recommend Tracks Safaris.
Just a short note to thank you for organising such a great trip for us to southern Africa.
It was the trip of a lifetime and every day was both different, special and memorable. Everything worked like clockwork - and that was certainly no accident.
Wherever we went, you seem to have successfully rolled out the special birthdays red carpet; we were rarely without bubbly and often, the local staff went to special length to make us our visit memorable where something special was provided. When the bubbly did at one stage appear to be drying up, they realised that it was my actual birthday and conflated this with one of the'specials' - I was 70 all over again - and once more in the bubbly!!!
I do not know how you organised it, but a leopard cam into camp at Xigera on our last night, strutted the walkway, caused one of the guides to seek shelter in a guest's bedroom, later joined the young woman setting out the breakfast fare but apparently did not want a 'full English' so left her to get on with her job. We then had about 30 minutes watching the leopard high in a tree and then trailing it through the bush. Whilst there were many highlights, this was truly a fitting finale.
Thank you again on behalf of us all for putting together such a good and well balanced itinerary. It was worth every penny!!
Ros and I cannot thank you enough for the holiday that you arranged for us, firstly in Zambia then Botswana especially the Okavango Delta. It was more than we hoped for and better. The guides and trackers were superb and the camps with such a wide cosmopolitan range of fellow travellers made the whole experience unforgettable. Thank you from us both.
We had a super time on the holiday – everything was perfect and the logistics all went according to plan. I don’t think we could fault anything. It was a one off holiday and it became a one off experience because it was so good.
The wildlife was amazing – within 30 mins of turning up at Tena Tena we had seen a leopard across the river bank and went on to have 7 sightings, which in a week was something special. This included one leopard up a tree in daylight.
We had a visit from 3 elephants at lunchtime in Nsefu, and so had to wait an hour for them to finish grazing on the trees in camp before we could eat.
I would highly recommend your company’s services to anyone who wanted to experience a less touristy/high quality wildlife experience, with hassle free arrangements.
Hi Sue, just returned from South Africa - we had the most amazing holiday! Thank you so much for organising it! Our transfers were all on time and ran smoothly. Madikwe was great. Our guide Charles got us up close and personal with just about all the animals. He was very knowledgeable and great at getting us all involved rather than just sitting and spectating. We learnt a great deal about all sorts of animal behaviour, birds and plants. We saw all the big 5 plus more!
Black Rhino Lodge was very nice too, but in a different way. Accommodation was more up market and very swish as was the main lodge.
We couldn't imagine that Ants Hill could surpass these, but it did! From arrival to leaving the staff couldn't have been more helpful and friendly. Our bungalow was amazing with a fantastic view. Beautifully appointed with showers and bath and colourful cushions, very African! We were thoroughly spoilt by having tea and coffee brought to us in the morning. Then a great breakfast followed by horse riding.
The horses were lovely and we tried several out. Simon (who isn't fussed by horses) fell in love with his Friesian horse Zaire. The guides were very good and extremely patient with the variety of rider skills. Fern met up with other girls of similar age and had an absolute ball haring about on