What an unforgettable experience on our safari with Shinzelle! Everything was perfect and we will be forever grateful to Danielle for stepping in and rearranging everything at very short notice at our request! Our guide - Jason's encyclopaedic knowledge of the sights and sounds of Kruger was very interesting and entertaining. The accommodation was fabulous and our time on safari will stay with us forever.

We had an amazing 5 days Kruger Safari with Shinzelle and especially with our ranger / guide Jeffrey. We could see not just the big 5 but ….. the 7 magnificents! Our guide made it so especial. He knew absolutely everything about animals’ behavior…. and with a great sense of humor. Always on time and always ready to go a bit further seeking for the animals. If we ever go back to Kruger we’ll repeat with Shinzelle and Jeffrey.

Best Holiday Ever!!! Everything about this holiday was brilliant, wonderful location & accommodation. The communication was excellent & the way the whole trip was organised was fantastic from start to finish. I do not want to do any other type of holiday ever again! The Manor house was wonderful, every person there made our trip what it was, our guides, both from Shinzelle & at the Manor House were great & knowledgeable. Food was delicious, the watering hole opposite the pool was fabulous too. Beautiful place, wonderful people, best trip of my life, cannot wait to come back & I will!

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.

We had a great time, but that was down to our driver and guide VJ who was sub-contracted by Shinzelle. I found Danielle to be responsive on communication but after getting and paying for a 5 day trip at Satara, our guide informed us that we were not booked to stay there at all. There had been no mention of moving camps prior to this though an email had mentioned "showing us" both the centre and southern areas of Kruger. We ended up at Letaba and Olifants. The accomdation (rondel) at Letaba was clean and all facilities were provided but I can't say I found the viewing great. Enjoyed the dinners in the evening. The viewing was better around Olifants, but the accomodation was awful and I would not recommend anyone stay in this dump. Door locks broken, toilets and showers stank, no power to fridge at all, no cutlery or crockery for use. For the last two days of our trip VJ drove us down near Satara (where we had originally been told we were staying). There was more game in general and actual herds of animals (zebra, buffalo, wildebeest,etc). On the last day and a half (near Satara) we saw leopards, cheetahs, lions and wild dogs of which there was not a hint of at the other camps. We had a great Safari(thanks to VJ) and would go back to Kruger but would be unlikely to book with Shinzelle, due to being moved from Satara to areas with less game and accomodation that is not fit for use.

We had a wonderful time. The trip was very well organized and all the staff (at the lodge, the shuttle bus drivers, the tour guides) were competent courteous and punctual. Shinzelle Safaris delivered above and beyond our expectations.

We booked the four day Kruger and Private Reserve Tour with Danny, staying at Khaya Ndlovu Manor House. First of all, the accommodation and food was first class. The manor is beautifully decorated, with a deck area and infinity pool overlooking a water hole, where you can watch zebras and other wildlife come down to drink. The game drives were out of this world! Johnny our guide for Kruger was so knowledgeable and could spot all types of wildlife. We were extremely lucky and saw everything we could, and the trackers and guides at Khaya Ndlovu also went above and beyond to track cheetahs and lioness. Everything was perfectly organised by Danny, so we just had to sit back and soak up the whole experience.

My friend and I visited South Africa for the 1st time this July. We booked the 5 Days Private Kruger Safari & Luxury Lodge Experience with Shinzelle and we are glad we did ! We spent 2 nights in a lodge inside the Sabi Sand private game reserve and then 2 nights inside the Kruger National Park with a private guide. Everything was really well organized, we didn’t need to worry about anything. The only thing we had to do was enjoy the parks, the landscape and the animals ;) As soon as we landed in Nelspruit, we were taking care of. Nick was waiting for us at the airport to drive us to Sabi Sand. He then came back to pick us 2 days later and proceed with us to the Kruger part of our journey before driving us back to the airport at the end. Special thanks to Danielle for organizing this perfect trip for us ! She was always there to answer the many questions I had before the trip and I greatly appreciate her availability. We will definitely come back for more :) PS. If you can get Nick as a guide, go for it ! He was very knowledgeable, very helpful, and very funny. For sure, one of the best guides we have had.

My friend and I traveled to South Africa for the first time and had an excellent experience in the country. We had such a great time with Shinzelle Safaris! Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. I would highly recommend this package to anyone. The safari was a must and driving along the panoramic route and experiencing other parts of the area was well worth it.

We had an amazing time with Shinzelle Safaris and saw so many animals each day of our safari, including 4/5 of the Big Five. Derrick was an amazing safari guide and was so knowledgable about all of the animals we saw. We had so much fun getting to know him and learning more about South African culture and wildlife. We also especially loved the amazing views of the Panoramic Tour and were glad we included that portion in our package.

Greatly exceeded expectations on all levels! Simply incredible! There is nothing more impressive than an elephant in the wild! 10/10 for our safari guide! 10/10 for Gecko Lodge staff as well! Do it...you won't regret it!

Everything was planned perfectly. we stayed at umkumbe bush lodge, which was a really awesome place to stay . food was good. everybody was so nice and friendly and helped us with everything. the safaris were unbelievable. we almost saw every animal of the big5 (except the buffalo) . really good rangers which found a lot of animals. it was a perfect trip and also thanks to danielle who planned and booked everything for us.

By far, one of the most amazing adventures I have every been on. Danielle was fantastic with the reservations and answered all of my questions. Docter was our guide and he did not let down; we learned so much. We saw the Big Five and then some. It was a trip of a lifetime. Stay at Hippo Hollow (20 mins from Kruger) and remember to dress in layers. The 5am drive is chilly, but it warms up later in the day. I can't say enough about how amazing this company is.

We used Shinzelle Safaris to book our 5 day safari in Sabi Sands and what an experience it was. We had the best time and our booking was made so easy by Danielle. Danielle was flexible and quick at responding so we had all the information we needed. We were so lucky to stay at Umkumbe River Lodge in Sabi Sands and had the best week we could have wished for. Definitely recommend

Three of us were in Hazyview last week and did the four day trip with Shinzelle. Jayden was our driver for the safari and he was absolutely wonderful!! He is so knowledgeable and astute in his awareness of animals, birds and their behaviour. The lodge where we stayed was great, the food brought to our room each night was fabulous (kudos to the chef) and there were even monkeys swinging in the trees to make it more perfect. Can't recommend this safari enough!