Zandi was a perfect guide. He was very knowledgeable, friendly, and caring. He exceeded our expectations. I wish I would have booked every excursion during my stay with Zandi. Thank you Zandi!

The township trip was interesting but harrowing and our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting

We had booked a tour from the U.K. with Premier Holidays who used Thomson’s Tours as their appointed agent in South Africa. We stayed in Cale Town / Rovos Rail / Ivory Manor in Pretoria / Victoria Falls Zimbabwe. Sad to say that Thomson’s failed miserably on 2 of our pre paid tours ! The first tour was a full day Winelands tasting tour. The driver arrived 75 minutes late for the pick up - a bad omen - and then whilst driving towards Stellenbosch, he was actually on the phone, driving one handed, trying to arrange vineyards for our visits. This should have been booked and confirmed many month previously when we actually booked the complete package. At times whilst driving, he was holding up a large paper map with both hands showing us the Cape area ! We did not feel safe whatsoever and when we actually arrived at Lanzerac estate it was clear to see they were not expecting us and merely sat us at a table and placed 2 bottles of red wine on the table with very little expalanation as to its origins etc. We never got to taste any other wines as the server did not return to our table ! Our driver then took us to Franscheok where he dropped us for lunch. As a group we decided that the tour was already a disaster and would return to Cape Town. The driver refused and told us he would be taking us to Paarl, we insisted he take us back to CT and finally he agreed. He was downright rude, drove very badly and the whole tour was basically a complete waste of a day. Thompson apologised and arranged for an upgrade on a Zambezi River cruise tour later that week, but surprise surprise when we arrived at the boat, they knew nothing of any upgrade, very embarrassing for our group to say the least. It appears that Thomson’s got the date wrong which is incredible as they had compiled our itinerary for the complete tour. A case of the right hand not knowing what the left was doing. We are waiting to hear further from Thompsons to resolve this matter !

We booked for a holiday to Cape Town and Johannesburg Douglas picked us up from the airport,he was very friendly,patient and offered great info that we thoroughly loved Nabil/Nabeel was the best for the three days or so we stayed in capetown,always punctual,polite and extremely informed with history and historical facts,not in a rush,i would really recommend him to every tourist around cape town! Kevin also was really cheerful and he dropped us off at the airport on our last day! Brenda Petersen in Johannesburg tour was pure bliss and gem,very bubbly and happy person,she took great length to teach and inform us about the history of south africa Thanks alot Thompson's Travel,am Kenyan and you have the best team in the world🙏🏾

We visited St Lucia on a private tour from our Cruise ship.We were looking forward to observing, hippo, crocodile and bird life during this cruise. Sadly only one crocodile appeared but we managed to get very close to it. There were plenty of Hippo's and we saw an African Fish Eagle, Yellow weavers and egrets.. There was ample room on the boat to move around to take photo's. It was a good way to spend a couple of hours on a boat, just a pity about the elusive crocodiles.

One of my best holiday ever - animals in natural setting, beautiful scenery and such lovely people. All so amazing. We were fortunate to see 4 of the big 5 in Kruger National Park, and quite close up too. I have many fantastic photos. I didn’t realise S Africa had so many mountains and some scenery was absolutely beautiful. Franchoek is a pretty little town in wine growing area - loved it. Cape Town is quite lively, with excellent restaurants and don’t miss The Watershed which is full of small individual craft shops. The vibrant colours everywhere is mind blowing. A truly wonderful two weeks - all amazing and people are very warm and welcoming.

We did full day tour with Ernest and it was wonderful. We visited Fairview winery (had lovely tasting of 6 wines paired with 6 cheeses). This is a top notch winery. Next we drove to nearby towns that were lovely resort-like places where we had a nice lunch on our own. The second winery (Simonsig) where it was more of a typical tasting of just being given the wines with not as much explanation, but still not bad. On the way back Ernest made an extra stop in town for us to see the location of District Six that was torn down and the black residents all evicted. It was a powerful experience and one that I was glad he as able to do as an add-on since we were back in time.

We were collected on time from our hotel by Zandi a local guide. Throughout the entire day, he was so knowledgeable and friendly to us. He provided great local knowledge during our trip to the district 6 museum and through the Langa township. We always felt safe with him through our tour. He ensured we made our ferry trip to Robben Island on time also. Would easily recommend this tour to someone again, and also they would be lucky to have Zandi again.

This was my first time to South Africa and traveling with a tour company. I was a little skeptical on how it would go and it exceeded expectations. We had a private driver for our tours while in and leaving Stellenbosch and to and into Cape Town. There was some small miscommunication from the company but the main guide that we had was AMAZING. Mogamat really made the time there and our activities a better experience. Not only was he so knowledgeable but he also took time to get to know us which in turn made him know what we really wanted to see and how to interact with us. He became part of our group and not just our guide. He humored us and participated in our fun. One of my favorite activities was Table Mountain. It was a perfect day for it and go early/first thing to beat the crowds - it'll make it worth it. The coast drive was also fun and we saw and learned so much. The Gold dinner was a great departing activity and even though it's very touristy it was worth it. The food was amazing and they were very helpful with food allergies which I wasn't expecting and was so appreciative of. The company was worth booking with and if you're lucky to get Mogamat or someone close to him then you'll definitely have a fabulous trip.

This tour only went to half the places it listed it would take people - no traditional healer shop and no local pub. The seas were too high so the ferry to Robben Island was canceled (obviously not on the tour) but, apparently this happens rather often and they had no Plan B for the full day 8 hour tour! The guide dropped us off at noon and said we would be reimbursed for our two tickets to Robben Island that the tour arranged. Its been almost 10 days and there has been zero communication. To us fro this tour operator and we have not been reimbursed. We had to pay another guide for the same experience a different day. So frustrating and unprofessional!

The scenery is magnificent, calming and you can actually fall into sleep. But there's nothing much to see except pod of hippos all over and a very few bird species. We saw 1 large lizard, not a single crocodile. There was a Impala but was too far, only the gentleman with binoculars confirmed it. Also its strange that there is no speed point on board yet internet service was sufficient throughout.

The cruise itself was great. The sightings were great. However we found the staff very apathetic is terms of serving drinks and snacks. We were told that we could pay with cash or card, however once on board were told that it was cash only. I think we were also the only members onboard who had not brought their own booze and food.

The Hippo cruise was a great experience! We were only exploring St. Lucia for future clients and went on our boat cruise the following day after scheduling with the tour guide Sia (probably spelled differently). The boat was packed with people and if you are interested in photos taking by a real camera and not only smartphones, you have to think ahead and position yourself before the hoards of tourists climb over you to take a blurry photo for their family. Anyway, we were lucky with our sightings and saw plenty of hippos as well as crocodiles and birds. It was quite windy but still all right. The team on the cruise were friendly. If you did not pack a lunch bag, you were provided snacks and drinks on the boat. The guide was talking through the microphone with some facts about the area and hippos in general, which was quite interesting, if he wasn't interrupted by others or the microphone cracking! All in all, it was a nice experience and we enjoyed it very much.

The duration of the cruise was a tad long as there's nothing much to see except some birds and lots of hippos. Too many of them that it started to get boring...

Hoping this is the right place to write this review. We recently spent two weeks in South Africa. Our trip started with a 5-day safari. After that, we spent the rest of our time visiting other parts of the country. With the exception of the safari, all other activities were managed by Africa Answers who in turn used Thompson's. I cannot say enough about either company. We travel internationally extensively and always live by the manta, "what can go wrong, will, and just roll with it." Not one misstep on the entire trip. We visited Cape Town, the Wine Country, and Johannesburg. We were met promptly at the airports (even when one flight was four hours late). Our pickups for tours were always at least 15 minutes early. Our tour guides were friendly and knowledgeable. The vans were more than big enough, clean, and stocked with cold water. If you are looking for tour providers, please consider with Thompson's or Africa Answers (which will utilize Thompson's). Thanks to them...our trip was a great experience.