Safari, Wine & Romance Tour of South Africa

The Faircity Hotel was just what we ordered, easy and near to a couple of things.  Our guide from the tour company was nice and informative.  I highly recommend the Cradle of Humankind and wish we had spent a little longer there but we arrived too late.  We went to the Sterkfontein Caves and would not recommend it for people of our age although it was interesting.  (We're not really cave people anyway)  The Apartheid Museum was good but not outstanding.  We had done a lot of reading before the trip.

Next, we got our car and drove to Hazyview. Oh, we added a GPS in the rental.  We had brought our own but you should recommwend to people that they make sure that their GPS has South Africa in it.  I had checked it at home trying to find Johannesburg and our GPS found it so I assumed they had S Africa, but somebody later told me that there is a Jburg in the US that GPS pick up! The driving wasn't bad at all, in fact, very good and easy even for us Americans.  The Tanamera Lodge was out of this world--beautiful and well managed.  We drove up to Bourne's Pothole, etc, etc, which shouldn't be missed.We stopped for lunch in Graskop on the way, a cute little touristy town.

Our next leg was a long trip from there to Swaziland.  Uneventful and easy to get thru the borders. Since we stopped at other craft places on the way, we didn't make it in time to see the candles or glass.  The Mountain Inn accomodation was OK.  We had dinner there amongst throngs of tourists but the food was good.

Then on to St Lucia Amazulu Lodge.  We had been given a note at the Mountain Inn that the front office closes at 6 and we could call when we got there.  Problem is--no phone!!  Luckily, some other tourists were there and let us in and told us where to park the car--and therre was a night watchman who found the key for us (non-English speaking)  We walked around St Lucia which is a nice town and walked out to the estuary.

We next drove to Hluhluwe the Zulu Nyala Safari Game Lodge--very good experience.  The rental car was picked up the next day.

Our transfer to Durban went smoothly as did the transfer from the CT airport.  We stayed at the Underberg Guesthouse, which we would recommend highly.  Fortunately, our in country contact had discovered that I had booked one day short there and scrambled for us and found another guesthouse for the last night--Wergelen--terrific!!!!!!!!

CT: Robben Island (good), Greenmarket Sq--fun market and lots of cafes around; District 6 Museum, a little disappointing but we're glad we went, the V and A Waterfront for a nice lunch.  Oh, and the Red and Blue buses which are hop on hop off buses touring CT and environs.  Oh, our trip to Cape Point which had been arranged by the Underberg was wonderful and beautiful, stopping by several small towns.  The penguins were delightful!  (There was a major fire on the Cape for a couple of days, which was really sad but interesting watching the helicopters trying to put it out with seawater)

Our car was delivered to Wergelen.  And we decided that we had too much stuff for the remainder of the trip so Fiona, the owner of Welgelen helped us find a shipper for our suitcases which should arrive in the PHL airport soon.(!?)

The drive to Stellenbosch and Franshoek was wonderful.  The River Manor Boutique Hotel was a great find, easy walk into town, good breakfast, nice staff. We went to Oppie Dorp, good food and not expensive and to Ernie Eels  restaurnat, the Big Easy--again good food.  We drove thru Franshoek on the way to Hermanus since it had been recommended and the trip is FANTASTIC.  (I am glad we had gotten used to driving on the left side by then thru the mountains!)  We went to several wineries, including the one owned by Ernie Eels (beautiful views!!) and some others.

\Hermanus was  a cute town, touristy, good for one night.  Beautiful seaside.

\Oudtshoorn was very interesting as a one time deal.  Not a must but good for once.  The Mooiplaas GH was a good accomodation.  Not much to do in the town.

Driving to Plettenberg Bay was nice. Enrico's Restaurant is about 15 mins out of town and a really nice place, highly recommended for beauty and food.  By the water.  Also stopped for oysters in Knysna, asking at the tourist office where good oysters were. (Quay Four), an informal place on the water with great oysters.  Driving to Port Elizabeth was uneventful.  We arrived late at the No 5 Boutique Art Hotel and left very early for our flight, but the hotel was magnificent and we wished we had spent a couple of nights there.

Flight to Joburg and onto Maun were fine.  At that point Desert and Deltas Safaris took over and WOW--we were treated royally and it was so interesting and lots of fun and LOADS of pix.  I'm glad you chose the combination of venues thru DDS, water, Okinavango Delta, Moremi, Xugana.  We saw lots of animals and birds.  The weather was great (a little too dry for them) but good (and hot) for us.  

Victoria Falls:  Transits went well and timely.  We booked the sunset cruise thru the tour company that picked us up in Kusane to V Falls.   We went to Zambia and Zimbabwe sides of the falls.(walking and taxi)  There's a competition between the countries as to which side is better.  We loved both.  Zimbabwe gave a better overview but Zambia felt intimate and more into the falls.  My camera shorted out in the falls in  Zimbabwe, our last day :((( but it had put in 6 weeks of great pix.  

All in all, a TERRIFIC trip which we would recommend to anyone (who can afford it :(  )  We want our adult children to go someday.  Our travel agency did a wonderful job of making sure we were well taken care of and getting us to absolutely great places.

Thank you!!!!

Barbara and Loren C

The company made all arrangements for us at two great safari camps: Kings in Kruger, and Shinde in Botswana. Both were excellent – knowledgeable guides; incredible surroundings; generous and welcoming staff.  We lucked out and managed to see the Big Five in just two days!  A highlight of the Botswana safari was spending 45 minutes observing a pride of eight lions congregated about 40 feet away from our open-air jeep. At Kruger, we had a similar up-close and personal viewing experience of two leopards and two white rhinos.

Our travel company also made all arrangements for five internal flights and pick-ups and one wonderfully guided day tour of the Blyde River Canyon: there was never a hitch! We even crossed four borders. The hand-offs were smooth; the transport vehicles clean and comfortable; the drivers safe and enthusiastic. All the practical details were attended to from tasty box lunches to confirmation calls the day before transfers.  

Our travel company also arranged two wonderful tours in Cape Town for us and we were especially privileged to have them led by the Managing Director of the company.  He is a consummate professional and was incredibly knowledgeable and informative about every topic that we discussed. He is also charming and delightful on a personal level and all of these qualities are reflected in the company he manages.  Our two day-tours were to the Cape of Good Hope which included a spectacular gourmet multi-course wine-paired lunch at the Flagship, a restaurant located in the home of the chef and situated near the edge of the sea in Simon’s Town with beautiful views all around. We were joined by a handful of other quests and spent a lovely afternoon in their company sharing a great culinary experience.

The Managing Director also led us on a one day tour that included stops at Hermanus in the Western Cape for whale watching and at two beautiful towns in the wine country – Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. We tasted the extraordinary wines of the Delaire Graff and Tokara estates, both of which had distinctive architecture and art, but the Delaire setting was breathtakingly luxurious.  

All in all, an unforgettable trip thanks to this company!

All this was fulfilled by this safari travel company. They designed a programme for us where we were eased into safari life beginning with Chobe Game Lodge, then onto our first tent experience at Xakanaxa, then onto Okavango delta area for a water and walking safari experience. Our agent then organsed our trip to Cape Town and a sojourn to Hermanus by private car and then flew us back to the stupendous Lions Sands Ivory Lodge in Kruger. Of special mention in Hermanus is the charming Ocean Eleven B&B. The location, room and the breakfast spread deserve special mention.

Throughout our trip, all accommodation was wonderful, staff, game wardens and trackers most knowledgeable and kind, all transfers seamless (so we didn’t miss any game drives), the private car service for the Cape experience was excellent .. and of course, the animals.

On Safari, one expects to see many animals. Well, in the 4 lodges/camps that we stayed, we saw elephants, lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, jackal, spotted wild dogs, buffaloes, rhinos, impalas, kudus, sable, bush bucks, nyalas, waterbuck, wildebeest, giraffe, zebras, hippos, warthogs, baboons, small animals like banded mongoose, crocodiles and countless species of birds and the beautiful African frog. And then the whales in Hermanus

We stayed at : Chobe Game Lodge (3N), Xakanaxa Camp (2N), Okavango (Delta) Camp (2N) all in Botswana, Ocean Eleven B&B @ Hermanus (2N), Ivory Lodge, Lions Sands in Kruger, S.Africa (2N). We also had 3 nights in Cape Town and an over-nighter at Johannesburg.

We confidently recommend this company to anyone who is considering a Safari. On a scale of 1-5, we would give them the full 5 points.