I had a wonderful experience in Johannesburg and Mpumalanga thanks to Ntwanano Tours and Transfers and its director Sertorio - a friend with whom we studied in the US 15 years ago.
I participated in a conference in Johannesburg in February this year, and decided to stay for three more days for some sightseeing. Time was too short, but I was so fortunate to meet Sertorio and have his assistance and guidance in my travel. Eventually, it appeared that for such a short period of time I managed to see pretty many important sights in this area of South Africa.
On the first day Sertorio took me to some houses of his relatives around Johannesburg, where I got a feeling of the authentic culture, of how people live here and how interact within families. It was such a valuable experience! Plus, the whole trip was accompanied with stories of Sertorio about the South African people and the country.
Then he took me to Mpumalanga province - closer to the Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa. I stayed at Sertorio’s hospitable family house over the night so that to be closer to the park and be able to enter it early in the morning, when there was more chance to see some of the big mammals. The whole next day I was on a safari and was so lucky to see all the Big Five - lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffaloes as well as many other animals and unique birds throughout the day. In the evening I returned to Johannesburg.
On the third day I was traveling inside Johannesburg with a local guide arranged by Sertorio and managed to visit the major sights of the city - the Aparteid Museum, Soweto, Nelson Mandela’s museum, Hector Pieterson museum, Constitution Hill and some others. These places were located rather far from each other. As public transportation is not well developed in South Africa, for a tourist is not always safe and easy to travel around, so I would never manage to see all these within one day without the support of the guide. In spite of the fact that everything was well arranged, Sertorio kept calling during the day to make sure that I am fine and enjoy the trip.
This was the first trip in my life when I was not thinking about travel arrangements, tickets, accommodation, safety due to Sertorio’s exceptionally careful and responsible attitude. I am not sure about other companies working in this area, but I am highly impressed with my friend’s performance and would highly recommend Sertorio and his Ntwanano Tours and Transfers for travelers.