Contest Winner to Convert:
Donna’s South African Adventure

The call itself was memorable: Donna couldn’t make out what was being said at first – all she could hear was the Approach Tours team cheering in the background. “I really didn’t quite understand until she [Cher from Approach] said, ‘Well, we’ll send you a confirmation email, and we’ll want a photo,'” she recalls. “And then all of a sudden it hit me!”

Ian, who wasn’t home at the time, didn’t believe it at first. “I was skeptical from the get-go,” he admits. “I did not believe her when she said it!”

Three weeks of game drives, tribal villages, and dramatic mountain views later, their initial shock has been replaced by something else entirely: they’re already browsing the brochure for their next Approach tour!

Close Encounters of the Wild Kind

What made the 20-day trip so memorable? For Donna and Ian, it started with the wildlife.

“You never know what you’re going to get,” Donna and Ian wrote midway through the tour. “Along with all the animals you would expect to see, we had the truly unique experience of a cheetah taking down an impala directly in front of us. For those that are looking for those ‘National Geographic’ moments, this trip has been exceptional.”

Back home, Ian was showing photos from the trip when someone asked how close the cheetah was. “I said, about the distance we are to each other right now,” he recalls. “That was the surreal aspect. These animals were right next to you.” Ian marvels at how common these extraordinary moments became. He’s encountered those rare wildlife moments before – while scuba diving, snorkelling, sailing – “but they might happen once every couple of years,” he notes. “But on this particular trip, they were almost commonplace.”

That proximity – witnessing something rare and raw unfold at arm’s length – brought Ian back to childhood. “When we were growing up, we read a lot of National Geographic magazines, and you see these wonderful places,” he recalls. “I think, as you get older, you start to believe that those things have vanished, that it’s no longer a real thing. It was gratifying to actually see that these things still exist.”

The cheetah-impala encounter was the standout, but South Africa had more surprises in store. On one outing, they struck out – that is, until the drive home. “We didn’t see any elephants or any male lions in the park,” Donna remembers. “And then on the way home, […] we saw a herd of elephants and male lions on the side of the road!”

The tour includes seven game drives, and that quantity matters. “We were reminded that some people only have two safaris on their whole trip,” Donna notes. “There were two of maybe the seven that we didn’t see anything. In fact, it would have been very disappointing if those two had been the only two on our trip.”

That quantity paid off – they saw nearly everything. Wild dogs were the one exception, but they understood that’s the nature of wildlife viewing. Ian’s been on whale tours where they didn’t see any whales, so they appreciated their luck. Each safari was a little bit different, and having multiple chances meant something was always happening. Some drives would be quiet, but others would deliver those documentary-worthy moments.

And then there were the smaller encounters that added up: warthogs trotting down the street, troops of baboons appearing roadside exactly when the local guides predicted they would, and penguins waddling at Boulders Beach.

Beyond the Wildlife

The cultural immersion balanced the wildlife perfectly. Donna particularly loved the Zulu village experience, where she ended up dancing with tribal members. The hands-on participation and deep cultural exchange made it memorable. “It was well presented,” she says.

Table Mountain delivered as well. “I didn’t know what to expect,” Donna admits. “It was phenomenal, and they went out of their way to adjust the schedule so we could go up there on a good day, which was really remarkable, actually.”

That weather adjustment speaks to something broader about how the tour operated.

When Everything Just Clicks

“Approach Tours was really well organized,” Donna says. “There wasn’t a moment that we didn’t know what we were doing or where we were going. The attention to detail was phenomenal.” And that organization wasn’t just during the trip. “It was the before, it was the whole thing,” Ian notes.

She and Ian also credit their Group Guru Cyndi and local guide Pieter for delivering real peace of mind. “There was that confidence that everything was planned and running wonderfully well,” Ian explains. The Table Mountain weather adjustment wasn’t luck – it was responsive planning. When conditions threatened the experience, the schedule shifted to catch clear skies.

In addition, the Approach radically all-inclusive model proved genuinely comprehensive. “Pieter, every time we’d stop, he’d say, ‘The tips are covered. The porters are covered,'” Donna recalls. “Everything, everything, was covered.” Ian appreciated that transparency. “That’s a real plus, not having to worry about the tips and the various performers – from the villages or the restaurants or what have you – they were being tipped appropriately.”

That “everything” includes round-trip flights, taxes, all meals, activities, transfers, and medical insurance. No calculating tips at restaurants. No surprise costs accumulating. Just the freedom to be present and in the moment. Even practical details were handled seamlessly. “They took us to the ATM on the first or second day and basically guided us to what cash we would or wouldn’t need, and where we would use it,” Donna says.

Ian appreciated discovering the tour’s variety without having to plan it himself. “The cultural aspect of the tour, the animals, the big city versus the outback, water or boat tours – it was a nice balance so that we weren’t single purpose.”

Taking the Group Travel Route

Donna and Ian aren’t your typical group tour travellers – in fact, this was their first group tour. “We tend to travel on our own,” Ian explains. “We stay at B&Bs and tend to visit sites on our own.” So why book with a tour company at all?

For Donna, the research started on Facebook. “I saw different companies,” she recalls. “It [Approach Tours] was the one that spelled out ‘all-inclusive,’ to the point that it certainly was all-inclusive.”

That transparency mattered. So did the Canadian identity. “One of the other things that attracted me to Approach was the Canadian aspect – Canadian dollars, Canadian flights,” Ian notes. “I prefer to buy Canadian.”

When they calculated the cost against everything included – flights, accommodation, meals, entry fees, tips, activities – the value became clear. “Everybody was saying, ‘Look at this hotel, look at the meals we’re getting,'” Donna remembers. “They felt like they’re getting more than their money’s worth.”

The appeal was straightforward: let someone else handle the planning.

Ian sees the advantages clearly now, especially for destinations where they’d be less comfortable navigating independently. “If we go to a country like Vietnam as an example, you’ve handled the language, you’ve handled the itinerary, the organization. I don’t have to worry about the organization in a place that I’m not comfortable with.”

The Community Factor

For travellers accustomed to solo exploration, the group element became a draw card. “The other thing I think that was outstanding was our group was really cohesive,” Donna says. “We made a lot of good friends. We’re still talking back and forth every day.”

The group of 30 Canadians created connections neither Donna nor Ian anticipated. “Everybody was Canadian, so we all thought alike,” Donna reflects. “Just little cues and signals getting on and off the bus – you always knew what the other person wanted to do.”

Ian elaborates: “There’s the national identities that go along with the group. We’re all very similarly minded in temperament.”

The WhatsApp group formed during the tour? Still active with daily conversation!

“That’s part of my reasoning for looking at more tours,” Ian admits. “The connections we made with that group, the 30-odd people that we spent three weeks with, was quite interesting.”

What to Know Before You Go

And did Donna and Ian have advice for anyone considering this tour – or their first group tour with Approach?

The itinerary is intentionally packed. When asked what she wished they’d had more of, Donna laughs: “Yeah, sleep. We arrived – everybody was exhausted. We were four days in Cape Town, but there was no downtime in that time!”

The jam-packed schedule reflects just how much South Africa has to offer. Cultural sites, wildlife encounters, cities, landscapes, villages – it all adds up. And that distance to get there is substantial – the journey to South Africa takes time, though that’s simply the reality of reaching this incredible destination. Ian acknowledges the trade-off: “We travelled a long distance. We didn’t travel that distance to sit around.” Is it exhausting? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

The tour does require moderate physical fitness. Safari vehicles involve climbing in and out, some walks can be lengthy, and days start early. But for those with reasonable mobility, it’s entirely manageable. “We were on a moderate intensity trip, and we did fine. No difficulties,” Donna confirms.

The pre-departure support made a difference too. “The booklet was extremely helpful,” Donna notes. “The drop-off – wonderful.” Having clear information about what to pack, what to expect, and how logistics would work removed much of any pre-travel anxiety.

Already Planning the Next Adventure

And if you’re wondering what’s next for Donna and Ian? They’re already looking at the brochure. Vietnam & Angkor Wat and the Signature Italy Tour are both on their radar. “It’s going to be a tough act to follow,” Ian acknowledges. But they’re ready to try.

When asked what he’d tell potential travellers, Ian doesn’t hesitate: “I would completely endorse it. Even from a price point of view, the pricing was excellent.”

For two independent travellers on their first group tour, winning the contest was remarkable. But what happened after – the wildlife, the organization, the friendships, the value – that’s what made them believers.

The contest win was the cherry on top. The experience itself was worth every moment.