Audley Travel

uickly realized that it was out of my reach to plan a South African Safari on my own. I stumbled across Audley Travel when on Google one day, so I submitted an inquiry on a general idea of what we wanted to do. Within a couple days, Samantha reached out to me to discuss further. I was still on the fence on how much it would cost me to use a travel company to plan my trip for me. Samantha and I talked for several minutes on a general idea of what we wanted to do/see. She put together a quote and a full itinerary to read through, and when comparing prices, it was not much more to have them do everything for us. The trip was PERFECT. We flew from the US to Cape Town, and Samantha had set up private drivers to take us everywhere we needed to go. We spent 3 days in Cape Town to explore the city and to also take a short drive to go Great White Shark Cage Diving. It was an incredible experience. We then flew across the country to Durban to take a short ride to the Leopard Mountain Safari Lodge. Samantha must have already told them it was our honeymoon as we received special treatment the moment we arrived. We had a private dinner in the "bush" with a camp fire for lighting. We spent 3 days there with their incredible staff. On our last game drive, our guide, Ryan, stopped before getting back to the lodge to enjoy a glass of champagne to celebrate our marriage. Little things like that truly make the trip that much more enjoyable. I have never met a more friendly group of people and they were all so welcoming. We then travelled a few hours away for some peace and quiet on Elephant Coast for the last couple days. We could never have planned such a perfect trip on our own. We are so thankful for Samantha and Audley Travel for doing all the work to ensure we had a trip of a lifetime. On our next "around the world adventure", we will definitely be in touch with Audley Travel.

to South Africa. We went for nearly two weeks. We have both traveled pretty extensively, but this would be our first time on the African continent. We were a little intimidated by planning it. In our initial research, we had a hard time figuring out where to stay, where to eat and how to get around. For someone who is very literate with booking trips abroad, I was nervous to do this one. I had my hesitations about using a travel agent - is it worth the 'extra' money? What do they know that I couldn't figure out for myself? Do I really need help or should I just apply myself a little more? Audley was literally the answer to ALL of those questions. Not only did I feel completely comfortable with Samantha, but after comparing her numbers and my original trip estimate, we were within a stone's throw of each other. And I didn't have to worry about anything! In my opinion, it was an excellent value for the money and one less thing to worry about while planning a wedding. We stayed a week in Cape Town and then nearly a week on safari. We absolutely loved the options we had in terms of accommodations and ultimately loved the place we chose to stay. The restaurant recommendations were spot on. The experience itself was unforgettable. Samantha arranged for us to do tours every other day. We could explore on our own, but we got driven down to the Cape of Good Hope, we kayaked in Simon's Bay with the famous penguins (they swam underneath us!), we went White Shark cage diving in Gansbaai. The safari itself was one of the most amazing experiences either of us have ever had. Samantha recommended we stay in luxury tents on a private game reserve. She could not have picked a better trip for us. We were in the lap of luxury and we saw everything we hoped to see and then some (the lions had cubs!). This trip would not have been nearly as seamless or as stress free without Audley. We hope to plan another trip to Egypt with them next year!

ack in April and Sam King responded within minutes. I gave her a budget to work with and she promptly gave me several options to choose from with no pressure. I told her what my wife and I wanted, and she accomplished it all. All I had to do was write a check and show up. Sam walked me through the comprehensive itinerary and answered any questions I had in the most timely and professional manner. I would recommend Audley to anyone and my wife and I cannot wait to go on our next trip.