Africa Spear Safaris — Local services in Mbombela

An amazing experience

We booked a 4 day/3 night trip to Kruger from Johannesburg with transfers to/from the park.

On the transfer to the park, our driver Mike picked us up in a comfortable car and drive us up. He pointed out points of interest on the way and made sure there were stops as we needed. He Brough us back again and told us about his life in South Africa, the ups and downs of living there and gave us his recommendations for our next destinations on our trip.

We met our guide Tyrone at Skukuza camp and he had already checked us in and put our bags in the rondavel all ready for us so we could get going ASAP.

One one of the game drives we were with other people and Tyrone made sure everyone saw things they wanted to see. After that, we were alone with Tyrone for the other 2 1/2 days.

He appeared to really enjoy what he does and was very knowledgeable about the animals, plants and landscape of the park. Both of us have been on safari before and it is very obvious when someone is just going through the motions and when some is proud of their home and wants to show it off.

On one of the drives it was very hot so the animals weren’t particularly active. Tyrone was able to tell us about the various plants and birds that we were driving past, and showed us various uses for different plants. That drive was just as stimulating as the others ones we did when we saw the big tick-box animals, as well as smaller creatures like a dung beetle rolling his dung ball and a gecko that Tyrone rescued from under another vehicle to save it from getting run over.

We both live in London and experience non-stop noise, so Tyrone asked if we would like to just sit in the quiet every now and then, which was amazing. He found spots where we could smell the plants on the breeze because he realised we probably wouldn’t get to do that at home either, which was generally indicative of his thoughtful he was.

As well as being a walking animal and plant encyclopaedia, he also took time in the evening to show us the different constellations, having realised that again, we wouldn’t be able to see stars because of the light pollution in London. It was things like that that really made the trip.

We would certainly recommend Africa Spear, and especially Tyrone to our family and friends, and plan to come back again and will ask Ivan (the fellow who runs the company) to try and strong-arm Tyrone into taking us round the park again.

We genuinely had a 10/10 experience and will forget neither the safari, nor Tyrone’s kindness and generosity with his time...

We had a wonderful experience with Africa Spear Safaris! Our guide Dave was extremely knowledgable about all of the animals, teaching us interesting facts & how to read their body language, and also sharing utterly fascinating information about the plants that we never would have known otherwise. Every minute with our guide was utterly delightful, and his love for this nature reserve and all of its creatures was so evident. I only wish we could have stayed for a few more days; can't recommend it enough!

Moreover, I want to note that we originally booked this trip in May 2020, and they were extremely understanding and accommodating about our cancellation. And then when we reached out again two years later, they wanted to honor our original price and were delightful...

I have been into the Kruger as a day visitor many times before and have never had a problem with game vehicles before. On the most recent visit I found that the Africa Spear game vehicles were speeding constantly and blocking the road at sightings and from other cars who are trying to view the sighting. For many cars it becomes increasingly frustrating when vehicles block the road during a sighting and block the view from other cars. I also noticed that the people on the vehicles were standing up and shouting during the sightings and pretty much scaring the sighting away. The Kruger is also for others to view sightings and not just for game vehicles, they have become extremely selfish at sightings and do not allow other vehicles to...