Using a Local Expert is Essential and Deb and Team are the BEST!

South Africa | Jun 29 - Jul 8, 2023

Deborah and her team were amazing!

I have not used a travel agent for about 20 years. When I last did it was someone local to me who had been to the location 2-3 times at best, so was basically giving limited anectdotal experience or assempling reviews from the same sources available to me. But, having never been anywhere in Africa, I knew I needed some additional help with this trip - to Cape Town, the wine region, and a safari in Kruger. Even still, I approached the whole thing skeptically at first. But Deborah, Anna Marie, and the whole team were fantastic.

They asked a lot of questions about what I cared about in terms of accomodations, the experience in each of the locations, and the schedule I wanted to keep. The itinerary they put together, restaurants they recommended, and specific guides they made sure led the various tours were all top notch - including setting up a private 7 course lunch in the home of a famous South African chef to taste local flavors and cuisine and tour her gardens and listen to her stories cooking for rock stars around the world. Cape Town exceeded every one of my expectations. And then they found us the best cottage in Fraschoek, under the radar restaurants, and an awesome guide for our bike tour of the wine region. These are all things that you NEED a LOCAL to find you. They had been to all of the places they recomended - knew the people who worked there, and hadn't just visited Cape Town and the wine region, but LIVED there.

For the last, and most important stop, the safari lodge they found us was amazing. They offered a number of choices and we worked to arrive at one that was exactly what we were looking for (I told them I was willing to spend, but cared a lot more about the quality of the game drives than the quality of the sheets, and they found us a lodge where the owner is the main guide, and the tracker has been tracking and working in Kruger for more than 25 years). We saw everything - including three separate leopards; and learned so much from the two of them who had lived their entire lives in that portion of the reserve.

Finally, Deb and Anna Marie connected on WhatsApp in advance of the trip and checked in with us throughout to make sure everything was exceeding expectations. When we had United-related travel delays at the start of the trip, they made all necessary adjustments. And when we had a change of mind about a dinner - or spending longer somewhere - they were basically on call (in the same time zone!) to address and adjust everything as needed.

We could not recommend them any more highly! Absolutely amazing vacation!