WildernessReviews of wildernessdestinations.com

My daughter and I travelled to Tanzania for safari in March (followed by a few days for relaxation in Zanzibar). Our holiday was arranged by a wonderful travel agent in the UK (Yellow Zebra) and Wilderness looked after us throughout our time in Africa. From the time we exited the airport in Kilimanjaro to the time we left to come home, we experienced the very best of care and attention. The Wilderness staff who met us after our long journey were brilliant, and the lovely water bottle was such a lovely and useful gift. Our safari guide, Emmanuel James was just wonderful. He (and Clemence Mvungi) made our safari the best holiday experience we could have wished for. Emmanuels' love and obvious passion for the animals and his country of Tanzania shone through so brightly to us both. Fair to say we did not want the safari to end! Furthermore, we felt so safe and had 100% trust in Emmanuel from day one, which is quite an achievement on his part! He made us laugh and relax and taught us such a lot. He taught us to enjoy the moment too, something quite hard in modern British life. Nothing was too much trouble. Thank you Emmanuel. I am sure Clemence also valued his time learning from such a highly professional guide. The Wilderness liaison team were fantastic keeping us informed throughout the trip. This was an absolute Godsend in Zanzibar when we needed extra backup due to illness. Thankfully all resolved now, but this support was so very welcome and needed at the time. It is probably something you think you won't need, but all I can say is THANK YOU Wilderness for your brilliant organisation, super fun holiday, fantastic guides and extra care when we needed it!

We had the most incredible, once-in-a-lifetime holiday thanks to Tess and the team. From the moment we arrived in Cape Town to the end of our trip in South Africa, everything was seamless and beautifully organised. Tess’s planning was outstanding, and our guide Howard was exceptional—professional, knowledgeable, and genuinely great company throughout. The Mount Nelson Hotel was pure luxury, and our stay at Sabi Sabi exceeded all expectations. Even when I was unwell, the support and care we received were second to none. We felt completely looked after from start to finish. A truly unforgettable experience—we wouldn’t hesitate to book with Wilderness again. Highly recommend!

We engaged Wilderness Safaris for a multi-country tripspanning Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. Wilderness was recommended to usby another firm we consider best-in-class—one that had previously planned anoutstanding trip for us to Tanzania. Because of that, we initially wonderedwhether we were making the right choice by going with someone new. Inhindsight, I can say without hesitation that Wilderness Safaris provedthemselves to be a true class act.Traveling in Africa—especially across multiple countries andremote camps—requires extremely complex logistics. Our itinerary included twolocations in Namibia, one camp in Botswana, and time in South Africa, withmultiple internal flights layered on top of an already tight schedule. To giveone example: our return journey involved landing in Johannesburg from Botswanaand then catching a 20+ hour flight back to the U.S. just three hours later,after a 6–7 hour regional journey. The margin for error was slim.From the outset, our primary contact at Wilderness Safaris,Trudi Reed, was outstanding. She patiently worked through countless detailedquestions, including very specific concerns such as the number of stairs incertain hotels to accommodate a member of our party. What sounded like anincredibly complicated trip on paper was planned and executed with calmprofessionalism and precision.Every detail was handled beautifully. Wilderness evencreated a dedicated WhatsApp group for our family, giving us real-time accessto service professionals who helped us navigate flights, transfers, andtransitions throughout the trip. That level of accessibility and support madean otherwise complex journey feel remarkably smooth.Looking back, I would genuinely say that Wilderness Safarishas earned a place as a new best-in-class operator for us.One Area for ImprovementThere was only one issue during the trip. WithTrudi’s guidance, we had arranged and paid for meet-and-greet services at SouthAfrican airports—an excellent recommendation, as immigration and security linesat two different airports were far longer than expected. While this serviceworked perfectly on most occasions, there was one arrival where nomeet-and-greet representative was present. This resulted in an exhausting 2–3hour wait through immigration and repeated security checks.While this was disappointing—particularly since it was aservice we had specifically paid for—what really stood out was how the situation wasultimately handled. The immediate support via the WhatsApp service wasunfortunately much weaker than expected in that moment, which did leave a sorepoint. However, once we reached out directly to Trudi, she immediatelyunderstood the issue, took ownership, and handled the response extremely well. Theprofessionalism and accountability shown afterward reinforced our confidence inWilderness Safaris.Overall, this was an exceptionally well-planned and executedtrip, and we would not hesitate to travel with Wilderness Safaris again.

Zain was a highlight of our trip! We did two full day tours with him to explore Cape Peninsula and Stellenbosch/ Franschhoek wine region. He was also our transfer to the airport. He was incredibly knowledgeable and prepared, and we appreciated how much he cared for and gave back to his community. The experience exceeded our expectations because of Zain! Thank you!!

Samo made our time in Cape Town unforgettable! He took me and my family on 2 tours, Cape Town and Cape Point, and transferred us to Hermanus at the end of our stay. He was an excellent tour guide, providing his own unique insights into life in Cape Town. He was able to provide in depth information about social, historical, and wildlife, and would answer any questions we had. One highlight for me was definitely trying the koe'sisters, I've been craving them since! I would also like to highlight his proactive nature - when we arrived at Hermanus we were told our whale boat trip has been cancelled. He made multiple calls to ensure we would be refunded and helped to arrange an alternative trip! Thanks again Samo - buyadonkey(?) :)

This is my 3rd trip with Wilderness and to their camps in Africa. Each trip just gets better. The attention to detail in each camp is superior beyond words. The food, the settings, the guides, the staff .... everything and everyone is incredible. They greet you at the airports to make sure you are able to get through without issues. And they get you from camp to camp on the internal flights - which are much fun! I recommend them to all my friends and hope to return to Africa again in the future.

We booked our 21 day self drive safari through a UK agent of Wilderness safari ( Tracks Safaris) They listened to what we wanted our trip to be: from places to visit and the types of accommodation. An itinerary was agreed and everything including fights and car hire was booked. Agent kept in regular contact with us right through until departure day and even gave us a follow up call a few days after we arrived back from our trip. On arrival at Windhoek airport we were met by a Wilderness rep( Grace) , She welcomed us to Wilderness office where we were offered drinks and snacks. She then went through our whole itinerary on a map which was marked with all our accommodation. We were given a lovely travel pack which contained amongst many things baggage tags, detailed directions for our trip, species checklist, and useful numbers. We were also given a cool box for our journey. She then took us to the MTC store and sorted out a sim card for our phone, before taking us to the car hire office and staying with us until we were all packed and ready to go. Everything was perfect for our trip, all the accommodation was great , directions took us exactly where we needed to go with no problems , and we had a trouble free holiday knowing that help was at the end of a phone if we needed it. When we arrived back at the end of the trip , again we were welcomed into the office where they asked for feedback on trip with some of our suggestions being forwarded to their head office. We were allowed to wait here and have a coffee until the gate opened and Grace again accompanied us to the check in desk and then to immigration/ boarding gate. Would highly recommend this company, they are very professional and take care of everything for their customers

Great locations and wonderful staff