Nandzana Safaris
Nandzana Safaris
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About
Nandzana Safaris specializes in crafting exceptional private safaris to the Kruger Park. We believe that a safari should revolve around wonderful experiences you’ll remember for a lifetime – so we work together closely with you to design a unique safari that will realize your dreams and shape your memories for a lifetime. We love nothing more than inspiring your sense of wonder and discovery through exciting and life-changing safari experiences. A privately guided safari offers authenticity that's hard to come by in a standard group package experience. Your private guide is personally involved in every aspect of your safari, from planning the intricate details with you to guiding your safari, acting as your host, and revealing the wonders and surprises of the Kruger Park that are often out of reach for the typical traveller. Not only will he be your companion and teacher but he will also focus his complete attention on ensuring that you have the trip of a lifetime, tailor making each day to maximize your interests to make sure each day exceeds your wildest dreams. His unbridled enthusiasm, knowledge, and good humour infuse your safari with the elements that make it an experience that will impact you for the rest of your life.
Phalaborwa, South Africa
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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5.0
30 reviews
Excellent
30
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GuidoBos
16 contributions
Nov 2023 • Couples
We have done over 50 safaris in Kruger National Park and Craig stands out over everyone else! His effort to find animals is extremely good and also his knowledge. Did I mention his sense of humour? His passion for nature is rare these days with so many guides just behaving as drivers. Craig will make every drive special even when the bush is quiet with animals.
Written 10 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Giulia R
2 contributions
Aug 2024 • Friends
At the beginning of August, we went on a night safari with Brai in the Bush in a group of 6 people. It was a unique, exciting experience that I would definitely do again and recommend . Craig is the best guide you could have: friendly, eager to share his extensive knowledge, and tireless in searching for animals. Thanks to his subtle and sharp humor, we had fun searching for the leopard. Thanks to his experience, we were able to observe a pair of lions up close and he even organized an exclusive lantern-lit barbecue in the middle of the park. A unique experience with a top professional! Thanks Craig!!!
Written 18 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Matthew
9 contributions
Jan 2023 • Family
We just did a 2 day safari with Nandanza in Kruger. They are the best. Alison arranged things in advance by email. Alison is lovely. She tailored everything for us. We stayed in Tamboti tent camp. Craig picked us up at the Hoedspruit airport in his classic open air Land Rover and took us around for 2 full days. Craig is fantastic. Craig took us out looking for cats at 4:20 am each day (and found leopards up close) and we had the park to ourselves. Craig showed all of the animals and told us all about them. He then returned us to the airport after 2 amazing days and nights. Craig took good care of us (bbq each night — they call it braii). It was awesome. The price is very reasonable and less than you would think. This is the real deal.
Written 4 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Klaus G
Pretoria, South Africa1 031 contributions
Oct 2019
We were fortunate to meet Alison and Craig, the owners of Nandzana Safaris and their Landrover. We were on a one day game drive with Craig and he pulled out all stops to show us the big 5 plus many more animals and give us a lot of information on the animals, plants and birds of the Kruger National Park. Will definitely use Nandzana again.
Written 6 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eline V
11 contributions
Oct 2022 • Friends
We, 8 girls friends, had great safari trip with sunset. Directly after that we arrived in the dark, in the bush, at the Braai. A cosy beautifully place, lovely people and team. Catering from muss Suzy, so delicious! Ali and Craig thank you so so much for this unforgettable experience!!
Written 18 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
susan2018M
Kilmore, Australia4 contributions
Oct 2018 • Solo
Craig thank you again so much for a day that l will remember. Not only did you do everything to ensure that l enjoyed my private safari (including the much needed blankets in the morning), but you listened and understood what type of experience l was after. Your genuine passion in what you do meant that l was able to enjoy the experience. How lucky to see six lions in a row! As l like to call it, the icing on the cake to a great day out. A huge thank you again from Australia.
Written 27 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andy K
3 contributions
Sept 2016 • Friends
This was our first visit to South Africa and experiencing a Game Drive, with the help of Craig who runs Nandzana, it was such a great introduction that we would happily do it again and recommend to anyone else to take the time and look up Nandzana for future trips.
Craig was drafted in at short notice to take half of our party out for a late afternoon / evening game drive and I can honestly say that his attention to detail, presentation, humour and knowledge shown to our group (without much fore warning) was exemplary and I can only imagine that this level of service would be equally forthcoming for those parties who were lucky enough to have pre-arranged a longer trip with his company directly.
Craig's vehicle and equipment (British made on the most part ;) ) made the drive and game spotting fun, exciting and adventurous, picking out the many animals by spotlight and as we learned, watching for the lights reflection's in the animals eyes.
The highlight of the outing was being able to leave the vehicle and walk through the bush, with Craig providing insight in how to identify the animals that had been in the area, through the tracks and spore left behind .. I have remembered how to distinguish cats from dogs and then using the finger and thumb, in an L shape, to identify which of the big cats had been around recently, something I might not need to know now I'm back home, but you never know just in case.
While Craig cannot guarantee that you will see all of the animals you might wish, we were lucky in that he managed to rustle up an elephant down at the river side, spending time with Craig talking about the animals behaviour, the environment and some good banter (ask him about his first trip with the 'Big rocks') will make any trip out with him a pleasurable, educational and entertaining experience.
Again, just wanted to say a very big thank you for making this short adventure, in the two weeks holiday, the most memorable highlight of the holiday, and if/when we come back to South Africa we will definitely make sure we have him booked for a couple of days to do the full day / night trip.
A final piece of advice, when he says keep quite, he means it ;) .. don't talk like naughty children at the back of the bus or he will give you his evil stare !
Craig was drafted in at short notice to take half of our party out for a late afternoon / evening game drive and I can honestly say that his attention to detail, presentation, humour and knowledge shown to our group (without much fore warning) was exemplary and I can only imagine that this level of service would be equally forthcoming for those parties who were lucky enough to have pre-arranged a longer trip with his company directly.
Craig's vehicle and equipment (British made on the most part ;) ) made the drive and game spotting fun, exciting and adventurous, picking out the many animals by spotlight and as we learned, watching for the lights reflection's in the animals eyes.
The highlight of the outing was being able to leave the vehicle and walk through the bush, with Craig providing insight in how to identify the animals that had been in the area, through the tracks and spore left behind .. I have remembered how to distinguish cats from dogs and then using the finger and thumb, in an L shape, to identify which of the big cats had been around recently, something I might not need to know now I'm back home, but you never know just in case.
While Craig cannot guarantee that you will see all of the animals you might wish, we were lucky in that he managed to rustle up an elephant down at the river side, spending time with Craig talking about the animals behaviour, the environment and some good banter (ask him about his first trip with the 'Big rocks') will make any trip out with him a pleasurable, educational and entertaining experience.
Again, just wanted to say a very big thank you for making this short adventure, in the two weeks holiday, the most memorable highlight of the holiday, and if/when we come back to South Africa we will definitely make sure we have him booked for a couple of days to do the full day / night trip.
A final piece of advice, when he says keep quite, he means it ;) .. don't talk like naughty children at the back of the bus or he will give you his evil stare !
Written 15 October 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Marc B
Hoofddorp, The Netherlands88 contributions
Aug 2018 • Family
We went on a safari with Craig and had the most wunderfull day. Craig is a great guide with a lot of knowledge of the kruger park and the wildlife. He showed us some beautifull spots in the park and we saw a lot of animals. Allison was really amazing with our reservation. If you are in Phalaborwa and want to go on a safari we really can recommand Nandzana Safari. Craig and Allison thank you again for a wunderfull day.
Written 11 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MvW1987
Amsterdam, The Netherlands7 contributions
Dec 2016 • Couples
We did a full day safari with Craig and would absolutely recommend doing the same to anyone wishing to experience Kruger Park with an experienced, dedicated, and friendly guide. Craig's knowledge of the wildlife and nature is mind-blowing; on every animal or plant he has an informative/entertaining story.
Written 16 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Taylor F
5 contributions
Dec 2016 • Friends
-Safari Guide was excellent
-Exceeded expectations
-Easy and great to work with
-Affordable and flexible however you want to customize your safari
-Tailored the safari to fit our personalities
-Would 100% use Nandzana Safaris again
This was my 9th safari I have been on, and my first in Kruger National Park. My experience far exceeded my expectations. My best friend and I took a 4 day safari in Kruger National Park in December of 2016 with Nandzana Safaris. Craig, who owns Nandzana with his wife, was our safari guide, and was hands down the best safari guide I've ever had. We met Craig at the Kruger gate in the morning of the beginning of our safari, and he asked what we had/hadn't seen and what we wanted to see. After telling him what we wanted to see and hadn't seen yet, he knew when and where the best places to see everything we wanted. He immediately tailored the safari to fit our personalities, which was amazing. I had seen all of the big 5 on previous safaris with the exception of the Rhino. It wasn't long into our first day until Craig found one, and that was far from the only one we saw. Craig was also easy to work with and to talk to. He did a fantastic job in explaining and teaching us about the wildlife we were seeing. He was also great at finding out what we didn't know. For example we saw a giraffe that had a large piece of its face missing and we didn't know what had happened to it. Craig went out of his way to contact his friend who was a vet to figure out for us what exactly the issue was. I learned more from him in 4 days than I had on all my previous safaris combined. He also has an eye for photography, so it was helpful having him pointing out some unique shots to get. Plus, having a published wildlife author as your safari guide is also a great opportunity to learn a ton. With all of that said he was also an all around fun and cool guide.
Alison handled most of the bookings and she was wonderful to work with. She asked what we were looking for in a safari and made it a seamless trip for us. She was very helpful throughout the entire booking process. With so many options in safaris to choose from, she gave me the most confidence that I would get the most out of the safari. That confidence paid off because, again, the safari far exceeded my expectations.
I would strongly recommend Nandzana Safaris to anyone who has any interest in going to Kruger National Park. I would go back to Nandzana every time I go back to Kruger National Park.
-Exceeded expectations
-Easy and great to work with
-Affordable and flexible however you want to customize your safari
-Tailored the safari to fit our personalities
-Would 100% use Nandzana Safaris again
This was my 9th safari I have been on, and my first in Kruger National Park. My experience far exceeded my expectations. My best friend and I took a 4 day safari in Kruger National Park in December of 2016 with Nandzana Safaris. Craig, who owns Nandzana with his wife, was our safari guide, and was hands down the best safari guide I've ever had. We met Craig at the Kruger gate in the morning of the beginning of our safari, and he asked what we had/hadn't seen and what we wanted to see. After telling him what we wanted to see and hadn't seen yet, he knew when and where the best places to see everything we wanted. He immediately tailored the safari to fit our personalities, which was amazing. I had seen all of the big 5 on previous safaris with the exception of the Rhino. It wasn't long into our first day until Craig found one, and that was far from the only one we saw. Craig was also easy to work with and to talk to. He did a fantastic job in explaining and teaching us about the wildlife we were seeing. He was also great at finding out what we didn't know. For example we saw a giraffe that had a large piece of its face missing and we didn't know what had happened to it. Craig went out of his way to contact his friend who was a vet to figure out for us what exactly the issue was. I learned more from him in 4 days than I had on all my previous safaris combined. He also has an eye for photography, so it was helpful having him pointing out some unique shots to get. Plus, having a published wildlife author as your safari guide is also a great opportunity to learn a ton. With all of that said he was also an all around fun and cool guide.
Alison handled most of the bookings and she was wonderful to work with. She asked what we were looking for in a safari and made it a seamless trip for us. She was very helpful throughout the entire booking process. With so many options in safaris to choose from, she gave me the most confidence that I would get the most out of the safari. That confidence paid off because, again, the safari far exceeded my expectations.
I would strongly recommend Nandzana Safaris to anyone who has any interest in going to Kruger National Park. I would go back to Nandzana every time I go back to Kruger National Park.
Written 31 December 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.