Wildlife Tours & Cruises
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Discover Popular encounters and experiences on a specialist wildlife tour
Polar Bears of Churchill
Join an expert naturalist guide in the heart of Canadian polar bear country and keep an eye out for these beautiful creatures and other amazing Arctic wildlife.
Borneo Wildlife Adventure
Travel through Sabah on the lookout for proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants before melting into the big brown eyes of the orangutans at the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre.
Spot the Big 5
Set off in search of the Big 5 on a safari adventure through the wilds of Africa. Queue the goose bumps as you get up close to incredible species in their natural habitat.
Trek to the Mountain Gorillas
Take a small group hiking adventure into the forests of Rwanda and Uganda to share an unforgettable moment with the gorilla families who call them home. A truly breathtaking experience to observe to these magnificent primates.
Island Hop the Galápagos
Discover incredible biodiversity as you island hop this beautiful archipelago on the lookout for species on land, in the sky, and beneath the surface, from marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies to sea lions and giant tortoises.
Recent Reviews What our clients are saying about their wildlife tours and cruises
Unfortunately, the same could not be said about Giltedge Travel who were responsible for the first part of the trip from Capetown or Kruger to Chobe River. Our Giltedge tour leader was a poor communicator, disorganised and not a good ambassador for Africa. After introducing himself to we 3 who joined the trip in Kruger he said that everyone on the original trip was sick with vomiting and diarrhea and to stay away from them! What a welcome!! He constantly criticised everything about Africa and expressed his strong desire to leave. His true interest was in photography and he spent most of his time in game parks taking photos for his own photographic business. Itinerary plans were clumsy at best - with large amounts of time devoted to standing around and waiting, or travelling back across areas we had already travelled.
Starting the tour in Kruger was a particularly awkward (and expensive) starting point, and should have started in Johannesburg when the rest of the group flew via there to Kruger. On day 2, after joining the group in Kruger, 3 of us were told we could not travel with the group to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and would, instead travel on our own to Zambia - NOT Zimbabwe!! Our tour leader was unable to tell us the logistics of how we would be able to get from Zambia to Zimbabwe to meet up with the rest of the group and "assumed" it would all be OK. The 3 of us were extremely stressed and anxious by the whole concept of splitting the group and us having to make our own way.
On enquiry to Travelmarvel about what was happening we were told not enough seats had been booked on the flight for the whole group - despite the fact that we had booked more than 12 months in advance. Travelmarvel argued that the itinerary is a "guide" and that they reserve the right to alter it if necessary. We would never have believed that the small print meant being split away from the group and sent to another country - where we were not even covered by our travel insurance. Travelmarvel blamed Giltedge, Giltedge blamed Travelmarvel! In the end, we were met in Zambia and assisted by 4 different locals, across 3 different immigration borders and with 3 different means of transport in a long and arduous journey. When we finally got to meet up with the tour director, he told us to hurry and catch up with the group who had already started to walk around Victoria Falls. His instructions to us were to keep on the path and meet him at the coffee shop. The "path" turned out to be 4km long and an hour walk through some difficult terrain - guess he couldn't be bothered to walk - or tell us anything about the Falls. He'd already told the other group who travelled with him and couldn't be bothered to let the "stragglers" know.
The one highlight of the southern part of the trip was the 2-night stay on the Chobe Princess - an extra well worth the $$$. The time on the boat was wonderful, fabulous accommodation and food, an outstanding crew who listened to our interests and tailored the sightseeing to our wishes. They too had nothing to do with Travelmarvel but were operated by a separate company again, fortunately a FAR superior company to Giltedge - or Travelmarvel.
Our changeover from the southern part of the trip to the East African part was also a total mess. We were picked up from the Chobe Princess at 10.30 supposedly for our flight to Nairobi. We were taken to the lobby of a hotel in Chobe township, from where our tour leader left to fly back to South Africa, leaving us to wait .... A coach finally arrived for us at 4pm (5 hours after being dropped off in the lobby and after our tour leader had left!) We arrived into Nairobi, on time, as scheduled, at 10pm. A very slow transfer to the hotel, plus briefing and necessary re-packing of bags, saw us able to go to our rooms at 1.30am before an 8am departure for our Kenyan section of the trip.
It was a long, and expensive, tour to Africa. Africa never failed to disappoint, Wonderful, warm, helpful people, magnificent scenery, and amazing encounters with animals - especially in the East African section of the trip. Would I return to Africa - YES- definitely! Would I travel with Travelmarvel - NO - definitely not. Africa is a difficult area to travel in and the need for well planned, communicated and implemented plans is a must. Travelmarvel didn't demonstrate any of these qualities. Even their briefing notes attached to the final itinerary provided misleading, inaccurate and contradictory information - about luggage, currencies, health requirements, items to pack. Fortunately, there are many other companies that travel to Africa and they would certainly be where I would look again in the future. Many thanks to Georgie of Global Journeys who tried to help us with Travelmarvel. It was much appreciated - even though Travelmarvel's response was not!!
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03 September, 2019
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28 August, 2019
10 Best Wildlife Trips for Animal LoversThe trees rustle, the water ripples. The leaves part, the surface splits. Curious eyes look back at you, fins are aflutter. You catch your breath so as not to disturb the very air that separates you from the royalty of the animal kingdom. It’s moment like these that animal lovers will cherish...
