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A big shout out to our guide, Aaron, for the best safari

Just finished a two week Southern Africa Magic tour and wanted to give a special shout out to our... read more

Reviewed 6 September 2024
spacetraveler2022
,
Boston, Massachusetts
via mobile
If you enjoy the outdoors/ camping this has me so connected to Africa.. amazing(you can do room upgrades

I did two tours back to back and they were both fantastic so I’m going to copy and paste... read more

Reviewed 1 July 2024
MichaelS5606
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Recommended experiences in and around Cape Town Central
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Reviewed 27 December 2018 via mobile

First of all I would like to say that the booking procedure was fast and easy, also the reminder received beforehand about things to keep in mind was a very helpful thing.
Unfortunately the Tour itself went completely wrong (and it was not the first time we did an organized tour). After having lots of email discussions with Acacia, but not having received any helpful replies, I would just like to present our experience in this tour here:
We booked an 11 day guided Camping Trip from Durban to Cape Town, joining the tour that had started some time ago in cape town, going to victoria falls, johannesburg, Krüger Nationalpark, etc.
Our guide was not supposed to be on that tour, but had to guide it as the originally planned guide for the tour could not do it. It was the first time for him to do this particular tour, so there was no experience / he was not familiar with the itinerary / places / timings.
Timings were done poorly (first you have to order food, suddenly we run out of time so order has to be changed for takeaway but then you have time to eat superfast but have to wait for the bus to be ready...)
People skills were not there, every individual in the group was treated the same no matter which age or background - people helping a lot would have to listen about his complaints about people not helping but he would never address this complaints to the corresponding people.

Arriving and leaving places was annoying for everybody as he would get extremely stressed (and would just shout commandos around).

Most if the time our guide was busy with his mobile phone - we actually did not find out so much about places we visited or animals we saw.

In case somebody had a complaint he would take it personal instead of listening - even if it was the entire group and would ignore you for the rest of the trip.

For 13 people we would have 4 different itineraries with different food plans - what caused discussions. We ended up paying for dinner that actually was included in the plan.

Foodwise...there were in total 3 days of good dinner.
Lunch was 80 percent do-your-own-sandwiches with unhealthy bread, grinded cheese and ingredients you would not buy at home.

In the end the tour was not a guided tour - it was a transport from A to B being organized and (unfortunately not good quality-) food being provided.

Date of experience: October 2018
2  Thank LILY M
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.
Sabine_Acacia, Manager at Acacia Africa, responded to this reviewResponded 27 December 2018

Dear DavidLily,

Thank you for the additional feedback following our email correspondence earlier in the month. Once again, I am sorry you were disappointed with your tour and I assure you that your emails were read and taken seriously by our senior team. Justin is experienced in southern Africa (4+ years) with an excellent client record, and was called in at short notice to replace the original leader who had fallen ill. Crew are given training, back-up and briefings for a range of routes so they can step in at short notice if required, and so while it was a new itinerary for Justin, he had the experience and information to run the tour normally, or to make minor alterations if needed. Feedback has helped us identify where improvements can be made to make the trip better in the future – which is something we like to be open about and which again I thank you for. Actually the 12-day trip is one of our fastest growing trips, combining well with several of our longer overland camping trips in other areas of east and southern Africa. Regards, Sabine

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Reviewed 14 December 2018

I found the trip covered a lot of great areas and does all of the key spots that you would want to go on however I would say that not all the activities are as you would expect when you get their e.g. they arrive later to the Dune 45 then they imply to save costs on accommodation and the Etosha park you need to get your own game drive if you really want to see the good stuff as the local guides are professional and know where everything else is.

I would say that the how good it is also luck of the draw on tour guides, I found that I had one amazing tour guide (eva) and one terrible one and it actually affected part of the tour really negatively.

Date of experience: December 2018
Thank rosalinda838
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.
Sabine_Acacia, Manager at Acacia Africa, responded to this reviewResponded 19 December 2018

Dear Rosalind,

Thank you for taking the time to post feedback following your recent Acacia tour. We have also seen your Guestrevu feedback and the handed in questionnaire. We are grateful for you making these comments and thank you for bringing matters to our notice. I can assure you that we take a great deal of time to ensure tours operate properly with itinerary highlights all seen or visited and so are disappointed if any part of the trip does not live up to what our clients expect. I hope I can clear up a couple of potential misunderstandings though. In Etosha we use the truck because of the height advantage it gives over flatter landscape and lower vegetation unlike in Chobe and Kruger (and in East Africa) where the nature of the parks is different and our supplier-partners provide a highly professional service using 4WD safari vehicles (as you experienced earlier in the tour). However there is nothing to stop clients at Etosha booking additional gamedrives locally and I am pleased you felt that was worthwhile. At Sesriem we stay outside the park, visit Dune 45 before breakfast and then proceed along the 4WD track to Deadvlei. Staying outside saves slightly on costs but the main reason is the lack of accommodation at the campsite and to even out driving times between Swakopmund and the Fish River Canyon. In regard to the second tour leader we have taken note of what you have said in other feedback and are looking into any irregularities. Finally, we cannot end this short reply without mentioning your very kind words about Eva. She is relatively new to Acacia, having come to us after travelling as an Acacia passenger. She will be delighted at your comments and very encouraged by the positive feedback. Thank you.

Once again, thank you again for taking the time to post your comments. Regards, Sabine

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Reviewed 26 November 2018

I just got back from the Desert and Delta Express Northbound (12-day) route and I am happy with the tour overall. I enjoyed the camping and the tents and campsites were all good. You also could upgrade at most places if you ever needed. Breakfast/lunch was very basic and got a bit redundant (cereal/toast/sandwiches), but dinners were delicious usually something grilled at the campsite! We did make plenty of stops to restock on water and snacks. This was a participation tour, and we all rotated jobs between packing the truck, cleaning the truck, washing up, and cooking. I liked pitching in, but of course you have those that don't. Keep in mind this is an overland tour so you will have long days in the truck (with no a/c), and you just have the bare minimums! We did a lot of game drives and saw plenty of animals! This was always fun, but you also must have patience in the hot sun! Our group had 15 people and good mix of 20-somethings. A few couples, but mostly solo travelers. Also with this company, people are coming and going depending one their route, so you may or may not be with the same people the whole time. On my particular tour, I joined a group from Cape Town that had been together a week. The highlight for me was ending in Victoria Falls and whitewater rafting on the Zambezi. This has been on my list for quite a while and it did not disappoint! Highly recommend! Overall, the tour went as planned for a budget-friendly tour and I would recommend as long as you know what you are getting yourself into!

Date of experience: November 2018
Review collected in partnership with this attraction
Thank Courtyard44
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.
Sabine_Acacia, Manager at Acacia Africa, responded to this reviewResponded 28 November 2018

Dear Courtyard44 - Thank you for your comments on your recent Acacia overland tour. We're pleased to hear you enjoyed the trip and all the aspects that make overland travel in Africa so unique. We hope to see you on our East African or South Africa tour again in future. Regards, Sabine

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Reviewed 14 November 2018

We've been in 2 months Overland trough Africa; started from Nairobi, went trough Uganda, from east to west and than all the way down to Cape town. It's Been AMAZIN, even because our crew (Pete & Francis highly reccomended).

Date of experience: September 2018
Review collected in partnership with this attraction
1  Thank pietropaolor978
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Sabine_Acacia, Manager at Acacia Africa, responded to this reviewResponded 16 November 2018

Dear Pietro - it's always lovely to hear that our crew and wonderful continent were able to give you lasting memories. We'll be sure to let Pete & Francis know how much you enjoyed your Ultimate African Overlander!

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Reviewed 23 October 2018

I went through Acasia Africa to do an Africa Insight, the tour lasted a week and was jam packed with good times!

Date of experience: October 2018
Review collected in partnership with this attraction
Thank oliverlord31
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Sabine_Acacia, Manager at Acacia Africa, responded to this reviewResponded 31 October 2018

Hi Oliverlord31 - thanks for taking the time to post your review and glad to hear you had such good times ;). Regards, Sabine

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