Janine who has been on 11 In The Saddle rides. Goosebumps | From the moment we arrived Philip snd Gertie made us feel so comfortable and at home.
The accommodation was luxurious and had everything you could need, even an electric blanket on the colder nights..heaven!
Horses were Gertie and Clare’s priority and they were in a very healthy fine form a credit to the team. Mostly, all of the horses were snaffle mouthed.
Amazing food! Every plate was cleaned up at each meal time .. so good! On a diet now though !! Dining around the table with our hosts, guide and staff was a lovely, happy, comfortable and informative with easy conversations.
The Guide, we had was Jo he was amazing. He knew all the wildlife so well including every bird. We came to trust him so much and nothing was ever too much trouble. I felt very safe around the big five with Jo as our guide. He reads the animals so well giving us the chance to get right up to them.
The big five were all seen from the saddle and we got so close it still gives me goosebumps!
Thank you all for a wonderful experience.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Many thanks for sending us feedback on your safari at Wait A Little. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your time in South Africa].

Kate who has been on 11 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous | Excellent

Ruth who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Wait A Little | Having experienced Macatoo and the Okavango Delta and the Tuli Trail, Wait A Little felt a bit staged and felt like a bigger version of Longleat. Was rather surprised that our rear guides were volunteers, young girls with absolutely no real experience and very little knowledge of the wildlife or flora and fauna. Having said that, they were very nice. The front guide, Jo, was knowledgeable although quite rude referring to me as a geriatric guest!!!

Apart from all this, I was with a great bunch of girls and the week was full of laughs and most important the horses were well looked after.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thank you very much for taking the time to tell us about your holiday. We are very sorry to hear that there were elements of the trip that you did not enjoy. We shared your feedback with Wait A Little and their response is as follows:

"I think there will always be some guests who feel, because there are fences, that this is a safari park. There might not be the understanding that it takes more skill and well-trained horses to ride in an environment of thick bush like ours, where if you see animals, they are very very close. The animals here are as wild as everywhere else where they are used to game drives, but due to the fact there are fences and we get much closer than anyone else, that might be the reason why a guest might feel like this.

About our volunteers. We are doing this for 27 years now and I dare to say that we might be the only operation that never had a life threatening encounter. Our volunteer program is there to give young people a chance to experience something that is life changing for them and through education they learn about conservation, culture, people and nature. We put huge effort into teaching our volunteers how to deal with situations, guests and safety on trail, and so far it has worked very well.

Jo is an excellent guide and the most wonderful person, but he has sometimes a bit of a sarcastic sense of humour. I feel that all of our guests really enjoy this, but maybe he went a little too far, sorry. I will address this and I apologise.

I am sorry there was one guest we didn’t make 100% happy."

Rochelle (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Wild animals, fun and food | Got so close to the animals would have liked to be able to have more open canters

Claire who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. Absolutely amazing! | Gerti, Philip, Clare, Jo and all the team have a fantastic setup.
The care and attention to detail was fantastic; each horse was thoroughly groomed before each ride; the tack in great condition and cleaned after each ride.
The horses looked in great shape, were well schooled and fit for the job - a real credit to the team at Wait a Little - super happy horses who enjoy their job; insane that they stand when faced with a lion, or a leopard!
All the horses were very much loved; it was so nice to see and be part of.
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you very much for your feedback. We are so pleased to hear how much you enjoyed your time at Wait A Little.]

Jenny (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) A once in a life time family holiday | Philip, Gerti and team were outstanding, so professional warm and welcoming.
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you so much for a wonderful feedback and we are so pleased to hear that you had such a great time.]

Angie who has been on 24 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous | Slower than 10 years ago with far less cantering and no gallop. Bush much thicker than I remember so meandering looking for tracks was quite painful at times.

Rosemary who has been on 41 In The Saddle rides. Enjoyable 'big five' riding safari | This is my second visit to WAL (the first was 15 years ago and was then my first 'big five' horse safari). As professional and welcoming as I remember although the riding was somewhat slower than I recall. The bush had closed in somewhat from all those years ago so tracking through the thorns was often quite a challenging experience and many clothes were shredded - tho the horses were amazing! I can remember 'bushwhacking' last time - jumping fallen trees etc - but bush much too closed in now. Fewer canters on the tracks too - obviously when tracking wildlife you are not 'charging about' all the time but it's nice to have a few good long canters where appropriate.
However, I loved my two horses, McClay and Orion - particularly Orion who was just my 'cup of tea'!

Cathy who has been on 52 In The Saddle rides. A Safari Adventure with many close encounters | These horses are really well cared for, soft in the mouth and a joy to ride. Keen and ready to go but easily controlled. Over the years I've ridden 15 horses here and there is not one that I wouldn't be happy to ride again. Gerti and her team regularly ride them so they remain soft mouthed and they are always sporty rides.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thank you so much for your feedback. We're so happy that you had another special experience with Gerti, Philip and their team.]

Mary who has been on 14 In The Saddle rides. Super Big Five Safari | Wait a Little, Gerti and Philip were the perfect hosts backed up by an amazing team of people to help us with the horses.
I rode three different horses, my favourites being Ice and Miguel. They were forward going but totally controllable at all paces.
The experience with the game was unsurpassed and we got very close without the horses spooking.
Accommodation at Wait A Little was great as were the meals. At the other camp, Xi Dulu, we stayed in an amazing lodge.
Food was top notch, freshly cooked and well presented.
I would highly recommend this experience.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thank you for your feedback. We're thrilled that you enjoyed your Big Five Safari].

Nikki (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Wait A Little South Africa 2023 - Fantastic! | Everyone was welcoming and knowledgeable; felt safe and taken care of.

Jane who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Outstanding! | The riding superseded my exceptions. As we were riding in open and quite thick bush at times, the horses and guides coped brilliantly and we were afforded some up close encounters with big game!
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you so much for your feedback, we are so pleased you enjoyed your time at Wait A Little.]

Clare who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Wait A Little South African Safari | The riding was fine. When catering for a mixture of abilities it is not an easy thing to do. I went without too many expectations so yet my expectations were met - if anything the horses were better than I thought they would be as it could have been a more trekking style ride. This was well balanced for all abilities riding in the group.

Karen (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Amazing Experience!! | You are obviously limited to to level of all in your group. Would have been nice to have moved on a bit faster and maybe jumped a bit.
Best to be safe than sorry though.