Originally Posted by
nalismom
If you choose to visit Kruger (which is amazing) I suggest working with someone who has built personal relationships with lodges and vendors. We worked with BwanaDave ( Dave Patterson) whom I found on TA....there are others on the site as well....they know the in's and outs and often times can get you more for your budget.......and they arrange all the transitions between lodges and listen to your preferences.
We visited in 2015 and had 12 nights in Kruger - 4 nights in 3 different lodges and then 5 nights in Cape Town for way less than what a pre-packaged tour would cost.
On this trip my husband needed to see a doctor which the Operations Director of the Lodge arranged at a local clinic...we were near Skukuza. To my surprise....we also received personal calls from Dave and the vendor he works with later that same afternoon to make sure everything was taken care of and if we needed any additional help...this was completely unsolicited by us and truly a comfort to know we were being looked after.
Personally, I like this approach more to a packaged tour. Reasons for me: I like being involved in the planning (not all tours can cater to everyone's tastes in all aspects. So my involvement helps hopefully achieve this); packaged tours are like middle man to the middle man thing, thus more expensive. Rather be able to deal with the guide/person directly overseeing instead.