A Leading Kruger Park Safari Specialist
Shinzelle Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $7,894 to $20,300 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Andrew & Debra Cutler | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari and truly personal service
We enjoyed an outstanding and truly memorable safari with Shinzelle in March 2023. It was five days and four nights split between two lodges in different private game reserves in the Hoedspruit/Balule area. We toured the Blyde River Canyon area one day and another a full-day safari in the Kruger National Park. Otherwise it was early morning and evening safari drives in the reserves, including the evening of our arrival and the morning of our departure. The lodges were beautifully set in wild areas, but yet comfortable, with great service, and great food. Each had its own distinctive character, the first we especially loved the shaded dining area with "infinity" pool on an elevation with a view-to-die-for of the Drakensberg mountains and the sunsets. We found this lodge hard to leave. The second, we loved the separate, private, comfortable, round-cottage-type rooms with airy, high thatched-roof ceilings. Throughout, we enjoyed fabulous game drives, with different types of experiences in the different reserves and Kruger NP. Our first drive, in the light of the early evening, and then into the dark, we spent much of the time following a pride of lions on the move and looking to hunt. In another we found ourselves surrounded by 40 or more elephants for an extended period, with many young, and many large females, all happily feeding. I think the highlight was the all-day Kruger tour, simply for the abundance of wildlife, large herds of zebra, giraffes, buffalo, elephants, impala, and too many others to be listed. (It was March, there had been good rains and things were very green with abundant grass, very beautiful.) Also, birds. The only predators we saw at Kruger were a pack of wild dogs that were resting and relaxing beside the road, and that we sat and watched just a few feet from us for quite a while. But we had already had multiple intimate encounters with lions, so no problem there. Logistically, things were well organized and smooth. Shinzelle had a guide (Johnny, who we loved) assigned to take care of us for other than the safari drives in the private reserves. So he guided our Blyde and Kruger tours. A nice thing about visiting in March (other than the nice weather and the bountiful grass and flowers) was that the lodges were not very busy so we had very small groups on the drives, and it was just us for Blyde and Kruger, so we had a good chance to get to know our guide. We took the transfer van from OR Tambo to Hoedspruit and back. This was efficient and worked out fine. My thought is that the journey is quite long and in some places the road is not great. If cost is not important you might consider flying.
Email Simon | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great tour
Full package tour that worked perfectly. We did a four day tour (one afternoon & one morning on a local park connected to the Kruger and two full days in the Kruger) and frankly it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Everything was done really well by the team, including stressless pickup from the airport, ontime pickups, decent guides and saw way more than we were (or at least I was) expecting. The hotel they arranged was a great mix of small boutique with a great safari vibe and an absolutely banging BBQ.
I can't recommend these guys enough, we were on a tight schedule but were able to do everything we wanted during these few days.
Email Mick R | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Good operator but can improve on comunication
A friend and I did the 5-Day Private Photographic Safari in the Kruger Park. After an initial hick-up with the transfer from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit (we did receive a refund at the end of the safari) and a change of camps from Satara to Letaba and Oliphants (which we were not advised of until meeting our guide) the trip was amazing. Our guide Nick was excellent. Not only was he good at spotting animals but was a great photography teacher as well. The end of the 5 days he had us both using the manual settings on our cameras. There was a lack of cat sightings with only 3 lazy lions seen in the 5 days but that was made up for with lots of hyenas and some great wild dog sightings close to Letaba Camp. Both camps were nice, with accommodations at both clean and tidy. Food at the camps was good but choice limited as it was the same restaurant chain at both camps.
IT
Email Giulia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great organization and very good guides
We had a great experience with Shinzelle Safaris, awesome guides and small groups that allowed us to see all the animals in an exciting way
Email Shannon | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organised and reliable, Shinzelle gave us a great safari!
The organisation and communication from Shinzelle prior to our trip was excellent. Our guide Jeffery was waiting for us at the airport as arranged. There followed three days of incredible wildlife sightings, thanks to Jeffery's wealth of experience and knowledge of Kruger. Highly recommend.
Email Isadora Brandao | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Even better than we expected
Danielle has literally made my dream come true.
I have always wanted to go on a Safari and we finally had money to do so I started looking online.
I came across Shinzelle here on SafariBookings and they had some great reviews so we went for it.
As this was my first time booking a holiday package online as well as my fist safari, a small part of me was really worried to be scammed. Luckily I was very very wrong! :)
Danielle was super responsive any time I had a question, she sent us an app which had the itinerary and a countdown to our holiday.
We were picked up on time from the airport to to taken to our lodge in Hoedspruit, our drive was very friendly and did a couple of stops on the way there.
The lodge we stay was simply fantastic! The staff was once again, so friendly, the room were beautiful, spacious and clean, the food served in the restaurant was of the best quality and the views from the hotel deck is just breathtaking!
All our meals, game drivers and other activities were all booked and delivered in time. Our guides and drivers had so much knowledge and love for the animals, they made the drivers in better. Let alone all the wild life we saw everywhere.
I was slightly concerned we wouldn't see much as we only did 4 days worth of game drivers, but first, just the fact I was there, in the open car, seeing the nature and the views were already worth the trip, but secondly, wild life is everywhere if you appreciate the smalls things. We saw so many different birds, antelopes, waterbuck, warthog as well as elephants, lions and lionesses, cheetas, white rhinos and giraffes.
I would totally recommend Shinzelle, our lodge Khaya Ndlovu and obviously South Africa as a destination. We honestly had the best time.
MX
Email Karen Volke | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful services, extreme kindness and flexibility!
I definitely recommend Shinzelle Safaris!!
In the first place, we wanted a custom 6-days tour for our family, which Danielle from Shinzelle arranged exactly as we wanted at a good price. Unfortunately, part of our group missed a flight connection and arrived 3 days later than expected with a complete uncertainty about their luck day by day. Danielle was amazingly helpful, trying to set everything "in real time" so that all the scheduled activities would be squeezed in the remaining days and the unlucky ones could enjoy them all, while the rest of us were enjoying nice game drives as planned.
In addition, the quality of all the provided services in the package was awesome. The lodge in which we were accommodated was just fantastic (African Rock Lodge), the guides and drivers (Jeffrey, Vincent, Sibu) were extremely nice, kind and helpful. Thanks to all of you guys, you made our experience great in spite of the mishap!
Email Betty | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
We would book again with Shinzelle Safaris in a heartbeat
As I planned from home, i had so many concerns about our coming trip: would the airport shuttle be reliable? would our accommodations be comfortable? would we see any wildlife? From airport pick up to airport drop off, everything with Shinzelle was a well-oiled machine. Danielle was always available to answer questions and checked in with us frequently. Our stay at Khaya Ndlovu wildly exceeded our expectations.The lodge itself and its setting is dreamlike (think Out of Africa), meals were exceptional and the game preserve itself and our talented drive guide Sammy enabled us to see so much wildlife up close. Our two days in the Kruger park were also rich with animal encounters
PE
Email Jorge | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience and helpfull all the way!
Me and some colleagues were travelling to Johannesburg for a working trip. Due to some last minute changes we had two free days and we wanted to make the most of them.
Luckily, we were able to spend two wonderful days with the help of Shinzelle Safaris.
They did a great job and were very helpful with us.
Having to book a 2 day tour in such short notice and getting great advice to make the most of these two days was what really showed me what a great team they have.
IE
Email Paul O'Connor | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shinzelle Safaris were superb throughout.
Great safari experience, would repeat in a heartbeat