1 independent reviews for Family vacation to South Africa & Swaziland
Reviews for Family vacation to South Africa & Swaziland
Marina Symvoulidou review 5 Aug 2019
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Tsukudu Game Reserve. Excellent guide, very knowleadgeable, fun, knew how to make the most of environmental interpretation.2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
As a lot of things are optional keep in mind that depending on the optional activities you want to book you may need another 300-500 euros each for food and activities. Also pack warm clothes too. For the early morning late evening game drives you will need them.3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I am not really sure since we do not know what percentage goes to local people. We visited a zulu village that seemed quite touristic as an experience, too pre-fabricated but at least I hope the proceeds go to them. The "orphanage" optional experience in Swaziland was a complete no for me. It was just another turistic show of their cultural songs and dances, not really unerstanding their needs. It would be preferable if wwe could actually visit the scool and orphanage and instead of an oprtional experience make it a basic one, with pre-information of the travelers so that they could bring textbooks or pencils or clothes or other items of need instead of asking for a voluntary conmtribution on our way out. As for the environmental aspect we did visit a glass recycling facility however for the most part we saw very little of the actual conservation that is supported, we could have visited a rehab or a conservation dfacility, talk with a couple of rangers etc (which we didn't)4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Overall it was a good experience, I was expecting a bit more on the responsible side to be honest as well as more time spend in Kruger.Read the operator's response here:
Thank you for your comments, at Responsible Travel we do not promote orphanage visits
See our guidelines below:
https://www.responsibletravel.com/vacations/volunteering-with-children/travel-guide/volunteering-with-children-issues
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