Half Day Safari Tour from Durban

An excellent experience Would do it again. Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

First know that as it states in the itinerary, the tour through the reserve is in "an enclosed vehicle," i.e. the tour van itself and NOT in Tala's big open trucks. What may have been a great trip was spoiled by a majority of guests, a few in particular, who refused to do the tour since not in the open truck as they expected and supposedly as their reservations indicated. We had a group 20 (all from the same cruise) who booked through different tour companies, some through Zulu Safaris directly. While the guide Zamani remained calm and courteous, several demanded a full refund and an immediate turn to the ship. He tried his best to resolve the matter to no avail. A Tala employee also explained that all their trucks were reserved all day by cruise tours. We wanted to continue the tour in the van but the majority overruled. Since we all came in one large van, we all had to return to the ship an hour away. We were very disappointed, as we later saw great photos from fellow passengers who did the tour, some in open trucks, others in an enclosed vehicle. But all really enjoyed the tour and saw lots of animals. After contacting Viator and explaining a situation beyond our control, they gave a partial refund. While the guide was kind and informative, one helpful thing Zulu Safari's could ensure is that either their guide hold a sign with the name of the tour company or put a sign in the window of the van, as the van was all white with no sign or logo at all. One couple waited 20 min, another 45 min (very annoyed) trying to locate the guide and van which was parked on the curb just outside the terminal gate, but down a ways past other tour vans. Even though I sent a What's App message to the guide the day before asking for the specific location to meet, his short reply was "we meet tomorrow harbour." Thankfully our friends on the same tour arrived ahead of us and after asking around found the guide and texted us.

We had a great experience with Zamani on the Half Day Safari Tour from Durban. He was very professional, knowledgeable and friendly. The game reserve was about an hour drive from Durban. Zamani pointed out all the points of interest during the drive and also answered our many questions about South Africa. The safari was so much fun. Zamani has expert skills in spotting the animals. He made certain that we got great pictures. I recommend the tour and Zamani.

Our guide Leon was super class, could speak perfect German and showed us everything that was important and took a lot of time for us. The Tala Game Reserve is very nice to look at, offers a lot of animals and is worth a trip.

Had a fabulous time with my nephew in South Africa, Durban sightseeing the Safari. Our tour guide ( Zamani) was very knowledgeable and patient in terms of guiding us to see the animals around us and showing us where they can be seen. I have seen all these animals in the zoo before but it's refreshing to see them outdoor and roam freely. Highly recommend it.

Safari for two with guide! Super Jeep and a guide with a tremendous ambition to see all the animals in the Tracking Tala Park. Well-kept park, a real experience ✨

Bule was an amazing tour guide. Very helpful and full of insight! His communication skills and sense of humour were outstanding and of great value. He made the tour an absolute experience! Thank you Bule!

I had a fantastic trip with my driver Bule. He was a very careful and responsible driver, enjoying to banter with me while driving to the reserve. When arrivint there not only did he show me patiently all of the wildlife, but he also shared his knowledge of them. I had a great time and gladly recommend this tour.

We were greeted by Fortune in an immaculately clean vehicle and once at the reserve he ensured we saw everything on offer. Snippets of relevant information were offered about each animal which added interest along the way. One negative was the EXTREMELY bumpy tracks throughout the reserve - most uncomfortable! Although not the “big five” it proved to be a good half day trip from our cruise ship especially for me as it was the first time I’d ever seen such animals outside of a zoo!

Zulu tours in front of the port building not recognizable, chaotic distribution to different buses. As a person with a walking disability, I was asked to change buses twice without assistance. I had to wait 40 minutes in the rain for another bus, which then did not come. I got back on the previous bus. Bus completely unsuitable, seats were above the hubcaps, with no legroom. It was an ordeal sitting there. The bus departed after an hour delay. As planned, the half-day safari went to the elephants first. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to spot them among the trees or bushes through the rain-fogged bus windows. To my horror, two elephants stood in a small gate , in a meadow. The poor animals had little space, they had to stand directly on the fence so that the tourists could touch them whether they wanted to or not. This presentation is incompatible with animal welfare and welfare. Unfortunately, I had to watch this cruel scene. The "safari" then continued to the next zoo. At the entrance, a bus had broken down in the mud in the middle of the path. We couldn't get past. The bus now waited about an hour for the broken down bus to be pulled out of the lane. The rain had not stopped since this morning when a suitable tow truck arrived. The tour guide now informs passengers that it is not possible to continue on other routes into and through the park because of the rain. This is not surprising, since the rain always softens the paths in the park, as I learned there , so that they become impassable. So the "half-day safari" should not have been started at all. The bus then went back to the ship and reached it at 1:45 p.m. So after about 6 hours, for the "half-day safari" were indicated 5 hours. Valuable vacation time wasted to experience a useless ride through the rain and to have to look at merciful elephants.