WildernessReviews of wildernessdestinations.com

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

Andrew was an incredible guide across the greater Western Cape. We had a full day best of Cape Peninsula tour with Andrew. We hit all the highlights including the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point, and Boulder’s Beach to see the penguins. Upon hearing that we were very interested in history, Andrew took us to the Castle of Good Hope and then to the District Six Museum, before driving us through the area of District Six. He was knowledgeable and flexible, answering all of our questions, and sharing his experience and connection to the country’s history. We had separate tours with Andrew to the Winelands, Kirstenbosch Gardens, and Lion’s Head. He made our experience incredibly memorable. Even on the days that we did not have organized tours, Andrew had suggestions for how to get around Cape Town and make our days as efficient as possible. We likely would not have visited Robben Island (truly a highlight), had it not been for our earlier tour with Andrew.

Nelson our travel agent put together the perfect honeymoon in Tanzania - which included a combination of safari and Zanzibar beach holiday. Communication and planning in the run up went well, he quickly understood what we were looking for and provided a clear, comprehensive quote, meeting all our desires for the trip. The trip itself went seamlessly and we enjoyed every stay and experience we had planned - even more than we could have imagined.