Stephanie Louw

We three couples from India had a great time in South Africa and Victoria falls thanks to KimKim and Steph our trip planner..This is our third trip with Kim Kim.Perfectly planned and coordinated by Steph,who needs a special mention.She was very patient and catered to all my wishes and suggestions.Especially celebrating my wife s birthday in Kruger shalati train on the bridge.A memorable celebration.Mark our guide in Capetown was exceptional and took proper care of us,very punctual and friendly.In Victoria falls we had little problem in coordinating with the guides and pick ups.Kruger Shalati was again an awsome experience
Now the negatives in our trip though very few need to mention it here,
1)The sunset cruise we were given in all the itineraries was Sunset cruise luxury signature deck experience by Pure Africa,but we were taken to a small cheap boat with basic drinks and hot sun with no shade and hard wooden benches to sit..After a very hot day we were just looking to relax and unwind on the luxury cruise with artisanal premium drinks and canapes and watch the famous African sunset.A very bad experience.Especially with the signature deck cruise sailing next to us all the while.Stephs explanation that small boats reach better places wasnt very convincing.Didnt know why KimKim has compromised on this.This happened for the first time in my three trips.
2)They were few mix ups in flight bookings that made our hearts to beat lil faster with stress in the airport ,but were immediately resolved by Steph.Thanks once again Steph.
3)We were told we will be given visa on arrival for Zambia.The Bushtracks driver who took us to devils pool,stopped at Zambia immigration ,went inside and came back saying sorry you cant go to Zambia today as Indians need prior visa to enter.Then again he goes in and comes back saying if you pay a little extra(bribe) they will give you visa in 10 mins otherwise it will take one day as the visa has to come from Lusaka.So we had no option to shell out that extra bribe along with 50usd visa fee(which also am not sure that it ll be so much for a day tripper)Just informing you this so that this will not be repeated with your future clients.
Apart from these incidents,the trip had gone well with amazing experiences like Penguins,Devils pool,shark cage experience,shalati stay n safari,thanks once again Steph and Kimkim from six of us for curating an amazing trip

Hotel Review

Kruger Shalati Train on the bridge

Kruger National Park, Skukuza

A great stay on the train on the bridge.enjoyed every moment of our stay.An experience of a lifetime ,courteous staff,knowledgeble safari guides,ours was Elvis ,with lot of patience showed us the Big five.The views from the room of the sabie river and the game that come to drink water too good!The pool with an infinity view and bar was a high light

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Elvis the safari guide,Remember the guy in the restaurant need special mention.And also all the singers and dancers at the evng dinner who wished my wife on her birthday

Cleanliness & Comfort

The bed and the pool

Activity Reviews

Table Mountain Tour

Cape Town

Sadly missed the cable car tour because oh high winds,but Mark our guide made it up by taking us on a city tour

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day touring Boulders Beach and Kirstenbosch Gardens

Cape Town

Mark was an amazing guide and took us for local sight seeing to areas like Bo-kaap and other areas of caoetown which was not there in the itinerary.African penguins are cute at Boulders then went to Kirstenbosch gardens which was also lovely

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The guide cum driver Mark

Full Day Boutique Winelands Tour

South Africa

We missed the tour and participated in Capetown marathon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Without a doubt, one of my most favorite vacations despite missing four days due to flight disruptions. The first part of our trip, we spent three nights in Cape Town and stayed at the La Splendida Hotel with an ocean view and minutes away from the waterfront. Bridget Wilcox was our tour guide in Cape Town to a Penguin Safari, a drive along the coast to Cape Point, Hirschenbosch Botanical Gardens and wine tasting. Bridget was friendly, informative, funny, and knowledgeable. We enjoyed having Bridget as our tour guide while in Cape Town. I appreciated, Laurel, a representative from Capi Tours, meeting my husband and I at the airport while we waited for our ride to the hotel given the chaotic start we had. From Cape Town, we flew to Kruger National park - Shalati. The 3 day safari was the highlight and best part of our adventure. Shalati did not disappoint from the staff, accommodations, food, surroundings/atmosphere and overall experience. Definitely exceeded all of my expectations. Benedict from what I observed ran the place well, professional, helpful and made it a point guests were taken care of. Shout out to Subisiso and Lurrecia, both waited on us the majority of our stay and super friendly and helpful. The game drives were quite an experience like no other. We were able to see 4 of the Big Five and in complete awe of seeing them in their nature habitat. The last leg of our vacation, we flew to Zimbabwe. We saw Victoria Falls (no dead pool swimming) but pretty neat regardless and then a Bomba dinner that evening. Our last night, we had lunch at Dusty Road and a sunset cruise. It was such a pleasant evening on the cruise and surprisingly had a great time.

My biggest complaint: La Splendida Hotel and theft. We had a few items laundered with a next day return. I picked up my clothes at the front desk from Lucille (manager) the morning of our last day in Cape Town. I took the clothes to my room and left for our all day wine tasting tour. When we returned, I noticed 4 of our laundered items were missing. I immediately notified the front desk and was told to talk to the manager in the morning, which was the morning we were flying to Kruger National Park. Lucille tried to deflect that it was a possible mix up with another guest's request, plausible but very unlikely. Someone with a key entered our room while we were away and stole our clothes!! We had laundry service at Shalati and Pioneer and had no issues or experienced theft of any kind. Apparently, others have also reported theft at La Splendida (something we found out later after the fact). With a service such as Kim Kim, it is their responsibility to vet hotels, tour guides, etc. and ensure they are reputable before recommending to their guests. I paid for and relied on Kim Kim's expertise to do that on my behalf. In this regard, they failed in my opinion. Stephanie did work with the hotel to recover the stolen clothes. It's been almost 6 weeks since we've been back and I have yet to receive them, if ever.

Hotel Reviews

La Splendida

Mouille Point, Cape Town

Theft! Need to hire trustworthy employees. Online pics were so misleading because our room was no where near what was shown in the pics!

Kruger Shalati Bridge House Suites

From the moment we arrived to departure, service was top notch. Everyone was friendly, welcoming and helpful. Wonderful experience and highly recommend!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Being able to see elephants, hippos, baboons from our room was incredible!

Staff

Shout out to Subisisco and Lurrecia!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pioneers Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Loved the quaintness and coziness of Pioneers!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arrival at Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset Cruise - Signature Deck

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kruger Shalati Train on a bridge

South Africa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boma Dinner and Drum Show

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day penguin safari - Cape Peninsula

South Africa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dusty Road Lunch Experience

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We used KimKim for this trip after a fabulous experience in Japan last year. We appreciated the ability to rely on local expertise in the first instance given a language barrier and this time given safety concerns and the opportunity to learn about more family-friendly opportunities and excursions. This trip definitely met expectations in the first regard. 1) The places that Stephanie booked were safe, clean, conveniently located, and had excellent staff and breakfasts. It seems that there was a misunderstanding and we had a mismatch in our accommodations in one location. 2) Our local guides in Joberg and Cape Town were fantastic. Capey Tours was the company we interfaced with and Emmanuel's personalized tour of Soweto and Hennrick's quirky tours of Cape Town were accessible, informative, and fun. 3) Unfortunately, we did have trouble accessing necessary details as our itinerary never updated on "my trip" or "my itinerary" so we were messaged the most up to date itinerary via PDF in KimKim's messaging system which unfortunately didn't allow us to click for important information like domestic flight information or detailed descriptions of excursions which may have allowed us to better set expectations. Thankfully, Stephanie's team was able to share the flight information via Whatsapp in time to accommodate. 4) Some details of our trip changed right before we were set to travel to accommodate local closures (restaurants and sites that were closed Sunday and Monday had to be moved to different days). Of course we understand this though we were surprised that this wasn't anticipated sooner given we'd messaged back and forth about specific days and orders before that. Unfortunately, this meant that some of the things we'd requested on specific dates (like a birthday dinner for our daughter) were scrambled. This also meant that some days were super packed. We're happy that in one instance, Stephanie could accommodate this feedback quickly and move an 8 hr tour from our first day in country to the next day so we had time to settle and adjust to jetlag.

Planning our trip to South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe with Steph at Salty Travel went very smoothly. She accommodated our requests and suggestions and adjusted the proposed itinerary accordingly. All of the flight arrangements and transfers went smoothly without any surprises. The hotels were all extremely comfortable and spacious and activities were very informative, fun, and beautiful.

Our guide in Johannesburg, Tableto, was knowledgeable and friendly. We really enjoyed the day we spent with him touring the Apartheid Museum and Soweto. At Elephant Valley Lodge, our guide, Lebo, was masterful at spotting wildlife in Chobe, and he told numerous stories and shared facts about the animals. We spent 11 days on a garden route roadtrip with Ben as our guide. He was warm and friendly and knew all the insider restaurants and things to do. He's spontaneous, as are we, and the three of us enjoyed starting out each day with minimal plans and taking routes as the mood struck.

This trip was one of the best we've ever taken. The beauty was overwhelming. Thank you, Steph, Tableto, Lebo, and Ben.

Positive thoughts regarding using Kimkim would be the ability to review the itinerary prior to booking.
Things needed for improvement: Utilizing travel agents with experience agents who will be knowledgeable and clear concise with the ability to take initiative in providing the client needs. For instance, if you have three travel destinations with plane changes then take the initiative to find out the appropriate luggage allowance and make suggestion on packing for trip. If the hotels are booked by the agency asking the hotel what toiletries do you provide to reduce the amount of items being brought. The agency taking the initiative to assure whatever tour company they choose to work with are on the same page as what was explained to the client. Our tours were amazing once started but there were confusion with both Cape town tour company and Zimbabwe tour company. With a great travel agency taking that extra little time to assure everything runs smoothly gives the clients an ease and the ability to enjoy their expensive vacation. Thanks.

Hotel Reviews

South Beach Camps Bay Boutique Hotel

Cape Town

Authenticity & Character

Location

O

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nkosi Guest Lodge

Victoria Falls

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chobe Princess Small Luxury Houseboat

Kasane, Botswana

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arrival Day aboard the Chobe Princess

Chobe River - Namibia Side

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset Cruise - Signature Deck

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cape Peninsula Tour

South Africa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day two on Chobe Princess

Chobe River - Namibia Side

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day City Tour, Robben Island & Table Mountain

South Africa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boma Dinner and Drum Show

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Through the eye of an elephant

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Overall wonderful arrangement by Kim Kim. . We had a great trip. Cape Town hotel and sightseeing was excellent. The Safari experience at Tambamati reserve was outstanding, Khaya Ndhvu was very good, and Rhinopost was OK.
All Vooma Transfers and drivers were outstanding.

Hotel Reviews

Southern Sun The Cullinan

Cape Town

Authenticity & Character

Location

Near convention center

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Thabamati Luxury Tented Camp

Kruger National Park

Outstanding facility. Warm hospitality and Great game viewing really up close.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rhino Post Safari Lodge

Facility Not well maintained. Staff was very average Rangers was good Food was great Overall experience- just Ok. Would not recommend to friends

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cabins need major update and maintenance

Khaya Ndlovu Manor House

Hoedspruit

The facility is an interesting lodge, combining traditional features with modern touches. The rooms were somewhat faded and earned in my opinion 3 stars, not 4 stars. A standout was the food which was excellent.

Authenticity & Character

The food

Location

Staff

Very accommodating.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The infrastructure needs updating and in some cases repairs.

Activity Reviews

Full Day Panorama Tour

South Africa

Guide and Tracker were very good.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset Game Drive in Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park

Andrew and Marika were good. But not going into the bush diminishes the overall game viewing experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Game Drives at Rhino Post

Kruger National Park

Andrew and Marika were good.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cape Peninsula Tour

Cape Town

Guide and Driver Hendricks was excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Thabamati Luxury Safari Camp Safari Days

Timbavati Game Reserve

Excellent in every respect. ranger Charlie and Tracker Oscar were outstanding and a delight and a wealth of information and knowledge.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fly from Hoedspruit to Johannesburg

South Africa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day City Tour, Robben Island & Table Mountain

South Africa

Excellent driver and tour guide, Henryk.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Henryk

Transport