Riding Safari
4 December 2023
The Riding
The Accommodation
Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?
There was plenty and beautifully cooked and presented. Veggie catered for too. Alcohol always available. Lovely wine and fizz with meals. Sundowners out in the bush a lovely surprise. Accommodation very comfortable. Our tent was sun facing and we asked to move to a shady one. The move happened while we were riding. The fan didnt work and once discovered was fixed on next ride. Obviously a move wouldn’t be possible if camp full but they were so accommodating. Nothing too much trouble.
Before Your Holiday
Did you have all of the information you needed to:
How could we improve the quality of pre-holiday information that we send?
Make it seasonal as there was no flood for our holiday and the coat took up valuable space. Binoculars not needed as animals too close for that! No rhinos anymore as they were all killed by poachers and not re-stocking. Highlight the max weight for the tiny plane - 20kg tops inc hand luggage its mentioned but!!! Take envelopes for your tips.
How could we improve the way we handled your booking and payment?
No way
Do you have any other feedback for us?
The best riding holiday i have been on and i have been on quite a few! Surpassed expectations including the range of animals seen. We were lucky as it was baby time and most of the animals we saw had young with hem. So cute.
Faye who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. Exceptional holiday | The horses were lovely to ride. All geldings. Due to the heat you alternated between two horses daily to ensure your morning horse (long ride) did not come out again in the evening. Any difficulties with tack were dealt with straight away - I needed a couple of holes in my stirrup leathers. One skinny chap needed a seat saver. I wasn't taking that chance and took my own!!
The rides had a guide and a back up and both were happy to take your cameras for good game shots especially if the animals were dangerous!! The guide (ours was Thabo) was sensitive to the needs of rhe riders in terms of pace and style - although we were encouraged to canter in a line to avoid racing he didnt worry if this wasn't followed if riders were fine. Guide very knowledgeable and we saw many animals and birds. You could also take a vehicle trip instead of riding if you wanted to - we elected to do this for lions!
[Abbie from ITS replies: Many thanks for your feedback; we're so pleased that you had such a great time at Macatoo. One way Macatoo manage their horses' workload throughout the year is for guests to try a horse on the shorter afternoon ride and then if it is a good match, they'll ride the same horse the following morning].