If personalized service is a must for your family's South African tour, consider these three companies. Each offers flexibility and a different array of options for a more thoroughly unconventional approach to guided travel.
Visitors to South Africa seeking a vacation off the beaten path can look to small independent tour guide companies that specialize in showing their guests, including individual families, a side of the country not always seen by larger touring groups. Whether you’re bringing the kids, grandkids, parents or an entire family reunion, there is much to choose from in terms of a more personalized approach to tour arrangement.
Wild Coast Holiday Reservations: The Hidden Eastern Cape
William Ross of Wild Coast Holiday Reservations (27/43-743-6181) offers fascinating excursions around the Eastern Cape in southeast South Africa. The Eastern Cape is the birthplace of some of the country’s most prominent politicians, including former president Nelson Mandela and current president Thabo Mbeki.
A Wild Coast Holiday Reservations tour offers many options along their flagship trail, the Wild Coast Meander. Your journey might begin with a stay at the ultra-modern Sun International Hemingways Hotel and Casino or the company’s own Meander Inn in East London, the second biggest port city in this region. The next day should include a drive, mostly on a dirt road, toward the cliffs of Morgan Bay. Ross will guide you on a leisurely hike to Kei River Mouth to see a lighthouse, followed by a relaxing boat cruise on the river.
There are a number of fine cultural villages set up for tourists throughout South Africa, but in the Eastern Cape, Ross takes his clients to an actual Xhosa village. After traveling by ferry to the Transkei, you will visit a Xhosa family still living much like their ancestors hundreds of years ago. The Xhosa people were some of the first inhabitants of the region, and Nelson Mandela is a Xhosa. Your visit will include an invitation into a thatched-roof home called a kraal, owned by the tribe’s healer. This lively woman will demonstrate her holistic rituals and primitive chores while her friends and family sing in perfect harmony and keep a rhythmic beat. Not too many tourists make it to these parts. Television host Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network donated a tremendous amount of funds for the children of this improvised area.
In addition to the Wild Coast Meander, Wild Coast Holiday Reservations offers excursions on five other trails, each with unique rural attractions, family-friendly lodging, guides, and porters.
Bophelo Tours & Safaris: Variety, Luxury, History
Marius Barnard of Bophelo Tours and Safaris (27/83-957-5010) offers guided and self-guided tours throughout South Africa, catering to a variety of groups, including the disabled. His tours are great for multi-generational families traveling together. You can include the ultra-luxurious Rovos Rail for a safari by train. From Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province, Barnard can take you 15 kilometers away to Soweto, which is comprised of 22 townships. In 1976, the first riots against apartheid began in Soweto. The Hector Petersen Memorial, named for a thirteen-year-old boy killed by a policeman’s bullet, stands as a tribute to those who lost their lives. Other places of interest include the former home of Nelson Mandela, now a museum, and the current compound of Winnie Mandela, his very controversial former wife.
Africa Classic Encounters: The Family Safari
For families seeking the more safari-oriented South African experience, African Classic Encounters (212/972-0031) offers a variety of smaller guided tours in South Africa. With offices in both Africa and the United States, this company doesn’t even accept online bookings–they prefer to offer consultations on the phone or in-house to best personalize the travel experience. Custom South African safaris, designed for a variety of price ranges, are each led by personal rangers and a Shangaan tracker. Special family-oriented programs include a walk with baboons and whale watching.
Award-winning South African Airways (27/11-978-5313) flies from New York’s JFK Airport to Johannesburg. An SAA domestic connection brings you to Durban or East London.
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maurice doyle: You should certainly be in touch with the airline's Customer Support staff to get a refund for any fees you paid to have an escort, if no one was provided. However, most of the airlines don't require an escort for a child that is 14 years old, even when changing planes, therefore they may not have broken any laws by not having one available.
What a fantastic article and most importantly website. This site is a fantastic tool for families who are beginning their vacations and who may require some support in their planning to cover specific needs.
Thank you. The information is very helpful and before receiving your email, I came to the same conclusion about limiting the trip to Rome and Sicily. You just gave me affirmation. I would love to go to Venice, but that'll will need to wait for another trip.
Thanks again,
Mindy
my grandson flew from sacramento ca. to nixa mo he is 14 yrs of age.We paid for an escort to get him to the next flight out of denver co.at sacramento they told my daughter that it was the last flight out and there is nobody to escort him.can you plese help me with this i want to claim my refund.thany you
Maurice Doyle
417 724 9931
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This is a normal requirement with any business who are in the care of under aged young people. I believe there is a medical consent that is required at the time of any travel plans.
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This is a great step forward to avoid potential fraud attempts etc, and ensure your family vacation goes as it should!
Have a look at HolidayRentalsForMe.com – its a great new way of finding a great holiday home for your next family vacation.
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There are so many other things to do in the Wisconsin Dells as well! You can have a visit with nature and I strongly suggest checking out Devil's Lake and Mirror Lake, the local state parks. Going for a tour on the Wisconsin Ducks is an memorable experience too!
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Regardless of gender, good parenting is not unique to heterosexual couples. I think this is a fantastic breakthrough as committed couple or singles do make good parents.
I also recommend talking to others that have been to the place that you are going. They will have great ideas on what to see and what to avoid if you have children.
Regardless of gender, good parenting is not unique to heterosexual couples. I think this is a fantastic breakthrough as committed couple or singles do make good parents.
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Students visited and conducted interviews with residents of the Kliptown community in Soweto. Here the student was able to experience albeit on a cursory level the difficulties and problems encountered by the community. Certain problems were identifies, such as inadequate emergency strategies, inadequate housing, sanitation and water accessibility.
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