RSD Travel
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South Africa Tour October 2018
This is the 3rd time we have travelled with RSD - our previous experiences being 2 Turkey tours with usual half days/pressure selling in carpet/jewellery/leather factories, threatening tour guide on one trip & tour starting at 7am on the first day when we didn't arrive at the hotel until 5am after a night flight. This made us slightly apprehensive about the SA trip, but on the whole it was pretty good. Two night flights with Turkish Airlines which were on time and had good food. Check-in at Gatwick was chaotic as it appears RSD had made a block booking for the whole group and no couples had been allocated seats together and, we were told as the flight was full, we could not change. Same thing happened in Johannesburg for the return flight but we were finally able to change. Turkish airport staff and flight attendants always come across as being rather surly. Cape Town Tour guide was very nice but rather disorganised, and more interested in gluing back on her false nails on the bus than giving us vital information. Johannesburg tour guide was excellent. Neither were pushy over additional tours. We paid extra for cultural and dinner package before we left. Food on the whole was pretty good. The tours included in this package were a bit of a rip-off. Tour to Waterfront in Cape Town consisted of taking us there in the bus to a restaurant for supper, then picking us up afterwards and taking us back to the hotel, so got to see nothing else of the area (plus it was dark). Trip to ostrich farm consisted of 20 minute stop at place that had 3 ostriches in one field and a few in another that you couldn't get near, plus cafe and gift shop (you could do this at animal sanctuary at home). Both trip to ostrich farm and Cape of Good Hope bus went to anyway, so presumably if you hadn't paid for the package, you would have just had to sit on the bus or stay behind at the hotel. Boat trip in Knysna was welcome as it was an extremely hot day, but not too much to see. We also paid in advance for the folklore show (£45). This was very over-priced and disappointing. Meal advertised as 14 different dishes but basically only got a taster of each so total quantity of food probably less than you would have eaten at normal meal anyway. Meal was in a regular restaurant and entertainment consisted of dancers and drummers coming to the end of each dining area in turn so, depending on where you were sitting, you couldn't see anything. Those who didn't book in advance had to pay £60 for the evening. We were also offered further optional excursions when we arrived - £65 for trip to Addo Elephant sanctuary, which we were told included at 3-hour jeep game drive, but when we got there it was only 2 hours; £40 for 1 1/2-hour trip to Township in Knysna (which we didn't do); £? for Whale watching trip which we didn't do and just spent time on the beach; £85 for jeep game drive in Kruger (definitely better seeing game from jeep rather than bus but not sure whether worth paying an additional £85 - most of jeep ride was on tarmac road where bus could go anyway). Tour very busy and hectic with an early start every day and not arriving at the hotel in the evening until around 6pm at the earliest, so just time to get in room, have supper and then get to bed ready for early start next day. However, this is the price you pay for packing so much in to a short trip. Hotels were pretty good throughout the tour and 'glamping' tents at Kruger were fantastic with wonderful views across bush landscape. Overall, good value tour compared to what you pay for an equivalent trip with other tour operators. Mediterranean scenery in Cape Town area and nice beaches along East Coast, but highlight for us was definitely wildlife in Kruger which made the trip worthwhile.