Published on Nov, 2024
Shane was an amazing tour guide. We had only 1 spare day in Johannesburg before going on a big S. African safari, and we're very happy we spent it with Shane. We went in Sept 2023.
He picked us up at our hotel on time for our private tour. The value for money on this tour is outstanding. Shane is a great storyteller, and he has so many! He's had an incredibly interesting life, and I was fascinated to hear about the many adventures he's had, the people he's met, and crazy experiences he's had. It made the time in the car pass very quickly in between the actual destinations.
Shane actually taught us some Zulu language during the tour! I'm not joking when I say those words he taught us helped us throughout our tour in the rest of S. Africa. As soon as we would greet people or respond when they greeted us, or use a couple of the catch phrases, it never failed to draw a smile out from everyone. People let us skip ahead in lines when we were pressed for time to get back to the tour bus, they gave better service, they really appreciated that we were making an effort to speak some of the local dialects, and they were keen to teach us more. I can't stress enough what a big impact this had. People responded in amazing ways. For this alone, I can recommend this tour.
But it didn't stop there. When we went to Lesedi Cultural Village, tour guides get in for free (of course), but they also get a discount on the tickets so they can sell them to their visitors at regular price. Shane passed his guide's discount on to us instead of keeping that profit for himself! That shaved money off the tour itself. Shane is a real class act.
By the way, Lesedi is not to be missed. It was a fantastic opportunity to see so many different cultures of S. Africa all in one place, and the education we got there gave us a leg up on other tour participants. My wife and I enjoyed watching others slowly discover during the tour what we already learned on Shane's tour. We were always a step ahead of everyone else. Lol.
We quite enjoyed the Cradle of Humankind museum as well. Too bad the caves were closed due to water (which we already knew before we booked because at that time they had been closed for a year due to safety concerns), but maybe one day we'll get back for that. We also couldn't visit the Lion Park because we went on Monday and they're closed every Monday. Doesn't matter though. The tour we had was amazing.
This day tour was literally our first experience in S. Africa and it was a PERFECT way to start our 3 week safari. My wife and I still talk about it sometimes, and we still appreciate what his teachings did for us and how it helped pave the way for so many positive interactions with other S. Africans.
I almost forgot... While my wife and I were walking around in Lesedi, Shane was snapping photos and sending them to us. He got some great shots. He was always around in case we had questions. When we were leavnig, we saw our first wildlife there and he said it was really rare in that area and we must be lucky. He told us to watch out for wild dogs on our safari (very rare... which no one else knew about because they didn't take Shane's tour!!). Well guess what, not only did we later see the Big 5 in just 2 days, we saw 6 leopards in one day (including one taking down a Springbok), saw the rare wild dogs (they're VERY fast), and had a wild elephant come right to our car (arm's legth). Our good luck all started on this first day with Shane. :)
I highly recommend doing whatever tour with Shane. Quite frankly, the destinations you visit will only be a small part of it. Going with Shane is what made it special.