Safari Blog

Hi Liselle

Apologies for the late response.

Kim and I had a great time in SA. We were lucky enough to see all the big 5 and plenty of other animals besides. Our stay at Chapungu was fantastic, so thanks for the recommendation. We were particularly impressed with the overall set up of the place (accommodation, food, etc..) and by the friendliness of all the staff. I am sure that we will go back at some point in the future.

Thanks again

Mark Knight

Guests Visited Chapunga Tented Camp

Brett,

Thanks again, both Janelle and you have been an awesome help for someone 10,000 miles away trying to be his own travel agent for 30 odd days, seeing both Soccer and Safari. I can’t believe I’ve been able to fit that last one in. I’ll definitely be recommending SUNSAFARIS to anyone I come in contact with. I’m excited already and its over 4 months away!

Cheers to you both, make sure you pass on my positive feedback to your respective managers, can’t tell you how responsive, informative and efficient you’ve both been! I really liked how Janelle was away and Brett, you were able to pick up where she left off, you knew exactly the Safari I had booked on and tired to go away for Kruger for variety but were honest enough to say just can’t be done in the time. Then you were able to choose a Kruger experience that looks different to my first booking so I still get some taste of variety. Nice one.

Thanks heaps guys!!

Andrew

Hello Liselle!

The holiday went really well! Your country is beautiful, only the potholes were a bit dramatic...

We did, or at least I, saw the Big Five. Only the leopard was so fast that I could only see the tail and the hind legs. It ran so fast that it looked like it would have been striped...

On the safari we really forgot everything unnecessary and enjoyed the spirit. There you just sit and let your eyes wander through the bushes waiting for some beautiful creatures to come in sight. We did not walk that much because of the diverse phenomenons of the nature; wind, a herd of elephants and so on.

My girlfriend did not sleep very well because of the hyaenas. She claims that I was snoring and a hyaena behind our door was repeating everything. Weird.

Anyhow, we were very pleased with the services on the safari. It made us relaxed indeed. Thank you for arranging a essential part of the wonderful holiday!!

Greetings from the snowy and cold (-20'C) Finland! It is beautiful here too.

Vesa

Guests Visited Africa On Foot

Hi Liselle – sorry for the delayed response. We had a fabulous time – at Motswari we saw 4/5 on our first game drive in the evening, and then 5/5 the next day – a fantastic camp. At Arathusa we saw limited wildlife the first day but it picked up the second day and saw the big 5 in one drive again! Timabavati definitely had more game to see I think, rather than Sabi Sands.

Mostwari was definitely the better of the camps – which is about right given the difference in the price I think.

Just an all round amazing experience, thank you.

Guests Visited Arathusa Safari Lodge & Motswari Private Game Reserve

Liselle:

Thanks for your note. All went very smoothly, We drove around a good deal in KwazuluNatal from Rorke's' Drift/Isandwana (must see for my son) to Drakensburg and down to Durban. Landscape unexpectedly diverse and extraordinarily beautiful. Simbavati worked out very well. A first class guide (Omega) and welcoming hosts. Quite low key and very comfortable. We saw about everything we could expect to see. Big five and much more. (White lions, wild dogs and other rarities). The camp is still very new, but will quickly season.

Thanks again for all your assistance. I expect we will be returning before long.

Regards,

Jeffrey Maletta

Guests Visited KwaZulu Natal & Simbavati River Lodge

I am leaving Capetown to return home tomorrow. I will write when I return. The boys and I loved the Safaris. Although they are only an hour in distance by jeep they are very different and unique.

I will admit our favorite was Africa on Foot. While the animals are not sighted with same frequency as Simbavati, we loved walking in the morning with Jan and Daniel. We recognized Jan's respect for the wild life during these walks. He made sure we did not disturb a spider web or the small animals that could be tforgotten. The food was fantastic and it was very low key and home like.

Simbavati was lovely and the staff were wonderful. We saw the big five and had the experience of a life time. Omega and Orella our guide and tracker were wonderful. They showed us plants and told us how they were used by people who lived in the region.

Thank you for all your consideration and help.

Jan

Guests Visited Africa on Foot & Simbavati River Lodge

Hi Brett,

We all had a sensational time at Africa on Foot, we were really happy with the format of the safari, especially the morning walks. Our guides Courtenay and Daniel were really good blokes and certainly made our experience one to remember. I have plenty of good photos and even better memories.

Thanks for all your help with the planning.

Nathan

Guests Visited Africa on Foot

Hai Liselle,

First of all I wish you a very happy New Year. We are back from our trip to Africa and it was really fantastic. Arathusha Lodge was great, and Kings Camp was fabulous.The game drives were both of the camps fabulous. We saw the big 5 in Sabi Sand as well as in Timbavati. For me personal I liked Timbavati more, because the variety of the landscape. We saw in Timbavati white lions and wild dogs, what was greatful. The safari was very good organized through your company. I was very happy to have chosen your company and the enthusiasme from you. I was very sad to left Sabi Sand and Timbavati, especially the suite of Kings Camp it was a great pleasure to stay there.( also Arathusha Lodge) And I forget to say that the people who work for both camps the drivers , rangers enz they were great and very very nice.

When I game back to your beautiful country I will definetely choose you again.

Kind Regards,

Jacqueline Nome

Guests Visited Arathusa Safari Lodge & Kings Camp

Hello Liezel,

Thank you for well wishes and we wish you and your family the same.

Mauritius was fabulous and so was Le Mauricia. All the arrangements were 100% and we were a very happy family when we returned. The hotel was lovely and service superb. All the info you provided us with was great.

Only complaints are that we have sore arms from all the wonderful skiing and that we could not discipline ourselves to stay out of the wellness centre. The whole family went overboard with that… was so so relaxing. And the food was wonderful, so we won’t venture onto a scale for the next month. A day out on the catamaran to Gabriel Island and a spectacular new year’s dinner with live shows and fire works added a good finishing touch to everything. The Mauritian people are so friendly and crime was non existent.

Thanks again for your wonderful advice and service. We will be doing this years booking through you again, so we will stay in touch.

Warm regards.

Ray, Bernice Ashley and Howard Curran.

Guests Visited Le Maurice

Liselle,

We enjoyed our trip and made it home this afternoon. Overall, things worked out very well. I'm sending some specific comments below.

Peermont Metcourt: Clean and convenient to both airport and restaurants (in casino within walking distance). A very basic hotel, but priced accordingly. I did note that the shuttle buses have changed color since your instructions were created.

Simbavati: Beautiful location, great game viewing, nicely appointed, with good service. Diff is an excellent guide and Johnson an excellent chef. On the days we didn't have them, the other guide and chef were not as good, but probably would have seemed better if we hadn't had the others to compare to. We saw the big 5 within the first day and had many animals in the camp during the day (baboons, crocodiles, hippos, waterbuck, impala, Kudu, warthogs, and herds of elephants). A couple of things to note. First, there are no game walks as the lodge is still waiting for their gun license. Second, the lodge caters to families. I would highly recommend it for families travelling with children, but while it worked out fine with my aunt and uncle, when I go back with my husband I will look for another lodge that does not have so many small children. It is definitely something I would mention to people so they can consider it either way. Third, I would recommend staying in a cabin other than 1 if possible. It is the closest to the common areas, which is convenient, but you have no privacy on your deck or river view bedroom because it is overlooked by the common deck and the noise from the camp can keep you awake during the middle of the day when you try to nap. Cabin 3 is definitely the nicest as both bedrooms have water views. The tents seemed very nice, but were not air conditioned, which could be uncomfortable later in the season.

De Waterkant: Great location, free laundry facilities in the apartment were incredibly convenient, new property with very helpful leasing office staff. We loved the location - restaurants are within walking distance and all tourist attractions are reasonably close. However the apartment was very modern with no doors on the bedrooms or bathrooms, which created a privacy issue. We worked around it by sharing the one bathroom with a door and using the public mall facilities as well as using earplugs at night, but it was an issue. The apartment also gets quite a lot of noise from the Piazza downstairs when music is playing. This may not be an issue most evenings as it was opening weekend while we were there, but it sounds like they plan regular entertainment on the weekends, so it may come up periodically. I also think the instructions we received were to the wrong leasing office (De Waterkant Village), but they were able to call your office and provide us with a map of how to get to African Elite.

In the Winelands we stayed at Ashbourne House and in Hermanus we stayed at Harbour Vue. Both worked out quite well. I'm not sure if you use them, but I'm happy to provide information on those as well if you are interested.

I think I'll probably try to come back at some point so that my husband can go on safari and we can go to some of the sights I missed this time, like Victoria Falls. I have no idea when that trip will be, but will definitely get in touch with you when and if that occurs.

Thanks for your help,

Kristi

Guests Visited: Peermount Metcourt, Simbavati River Lodge & De Waterkant

Hi Liselle

Had a great holiday in SA and the game drives were the highlights of the holiday. Saw the Big 5 at both locations.

Motswari

This was more luxurious accommodation and being bigger had more atmosphere in the lodge. It also had better catering and overall facilities and the view across the bush allowed some interesting sights including elephants coming to drink from the swimming pool. Good game ranger and some good game spotting but some days were a struggle because the area is open and the lions had wandered onto private property that we could not access. Apparently the new F & B manager has made a big difference to the catering which was excellent

Chapungu

Different experience and novel to sleep under canvas in the bush and really hear the sounds of Africa. The tents are showing some signs of wear and tear and need some maintenance plus it was unbearably hot in the tent during the day making it impossible to get that much needed siesta. Food was good but the lamb chops one night were a disaster. A smaller and more intimate camp and a great swimming pool. The game drives were absolutely superb with a very experienced and laid back ranger (Richard) and an excellent spotter (Ishmail) who were a great team. We saw leopard, cheetah, newly born impala, lions, rhino, buffalo, wildebeest, elephants etc etc and a lot of birdlife

Overall great and 4 days is the maximum for twice daily game drives. 3 days probably ideal but the more drives you take the more you see. All transfers worked smoothly and it was the highlight to a wonderful holiday

Thanks for making the arrangements and some great recommendations. I would love to return and bring my grown up children at some stage .............but will probably need to win the lottery first!!

kind regards

Peter Hodgson

Guests Chapungu & Motswari

Dear Brett,

We're back and we loved every minute of it! Yes, we did get the room of our choice at Savute and had some fabulous viewing from it. The two camps in Zambia were absolutely super and we think that our favourite camp of the whole trip was Busanga. The animal sightings were outstanding including lions galore in trees, and what made it even better was our guide J.D. He was so enthusiastic and we think in fact that he enjoyed having us.

Now for our plans for next year - we want to see the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, but we need advise on the best time for us to go, bearing in mind that we don't want it too hot or too crowded and to have super viewing. Is there such a time of year?

Best wishes Julian & Maggie.

Guests visited Camp Moremi, Savute Safari Lodge, Lufupa Tented Camp and Busanga Bush Camp

Dear Liselle,

We had a wonderful time, I wish we were still there.

Just a few tidbits to pass on to potential future guests. Simbavati was great, loved the location on the river, elephants and all sorts of animals were wandering in all the time. Shared the same terrain as Motswari and Kings Camp, so in terms of the wildlife, no need to pay more for those areas. Our guide Arend, was outstanding, best I had in both lodges in S. Africa and 2 more I stayed in in Botswana. Just of note, they're not allowed to do bush walks yet since they don't have their rifles on site yet. Pool is being repaired.

Nottens was beautiful. Dale, who runs it, is the nicest person on the planet. Unfortunately our guide, Joe, who has been there forever, we really didn't enjoy. Only drawback of the place, but significantly took away from our viewing experience. We did see the Big 5 at both lodges, and much more. Our first 2 drives with Joe however, we saw almost nothing at all. The next 2 were good.

Thanks for all your help!

-Dave

Guests Visited: Simbavati River Lodge & Nottens Bush Camp

Hi Liselle –

Aren’t the Blackman’s a hoot?

Ok here it goes:

It was fantastic and you did a fabulous job for us. We figure with all the additional things we did it was an $18,000 trip…once in a lifetime…but stay tuned as I would love to return some day.

Comments:

Cape Town was unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!! V & A was a wonderful place. The food and the service were perfect. Steve Muller was a five star tour guide. We so enjoyed him.

Chapunqu – wondering why we didn’t fly to Hoedspruit in stead of Nelspruit? It took over 2 hours to drive (after a 2 hour plus flight) and we missed the evening safari. They did say they would come back for us, but we were really tired. Also, I can’t remember the manager’s name, she very nicely showed us around, but then left. We had only eaten a sandwich at 11:00am…. There was no management and safari does not get back till 7:30 – 8:00….by 7:00 I was hungry (after two glasses of wonderful wine) and no one understood how to get me something to snack on…I went to my room and ate ginger cookies and went to bed! It would have been nice if she had offered us some lunch or not left us completely on our own.

Having said all that…everything else at Chapungu was absolutely perfect. The safari’s at Chapungu were unbelievable and the food and service were excellent. The “Tented Camp” was gorgeous. We saw the big five plus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tommy was our driver again to Arathusa and did a great job. What can I say about Arathusa ? It was a dream. The picture on the internet does not do it justice. We had a resident hippo who visited at night. Elephants who came to the watering hole right in front of us and lovely people. We saw leopards and elephants and hyenas and a bush baby!

The food was great and the service was impeccable. Thank you for booking us there.

The Peermont was just fine, and we enjoyed the Casino and the food court.

Chudukwa – was amazing. We didn’t see animals, except on the heli trip… that was my only disappointment. I still don’t know how they keep the bugs and snakes out, but it was a quiet lovely place. The falls were at a dry time, and it was a little disappointing, but we could see the rock structure and it was still very beautiful. We had a very nice tour of the falls and the city with Juckie (sp?).

I wish I had known about Devil’s pool, as I think I would have done that. We did the helicopter ride, I did a horseback ride and Larry and I rode an elephant (amazing, I cried afterwards). I walked with Levi to his village and it was wonderful. Xanti and Ula were so gracious; it was a delight to spend time with them and their lodge.

A side note…the people we met were amazing; from all over the world. AND there was not one obnoxious person in the whole trip! What a gift. I did have a cough the entire trip, but managed to feel good. My fault as I did not bring my allergy medicine!

I am glad we went to Livingstone and Joburg, as it gave us a small picture of the day to day Africa. We went to Soweto and the museum and downtown Joburg. It was very interesting.

Thank you Liselle for everything. Thanks to Jim and Sally for recommending Sun Safaris and Liselle Raath!!! It was a trip of a life time

Happy Trails To You!

Bette and Larry Ross Visited: V&A Hotel, Chapungu, Arathusa, Chundukwa, Peermont Metcourt

Liselle,

We must say thank you for organising our amazing trip. It was great that we managed to meet up at the Waterfront as well.

This is our feedback:-

Arathusa (9 out of 10)

Great safari lodge for first-timers like us (although we have no other comparisons)

Great location with extensive traversing rights without which we wouldn't have seen wild dogs)

Jason (our ranger) was so enthusiastic and helpful - not sure that the two Andre's were as good

Only downpoint was that, despite what their website says, they are trying to do haute cuisine and they don't have adequate skills in the kitchen - they should concentrate on good, simple cooking The resident hippo is a problem for them at night and they are planning to deal with it

The whole safari experience totally blew us away - the wildlife we saw was amazing - everything except cheetah & male lion

Primi Royal (8 out of 10)

Great location and views and Sky TV a bonus for sports fans Their night receptionist was a bit spaced out but as he didnt charge us for our beers we didnt mind

Vista Mare Italian Restaurant at Camps Bay (10 out of 10)

Was blowing a hurricane and managed to break doorhandle on way in! This was only downside as the owner gave us an exceptional experience We were recommended wines and restaurants to visit (Panama Jacks and Mojo)

Panama Jacks (6 out of 10)

We were told this place was 'outside the waterfront' but weren't expecting to get lost finding it!

Impossible to find for all but locals although we managed it 30 mins late Food was okay but service poor even with help of the scottish manager!

Mojo at Spier (5 out of 10 for food, 0 out of 10 for service)

Well - we basically walked out without paying! Everyone seemed to be having a great time except us! Left at bar with no as treehouse prepared - then we decided to eat in tent Shown to table then completely ignored - ok it is self service but hello would have been nice!

Wrong wine brought to table then manager had to be called to change it Staff and customers continually barging past - another waiter took our wine glasses when we weren't looking Very traditional african food but serving plain starch with it is a little too retro for most!

Everyone had faces painted but not us! I'm sure this is a good place for a party but they have serious customer service challenges - see internet reviews!

Franschhoek Country House (7 out of 10)

Superb service and would be perfect for older traditional guests - for us it was slightly stuffy and formal More staff than guests Redecoration was underway and it needed it Restaurant pricy Poor range of TV channels Franschhoek itself was very quiet but you still need restaurant reservations - hence no gastronomic stars

Oceans Eleven (9 out of 10)

Fabulous location, view Very helpful friendly staff Best breakfast of holiday Hermanus was a lovely buzzy little town - really enjoyed it Did shark cage dive and kayaking with the whales

Meditteranae in Hermanus (9 out of 10)

Excellent restaurant recommended by Ocean Eleven staff

Oceans Basket in Hermanus (7 out of 10)

Very efficient place with quick service and good food served in pans Keenly priced too

Urban Chic (8 out of 10)

Central location was good with its own parking but bar not open at weekends! Staff were helpful although our request for a bar was answered with ' You could try Nandos'!

We found Bob's bar right opposite where Annie welcomed us like family! Lovely contemporary rooms - loved the bathroom

Baia (10 out of 10)

This place, on our last night, restored our faith that service can be found in South Africa

Pricy - yes but exceptional in food quality and service!

Thanks again Liselle for organising a wonderful holiday - we were told that it was unusual to have hurricane force winds on two successive sundays in Cape Town and we believe it - still managed the cable car and to get some lovely sun in Franschhooek and Hermanus.

A truly memorable experience and its all on video!

Laurence

Guests Visited: Arathusa, Primi Royal, The Franschhoek Country House, Ocean Eleven & Urban Chic

Hi Liselle,

We had a fantastic time. Thanks for arranging the perfect itinerary and the great accommodations.

The abundance and variety of wildlife in Botswana would put it at the top of the list for future family excursions. We spotted and photographed the big five on the first day there.

You will enjoy Toka Leya and Marc's and his staff's hospitality. You may already know that Marc is from Durban. Eric and I enjoy telling the story of how we did tent camping in the bush of Africa and the difficult time we had with the ice cream melting so fast in the tent.

A special mention of an enjoyable transfer from Nelspruit to Kings Camp with Lyndall as the driver. It was a nearly three hour drive, in the dark and some rain. She works for Seasons in Africa. She made the time go fast. Eric is a pilot and Lyndall has some experience flying airplanes so guess what we talked about mostly?

We are glad that we found Sunsafaris on the Internet. It was a random, very lucky pick for us.

All the best with our appreciation.

Tommy

Guests Visited: Toka Leya, Chobe Game Lodge, Kings Camp & The D’Oreale Grande

Brett,

Thanks It went very well. Daniel looked after us exceptionally well in hs quiet way. He's a fairly quiet chap but certainly gives you confidence that all is under control.

The food was superb and the accomodation great.

Additionally all the guests were easy going, relaxed and friendly so there was agreat atmosphere in the group

many thanks

Ken Visited Africa on Foot Camp

Hi, Brett. So sorry for the delay in responding; I am the primary correspondent & have been quite sick, having developed an adverse side effect from my malaria prophylaxsis. Luckily, it didn't happen until after we returned!

Speaking of the trip, though, we have to say that you hit the nail on the head! Chundukwa Lodge & each of the safari camps (Linyanti, Footsteps & Meno a Kwena) had something special about them, the experiences at each far exceeded our expectations, &, without exception, the staff at each--both visible & behind the scenes--were phenomenal. Two of the places even had anniversary champagne awaiting our arrival (thank you!). And, lodge staff were always out front, awaiting our arrival (& even, at Linyanti & Footsteps, awaiting our return from an outing), usually with something refreshing or otherwise helpful in hand. Of course, I'm sure you know about Linyanti's staff choir; quite memorable! I should also mention that we stopped at Shinde Lodge, shortly before our flight from Footsteps &, although we were not guests, the staff there was equally warm & hospitable.

The other thing that really struck us was the degree of organization for all of the transfers & meet-&-greets. Not only was every greeter, driver, pilot & guide right on time, they each had our name & knew where we were coming from & where we were headed. Given that we were only two of many visitors this network handles on a daily basis, it was truly impressive!

So, we have no constructive criticism for you, only glowing compliments & heartfelt thanks; it truly was a trip of a lifetime!

Thanks again,

Heather & Steve Visited: Linyanti, Footsteps, Chundukwa Lodge & Meno a Kwena

Yes, safely home - if a little groggy!!!!!

Thank you so much Liselle for all your contributions to an amazing holiday. Everything went perfectly, all the transfers, etc. Loader was fabulous, the best location! And Arethusa and Motswari were great, different from each other and complementary. We did see the Big 5 and soooooo much more. We now have to lose several kilos..........

Especially thank you for your enthusiasm, advice and always prompt replies. It has been a pleasure to work with you and we will recommend you to any of our friends who are travelling to SA. If we can be of any help with any of your clients who need to confirm any points about these locations, we'd be very happy to.

Thank you so much.

Many greetings

Merle and Peter Visited: De Waterkant, Arathusa & Motswari

Liselle,

The trip was great. We enjoyed Motswari greatly. The staff was great, as was the food. We saw the Big 5, normally seeing 3 of the 5 per drive, including seeing leopards everyday with kills.

Again though, a wonderful trip. Thanks!

Michael 

Guests Visited Motswari Safari Lodge

Hello Liselle

Our trip was fantastic, and Rhino was just perfect, beautiful place in the wilderness, good food nice staff and very clever rangers. Two safaris each day. We saw the big 5 and much much moore, I higly recommend Rhino. I like to come back some day.

And the trip from cape town – stellanbush – garden route – and all the way too Kruger was amacing.

We met friendly people all over.

Best regards and merry christmas

Love Anne

Guests Visited Rhino Post Safari Lodge, Winelands & Garden Route

Hi Liselle,

We had the most fantastic time at Simbavati. We saw the big 5 many many times. The setting –right on the river bank with a family of hippos that came out and feed among our tents- was brilliant. They even have outside showers attached to the tents (but very private) as well as a very large indoor bathroom. Wow.

The food was fabulous and plenty of it. Roast Warthog one night which was delicious! The staff were friendly and the Drivers and spotters for the Safaris were enthusiastic, had lots of knowledge about the area and were wonderful at finding the animals.

I’ll send a couple of photos when I can.

We would highly recommend Simbavati to others who are looking for an extremely comfortable “real” experience and not wanting all the “fluffy” stuff. If you get my meaning.

The Peermont Metcourt we thought was a bit expensive for what it offered. The room was comfortable but very small – the shower and toilet was just behind a curtain but we have no other experience of accommodation in Jo’berg.

Regards

Judy

Guests Visited Simbavati River Lodge & The Peermont Metcourt

Hi Liselle,

The safari was great! We saw 4 of the big 5, and shot hundreds of pictures. Kapama Lodge was great, the chalets were lovely, clean and well looked after. The service was very friendly, and the ranger and spotter on the actual safari were class.

I would love to go back with my wife and daughters, as soon as they are old enough...

Thanks again for your support and great advice!

Best regards,

Andrew

Guest Visited Kapama Main Lodge

Hi Brett

This is my first day back in the office and we had a great time in South Africa. Your suggested camps where just great for us. We personally liked Africa on Foot a bit more, as it is just more adapted to the wild. Simbavati was of course much more luxurious but I personally do not need that out there. If I go the a camp, I do not expect air con. Also the personal treatment and family character of Africa on Foot was outstanding.

I thank you very much for organizing this great holiday for us and I will recomend you to all my friends who want to go to South Africa on holidays.

Best regards to you and also to the guys from Africa on Foot and Simbavati, if you see them.

Bruno

Guests Visited Africa on Foot & Simbavati River Lodge

Hi Brett

Delta Camp- was disappointing and I think has reached the point of run down as opposed to rustic. We were all glad we went there first and not last.

Linyanti was great. A pity that fire that was apparently started near a local village had travelled 80km two day before we arrived there and changed the game behaviour. So sighting were limited.

Chiefs Camp- the game viewing was awesome even though the guide was average.

It was a great success and we loved the trip and will cherish the memories.

The ground arrangements worked meticulously thanks.

Regards

Steve

Guests Visited Delta Camp, Linyanti & Chiefs  Camp

Dear Liselle,

As I'm reading your message, we are spending our last night at Tranquility. The entire trip was fantastic and thank you for the great suggestions and arrangments. We had a really lovely time and would definately return, hopefully soon.

Gomo-gomo was excellent, both the lodge and the game viewing! We saw the big 5 already in the first 2 days, but all 5 days were really worth it. Tranquility is also excellent, lovely service and lots to do around. The only problem we had was that due to weather conditions we couldn't go whale watching. I guess this will have to be left for next time!

Thanks again for everything and we look forward to arranging our next trip with you!

Best,

Agnes

Guests Visited Tranquility Lodge & Gomo Gomo Game Lodge

Brett,

Sorry we didn't have a chance to meet. I was in Cape Town for four days before moving on to Durban and Jo'Berg / Pretoria.

The walking tour at Africa on Foot Camp was superb! Great location, great walks and drives.Daniel and Florian were excellent.... patiently showing the "green horns" all the things we would have missed if it weren't for them.

I look forward to coming back... and talking up the tours!

Best regards,

Douglas Treat

Guests Visited Africa on Foot

Hello Brett,

Thanks for your e-mail. After a wonderful time at Motswari (and before in Hermanus and Cape Town) we have arrived back home. What a downer after such a lovely time.

Motswari was great, we saw the elusive Leopard which made Graham very happy , and of course we saw the rest of the Big Five. Food was great, staff was great, our ranger (Palence) and his tracker (Difference) made a massive effort to show us the animals. Nothing was too much trouble for them.

Nice touch that they give half hour talks every afternoon on safari related topics We think the viewing vehicles are a bit overloaded with 9 people, having been spoilt at other safari lodges with 6 or even 4 people to one jeep. But altogether we were very happy.

Not to worry about the park fee which is minimal. Just that we did not know about it and wanted to check.

Thanks for making all the arrangements for us. We will come back to you for our next safari. I would like to see the great migration sometime, perhaps next year. What is the best time and where ? Graham has seen it but I have not.

Greetings, Ursula

Guests Visited Motswari

Hello Brett,

Sorry, I just found this email. Umlani was very nice. A little rustic but I like it that way. Can't believe how many animals I saw! Big 5 and Little 5 (funny guides ;) Amazing country.

My wife and I are heading back to SA for business again in January. I would like to take another 3-4 day safari with Heather. Can't you give us some options at a little more upscale camp in the Sabi Sands area or even at Kings Camp?

We are looking at January 22-26 time frame but we are flexible.

Thanks for your help on this.

Chris

Guests Visited Umlani

Dear Liselle,

We had a fantastic time at Africa on Foot. We saw 3 of the big 5 plus many more animals (herds of impala, giraffes, zebra, etc.). Courtney did a great job as guide and tracker, and the food was wonderful. We had to adjust to no electricity and to the outdoor shower—especially since it was so cold the first two days, but we made it. We had not really expected conditions to be as primitive as they were, but we saw the African bushland as few get to see it. We traversed the farms by vehicle and by foot looking for game. Courtney was relentless. We really liked the intimate atmosphere and the rural setting.

It was good to meet Brett. He was really helpful to us by telephone as we tried to find our way back to the entrance gate, and it was good to see him face to face.

Thanks for your help in arranging the experience. I really appreciate your patience as I worked through my schedule and other considerations as we decided what to do. I don’t regret for a moment that we decided to go for it—it was an experience we will never forget, and we took some fantastic pictures.

Have a great day.

Sincerely,

Joe

Guests Visited Africa on Foot

Chapungu:

- 1st lodge of the trip

- Probably my favorite guide / tracker of the trip (I'm terrible with names but I believe Ian was the name of our guide)

- saw the big 5

- only lodge that I saw cheetah and black rhinos

- Good food and service

- would rate 3rd relative to luxury of accommodations, although still very nice

Arathusa:

- 2nd lodge of the trip

- Probably my least favorite guide / tracker of the trip

- Best location for game viewing from the comfort of the lodge

- also saw the big 5 here

- food and service was good

- would rate 2nd relative to luxury of accommodations

Kings Camp:

- 3rd lodge of the trip

- nicest accommodations of the trip

- nice to have internet access available to update friends / family on the trip

- saw 4 of the big 5 here (although only was able to do 2 game drives)

- happy with the food and service

Chundukwa:

- 4th lodge of the trip

- most "rustic" accommodations of the trip

- food and service was good

Jeff Singer Visited Chapungu, Arathusa, Kings Camp & Chundukwa

Hi Brett,

Thanks for getting in touch. Safari was amazing - we had a great time. Loved the camp, kids had a ball. The two guys in the Adventurer's club were great and took the kids off trekking + butterfly catching for an hour a day.

Gamewatchers were there to meet us + get us around Nairobi.

All went well. I have spread the word around friends here in Dubai and sent links to your site.

Thanks for all your help.

Kind regards, Peter.

Guests visited Mara Intrepid Camp

Hi Brett,

Have been meaning to write, but have been busy doing up the photo album to show my children and work colleagues who now all want to go to Africa.

The safari was great. All the connections worked out well, even though not having any details ourselves on flights and times between camps was a bit nerve wracking, but we came to rely on the guys to sort out details for us.

The meals were tremendous, considering that they were cooked on open fires. No generators at any bush camps, bar Oddballs enclave, so recharging of camera batteries was a bit of a challenge. Just made us not quite so trigger happy. The guides, cooks and helper were good value- very friendly and helpful and I guess we gave them a few laughs at our expense at times due to our ignorance of the country, animals and customs, and the fact that they all speak a lot more languages than we do, so could say all sorts of things we'd never know about.

I'm glad we did the trip in the order we did, going from the very lush Chundukwa area and the magical Falls to the extreme heat and dryness of Savuti (saw so many small animals, male ellies and birds!), to Xakanaxa with both wet and dry areas (saw amazing herds of zebra, impala, a leopard and a 12 member pride of lions (2 males, females and large cubs) which shifted to within a kilometre of our camp, and terrific bird life, especially the colony of storks on the boat trip) to Oddballs enclave which was very wet, but starting to quickly dry up so we felt sorry for our poor mokoro poler dragging us through the thicker reed areas on the search for some elusive lions, but saw up close 15 giraffe in a herd the morning we were due to leave. Going the other way around, with the temp in the tent at Savuti 40 degrees C would have been very tiring, but you would have appreciated the water at Chundukwa even more. I have some amazing photos of the landscape from the planes. Kasane to Savuti looks like a huge burnt paddock with dead trees and even the mopane forests look dead from up above, with so many tracks leading to and from the few remaining waterholes, with elephants clustered under the few trees which had a leafy top. The elephants at Savuti were up close and everywhere, esp at dusk when they came in for water.

We really had a great time, and thanks again for organizing things for us, and for taking the time to meet us at the hotel. We missed your last email, having left home earlier that day to fly to Sydney, so thanks for showing up. It was good to put a name to a face, rather than just being an image on paper.

All the best for the future, with your family and the business and good luck with the new bank.

Cheers,

John and Dorothy Devlin

Guests visited Chundukwa River Lodge, Fly Camp Savuti, Fly Camp Xakanaxa and Oddballs Enclave

Hi Brett

I want to add my thanks to Erica's. We all had a wonderful time. The three camps you suggested were diverse, interesting and beautiful. The contrasts really added something extra to the whole experience. Each day was an adventure and we were very well looked after by everyone. It was a privilege to see the animals without hordes of other tourists around!

Cheers

Ann

Guests visited Meno a Kwena, Delta Camp and Mapula Camp

Dear Brett

I was one of the Conroy party (Ann’s aunt) who went to Botswana just over 2 weeks ago. Thought you would like to know your bits of the holiday went very, very well. We were met and transported by great people and the accommodation in all 3 camps was excellent. I was particularly impressed with the quality of the guides at all sites and they quickly adapted to our style of travel, humour and wide variety of interest. I believe anyone not impressed with what is on offer and how it is delivered in Botswana needs to get a real life.

Just to prove to you we saw real animals I attach an animal photo from each camp (1620 from Delta, 1647 from Marpula and 1523 from Meno A Kwena) and an action shot from Meno A Kwena

Many thanks

Regards

Erica Smyth

Guests visited Meno a Kwena, Delta Camp and Mapula Camp

hi Liselle,

Have been meaning to email you but havent had the chance, we actually didnt fly home, we flew out of Jo'burg to Singapore and are currently in Malaysia!

I dont think you could have recommended a better place than Kwa Mbili for us! It was perfect, it was incredibly laid back with great people working there (who probably werent to happy that we were the last people at the bar every night ha). The game drives were awesome, Gavin and Neil know their stuff and could answer any questions we had instantly!

With regards to the animals, we saw everything we went to see. The big 5 and cheetah (although the cheetah wasnt as active as I would have liked, those cats are lazy).

The accomodation was way more than I expect from a safari and the food was magnificent, I dont eat that well at home.

So all in all we had a fantastic time, could not have been better and we will probably go back there again if we get the chance.

Thanks so much for your help

Daniel

Guests visited Kwa Mbili

Hi Liselle,

Oh my goodness. I am so so sorry I didn't write you. I had written just about everybody else to thanks them,

Your company is amazing. Not only were the transfers in time ALL the time, which is something we can learn from in the States. But the places were amazing.

We loved Nottens. We saw so much and the people were so unbelievable friendly.

We had a Ranger, who was lots fun. His name was Jeffrey. I think he was a little more "daring" than the rest.

We were very confident in him and saw the most amazing scenes and animals. We had more stories to tell than the others (maybe we had more of an imagination:)) Anyway... We drove with a British couple and their grown sons and became instant friends.

The food was wonderful and they made such efforts to present it so nice also I. e the table settings which changed every day, the campfire in the bush , the campfire at the camp.

I didn't want to leave.

There was an elephant eating a tree 3 feet from our cabin,,,a huge bull..lots of big branches on our cabin, which had us up al night. We could almost touch it thru our open window. That was very exciting to us despite the little tremors in our hearts that night :)

We not only saw the big 5 but lots more. We saw the big 5 almost in the first day I believe :)

So out of the 10 I will give Nottens a 15 :)

Tanamera was equally amazing. What a beautiful setting!!! Such beautiful cabins. We found ourselves in a very romantic place and celebrated David's birthday with a private dinner in our cabin. That was a first for me :) We went to the elephant whispers to learn more about the elephant and afterwards the horseback riding. Also great places to go and nice people! Tanamera had arranged everything and even a few hours of shopping afterwards, It is so nice to pay everything at the end..you have no idea how nice that is.

Out of the 10 I will give Tanamera a 12 :)

Actually we didn't want to leave South Africa. Our first experience in this country was amazing. I think we also were lucky to have chosen august as the time of year to go. We loved the cool nights and warm days.

I wrote to Nottens and am sending them a coffee table book I made of the animals we saw.

Took a break from taking pictures in Tanamera , which was also nice(had done two weeks of photography).

"If the longing for the bush gets too much, I can get you on the 1st flight back to Africa!" That is so so tempting !!!!

Tanks so much Liselle for everything.

I will spread the word for you here.

Jantina.

Guests Visited Nottens & Tanamera Lodge

Liselle-

Bob and I had a fantastic time. All of the lodges were wonderful. The accomodations and food were beyond what we expected. The rooms at Gomo and Arathusa were clean and beautifully furnished. We saw all of the big 5 between both lodges. The animals were plentiful and varied. Bob and I agree we were smart to book and experience 2 separate lodges. There were different animals and terrain between both camps- as well as a "freshness" being with 2 different sets of guides and trackers.

The driver that took us to and from the airport and between lodges was friendly and very efficient.

Our tour guide at Chundukwa was excellent as well. Friendly and knowlegable.

Flight times, transfers, etc were perfect.

My suitcase did not arrive until we were at the Arathusa lodge. Virgin air had it and I must commend the staff at Gomo for calling and keeping after the airport personnel until it got delivered.

Thank you for your assistance and professionalism in booking this trip. We will recommend you to anyone deciding to use your services for a trip.

Thanks again-

Maria and Bob Yane

Client visited:  Gomo Gomo, Arathusa & Chundukwa River Lodge

Dear Chris,

We are back home in the UK after such a memorable wonderful holiday. I am very glad I put my faith in you to organise our trip, we had such a fantastic time. To quote my children "it was our best family holiday ever". The choice of camps were perfect - couldn't get over the friendliness of all the staff, particularly at Moremi and Xugane and we really couldn't fault it. We saw some fantastic game, met some lovely people, ate FAR too much and have fantastic photos to make the memories live on.

So, thank you for all you did and we hope to visit that incredible part of the world in the not too distant future!

Hope your little one is doing well.

Regards

Jenny and Graham Holford

Guests visited Camp Moremi, Xugana Island Lodge and Savute Safari Lodge

Hey Brett,

We were absolutely delighted with our South African experience and very pleased with all the camps and excursions you arranged. As you witnessed, the V&A took very good care of us and David was a superb guide. Our driver, Nic, who ended up driving for us 3 of the 4 excursions was quite the asset. We had extraordinary safari experiences @ Arathusa and @ Motswari (Probably better viewing @ Arathusa but superb food @ Motswari). You did a great job putting us at Tanamera the last 2 days where we visited Elephant Whispers and had a great experience. Tanamera was without water for a day and if I were the mgmt I would have reduced the final bill but it didn't take away from how much we enjoyed it. Overall, we were very pleased with everything that you arranged for us.

Tom & Julie

Guests stayed at the VA Hotel, Arathusa, Motswari and Tanamera

Hi Liselle,

It was amazing!

Arathusa:

First of all, thank you for making this recommendation. Our four nights at Arathusa made the trip. We saw a pack of wild dogs with 3 puppies all four days at Arathusa. We saw the big 5 in two game drives. The atmosphere and accommodations were warm and friendly. We highly recommend Arathusa as it exceeded our expectations. Our Ranger, Ryan, was very knowledgeable. One evening Ryan managed to keep up with the dog pack while on a hunt (a vehicle from Elephant Plains turned around). We saw them face off with about 7 or 8 hyenas and then make two kills. I over heard the Elephant Plains Ranger tell his group "the dogs are going into thicker bush and we are loosing light", then they turned around. You told me you did not recommend Elephant Plains, thank you for that!

Gomo Gomo:

The Accommodations were nice. The atmosphere was a little cold. The game drives were a little boring. We did get to see a black rino. We also got to get out of the vehicle on two occasions and walked up to a white rino and some giraffes. That was exciting. Overall, I would not recommend Gomo Gomo. We did get spoiled at Arathusa the first four nights of our trip.

Thank you again for recommending Arathusa over Elephant Plains. You were right on target! Worth the money!

Guests Visited Arathusa Safari Lodge & Gomo Gomo Game Lodge

Hi Brett

Alex and Jacob returned from South Africa yesterday. They had a fantastic time throughout and at Africa on Foot in particular - where they were delighted to see the big 5 and much more besides. They will write to you direct; in the meantime thank you very much indeed for your help - all the arrangements worked perfectly.

Thanks again

Kind regards

Gillian

Guest Visited Africa on Foot

Hi Liselle

Just a quick note to say thank you for all your assistance in organising my trip to Arasutha. We had a great time.

Can you please tell me what the minimum age is for staying in the parks as I would like to take my grandson when he is old enough (he's 10 at the moment).

Thank you again.

Kindest Regards

David Young

Guest Visited Arathusa Safari Lodge

Hi Liselle!

I just wanted to drop you an email to let you know that we had an incredible trip!!!!!! The highlight of Simbambili was our guide, Lazarus, and as far as Kings Camp, it was absolutely magical! Everything about it was wonderful! The management and staff were fabulous and the attention to detail was unsurpassed! Liselle, I am fortunate to have stayed at some of the finest hotels in the world, but Kings Camp has left a lasting impression. We can't wait to go back on safari again next year with friends and will definitely stay in touch.

All the very best,

Deborah Corday

Guest Visited Simbambili & Kings Camp

Dear Liselle,

We just returned from our holidays. I herewith thank you for your assistance. We had a great time in Madikwe and enjoyed both Buffalo and Thakadu very much. We are impressed by the kindness and services of the staff and the quality of the lodges and the food.

Thanks !

Wietse

Guest Visted Madikwe

Hi Brett,

We spend marvellous days at both lodges. Thank you very much for all arrengments.

"Africa on Foot" is wonderful, in particular the rangers Ian and Daniel have an excellent knowledge about wild live and are very nice guys. Accomodation excellent (in a gral) and food delicous. It was very good to start with "Africa on Foot" and to continue with the high luxury "Savannah tended lodge" and not the other way around because, as I have mentioned earlier, to finish holidays at the latter lodge was the highlight of our holidays in RSA. Absolutly excellent.

We are thinking about to make the same again.

Kind regards,

Tobias

Guest Visited Klaserie & Sabi Sands

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Everthing worked out just as you said it would. The safari camp was perfect for me. I did a lot of walking early mornings and learned so much about nature in that area. The guides were great. I think the highlight was seeing a scaly anteater (Pangolin). They are quite rare. Met some interesting people. I could also totally relax.

The 3 weeks in the village was also a very different experience from any other traveling that I had done. Teaching was sometimes frustrating as their methods are so different from the way we do things, but I loved the kids and was able to talk with some of those in the 7-9th grade. And it was fun playing with the very young kids even if we didn't communicate very well. All in all, a month that I wouldn't have missed for anything.

Thanks again and I will pass along all this information to anyone who might be contemplating spending time in S. Africa. Mona Memmer

Guest Visited Africa on Foot

HI: Brett

It was AWESOME.... We had such a wonderful time.... Seriouly it was a once in a life time experience and everything was A - Rate....

Thanks again for everything that you did.....

Jeff & Sandra Legg

Guests visited Gomo Gomo Game Lodge and Arathusa Safari Lodge

Hi Brett

Arathusa was superb. Not only saw the ‘big five’, but also lion and leopard cubs!

‘Africa on Foot’ was also great, experiencing a different aspect of Africa . When walking in the bush, animals seem to be part of your actual ‘space’, rather than the separation a 4x4 vehicle gives you. The staff at ‘Africa on Foot’ were superb, with consistent professionalism. The accommodation is clean and sizeable, a little bit more basic than some of the more ‘luxurious’ lodges, however this helps contribute to the whole experience.

Taking everything into consideration, Rach and I concluded this was the best ever ‘all round’ trip we had ever experienced, either in Africa or anywhere else in the world.

The combination of Cape Town, Grootbos (that was absolutely superb), Africa on Foot, and Arathusa, was a perfect balance.

So yet again, you did a fabulous job at tailor making our holiday, and we are already talking of coming back next year.

Many thanks

Carl

Guest Visited Africa on Foot & Arathusa Safari Lodge

Dear Liselle:

My group returned today and I spoke with Ms. Lisa Ashley. They were very impressed with your company and the arrangements you provided. I want to thank you for all this since it is the first time I have used someone out of So. Africa located in the country. I will remember you the next time we need anything.

Thanks again.

Vimla

Guests Visited Kapama River Lodge & Kapama Main Lodge

Hello Liselle,

Sorry for the delay, but since we were away from home for about 35 days, it's been hard to catch up on mail, bills, washing, and life in general.

We really had a fantastic trip and thanks so very much for your part in our plans.

OK, here are my views on the places you booked. Please realize that it was really cold for us Californians (below freezing at night/early mornings).

Peermont Metcourt: Great place, beautiful rooms, but did ask to move from the airport side as it was noisy. They were very accommodating about an early morning check in. The place was so huge, I didn't think it was our hotel as the name said Emperor's Palace. Had good dinner at "Tribes" in the food court at the "Palace".

Arathusa: Our favorite of the three places because it had a great view of the pond with changing animals to watch. The room was quite sumptuous and had a huge bathroom. Andre,the ranger/guide and Rifus,the tracker, were an incredible team and the best of the trip. Very professional. We barely made our first afternoon game drive-had about 15 minutes to drop and run, but oh so worth it. Drive to Arathusa was right at 7 hours and we didn't stop to eat. (Would have left earlier but I had left the lights on the previous morning after the harrowing first drive from the airport, so we had to get someone to jump the battery.) Lots of "Big Five" animals, but also some more difficult to find that included a pack of 3 wild dogs, a serval cat and an African wild cat. On four different drives there was a leopard was right next us, as well as two male lions who are part of a gang of six males killing other female and young lions! Great bush walk also. Very knowledgable guide and good information given on plants, animals, ecology. Blankets but not hot water bottles provided on drives.

Champungu: Our first day/night there, we were the only ones! Happy Father's Day! Dined in splendor with our guide next to the fireplace-nice. Lovely, fancy tent. Had fluffy robe and a heated mattress pad! Yea! It was freezing! View from the tent deck is private (we used the outside tub in the afternoon when it was warmer) but only scrub brush and absolutely nothing to see. Blankets and hot water bottles provided on drives.

Honeyguide Mantobeni: Glad the man at the gate gave me a handwritten map! The modern/cement like decor of the main camp/eating area is somewhat contradictory to the old fashioned tent. Had hot water bottles in the bed at night, thank goodness! Shower is open to the outside air. Only time to shower was in the afternoons at all the camps as it was way too cold at any other time. Unfortunately, views from the tent platforms are very limited to the pond. Great food. Unfortunately, few "Big Five" game was found until the last morning when we saw elephants. Fortunately, we had seen alot at the other places. The staff were a bit reluctant to go for a bush walk. I think the reason had to do with rabies in the area, however, I did go for a short one with the guide. Yes, it was just me wanting to know more about plants, dung and tracking. Blankets and hot water bottles provided on drives.

Overall, a fantastic experience! Great times on game drives, learned so much, experienced so much, ate lots of really wonderful, creative food and met so many interesting people.

One of the things you might provide are the more detailed maps that each of the camps gave us to help find the next one. I'm sure all the camps would email you maps to have on file for those clients that choose to drive. We really would have had a difficult time without the GPS (Tom Tom) that we brought from home.

My learning curve for driving a manual transmission was not very steep and I was still missing gears after 25 days! Between people, goats, cows including two bulls with locked horns stopping traffic and millions of potholes the size of which might swallow a smaller car, it was a gut clenching experience! Swaziland had the biggest share of potholes and animals. Negotiating traffic in Durban and Jo'burg...let's just say I was ready to return the car. However, I'm proud of myself for doing it!

Things I wish I had with me and really needed: bedroom slippers (had warm bed socks) for the very cold floors, a beenie (bought one) and face mask on game drives, hot water bottles or portable heater, extension cord--no electric plugs in bathrooms for drying hair or for using the hair dryer to heat the room. The rooms/tents and especially the bathrooms were freezing at this time of year! (Some mornings were below 0 degrees) Many didn't have heaters. You might want to add a few of these as recommendations to your clients. We did have thermal underwear, and I was often wearing ...two silk undershirts, long underwear, turtleneck shirt, thin fleece jacket, fleece vest, fleece jacket and lined long raincoat with scarf, beenie and gloves. Oh yes, and two sets of socks (one was fleece).

Hope you find this helpful and once again thanks for all your assistance in finding great safaris within our budget and in a short period of time.

Hugs, Janet Snyder

Guest visited Peermount Metcourt, Arathusa Safari Lodge, Chapungu & Honeyguide Mantobeni

Hi Brett

Thank you very much for booking our wonderful holiday in Botswana! We loved it all!

Desert and Delta were great and all went very smoothly. The camps were all unique in their own way and the staff very friendly and welcoming. The Delta was very different from anything we'd seen before and Xugana really made the most of it's position. It was all so lovely and so special! The guides were great......knowledgeable and confident and we had some wonderful experiences. Getting close to lions and buffalo on foot at Xugana, enjoying seeing a lion hunt at Moremi and the antics of large herds of elephant and Savuti was so different again. It was great to sit and watch the elephant activity at the waterhole in the evenings, the extent of the channel and old marsh and we got some beautiful leopard shots on the drives. Even Geoff, who doesn't share my love of wildlife to the same degree, enjoyed it all. The small plane transfers just added to the sense of a special holiday for us and it's great to see the delta and country from the air. But thank you for the warning about warm clothes...... it was cold but we went equipped!

Until next time........ In the meantime lets just hope the Boks do well in the Tri Nations!

Warm regards Jenny

Guests visited Xugana Island Lodge, Camp Moremi and Savute Safari Lodge

Dear Brett,

Overall experience: our trip to Botswana- my son’s 21rst birthday gift- exceeded all of our expectations. This is not a small feast as both of us have travelled extensively, including in Africa.

Preparation and planning: from the moment I contacted SunSafaris, I was impressed with Brett’s responsiveness, competence and listening capabilities. He understood our needs and adapted itinerary and camp options to take account of our concerns. I had done a lot of research myself ( books and internet) but without Sunsafaris advise, I would have not made as good choices of route and camps.

Execution of trip: everything worked as clockwork- I was particularly impressed with the transfers from one place to another as well as the fact that “ no time was wasted” as all transfers were done mid day allowing for all the activities even on those days when we changed locations. The itinerary was excellent. ( We met a number of people who had worked with other travel agencies and seemed to have bad itineraries for ex. Victoria falls, then to Kalahari Plains and then back North to the Linyanti area or only 1 night at a camp- 3 is ideal). We really appreciated the conservation and protection of the environment philosophy of Wilderness Safaris- owner of most camps we stayed at. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and flexible and the very friendly staff at each camp went the extra mile to make us feel comfortable and make the stay memorable. The staff and management at all the camps is outstanding and incredibly attentive to details ( like hot water bottles in bed and warm ponchos in jeeps- a real luxury!) and very resourceful. The atmosphere in all camps was informal, friendly, fun and laid back. We liked the interaction between the staff and the guests at least as much as between guests. The camps blend well into the landscapes and the lay outs are great including toilets “with a view”.

Accommodations and camps:

Royal Livingstone Hotel- 1 night: Brett had advised to stay 2 nights and I should have listened! We did not have enough time at the Falls. We would have liked to walk on both the Zambian and the Zimbabwe side and to have time to view the Falls at different times of the day. Helicopter ride- although very expensive- worth it and Sundown cruise a nice relaxing activity to “get into the mood”. Hotel has the great advantage of walking distance to the Falls.

Duma Tau: We LOVED this camp. Linyanti area should be on each safari itinerary. We saw an incredible amount of animals, including inside the camp! Yannick woke up first day from his nap with an elephant literally in his face! Lots of animals right in front of our tent during the whole stay. Mr. T was an awesome guide, very knowledgeable and great personality as well as flexible- 2 hour drive to see cheetahs! We saw wild dogs chasing an impala and a croc eating one! At the camp, Miriam is a great manager and staff has long experience of guests. Excellent food and overall experience was FANTASTIC we would have loved to stay forever and were worried about the fact that the other camps could not possibly live up to our expectations!

Little we knew..

Little Vumbura: “little treasure”, magic location, we were upgraded to a family tent which was wonderful- this was the best we had in all the camps with 2 bathrooms and 2 toilets and a very good lay out. We loved the boat rides, saw a lot of animals including hippos blocking our access to jeep and wonderful birdlife. Rain and Mr. Kay great guides and one hour walk safari was very interesting. We were lucky to see a cheetah feeding on an impala and a leopard stealing it from her! We saw genets, buffalos, hyenas and all the other usual animals but not the Situnga; we will gladly go back! Boyson a very resourceful and attentive manager. Food was outstanding and we liked the fact that lunch was at separate tables and not a communal one- great idea given the fact one spends a lot of time with other guests during safari and night time.

Chitabe Lediba: we were also upgraded to a family room, Josephine is a dynamic manager and Kenny a great and fun one. Surprise birthday cake for Yannick was wonderful. The highlight was a 3 hours walk safari ( guide: Luke and Ebs) which took some bravery on part of our guides as we heard lions roaring on the left and on the right and they could have easily cancelled for safety reasons. In the event, we did not bump into the lions and had a great experience of the bush. We were also privileged to see a leopard feeding on an impala in a tree with 3 hyenas waiting underneath for leftovers. The camp seems slightly less attentive to details (neon lights in bathroom!?) than the ones above- but of course it is very relative and we had been spoiled in Duma Tau and Little Vumbura. Beautiful and diversified landscape- more “open” space than Duma Tau.

Xigera: we had a private flight from Chitabe to Xigera and the second night in Xigera we were alone at the camp. Talking of total luxury! Anton the manager organized a romantic dinner for us on the bridge with hippos underneath and stars on top. I really wondered that night why I could not just stay in Africa forever! Xigera is another magical place. Alternating water and dry camps is a brilliant idea and we enjoyed three Mokoros after the dusty jeep rides in Chitabe. We were priviledged to see the almost extinct ( 150 left in the world?) Pel’s Fishing owl twice including a male and a female ( both nesting and in flight). Fantastic birdlife overall. Saw big and small animals and loved the frogs chase! Lemme was a great and fun guide with a great personality.

Kalahari Plains: another private flight and great but very different camp experience. The camp is a temporary one- the permanent one is being built 80 kms away and should be ready by Xmas 2009. Wilderness has decided to build a new camp because they found no water where they established the camp last year. From the airstrip about 3 to 3 1/2 hours drive so we were very happy to stay 3 nights. As the camp is temporary it is a bit more rustic ( for ex no toilets except in the tent, no plunge pool, no water hole). We were also surprised by the much colder weather ( 5 degrees at night and just over 10 degrees during one of the day- gloves and hat a must!) but the “rough?” experience was well worth it: including such highlights as the mythical Deception Valley, black-maned lions and lions with cubs feeding on an oryx. We saw also a lot of the other animals which are particular to the Kalahari including the bat- eared fox, Suricate and the honey Badger. Tshepo ( the “brother” of Lemme in Xigera) was an outstanding guide and we had a great picnic with a jackal who was hoping for food as well as a ‘flying banana “ who was eating out of Yannick’s hand! Bushmen walk (about 1 hour) was well done and informative and Yannick managed to learn how to make fire without matches! We were also alone 2 out of the three nights at the camp.

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any more questions. I probably did not do justice to the trip as it was a truly FANTASTIC and MEMORABLE experience.

Best regards

Christine

Guests traveled to Royal Livingstone Hotel, DumaTau, Chitabe Lediba, Little Vumbura, Xigera & Kalahari Plains.

Hi Chris,

Back in our home in Abu Dhabi we want to express our gratitude and satisfaction for the wonderful two-week trip you have organised for us in Botswana. It has been perfect in all senses.

We do not understand why most people do not include in their trips a visit to Central Kalahari. It is unbelievable ! Okavango Delta and Chobe were even more beautiful than expected.

Thanks again

Ana & Alfredo

Guests visited Kalahari Plains, Xigera, Chitabe, DumaTau and Elephant Valley Lodge

Hi Liselle

We had an absolutely brilliant time. The V&A hotel was superb, the facilities first class, the staff wonderfully helpful and polite. It is in a great position for all the restaurants, shops, boat trips etc. Would definitely recommend the hotel.

Phinda was something else! The lodges are gorgeous, the food fabulous, the staff fabulous. The game drives are awesome. We saw lions, giraffes, zebra, white rhino, an elephant, hippos, cape buffalo, wart hogs and numerous types of antelope and that was only on the first drive! We also saw cheetah, herds of elephants, black rhino, numerous beautiful birds including huge birds of prey, monkeys and wilderbeast. The staff here put on fabulous treats like a breakfast in the savannah part way through a game drive, a bush barbeque which was wonderful with hundreds of oil lamps lighting up the clearing in the bush making it look magical. One night we were treated to a hot bath with candles all around and champagne to greet us when we returned to our lodge after dinner. We will certainly be looking at one of their other properties in the future.

One comment I do have is that it is a full 4 hour drive from Durban to Phinda and if possible it would be better to fly any future guests into Richards Bay which is only about 2 and a half hours away.

The companies you used to transfer us were great, in fact we used Steven in Cape Town to take us on a tour of the wine region and he was very good.

We will certainly return to SA and would like to do the Garden Route in the future. In the meantime if you want me to recommend any of the properties you recommended to us I will certainly do that.

Thanks once again for all your help in making this a holiday of a lifetime and a truly memorable experience.

Anita

Guests traveled to Victoria & Alfred Hotel & Phinda Forest lodge

Hello Brett,

The safari went very well. We were delighted with Edo's and Footsteps camps. We didn't know how good we had it until we went to Savute and found it was a bit big and rowdy for our liking. Although once a particular group moved on we found it was also an excellent place.

The only piece that wasn't a great success was the Michelangelo Hotel. We had packed light per instructions and when we went to eat in the lounge (not the restaurant) the waiter objected to Robert's sandals and made him feel so unwelcome that he couldn't even eat. The internet access / computers weren't working. The concierge wasn't there. The water didn't get hot in the shower until I had given up on it, shampooed in body temperature water, washed and was getting out. Also the driver was 45 minutes late to take us back to the airport. That had us nervous.

(Brett’s comment: The Michelangelo is a 5 Star Hotel and normally gets excellent reviews, so I am surprised about the above. I have taken up the lateness of the driver with the transfer company contracted in for the transfer)

At Edo's camp we were able to view rhino at the watering hole in the evening and also track them on foot. We came upon a group of 4. It was intimate, the staff were very friendly and we really had every convenience we needed. In the dry air I didn't need a hairdryer although i'm told there is one point in the dining room bathroom that can supply enough current. At the most, there were only two vehicles and we always had premium viewing and immaculate hospitality. The guides were very knowledgable. We also learned our kudu from our waterbok and got to feel comfortable that way. We are able to visit a cattle post briefly and go out with some San to see how they dug for roots before the modern ways came. We tasted some of what they dug up (with no ill effects). The kids were so friendly and wanted to be in the camera all the time. It was another memorable part of the experience. The vehicles there have you sit up high - at roof level - for better viewing in the taller bush. You're not in the shade but you do see so much more.

At Footsteps we got ridiculously lucky. There was a couple at Edo's scheduled to come with us but they didn't feel well so elected to stay at Edo's. That meant we had Footsteps to ourselves. It took the guides a day to warm up (I think to see how serious we were and how happy we would be with bucket showers etc.) but then they were fantastic. We saw a leopard catch and kill a baboon right in front of us, not 20 feet away on the path. We observed a pair of cheetah sunning themselves on a mound and followed them for a long time. We saw a couple of hyaena briefly. And there was a python that decided to head our way - we were between it and the bushy area on foot - so strictly it wasn't chasing us but it did seem like it when he did a u-turn and came straight for us. This camp was the highlight of the trip for us. Again, we had everything we needed and picked up some camping tips. The only time we saw another vehicle was if we called Shinde for a special sighting (like the cheetah) or they called us (a group of 4 lions). We felt like we had the whole delta to ourselves. We added a lot of new animal types, including the tail (only) of a rock monitor as well as hippo, crocodile, tsessebe etc. To get to and from the airport we had quite a deep crossing at one point. All the luggage was up high and they had to open the doors to let everything drain. We also did a short mokoro ride. The guides and camp staff were ridiculously flexible. We drove or walked for each activity depending on what they heard or the tracks they saw. When we saw the leopard kill we ended up coming back for lunch an hour late but it wasn't a problem. No one was upset. The food was still good and the guides were so excited at what we had seen. They told us, and I believe it, that we could be there five years running and never see all that we saw. We learned a bit about their lives too and shared our differences. That was interesting too. As we were honeymooners they were asking about the bride price etc. (but to be clear, only in a very polite and interested way, not at all offensive).

At Savute we saw a lioness with porcupine quills in her and a pack of wild dogs that had just made a kill. But my goodness, people nearly came to blows over that since there were vehicles completely blocking the road that wouldn't move. It was a real traffic jam. It was quite a restricted feeling after the other two camps to only and ever stay on the path and never ever get out of the vehicle. We had excellent elephant viewing and did see leopard, lion, an excellent viewing of a hyaena pair and of course the wild dogs.

By the end of the trip the only thing we didn't see was buffalo. We saw dung and tracks in Footsteps and dung in Savute, in both cases on the last day (morning drive) without time to track further. But I think we'd value the other sightings higher. After all we have buffalo coming out of our ears in Colorado so it's not so novel.

We also thought Steve did a great job when we did the day in the Cape. I must admit I haven't used a personal guide before - what will they be like, will they know about things we're interested in - but based on our experience with him, I would surely do it again. And Robert was delighted with the penguin and Oryx sightings.

I'd try to find a way to reduce the light aircraft transfers though. That was no fun coming back from Savute (I was ill and Robert nearly) and not much fun getting to Savute (we both nearly were ill). It was so hot and choppy and no room to move.

The length of the trip was about right. 8 nights instead of 9 might have been OK too. By the final drive we were ready not to be shaken around again! We slept well and were too well fed - now we have to lose the extra 5 pounds we gained. Neither of us were ill (except for travel sickness), no sunburn and fewer bites that 2 weeks in Atlanta would have got us. I also think we might have picked the best time of year in terms of climate, not for Cape Town but in terms of how pleasant it was to be outside at the camps and in tents. It got down to probably 39C in Edo's but we weren't uncomfortable in the tents sleeping or even showering.

A few people have said to me, I'd like to do that some day, and I will be glad to recommend you.

Thanks again for making our arrangements and providing good advice.

Louise

Guests Visited Edo's Camp & Footsteps Across the Delta & Savute Safari Lodge

Hi Liselle,

We got back yesterday so still have jet lag. Honeyguide was fabulous, the place was excellent and all the staff, food etc was wonderful, would recommend to anyone. Thanks for everything.

Regards Carol

Guest Visited Honeyguide Mantobeni

Hi Liselle,

You may recall that the portion of our trip you helped with was just a small part of the whole. Our first day home was June 20 and I am just now getting to my email.

I intended to write you as soon as I got a chance to tell you that King's Camp was fantastic and that we greatly appreciated your help in setting up the trip. When we first arrived, we were the only couple at the camp and so our first three game drives were private. We saw the big five, up close and personal, by the end of our second game drive.

When we arrived at King's Camp and got settled in, we went on the first game drive. That afternoon and evening, we saw, as I recall, the first four of the big five. We were probably missing the leopard.

We stopped for about half an hour to watch a mother lion and her three small cubs, about 4 to 7 weeks old. Once I have had a chance to review my photographs, I will reduce the size on one or two of our photos so that I might email them to you.

Again, I would reccomend King's Camp to anyone as well as Sunsafaris.

Thanks again,

Tom Grisham

Guest Visited Kings Camp

Hi Liselle,

Chapungu was AMAZING….

Thank you so much for recommending it to me.

Ishmael our driver/guide and Service our tracker really ‘made’ our Chapungu experience for us…

We did see the Big 5 a couple of times over plus the Cheetah which was special.

Thank you again for all of your work and I would definitely recommend you and your company to anyone looking at travelling to Africa.

Guest Visited Chapungu Tented Camp

Hi Liselle!

Sorry for the delay coming back to you, I have no excuse....

OK, we were so thrilled with our trip and everything you arranged, it was just wonderful and we had an amazing time. Thank you for all the work you put into making our trip wonderful.

Couple of things you might like to look at.

1. De Waterkant - The apt they put us in was divine, we loved it and they were really friendly and helpful. Actually they upgraded us to the 3 bdr so it was really comfortable and quite stunning.

Suggestions: The address for African Elite Properties is not 1 Loader Street, it's around the corner from there. The phone number is correct though so we just called that and were sorted.

2. Franschhoek - wow, this was really flash and super comfortable. Service was impeccable. The weird thing was, of all the places, the most went wrong here.

- bath flooded (they were great about it and we weren't upset) - cable tv was extremely limited (this was surprising in a 5 star property) - room service menu was the same as menu for french restaurant, no club sandwiches, no fries!!!!!

But on the whole, wonderful. We loved the town and wineries, brilliant.

3. Nature's Valley - at this point we marvelled at how each place had such a different feel and thought you were very clever. We loved it here, food and service were wonderful.

4. Idwala Game Lodge - this was by far the most amazing part of our stay. The service at Idwala was wonderful, we got to know the managers (a young married couple) and our ranger was a hoot. The food was fantastic, Dan is still trying to work off the weight he put on from eating 3 course meals each day! We saw elephants, lions, giraffe, zebra, rhinos, hippos, monkeys, warthogs (my favourite) and so much more, but we missed the cheetah... we weren't upset about that. We had 4 nights on safari and 3 nights would have been enough as it was quite cold by the last day so we stayed back at the lodge - you can't pick it because the day prior was 28 and the next day was freezing!

I know this is detailed but I am helping! So thank you for arranging such a wonderful holiday for us, the half day of Soweto was also brilliant, the tour guide was from Soweto and still lives there which gave it integrity, the history was unreal. I found the squatter camps in all parts of your country quite fascinating, they were in every town. OK I will stop now, feel free to put any of these comments on your website, you have my permission!

Best wishes to you Liselle

Anna Musson

Guests Visited African Elite Properties, Franshoek Country House, Tranquility Lodge & Idwala game Lodge

Hi Liselle,

Thanks for the email.

Yes, back all safe and sound. I really enjoyed SA, it was an experience and very different to the UK.

The safari experience was great. I saw the big five almost every day! So after 6 days it was like: NOT ANOTHER leopard.

In terms of the Motswari and Nottens, well Motswari was an absolute pleasure. The service was fantastic and the whole atmosphere was of one big family. The food was fab, especially the breakfasts! If i went back on safari, i would definitely go there and recommend it to anyone. I’m afraid my experience at Nottens was not so great. The service was not good: no one helped us with our bags or offered us a drink after i told them we had been travelling for 3 hours. When i told them i was vegetarian, they said they didn’t know, and offered me a ready meal for the first night ( i think they were trying to be helpful). The maid who cleaned our room kept throwing things away that she thought was rubbish, but that were not, like my contact lens cases!

I also think at Motswari because they do not have as much game as the Sabi Sands, the trackers reply on their skill more, and have to be very proactive in finding game. They were also very communicative and tell you everything: from birds to plants to wildlife. At Nottens, my tracker was a lovely man, but just did not tell me very much and also did not seem to be hungry to find the animals. I asked to swap trackers at Nottens and things got a little better. At Nottens, they also forgot my morning drink and sundowner twice. They just didn’t seem on the ball really. I also think the food was not that great.

Rob, made a good point and said that Nottens were just not able, or used to, looking after people who had requirements that were out of the usual, eg vegetarian, did not drink tea/coffee in the morning etc.

On a positive note, the swimming pool at Nottens was amazing and bush walks were better than Motswari!

I did speak to Dell, one of the owners, and he was lovely and apologied. But unfortunately, i think some of the staff were not happy with the feedback and got a few digs from them.

Well, i hope that’s enough feedback for you.

Thanks for all your help in arranging it.

Kaj

Guest Visited Motswari & Nottens

Hi Brett

The rest of the trip continued through to the end of May so am just back in the office today. It was all absolutely super. No issues at all – we thought all 3 camps were fabulous and Moremi in particular was just superb, and the pick-up in Maun and all the transfers went smoothly. Your ears should have been burning when we discovered that Lynne (the volunteer at Savute) knew you as well.

We thought the whole Botswana experience was terrific; wonderful settings, accommodation, food, service etc; camp staff, guides and management all friendly and professional; exceptional game viewing; and it was great to have Xugana’s water and walking activities to break up the game drives.

Many thanks for all your help putting the whole trip together and kind regards

Heather

Guest visited Xugana, Camp Moremi and Savute Safari Lodge

Hi Brett

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We had a FANTASTIC time on safari – can’t wait to go back!! Here’s our feedback from our April safari:

Chapungu Luxury Tented Camp – Thornybush • This small and fairly intimate camp was perfect for a couple wanting to dive into the bush for a few days. Good amount of space around tent – private.

• Great personalised service.

• No phones meant wake up calls were made at the door – this was nice and gentle.

• Excellent guide – informative, interesting and fun. Radio comms were kept very low or ear pieces were used. Very good for ambience.

• Very experienced tracker with amazing eyes.

• Tent was spacious, authentic and comfortable.

• Outdoor bath – magnificent!

• Dinner on the verandah of the tent was beautiful

• Weather – cold mornings, nice days, cool nights. The rain and wind proof ponchos were great for the cooler times in the vehicle.

• Food was incredible – excellent quality, good variety. Special birthday cake made for Sonja.

Exceter River Lodge – Sabi Sands • A bigger camp, very big and luxurious room/villa. Too over the top for us, but beautiful and indulgent nevertheless. • Great gift shop.

• Phones in room meant wake up calls were same as being in hotel – too loud and city-like.

• The guide was informative and enthusiastic but a bit young and irritating at times. • Game viewing was excellent but radio was too loud. Saw leopard every day.

• View from main area overlooking the river is beautiful.

• The room’s private outdoor pool and deck were great. Monkeys on the deck were a treat!

• Dinner in the room not so great.

• Same weather as North but no rain and wind proof ponchos in the vehicle though!

• Food was really very, very good – excellent quality and variety. Song and dance with dinner in the boma was great.

Thank you for all of your hard work, tenacity and patience with us. Your knowledge of the accom and areas really helped us in being able to have the kind of holiday we wanted. Your customer service is excellent and as a result we will be recommending you and Sun Safaris to everyone we know.

All the best,

Carla and Sonja

PS. I have excellent quality pics of animals, flora, sunsets etc. Let me know if your company would like to view them for printing brochures or online marketing. – Sonja 

Guest visited Chapungu Tented Camp & Exeter River Lodge

Hi Liselle,

I just wanted to thank you very much for your help in planning my trip. I travelled home on Sunday night – eventually. SAA had delayed my flight from Johannesburg to London on Sunday night and their staff seemed reluctant to offer any help other than “we’ll put you in a hotel and you will fly on Monday morning !!!” Eventually they agreed to put a few of us (more persistent ones) on a wait list for the later flight (which they had originally refused to consider, saying it was impossible) and we actually got this flight in the end – thankfully.

Even this couldn’t spoil a fantastic trip.

Cape Town was wonderful. I did just about everything and even took in a Stormers game. Table Mountain in the morning sun was a great sight, Robben Island was most interesting and the Waterfront is a great place to spend time.

As for Kwa Mbili, wow, I’m so glad I went there. A great recommendation from you. I was the only guest and Beth and Gavin (Neil and Mel had gone away) were wonderful and first class hosts. I felt like I was staying with friends. It was so relaxed. We always ate together and each evening after dinner was spent around the fire with a few drinks. The game drives, with my personal Ranger and tracker, were excellent. Gavin is so knowledgeable. I saw, and experienced so much and we had many laughs along the way. I almost felt guilty calling my wife (in J’burg) each evening to tell her what a wonderful time I was having while she was focussed on playing bowls. I fully intend taking her there in the future but I don’t think I will persuade her to stay in one of the tents, as I did. The whole experience was unforgettable.

I understand that you are visiting Kwa-Mbili in the near future. I am sure you will have a great experience. I will also be writing to Beth and Gavin but please pass in my very best wishes.

J’burg was very different but I managed to see a little bit of the area as well as a bowling green. The opulence of the rich suburbs was obvious and they seem to be really trying to improve the City Centre. I also got down to Soweto which was very interesting, moving, and uplifting all at the same time. The IPL cricket at the Wanderers was also an experience. I went twice and it was like being in India !

Many thanks again for helping to organise the trip of a lifetime. I found South Africa an amazing Country and look forward to visiting (especially Kwa-Mbili) again in the future.

Best wishes

Jeremy

Guest Visited Kwa Mbili Safari Lodge

Hello Liselle,

I would like to thank you for great holidays. I am very happy with the experience – lodges definitely met & exceeded my expectations, safari was great and Victoria Falls awesome.

I hope to come back to you for a new African trip, soon - I will also recommend you to other polish customers.

Best regards

Lukasz

Guest Visited Arathusa Safari Lodge, Honeyguide Khoka Moya & Chundukwa River Lodge

Hi Brett,

We are finally back at work and wishing we were still on safari!! We had the most amazing time in SA and often reflected on how lucky we were to find your travel company - we originally sent off an internet request to a random African company to send us their brochure, and you ended up arranging the perfect honeymoon for us. The trip definitely exceeded all expectations and we were so grateful for all your experience and assistance - here is a rundown of our trip in case the feedback is useful.....

Arathusa was a great start - the quality of accommodation was very impressive especially as I had understood it was just classed as 'comfortable'. The staff, food and game viewing were also unbeatable. We were glad to have 3 days there given we had quite an epic flight from Australia and needed some time to recover from the jetlag. Definite highlight was watching that amazing waterhole right out front of the lodge and all the incredible animals that come to drink throughout the day. We also had an elephant literally come to our window and then wander around the camp for a while which was pretty amazing.

Africa on Foot was also fantastic - it really suited us to do something a bit more active and just as you promised, Courtenay (but also his offsider, Daniel) were incredibly passionate and knowledgeable which made for a great experience. As it turned out, we were the only 2 people in camp and really appreciated the highly personal service. I think you had 'warned' me that the accommodation was very basic but to be honest, I don't think that was necessary. I was expecting something pretty grotty and run down and discovered a clean, spacious 2 bedroom cottage which was really beautiful - no electricity but we really didn't miss it and had lanterns if required. We were absolutely fine with the change from Arathusa - thought this was the best way to do it because I am not sure I would have wanted to start with the rustic option after our long flight.

And then, when we thought it couldn't get any better - we arrived at Kings. We got upgraded to the honeymoon suite which was absolutely awesome (own plunge pool!) and the whole offering is very luxurious. We didn't like our Kings guide quite as much as the others but he was still good and we saw some great game.

Last stop - Tanamera, what a treat. We felt very at home amongst the gum trees and loved how intimate this place was. We had our only days of cold, rainy weather here and I really can't think of a better spot to curl up alongside the log fire and really relax. After the week of safari we were very happy not to have the 5.30am starts and have a bit less structure in the day. The manager (Darryl or Darren?) was very welcoming and went out of his way to organise activities etc for us.

All in all - I can't speak highly enough for what you organised for us. We often asked ourselves if there was anything we would have changed in terms of length of stay, or the order of the lodges etc but we couldn't find a single flaw. It definitely whet our appetite for Africa - every single person we met raved about Cape Town and the wine country and the Garden Route and.....the list goes on so we are already talking about when and where we could go next year to continue our African Travel Saga - and we will most definitely get back in touch with you to help us out with that.

I feel I have written a whole essay - but really wanted to thank you again for all your assistance and we hope to speak to you soon, Kit and Gerald Georgeos

Guests visited Arathusa, Africa on Foot and Kings Camp

Hi Brett,

I will call you as it's better by phone, but both camps were excellent. The total experience including pick-ups, drop-offs, reception, accommodation, game drives, food, drinks, etc were amazing. Seriously amazing. And it was a great idea to stay in two different camps and two different reserves; we felt that we really got the most out of our trip and both lodges.

Will send you some photos...

cheers,

Andrew

Guests visited Tanda Tula and Nottens Bush Camp

Hi Liselle,

The trip was great – I’d highly recommend Chapungu. We saw 4 out of 5 – leopards a bit harder to spot.

Thanks for your help.

Regards, Daniel.

Guest Visited Chapungu Tented Camp

Hello,

My stay at your place was great and I did see the big five and many more. The lodge is very nice, but it would be nice to get rid of those ants....

Sabine indermaur

Guest Visited Madikwe Safari Lodge

Hi Liselle,

With reference to your email below, i am happy to tell you that we have arrived home safely- back to reality! We had an amazing time in South Africa,

Capetown was beautiful- a bit cold but not as bad as Ireland! the staff in Primi Royal were extremely helpful to us and were happy to make arrangements for us if we needed help. The best part though was definitely the safari in Kruger- i only wished we had booked a longer holiday!!

Gomo Gomo lodge was as good as any hotel accomodation i have stayed in -it was even better actually! the rooms were gorgeous! and the rangers and lodge staff were all so lovely- we will miss them. I definitely would like to return to Africa soon, next time we would like to visit two different game lodges and maybe a week in Mauritius after! all i have to do now is sort out when i can go back!

Kind Regards,

Thanks again,

Aisling Lafferty

Guest Visited Gomo Gomo Game Lodge

Liselle,

The Ngala tented Camp was really nice. I had a great time and highly recommend. The transfers went smoothly. Thanks for all you help.

Doug

Guest Visited Ngala Tented Camp

Brett - here's my feedback on the Delta and Leroo. My first visit to Africa, which had been a lifelong dream.

I loved the whole Delta experience, and I gather we were visiting at a unique time, when the volume of water spilling down from the Congo and Angola was greater than at any time in the last 20, 30 or 50 years (depending on who we listened to) - this affected the camps and drives available,but not negatively: it actually added to the experience and called for initiative on the part of camp staff and guides - it was quite exciting trying to discover whether we could drive along water-filled tracks without getting stuck, or how we might find an alternative route to the animals.

The whole thing came together beautifully, combining to give me a wonderful time. We were five in the party and got on together very well: our guide, Andy (Anderson) was great - patient, good-humoured, knowledgeable, an excellent tracker: the camps and camp staff were all great - I especially loved Linyanti staff for being so welcoming and natural, singing us a greeting, and farewell: the varied modes of transport - Land Rover, Caravane, Cessna, fast waterboat, mokoro...

the different habitats, birds and animals - we saw lion eating a freshly killed baboon, a baby hyena playing around its parents, cheetahs swimming across a water channel - all this in addition to what we might have expected (giraffes, zebras, warthogs, jackals, hippopotami etc), and the less expected (such as the Pel's Fishing Owl, and lechwe) - my favourite was the majestic Fish Eagle.

Adding Leroo at the end was a brilliant suggestion - thank you. It was a complete contrast with the 'watery' experience of the firat 10 days, and a different geography as well. The camp itself is superb, and what a privilege to be able to watch the animals at the bore-hole in front of the camp, especially down the steps in the hide. I had another very knowledgeable guide ('Dutch') who appeared to take as much pleasure in the 'finds' he made for us as the guests did - it was great to pick up on his enthusiasm. Again we saw the 'expected' but also the unexpected. I was blown away by the numbers of zebra, and it was at Leroo that I saw my first rhino, and crocodiles OUT of the water, as well as such treats as a bat-eared fox and a silver fox, along with many birds not previously seen. Leroo was a real treat and rounded the trip off so well.

Many thanks indeed - I shall be recommending to others, and I hope to be able to afford to return, maybe to Namibia next time!

Jill visited Migration Routes and Leroo la Tau

Hi Brett

Thanks for checking!

Our safari was absolutely marvelous!! The lodge was amazing, just as so many on tripadvisor.com have described; all in all a magical, serene and absolutely fantastic experience! In fact, all of these superlatives don’t do our experience justice…so wonderful was the whole thing.

From the very first minute when we arrived to the lodge after travelling for 7 hours…they really made us feel very welcome. My mom has never experienced (not any of us) this kind of hospitality so needless to say she was so taken by the attention and service.

We all felt that way about all the places and people we saw in South Africa! This kind of hospitality and kindness we haven’t seen anywhere…it’s just amazing!!

The game drives were of course the highlight of the whole safari and we saw 4 of the big5, and I don’t mind not having seen the buffalo at all - more important were the big cats!!

I could write a novel about our feelings but hopefully this is enough to describe that we were more than happy with choosing this particular lodge. So Thank You and Renate for your wonderful service and the manager of the lodge actually wants to thank Renate personally (she originally recommended this lodge) and also your boss!! She was very taken by the fact that out of all hundreds of lodges throughout SA, people find them…so is it possible you could get Renate’s current email address for me? And also the name and email address to your boss/manager, who had recommended Madikwe Safari Lodge so highly to us.

And thanks for the mail about the ants…although I didn’t get it until today…this is my work email…we did have a little problem with them…but it wasn’t enough to ruin the experience…just a little creepy Hopefully the next time (and there will be one!) there won’t be this problem.

Also, could you find email addresses for me directly to the lodge?? I was supposed to email the manager Yolande…but can’t seem to find her email anywhere on the internet..or a phone number either…is there a way to contact them directly?

Thanks again Brett for all your help!!!! I will be recommending SunSafaris to anyone who goes to SA!!!

By the way…all of my ’concerns’ about the safety things…they all vanished in the actual moments…wasn’t scary to ’go’ in the bush or to meet the lions either..it’s funny to notice how little they care about the jeep!!

Lots of sunny springtime regards from a warming Finland,

Jana

Guests visited Madikwe Safari Lodge

Hi Liselle,

Thanks a lot for your email. Our trip to South Africa was fantastic and we all very much enjoyed spending some time in this beautiful country. All bookings worked without any problems.

We very much enjoyed Zimbali Lodge and Arathusa safari lodge with the perfect service, delicious food and beautiful rooms. Swaziland was very nice, while the resort (Mantenga) was OK and we were luckily able to exchange the family room to 2 bungalows. We had to pay a little extra, but it was definitely worth. Oliver’s Lodge was a little disappointing, since the hotel was basically closed the day we arrived (restaurant and SPA). Also the car was of excellent quality and we drove safely.

Again thanks a lot for the very good service you and sunsafari provided to us.

Kind regards

Sandra and Rolf visited Arathusa Safari Lodge, Zimbali Lodge, Olivers Lodge & Mantenga

Hi Liselle -

Kwandwe was Fabulous! When I broke down the pricing...approx. $300 U.S. per night, more than I usually pay for hotels, I was quite pleased. 3 meals a day of high standard - easily subtract $60-$80, 2 4-5 hour game drives a day, lets say at $45 each (another - $90), not to mention high tea, open bar, practically 1-1 service (one game drive was 3 rangers and 3 guests!) and the knowledge of the guides - not to mention free internet...all of that included for $130-$150 per night - in a massive bungalow with private plunge pool...what a deal! Please ignore the previous run-on sentence, but I think you get the jist!

Please let me know if Kwandwe or any other &Beyond resorts offer great deals in 2010...I would love to return to Kwandwe when I could take advantage of the 4 nights for the price of 3 or any of the other lodges..esp. thinking about Namibia and Botswana..maybe Victoria Falls area.

Thank you for your assistance and I hope you will keep me informed of future deals...already I am thinking about a return visit in March/April 2010!

Matt

Guest Visited Kwandwe Great Fish River Lodge

Dear Brett,

Our trip was fantastic, we enjoyed very much – both the boys and I. Yes they did deliver the luggage next day, that was a scary start!

All the camps had something that each of us liked in particular. My eldest son, for example, liked a lot the makoro trips. However, I think all three of us would vote best the Footsteps. Amazing location, excellent camp manager and a lot to see. Savute lodge on the other hand was rather upscale and had a lot to offer. Actually it was very good in your part to start us from Oddballs, then to Footsteps and finish with the Savute. For example, I met some Americans at Oddballs who didn’t like the fact that they had started from more luxurious lodges and ending at Oddballs. Which by the way was also in very nice location.

I think we saw plenty of wildlife – its pity that you see more and close by driving than on walks. The animals see and smell you from miles and as you approach they leave, whilst on the jeeps they stay there and stare at you. I can not get over it! Maybe you should mention it to your clients who are keen on walking. As usually we missed rhinos and the leopard, despite their efforts at Savute, it escaped us!

Food was very good, at times I found it pretentious considering where you are. We had to pay for drinks at Oddballs – is this right?

All in all, Brett a memorable trip. We were sad to leave and I struggled till the last moment about calling you to extend the trip to Chobe for another couple of nights. Well, I for sure will be back!!!!!!! We haven’t dealt with the pictures yet, if you want me to send you some highlight shots I would be glad to.

Thanks for your help and setting it up. Don’t hesitate to use me as reference should you require so and if you have any specific questions let me know.

Best,

Stathis

Guests Visited Oddball's Camp, Footsteps across the Delta & Savute Safari Lodge

The safari was excellent and we pretty much saw every animal we could have wanted to.

Arathusa

Very luxurious accommodation. The rooms were amazing and spotless. The food was great (even the plain pasta and toast they did especially for me as I was ill!).

The drives were very good and Leopards were their speciality. We saw plenty of animals 4 of the 5 white Rhinos but no lions (apparently they had moved on for a little while). We also saw lots of Elephants, Hyenas, about 7 plus 2 cubs, Hippos inc 2 babies, vultures, an eagle and dwarf mongoose.

Lots of warthogs and a few Zebra and giraffe

The sundowner snacks and morning tea were particularly good at this lodge. The extras were reasonable and they didn’t charge us for all of the phone calls to you which was decent of them.

Chapungu

Was a slightly more rustic affair but just as enjoyable as Arathusa if not even better as it was a bit more fun (Arathusa was a little quiet). Our Guide/ranger Ishmael was very enthusiastic and informative, he stopped for all animals of interest including birds and even explained about some of the trees and plants.

We saw all 5 here including a black rhino. We also saw Cheetah (including 3 cubs). This was a much larger reserve and you had to travel an hour and a half to see the elephants at the other end (always worth it in my opinion). The guides made sure that everyone managed to do this at least once in their stay and staggered it to ensure people weren’t having to make the trek several times.

The extras were cheaper at this lodge, the snack on the drives were too but the standard of meals was the same as Arathusa

Transfers

The transfers between the lodges and local airports were very good. Clean and safe. Plus the drivers were informative stopping for animals just like the rangers. The last transfer even waited for us at Hoedspruit for our taxi to Johannesburg to arrive.

We don’t feel like we missed out at all by not going to Zambia as we had such a great time in South Africa.

I’m not normally an outdoors person but I really enjoyed the bush and do feel a bit cooped up here in my London office but sadly won’t be able to afford it for a while. I enjoyed the drives so much it was nice just being in the car even if you didn’t see anything for while.

Thanks again for re-arranging everything for us.

I am sure I have forgotten some animals as we saw so much (massive spiders!).

Thanks

Karen visited Arathusa Safari Lodge & Chapungu Tented Camp

Liselle,

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We missed the leopard and cheetah whichever is in the big five. The Honeyguide camp was superb. Our guide and tracker did an outstanding job. One highlight of the safari was seeing a two day old elephant and how the herd of female elephants protected the baby. The safari far exceeded our expectations.

Jeanette and Jerry

Guests Visited Honeyguide Mantobeni

Hi Brett,

sorry for the late reply, but I just came back from my leave.

Yes, the safari went well. The two site are very nice. There are no complains from my side.

All flight and connections worked out.

Many Thanks for the support from your site.

Kind Regards

Claas

Claas visited Delta Camp and Mapula Lodge in the Okavango Delta.

Hi Brett,

we've talked a lot about giving you some feedback, as we have NEVER, EVER had a trip like the one you made for us. It was absolutely mindblowing for us, and we want to say that you hit EXACTLY what we were looking for. It was just spot on. You were extremely good at catching what we wanted from what we wrote you. We made each other a lot of promises in relation to South Africa, one is of course to come back a.s.a.p. Another one is to use you again when we do so, and a third one is to let everybody we know get to ZA as soon a they can, and use you when they do.

Courtney and Celia run a GREAT place, and do so in a very competent way. It was simply so exciting and nice to be there, and we have some good videos of some of the sightings that Courtney sad we should consult you on uploading. There's a 10 out of 10 hyena sighting that Coutney thought would be good to share. They are the nicest people, and really know what they are doing. I truly hope they stick to their concept, it's absolutely brilliant.

Gomo Gomo was a nice place too, but after coming from Africa on Foot, they had some hard competition. Our ranger was a little too much cowboy to our taste, and they ruined a nice moment for all the guests one afternoon, when they sounded the drum for lunch - which scared away the herd of drinking elefantsat the Gomo Gomo pond everybody was feating their eyes and ears on. Just two details we would not have noticed, if we hadn't come straight from Courtneys place: Had we not known about Africa on Foot, we would not have noticed, and had we known about Africa on Foot, we would not have come. But NOT due to Gomo Gomo not being fine, but due to Africa on Foot being absolutely awesome. I hope you get what I mean here.

Last, but definitlely not least, was the completely brilliant B&B at Blyde you sent us to. It was awesome, and the people who work their are simply the nicest. They pampered us to bits, and it was a great way to chill out after 6 exciting days in the bush. And the most beautiful place to hike I have ever been.

You really did it Brett, you and your country have 2 new regulars.

THANKS, THANKS, THANKS, we'll be in touch.

PS: Everything worked smooth with the car too, both delivery and drop off.

Guests Visited Africa on Foot

Hi Brett,

Thanks for getting in touch. The safari was wonderful - a great camp - the service was excellent, staff extremely considerate and thoughtful. The tent was extremely luxurious - far better than we could have expected. I have nothing but excellent things to say about the staff and the facilities - I have seldom had such good service, even in 5 star hotels - to have received that level of luxury in a tent was extremely special.

The drives were really good - there are a lot of animals there, and it is a huge park, so even though we didn't see lots of things every day, we were being taken on different routes all the time which is nice. The only annoying thing was that in order to get out of the lodge there was always a 15-20 minute drive which took you in a big circle, only to cross the river almost right next to the lodge - they told us that they do not have the money at the moment to create a new bridge right next to the camp, but it would certainly make a really big difference.

We didn't have any issues with the camp at all, but the approach road was pretty rough in parts - about 35km of gravel road. If it had been raining I can imagine that we may not have made it - we could definitely have used a 4 wheel drive car - just something to bear in mind for any future guests you send there.

Many thanks for organising everything for us - we are extremely grateful, and shall certainly be in touch again - we are hoping to come to SA again next year for the World Cup, so we'll give you a call nearer the time!

Take care,

Amanda and Andrew Mahoney

Guest's visited Thakadu River Camp

Liselle, Chobe Game Lodge is super special. Wonderful treatment. Game, except for elephants, buffalo and eland (the park needs predators) was scarce but then there was water everywhere (thought Chobe looked wide as the Amazon). Somewhat disappointing for game, not Lodge's fault, but felt it was a good trip and enjoyed it nevertheless. Hope you have more visitors than when we were there.

Thanks again. Sue Brothers

P.S. Dwight is my husband but I make the travel plans.

Guest's Visited Chobe Game Lodge

Dear Liselle,

So much to SAY!

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but in truth we only got home on Monday as we had a few days in Cape Town after Kruger…

Firstly thanks for putting together a great holiday, and apologies again for my father’s interference… he had a superb time in Honeyguide by the way.

We saw everything… and some more. But that was not was this was about really. We thought the Big Five were a rock band! The smells, the sounds, the privilege of being among the wildlife.

The 3 camps were each special and well chosen for the difference between them. Honeyguide was special because of the tent experience. We were the only two couples there and we shared one evening meal with the two owners and a friend of theirs as they celebrated a birthday. It was an hilarious night as everyone was on form. All the crew there were marvelous and we felt most at home there of the three, Brett the camp manager being fabulous. Greg and Philip were our Ranger/trackers… an hilarious combination. Princess was our cook, Kosuzi ran the place… wonderful people all.

Londolozi… wow. Maria and I were upgraded to the Tree Camp (founders was empty), as were another Canadian couple. Very posh, perhaps too posh for us. The cabin was spectacular. The team surpised us with a private dinner our last night on the cabin’s veranda, and that was a special night and a very nice gesture. Despite the great cabin/food/crew our best feeling from Londolozi has to be the Ranger/Tracker that we were given. Just 5 of us, 3 very entertaining Americans with us. We had the distinct honour of having Sandros as our Ranger/Philip our tracker, and he brought alive the wildlife for us, and had a great sense of humour at our expense often. As Tree had only 8 people at any time that we were there, the evenings were full of camaraderie, and we liked the idea that even at lunch or b’fast, the crew offered to join our tables. The game was spectacular and the terrain the most interesting of the three. Mefuzi and mandoda ingwe everywhere. Ngala trumpeting! This was perhaps our choice of the three. We looked at Founders incidently, and it looked great – we would happily stayed there! Pioneer intrigued us, and of course Varty if you had kids.

Kings Camp was lovely, and very different. Perhaps more so as Tree was modern in style, as opposed to Founders. So this was our first faux colonial camp as it were. We liked it. Liked the open campus of the area, with the pool and so forth, but it was bigger. Bigger in that there was 20 or so people. We had got used to being either alone, or two of 8. The crew were again marvelous though and very attentive. Colbert and Sam were our T/R.

Maria loved it, and that was what this was about. The 12 days passed quickly, and most were surprised at the length of our Safari. But for us it ended too soon. We loved it, Maria loved it. Spiders, mambo’s, velvet monkeys, mongooses, nor rampaging elephants in the camp (Honeyguide!) could deter her. On the drives or walks she was fearless too. We think we have a small understanding of the relationship between South Africans and the bush, and also the politics of the Kruger and its people.

The transfer teams were very nice people, Nick (twice), Michelle and Mike, and the time was dissolved easily and informatively, making the travelling effortless by the way.

So thanks again, and pencil us in for more!

Serengeti… the great migration… Maria has the bug now. Please keep in touch, and particularly lead times for organizing our next African adventure with you.

Kindest Regards

Maria and Niall visted: Honeyguide Khoka Moya, Londolozi Tree Camp & Kings Camp

 

Hi Brett,

I just came back to work today.

We have just had the most fantastic time at the safari. We managed to see all the big 5 animals and more. Your choice of Arathusa Safari Lodge was perfect. The people were very friendly and made us feel very comfortable.

The drivers to and from the airports were also very courteous and helpful.

Many thanks for organising this for us - it was GREAT!!.

Guest Visited Arathusa Safari Lodge

Hi Brett,

I just wanted to let you know that we got back from safari this morning and had an absolutely amazing time. We saw all the animals (including a cheetah with three cubs!) and the lodge & its staff were absolutely superb. It really was perfect and my mum loved it so thank you so much again for helping us organise it.

Cheers,

Sian.

Sian Visited Chapungu Tented Camp

Hi Brett,

Thanks for your email.

We had a great time at Nottens! It was such a great experience, we saw all the big five, plus so many more, the leopard sightings were the highlight- the game guides and trackers were amongst the most experienced in the park, so we are really glad we stayed there. The staff at the camp looked after us really well, and all the food was delicious.

Many thanks for the recommendation and booking,

Regards,

Charlotte

Charlotte visited Nottens Bush Camp

Dear Liselle,

We had a fantastic trip - all the big 5 plus many of the little 5. Arathusa was great. Our guide Jason was truly exellent so was our tracker Roy. We actually saw leopards mating! Apparently this is almost unheard of and we have video of it too.

Thanks for recommending Arathusa - we then went on to Cape Town to board the RMS St Helena and cruised to St Helena and Ascension Islands - also wonderful Best wishes Barbara PS Can you remind me of the best place to see wild dog - just in case we decide to come again next year?

Guest Visited Arathusa Safari Lodge

Hi Liselle,

We just had a very great time in South Africa. All 4 of us had just the perfect holidays.

Jatinga was lovely. Great location and staff. A very nice and charming room. And a beautiful garden with pool.

Unfortunately the panorama route was a bit far. We did part of it which was beautiful, but it was a bit long to get there. And so was the Cheetah project institute which we therefore didn't visit. The elephant sancturay was unforgettable. We were lucky because we were just the 4 of us. It was very interesting and the boys just loved it.

The car with the driver was also very good. It was so relaxed not to have take care of where we were going.

Londolozi was also great. Again, lovely location and staff. The safaris were terrific. We saw the big 5 and 4x a leopard. Everything was just perfect there.

Anyway, thank you so much for all your help and suggestions. We had the time of our lives!!

Next time we go I will ask for your help again...

Ciska

Hi Liselle

First of all I want to apologise for taking so long to reply, but it has been very busy since we've been back.

The safari exceeded our expectations in terms of how well it was organised, how luxurious and pleasant the lodge was and the natural beauty of the reserve.

The organisation was absolutely excellent and taking the light aircraft flights between J'burg and Lion Sands turned out to be a brilliant idea. Like that we did not waste any time in lengthy journeys by car.

The stay at the lodge was so relaxing and enjoyable! All the staff made the stay a memorable one, starting from Advice, our butler, to Hati, our ranger and Orange, the tracker.

We'll never forget the safari drives; we saw all possible animals except for lions. That's not a bad thing after all since we have a good incentive to return!

All in all this was a holiday that we'll never forget and we strongly recommend the reserve for a wonderful safari in the most luxurious of settings. We can never thank you enough for making this dream come true!

Kind Regards

Romina

Guests Visited Lion Sands River Lodge

Hi Brett

Just started back at work today so only got e email today. Thanks for organizing a great trip for us.

Our whole trip went fantastically. Chundukwa was a very friendly place to stay and we really enjoyed our experience there – the staff were all very hospitable. It was nice to stay outside of Livingstone and wake up on the water’s edge of the river. Our White water rafting was tremendous – really, really great.

The flights into Kwara camp at Botswana from Livingstone were great – the views magnificent.

Kwara camp was all that we hoped for – animal sightings were great. The staff all friendly and welcoming, the accommodation was excellent as was the food and everything else. Our tracker Sherlock Holmes and the driver moses were superb

Accommodation in Jo burg – good. The tour of Soweto and the guide were great.

Arrathusa – enjoyed a lot. Food and hospitality were all great. No complaints. Different experience to Kwara. Even though more up market than Kwara I feel we enjoyed Kwara the most.

The game viewings at each were all great and different.

We have no complaints in any way shape or form.

We would like to plan another trip back for 2011 or 2012 possibly looking at the migratory route of some animals and following them along as they move. Any advice would be welcome.

Again thanking you for a great experience

Neil and Judy

Guest Visited Various Places around South Africa & Botswana

Sun Safaris & especially Renate Groenewald definitely get 5 star’s.

I will would not hesitate in recommending your company to potential visitors to Southern Africa and in fact we already have! Nothing was too much trouble for Renate, especially my numerous changes in itinerary & uncertainty over what car to hire. Thank goodness for Skype. You always answered my questions timeously & efficiently. I have never used a travel company before – I have always preferred to plan & book my own itinerary - but after my experience with Sun Safaris I would not hesitate to contact you again & again.

When we did have a problem at The Stiltz – which was not a fault of SUNSAFARIS – you found us alternate accommodation immediately – thank you.

It was a holiday of a lifetime!!!!!

They visited: Olive Grove Guesthouse, Frans Indongo Lodge, Epacha Lodge & Spa, Erongo Wilderness Lodge, The Stiltz, Swakopmund Hotel, Kulala Wilderness Lodge, Cheetah Conservation Foundation – Otjiwarongo, Turnstone Tours – Sandwich Harbour & Namib Sky - Hot Air Balloon Ride

Dear Liselle

Thanks for the mail, a bit of shock coming back here to the cold, we had snow yesterday and although the sun came out today and melted most of the snow it is still very cold.

We had a great trip, Nottens was delightful, everything about it was faultless, the staff were very friendly and helpful, the food was great and our accomodation was excellent. We really enjoyed ourselves and yes we did see the big 5, all doing what comes naturally which was a great pleasure, we also had a comedy act from an Elephant trying to get the Amerula fruit from the tree which was so funny even Thomas was laughing.

Our thanks for all you help in arranging this wonderful trip.

Maureen and Brian

Guests Visited: Nottens Bush Camp

Dear Brett,

everything was to my liking ; ) it was absolute marvelous. Great experience, the Camps the were both beautiful (locations and Lodges) the staff very friendly, accommodating and super professional. I'd like to thank you very much, it was exactly what I was looking for.

Hope to see you again

Good job!!!!!!!!!

Ciao Alberto

Alberto visited Delta Camp, The Chiefs Island Walking Trail and Mapula Camp

Brett,

My safari exceeded all my expectations. From the moment I arrived I was gleefully happy and the smile on my face never left until the day I had to leave. The surroundings were beautiful and the architecture of the buildings blended perfectly within the reserve. It was unpretentious but very classy. The staff was very accommodating, pleasant and polite. I loved my room and the open-beam structural design of the chalet. Sitting on the deck while drinking a glass of wine I watched the nyala and wart hogs roam freely and it was a great and relaxing experience. I will never forget the sweet smell in the mornings.

Our game drives were fun and extremely informative. I never knew one person (our ranger Brett) could keep so much knowledge of plants and animals in his head and be able to recall it at any moment; it was quite impressive. The intimate feeling of the lodge was especially nice. By the 3rd day it was just me and Kris. We did see everything we wanted to and more. There was even a dung beetle outside our chalet rolling up dung. So I could go on and on but you already know the wonders of being on safari. I will return one day in the near future and I will go back to Idube.

I want to especially thank you for getting accommodations for Kris at the last moment and for also getting me out of the reserve via plane. After witnessing the drive going up, I wanted nothing to do with driving back to Jo’burg by myself. Next time I will stay longer.

Also, I was wondering if you could help me get in contact with one of the rangers at the lodge. I need to relay some information about the Florida Keys to him and do not have a contact email.

Again I thank you for your assistance, recommendations, and professionalism.

Melissa Nicholas

Melissa Visited: Idube Game Lodge

Hi Brett,

Firstly let me begin by saying a big thankyou for organising such a wonderful trip to South Africa, Botswana and Zambia, everything went smoothly including all transfers and flights.

Arathusa at Sabi Sands, was a really nice lodge and the food was superb. To be honest our room was a bit dated and could do with refurbishment although there seemd to be newer rooms, so next time I would ask for one of those, although the room wasn't a huge issue because we had the best game drives I think anyone could imagine. 4 out of 6 game drives we saw Leopard and there was 3 different ones. Of course we saw all of the big 5 many times over and I would say every game drive we saw 4 of the big 5 which is pretty amazing really. To top it all off we had the most amazing experience, infact our guide said it was the highlite of his carreer. We spotted a Leopard and followed her, she went to an embankement where we parked on the other side and sat and observed her, she was at a den where she had cubs. Whilst we watched her going in and out of the hole she pulled out a newborn cub in her mouth and wondered off into the scrub with it, Our guide said she was going to move her litter, he told us we didn't know how lucky we were to witness this. I will forward a photo, which I showed all the other guides at other safari camps they were very impressed and agreed we were lucky indeed. Arathusa put on a wonderful evening for our wedding anniversery thanks to you for informing them. They had a bubble bath with fresh flowers and lit up our entire rondeval with candles, ready for us on our return from the game drive. Then we had our own private candle lit dinner with champagne, it truly was a lovely evening that they put on for us, very romantic.

We absolutley loved Little Kwara, the managers Jeff and Vera, they were the loveliest people and went totally out of their way to make sure their guests had an experience to remember. Infact all the staff were wonderful, the safari drives were great and we spotted 3 cheetah (3 brothers) which was very exciting as we've never seen Cheetah before. Of course we saw lots of other wildlife, infact the safari camp here is definatley all about the wildlife and your safari drives, there was never a rush to get back for meals or to be back at camp at any specific time. It was really a lovley camp and only having a small amount of guests made it even more special, I wouldn't hesitate recomending this camp to anyone.

Lebala was a bit of a let down after Little Kwara,( I know you recommended somewer else) firstly let me say the rooms are really lovely and the camp itself is a bit more luxurious than Little Kwara BUT this time of year the grass was so high and the spotting was very dissapointing. Also there was only one car out there and we just didn't seem to be able to find much by oursleves in such a vast open area. We asked if they could split us up and send 2 cars but they weren't the least interested in doing this. At the previous camp they split us up. The car had a loud squeeking coming from under it and this got very anoying after a few hours driving I should add we did see spotted dog one drive but we sat and watched them sleeping for an hour until we finally complained and asked to go and look for something else. It was nice to see but sitting in one spot in the sun for an hour watching a sleeping animal is quite boring. I have read some good reviews about Lebala but I would not return and I certainly wouldn't recommend it for that time of year.

Victoria falls was great and we enjoyed the Royal Livingstone, it was very luxurious and had the wow factor throughout the hotel, including a butler service to our room.

To sum it all up everything was great, I would definatley use your services again and will most certainly recommend your company as a highly proffesional and reliable travel agency. Even when we had dramas with a flight (nothing to do with your company) it was such a relief to to be able to contact you on a Sunday and have you take care of the situation by notifiying our safari camp and re-organising our light aircraft flights, We realized then that booking with a local agent has a huge advantage over making arrangements through our own counrty and we felt relieved we had your backup to rely upon.

Thanks alot Brett it really was a pleasure dealing with you right from the start and thanks for organising some lovely surprises for our wedding anniversary very much appreciated.

Kindest regards

Debra Vickers

Australia

Guests visited Little Kwara, Lebala, and the Royal Livingstone and Arathusa Safari Lodge

Hi Brett!

We just got back to J'burg about an hour ago! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your suggestion of Little Vumbra and Sauvte were perfect! We had a fantastic time and will be contacting you in the next year or so to book another safari. We were very successful with our game spotting even though it is the slower season but we're thinking that we'd like to try the dry season next.

This is just a short note, but when I get back to Canada in a couple of days, we'll send you a better email with some pics attached.

I lost my heart to three little lion cubs at Vum.

Best Regards

Catherine and Dave

The lodges visited by Catherine and Dave were: Little Vumbura and Savute Safari Lodge.

It was so nice not to have to worry about anything when we landed (being picked up and dropped off at the camp, then dropped off at the airport when it came the sad time to leave).

Everyone at the camp was so friendly and welcoming.

The Tents were extremely comfortable.

We were out of water for a couple of days (as the elephants decided to sabotage the pipes) but we have stayed in rougher

The weather wasn't great (but im sure the elephants weren't to blame for that).

The food was AMAZING!

We saw load of animals (not quite the big five - Lions and Leopards alluded us).

We would like to convey our thanks to "Greg" our guide, who went out of his way to make sure we saw as much as possible.

Thanks again to you for all your help making this holiday possible - one we shall never forget.

Kind regards

Caroline and Richard

Hi Liselle

Just want to thank you so much for organising such a great holiday for us. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute. We cant decide which place we liked the best! The accommodatioin everywhere was so much more than we had imagined. We loved the apartment in Cape Town and what a lovely city! Knysna was like paradise (knysna Hollow the perfect place to relax) and then the excitement of the safari in Arathusa Lodge (lovely people at the lodge). Our one night in Johannesburg was a big surprise, D'Oreal Grande just like Las Vegas!! (wasn't expecting that)- It was all great.

Thanks too to Brett for sorting out our car problem so effeciently - the Honda was just fine !

So here we are back home again and already thinking of how soon we can do it all again !

Thanks again for everything.

kind regards

Glynis Ryan and all the family.

Hi Brett - compliments of the season

As requested - feedback on Jacana Camp:

• beautiful open setting with far-reaching views over water/marshland - abundant game and bird-life from your breakfast/lunch/dinner table

• intimate setting with max 10 guests

• excellent hosts

• good guide

• excellent sightings - Pell's Fishing Owl by mokoro; leopard and cub on 3 separate occasions

• organised a walking safari with Jao camp

• only negative was problem monkeys - needed to "lock-up" toiletries etc in open-air bathroom.

By comparison to Xigera (May 2008), it benefits from being smaller and therefore more personal service, but doesn't have enough permanent water for motor-boat trips all year.

We are thinking about another safari over Easter (from Friday 10 April) and wonder if you have some suggestions, that might include Etosha and/or Chobe - over to you !

Look forward to hearing from you.

Alasdair

Liselle,

you are welcome to more feedback - here goes.

I must admit I was nervous of working over the internet with an unknown company. Accordingly I considered numerous plans in case the driver did not meet us at the airport. As we came through customs, there he was, our names on a board - and correctly spelt. (You have no idea on how many variations of Sykes I have encountered). This was the first time I felt at ease with the arrangements. He was a good driver, dropping us off at the hotel with little fuss. We could not find fault with him, even if we were a bit jet lagged and grumpy. The hotel was adequate and certainly what we wanted - a non smoking room, a clean bed (that was not flying throught the air) and a little room to stretch our legs in the garden.

David wanted to visit Johannesburg, so we organised a driver through hotel reception. A very well spoken and knowlegeable man who drove well, taking us to various places in the city. Some areas were more dodgy than others and it was certainly an eye opener for my son.

The following morning we were ready about 20 minutes early and I was a bit nervous. I am not sure why, but I was. Either way, transport to Timbervati arrived about 5 minutes later, the driver apologising for being early. Not a problem. The drive to the park was well organised in that the stops were in the right places. The journey was relatively uneventual till we reached the escarpment, thick with mist and very poor visibility in places. The driver slowed down and stayed behind a prime mover with semi trailer for quite a while as we could barely see the truck's tail lights, never mind if it was safe to overtake. This became our first introduction to real South African driving. An idiot overtook us and the semi on a double barrier line in thick fog! No wonder a single day's fatalities is more than the Australian fatalities for the month of December!

We reached Joshmacs without further ado, signed in with the minimum of fuss and then on to the park, sighting a pair of Giraffe just prior to entering the park. The sign just inside the entrance produced a wry smile - "Dung Beatles have right of way". The Timbervati camp was great, all I had expected and dared hope for. The proximity to the river raised expectations of what we might see. It did not take ourselves long to feel at home and then the guides told us how to behave in the bush, what to look out for and how much there was to see. We did not realise how soon we needed this knowlege! I seem to recollect we went out in the vehicle that evening, but I do not have any real recollection of what we saw - the time shift and the long flight were catching up with me.

The intention was from that point on we would be active when the animals were active. We would rise at about 3am, have a light breakfast and then walk for about 4 hours. Then we would have real breakfast and sleep/snooze/laze about till 3pm (lunch) and then drive to where the animals were, walking whenever we saw something of interest. Supper was when we returned.

The first morning was a bit quiet, but then we began to see more and more animals. We were walking along a track fairly near camp when the guides and I heard a noise and then saw elephant quite close to us. We grouped together as instructed and watched. Unfortunately the matriach took exception to us and charged. We ran to the dry river and up the other side as planned, with one guide staying between us and the angry animal. I must admit the adrenalin was pumping somewhat (Elephant angry.jpg)! We walked back to camp, seeing a buffalo pair plus one young amongst other animals. That night we went for sundowners, watching a pair of hippo in a dam - a really pleasant way to end the day. The following day we walked to the edge of a Mopani thicket and heard elephant in within. The guides surmised that the elephant were heading for a nearby waterhole so we did a U turn out of the thicket and walked around to the water hole. Our group then sat in an area of bush on the opposite side if the waterhole to the Mopani thicket and waited. Soon 6 or 7 elephant arrived, with young. As we were watching the family group, another group joined them, and then a third. At one point there was over 40 elephant (including young) at the waterhole, the nearest being some 30m away!

That evening we used the vehicles and saw some rhino in the bush. We alighted to go nearer - and were rewarded with a great view. As the rhine moved off, so did we, and saw a herd of buffalo - fairly small herd (wrong!) We approached the herd on foot and got some spectacular views before returning to the vehicle to drive to the sundowner spot, overlooking another dam. The small herd (approx 100 - 200) then came past us, down to drink.

I am sure many of these sightings were not pure coincidence, but due to the guides knowlege and skill.

The following day we went to Klaserie - a completely different camp. This camp overlooks a flowing river and there was a small herd of elephant on the far side. This camp was a bit more rustic, but about to be upgraded. (a good idea - the loo had no roof. This is not really a problem till it rains and the loo paper gets wet. Mind you, this is all character building!)

Again, we walked in the mornings and used the vehicles in the evening. We saw quite a few animals and birds. The second morning at Klaserie started off fairly quietly, till a lion roared some 200m away. Boots were on, cameras grabbed and we walked quickly toward the sound. The guides saw something, motioning us to stop. As we grouped together and stopped, a male lion came trotting out of the bush directly towards us. We froze, moving nothing but the shutter finger. After about 30 seconds, the lion turned on its heels and was off, to other males following (grumpy lion...jpg). From there we went back to camp, got in the vehicle and headed past the lions and stopped on a dry river bank. Once again, the guides were right. The lions walked past us on the opposite bank, no problem. From there we saw wildebeest, kudu and the usual host of impala till the guide in the trackers chair saw some drag marks. A freshly killed waterbuck was hidden in the reeds, not a lion to be seen. We left the area with the promise to return later - and we did. The lioness' were there, with about 6 cubs. That night the heavens opened and we did not get the chance to see the lion feed, but wow, the 5 days was an experience my son and I will never forget!

Our connection to Nelspruit arrived on time the following day and we arrived at Nelspruit airport without further ado - except wishing we were still in Klaserie! I must also point out, that Nelspruit is one of the best regional airports I have seen in the world - I mean, where else would you get double story thatched airport buildings with an atmosphere that many top restaurants would envy?

The connection from there to Cape Town, joining my mum and then to Port Elizabeth was problem free - all that I could ask for.

To the more mundane. I booked the particular game park primarily because of the camping and walking and because we could get in the week before the RSA school holidays. I did not wish to be part of a normal 8am rush hour in the city, while attempting to see animals and get a bit of peace and quiet. I did not realise that we would be the only people in the Timbervati and Klaserie reserves - It was truly great to see only our tracks and those of our wild neighbours. The camping was more than adequate. Thatch roofs certainly keep the tents cool and habitable. The food was not that of a 5 star restaurant, but we did not want a 5 star restaurant. It was certainly tasty, plentiful and fresh. What more could we ask for? I had some concern regarding the pace and distance of the walks. I am very fit but did not know what to expect. The walks generally lasted some 4 hours and were conducted at an easy pace, with plenty of stops to look at anything that caught the eye, for water or to take photographs.

In short, I must congratulate the guides for a fantastic few days. If I were allowed only one word to describe the time in the park, it could only be "Tops!"

Rob Sykes

ps, I hope the photos did not overfill your inbox! If you wish to publish the feedback, go ahead. Please acknowlege the two guides, Philip and Cornelius and myself as the author

Hi Liselle,

Welcome back from your own holidays. We had a great time in S Africa…The highlight of our trip was the Safari. Everything worked out splendidly, from the time we were met at the airport in Nelspruit to our return with the same driver.

Since we arrived around 2:00 pm on sat afternoon, we were able to join the 4:00 pm game drive during which we saw all of the Big 5! I thought this might mean that the rest of the stay there might be anti-climactic but not at all; we still saw lots of other animals and took close to 1000 pictures (now culled down to 278) and I am giving a presentation at the camera club next month when I have to whittle this down to about 40 photos....some tough job! Arathusa was really nice and although one of the ladies we met there said that it was no comparison with one of the more luxurious lodges she had previously stayed at, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

The hosts and especially the driver and tracker were just great. Thanks for your help in setting all of this up.

Best wishes,

David

Hi Liselle

Yes we had an amazing time as you can imagine. Kings Camp was wonderful. The whole experience left us wanting more !! We saw the big 5 on our first drive and lots more over the following 4 days we were there. The staff at Kings Camp were incredible, so polite and simply intent on making our stay memorable. The accomodation itself was also 1st class.

I can only thank you for helping to make our vacation a dream and i will be recommending to all my friends they use you to plan their next trip.

Hope you had a fabulous Christmas and a Happy new Year to you.

Stu

We had a wonderful time in South Africa and enjoyed both safari lodges. We did see the big 5 plus a lot of other animals and birds, including a cheetah. We also enjoyed the Panorama Route. We had a lovely buffet midday at the Royal Hotel in Pilgrim's Rest--for 10 rand each.

We also enjoyed the remainder of our trip to Cape Town, Garden Route, Wine Country and the little Karou. We had over 40 hours travel time to get back home. Our checked luggage took over 12 days to finally be delivered to our home--just last night. We left Cape Town on Dec. 16.

Thanks for your help.

Ronald T. Rolley MD

Hi Brett

Thanks for the email and we hope that you have had a good Christmas and New Year.

Our Okavango safari was just the sort of honeymoon we wanted. It was great to have everything planned and taken care of while we were there so that we could just sit back and relax and enjoy the ride.

We were very happy at all three of the camps that you recommended (Little Vumbura, Kwetsani and Savuti) and were treated with so much warmth and hospitality. The staff at all the camps must be commended for making us feel welcome every day.

On the safari front, we were very lucky to see so many animals and birds on our trip (including a sighting of a leopard at each of the camps, as well as 2 sightings of wild dog!).

We were very impressed by the quality of the guiding on the trip and were lucky to have them all to ourselves for most of the time. With the help of these guides, we were able to tick off many bird species that we hadn't seen before - so that was fun too.

All in all, the trip was fantastic and we can't wait to go back there in the future (maybe try the Explorer option from Wilderness?)

Thanks once again for your help in organising the trip.

Regards,

Michael & Shelagh

Hi Brett,

Just returned from Holland where we spend the - very cold - New Year week.

We had a great time in Botswana, all three camps were different, with different animals and different safari's - wonderful. The lodges, staff, food all we great, I truly recommend this holiday to my friends. Sam wanted to see more "" action", but we did see the cats, they just were sleeping most of the time. The only thing we missed was seeing more of the Botswana way of life, ie visit Gaborone, so we feel we have to come back and see more of this great country.

For your records, I wasn't very impressed with the Garden City hotel. It was next door to the shopping mall so we could walk and do our shopping, but the hotel was not very special. The bar was closed - at 10 pm, even though the sign said it would stay open till 12 midnight, which meant that Sam and I had to stay on our room, where our daughter was asleep. We were also not allowed to sit outside by the pool as this was also closed.

Thanks again for organising a wonderful holiday, it was great to be met at each location and not having to think of what to do next, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Regards

Marijke

Guests stayed at Savute Safari Lodge, Delta Camp and Mapula Camp

Hi Brett,

Sorry for answering your e-mail only now, it´s just that we´ve arrived only yesterday to Germany(after we left south africa we spended 3 weeks in Israel). We would really like to thank you for recommending us to go to Motswari .To be honest we

didn’t want to leave, we felt so good there!! from the beginning till the end. The food, the rooms, the hospitality, the game drives ...everything was like a 5 stars hotel.

We couldn’t think about a better place to spend our honey moon.

Thank you very much Brett for "sending" us there,

Yours

Pascal and Adva Müller

Hi Brett - thanks for following up re the safari. It was fantastic!!! - could not have been better! Thanks for all your effort & especially the communication back & forth in the planning stages - that is really 'customer service' as it should be!!!

If you need any references, I would be glad to do so! My photos are marvelous -

All the best!

Betty Laurenson

Betty travelled on the Botswana Migration Routes Safari.

Hi Renate:

Thank you for your email and your interest in our holiday. We had a wonderful first visit to South Africa. Our wines touring was terrific in the Capetown area for the first nine days followed by a week staying at Strand from where we toured on our own and then our four days of driving and touring in Hermanus and Mossel Bay areas.

When we left Mossel Bay, we flew from George to J'Burg as you had arranged and all went well. Our driver was waiting for us at J'Burg airport for the 5 hour drive to Madikwe. We had a wonderful safari at the Madikwe Lodge with courteous and friendly staff, well-appointed lodging, great meals (although almost too much food) and the highlight was our ranger, Claire Lacey for four days of animal watching. We had great luck in seeing the big game with her guidance and she was a wonderful personality. All six of us had an enjoyable trip and we would recommend you, your company, our lodge and South Africa to anyone who is interested. Thank you for the arrangements and bookings you made for us. Everything was well organized and of very good quality.

We hope that you have enjoyed a good Christmas season and we wish you well in the new year.

Thanks again for your work on our behalf, Renate.

With best regards

Doug & Marietta Clement (and on behalf of Brain & Linda Magee and Glenn & Linda Fields)

Hi Brett

Just to say all your arrangements worked well and we had an excellent holiday ending at Camp Okuti. I had a disaster on the photographic front, sorting our luggage into what was coming on the light aircraft and what was to be stored at JHB airport I put my camera in the wrong pile so I have no photos of Okuti at all!

Thank you for all your help. Next time I come to South Africa I will ask for it again

Kind regards
George Branston

Hey Brett, we got back yesterday morning safe and sound. However, we were worn out and I planned to email today. Sorry you had to contact me first.

We had a wonderful time. Every detail worked perfectly including the in country flights. We thought our Safari Air pilot was very cute and looked forward to seeing him on each connection! (Another case of Khaki Fever! Brett).

The camps were great. We liked the lay out and atmosphere of Shinde the best. The lodge area was inviting and pretty and we enjoyed nightly chats and drinks around the fire. The water also offered different opportunities which we enjoyed. Our guide Balipe was the best we have had. We learned so much from him and he was fun. We did an almost 4 hour walking tour one morning. Great! Food was also very good!

Savute Safari Lodge was also very good. We liked our guide Gee a lot. A quiet, gentle type. His dad is a guide a Shinde so it was great to meet him. We saw lots of animals at Savute including lion, leopard and cheetah. We did have rain on one morning but at the end of our drive.

Everything from William meeting us at the airport to massages to the lodges and animals could not have been better. You cared for every detail and it showed in the results. I am sure we will be contact again about our next adventure. We have talked about Kenya or Tanzania maybe next year. Any suggests on which is better?

KH

Brett,

First of all, thanks for your excellent service. As one has to be careful these days with internet services, you proved there is hope.

The first camp, Little Kwara was a pleasure. Relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff. Rangers knowledgeable and keen to go for customer requests. Accomodation very good. Food reasonable.

Second camp, Chiefs Camp was too much for us. It comes across as a 5 star hotel. At arrival and after all drives one is greeted by an army of staff, needing to pamper you. The game vehicles are washed after each drive and the atmosphere is a little artificial. All of these "unwanted" extras make the price for Chiefs too high, something I would not do again. Food was not good. The chef needs to go on a cooking course, as most of the meat was chewing gum. In comparison with Kwara, this camp was a disappointment (money-worth compared). Game drives were good, good game and good rangers (NB we had a flown in freelancer, an excellent ranger).

Savuti Safari Lodge, was a similar experience to Kwara. Friendly staff and very very good service: food was excellent. Nice cottages. Well worth it.

For all camps, I have to admit that I had done too little homework, thinking that the Delta would be good all the time. But we came at the end of the dry season, where most game had left the Ddelta, probably gone north. As the wet season hadn't come yet, the birdlife was also at a season low. Only at Savutei, after a few fat thunder showers, storks and raptors seemed to return in larger numbers.

My next trip should include camps that provide service like Kwara but need to have bird hides, something I missed in all of the camps. The experience nonetheless was fantastic, as I am passionate about the bush. I can also enjoy the bullfrog as it emerges after a rainshower.

Only organisational glitch: at arrival in Maun (15:00) our plane for Kwara had left already: the departure time of our light plane was 13:00, the time we left JHB. We were, however, able to board on a 16:40 plane to Kwara. (Kwando did not book the light air transfers correctly and apologized on the phone to me - Brett)

Peter

Dear Renate,

You arranged a wonderful trip for my husband and me (from 8th to 25th September), and I wanted to thank you now we have recovered ! (Sorry for delay, firstly we were exhausted and secondly we had a load of unexpected things to do when we got home).

Everything went better than expected, we enjoyed every minute, congratulations on good organisation. The only problem was, our plane from Cairo being late in Jo'burg, we missed our connection and made you wait for us at Cape Town (sorry!). In the rush at Jo'burg we did not have time to get some Rands, and had intended to give you and our driver something, but did not - very sorry, please accept our apologies.

Just one thing I would suggest you add to your excellent "guidelines", for people who hire cars - we were surprised to find that in South Africa garages do not accept credit cards for petrol, but only cash. It is worth mentioning this, as in Europe people usually pay by credit card. (And in the US people rarely pay anything in cash!)

But we did so enjoy South Africa - it really was the "trip of a lifetime". We will have to come again some time!

Once again , thanks - an apologies.

Best wishes,

Helen Bones

Places Helen visited with her husband: Nottens Bush Camp & Ngala Lodge

Good morning to you

It is 9:00am here.I hope this finds you doing well. It’s been a busy week getting back to work, etc. We ended up with a new battery for our car....your comment about finding out what went wrong there made us smile You takes such good care of us!!

We did see the big 5, lots of them, plus so many more......hyenas, honey badgers, a mongoose, baboons, bushbabies, hippos, giraffes, warthogs, all sorts of antelope and impalas and the birds....my goodness, they are so beautiful and there are so many kinds. We saw a Yellow-throated Longclaw and our driver, Landon, said he hadn’t seen one for about 6 years!! Some of the bugs were a bit large The people at Lion Sands were the best. They made every moment special. It was hard to leave them.

We had hired a driver to take our extra clothes from Cape Town to Franschhoek and drop us at the airport for the trip to Lion Sands on Wednesday and boy did that work out nicely. He was waiting for us when we returned from Nelspruit on Saturday, drove us to Franschhoek and came back on Monday afternoon and took us back to Cape Town to catch our flight home. When we got to Franschhoek, we checked into our spacious room and strolled around to see the place. It’s so lovely. We had a nice dinner with the other guests. The food was super. On Sunday we walked to the town and had lunch. We walked to a winery near the Country House as well. For dinner that night we had room service and set up a table outside our room on the patio/veranda with candle light. It was so relaxing and nice. After breakfast Monday, we had their driver take us to a couple of wineries to do some tasting. The area is so very beautiful. We had him let us off in the town so we could have lunch and walk about. The people at the Country House were so nice and helpful. Check out time was at 10:30 so they stored our luggage for us and even offered us a room to shower if we wanted before we left. Daryl, our driver, came at about 5pm. He drove us through Stellenbosch so we could see it. We needed more time that’s for sure....we will just have to come back!

This may be more info than you need but now you know how great it all was. We can’t thank you enough for all of you wonderful guidance. You helped make what could be our ‘once in a life time’ trip so very special.

Let’s keep in touch!

Thank you thank you

Jim and Sally

Places Sally & Jim Visited: Lions Sands Ivory Lodge & Franshoek Country House

Hi Liselle,

thanks a lot for Gary' and Nancy's link. We met them on our great safari. Concerning your feeback question, we can say that everything was perfect. We really enjoyed our trip. The lodge was a great mixture of nature life and good standard. We really loved the Kensington place with its great customer service. The 138 in Hermanus was very different from the other places as it was more familiar. We also liked it.

So overall, we thank you a lot for the great organisation and also for your high responsiveness. We will recommend you.

Kind regards,

Nina

Places Nina visited: Honeyguide Khoka Moya,Kensington Place, The Bay Hotel, 138 Marine & Franschhoek Country House.

Thanks, Brett - it's no big deal on the rooms, and the Air Namibia stress is quickly dropping from memory altogether. (Air Namibia's e-ticket system was not operating correctly and the camp managers made some odd room allocations - Brett)

We had a truly fantastic holiday and we are grateful for all your help in shaping it and arranging everything. The whole Wilderness / Sefofane thing works very well and a trip which looked very complex on paper was remarkably smooth.

Andrew

Andrew and Jane visited The River Club, Little Vumbura, Jao Camp and Kings Pool. They then proceeded to Little Kulala and also Little Ongava in Namibia.

Brett many thanks for arranging a fabulous holiday in Africa for us. Ezard house was great too. Good to have met you.

David

David and Catherine visited The River Club, Little Vumbura, Jao Camp, Kings Pool and Ezard House.

Hi Brett

The safari at KwaMbili was BRILLIANT!

Mel and Niel are lovely and the place was just what we were looking for - very lovely but not too full on and nice and small. All the staff were fantastic including the guides and chefs.

We are so pleased that we stayed in a private lodge rather than in Kruger as it was amazing to have giraffes and warthogs, kudo and others wandering around us all day!

We payed extra to have 2 safari drives to the south which was fine as we had an amazing time, but would have been good to understand a little more about the structure of the drives and where we would go (although it must be very difficult as this depends so much on the weather).

Thanks for your help with organising it

Regards
Fiona, Kate abd Dora

Liselle,

We are back home and yes, we are already missing South Africa.

Chapungu was everything we could possibly want…..we saw a large variety of animals, our ranger (Janco) and tracker (Aurela) were both exceptional. Janco’s knowledge of the area and wildlife, personality and quick wit really made the experience extra special. The accommodation, service and cuisine at Chapungu were superb. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and could not have been more pleased. The transfers provided were with friendly, professional drivers. The SAA Airlink and Express flights were great, with no hassles or delays.

Capetown was a delight. We opted to pick up the rental car reserved and added a Navigation system………and drove all over the peninsula the first full day. We found, however, that it was hard to concentrate on the lovely scenery and truly experience the Cape peninsula because we were too concerned and a bit stressed over shifting gears on the left, driving on the left, etc. I ended up hiring a personal driver for the remainder of the Capetown stay so that we could enjoy the Wineland and surrounding area to its fullest. Three nights in Capetown were not nearly enough to do the area justice……..it was just a taste (amazing area). If we had planned to be in Capetown for at least a week, minimum --- the car would have made been the better option because we would have had time to acclimate to the differences in driving……….but with such a short time in Capetown, I believe a driver was a better choice.

The Portswood Hotel was in a great location. The service and friendliness of the staff was great. The actual accommodations were moderate, modest………which was not a problem, but I would definitely consider this a moderate, 2-3 star property. Narrow halls, poor lighting. The biggest negative factor was the noise level……..there seems to be minimal insulation at best and we found the street noise and noise outside the property to be a detriment when trying to sleep. More than once the first night we got up to check to make sure there was not an open window because the noises were so apparent that it seemed there must be an open window (but there was not). Two men were having a discussion down the block in the middle of the night and I would swear that they were under our window (on the 3rd floor) – but when I checked – they were half a block down the street.

This is not intended to be any type of complaint as we were very happy overall with our entire stay in South Africa. is an amazing place and I hope my next trip allows at least a month to enjoy.

Thank you for your assistance.

Best regards,

jp .

Places Visited: Chupunga Tented Lodge & Portswood Hotel

Liselle,

We had a simply terrific time!! Everything was absolutely perfect. We actually met some of your other customers while on safari, Nina and Axel from Munich, Germany. The safari was wonderful. We saw four of the big five on our very first night! Then rhinos the next day. Amazing. And, elephants were everywhere. They were munching on a tree right next to the dining area one day. One morning, we had an elephant munching on a tree in front of out tent and could not get out to get to our 4x4 for a bit! Pretty neat. Gary got simply amazing pictures.

The rest of the trip was awesome as well. We went wine tasting in Franschhoek, whale watching in Hermanus. The accommodations were excellent. We usually stay in less expensive places when traveling in the States, but it was nice to know that we had a comfortable bed to sleep in at the end of a busy day. For myself, I'd keep the tents of the Honeyguide camp, though!! It was just wonderful. If you need any recommendations, feel free to have people contact me. We had a great time and truly appreciate your help!

N

Places Visited: Honeyguide Khoka Moya,Plumwood Inn & Auberge Burgundy.

Hi Liselle

It was awesome! The staff, lodge, room and game viewing was the highlight of our trip. We saw 4 of the big five, missing the buffalo. But we had the chance to see a leopard which is rare from what I've heard. The staff was excellent and the food. We loved our room and will probably book the same room again. My husband and I are already talking about returning next year along with several friends. Thanks for your help and recommendation.

Juliet

Places Visited: Thornubush Game Lodge

Hi Liselle,

I really enjoyed the safari -- I found Honeyguide to be very professional, clean, with wonderful food, and with a very attractive price. I will be sending people from my area back there. For most of the safari, because of the ebbs and flows of customers, I had basically a private safari, with my own spotter and ranger. They were environmentally sensitive without being obnoxious, and they were very knowledgeable.

Best,

Chuck

Places Visited: Honeyguide Mantobeni

Liselle,

Please give yourself and the others on the staff a big hug. Our journey was splendid. Your efforts to put together a good part of our experience was 100% on track; absolutely everything occurred as planned without any hitch. It was beyond my expectations, and my spouse, F-J just could not believe that the itinerary you and I put together was flawless.

Our experience at Umlani camp was "over the top". The staff was outstanding, the food was delicious, the accommodations were exactly as I anticipated. Umlani was the perfect introduction to South Africa and Kruger Park. The game drives, the number of mammals and birds recorded was beyond my highest expectations. But the real plus, unanticipated by us, were the other wonderful people using the camp exactly as we were. Families from Denmark, Switzerland, Holland, Autralia, and even Colorado (USA) just made the experience so much more enjoyable.

Yes, we saw the Big 5 with ease. But being greeted with a herd of elephants in camp as we arrived was near the top. Of course, being 2 meters from a male lion was a tad close, but then seeing a native bicycle by on the near by road as we observed 3 male lions, and watch all 3 lions eye this biker, had all of us holding our breathe, including our spotter and guide. We then spent a week at Sabi River Sun, in Hazyview. There was a culture shock as we changed from primitive to resort living, but we survived, then went on to have a spectacular week. Again, it was our neighbors in other units that made the experience so incredible.

Would we return? I sure hope we get the chance to see more of your splendid country. We only touched a tiny corner, so a lot more is awaiting future exploration.

Again, thank you, Liselle. And if you ever decide to visit our country, I hope we could be a stop along your route.

Guests visited Umlani Bush Camp

Hey Liselle,

Everything was fantastic ! The staff is really nice, friendly and helpful, the food is great as well and the service impecable. The tent is lovely. The drives are well organised and amazing. I almost saw the big 5 :) Missed the leopard but I know the rest of the group did see him so technically I did too :)

I would definitely recommend, both your agency and the Kwa Mbili lodge !

Thanks again!

Magali

Places visited Kwa Mbili Lodge

Hi Liselle,

The trip was fantastic - we did see the big 5, including plenty of leopards and two lion sightings (which are now quite rare in londolozi as the pride of lion tend to stick on the Mala Mala side). But the accommodation was great and we saw plenty of game which was amazing to see in their natural habitat.

Many thanks,

Dominic

Dominic stayed at:Londolozi Founders Camp

Liselle

yes, really enjoyed the trip - the amenities at Timbavati we better than Klaserie but the latter was a better location. Our guides, Jo and Tom were great - mix in well and were very knowledgeable. I would suggest you add "Beanie" to the gear list. On two nights it was very cold, especially night spotlighting. Another idea is "soap" although there is hand soap you do need body soap for showers. Towels are supplied.

Although I had them, advise clients to take some "mini-gaiters" - It is very dusty and twiggy under foot and this will prevent stones etc getting into your shoes - you don't need boots - good trail runners are ok. Hope this helps.

The trip was great value for money - thanks for your efficient co ordination.

Cheers Rob

Places they stayed at: 4 Day Kruger Walking Safari

Dear Brett,

I cannot tell you what a wonderful time we had in Aafrica! It was an outstanding trip and the camps were to die for (Camp Okuti went above and beyond and gave us the honeymoon suite and prepared a candlelight dinner for us) - AND even though it was a bit toasty with the temps at 110 and the fans didn't quite cool things down during siesta time at night it cooled off enough to sleep!

All our transfers were great, we had a couple where the time was off by a half hour -- but everything seemed to to work out. Thanks again and we hope to make our next trip to Kkenya and tanzania.

Angie Dorr

Angie and Creel visited the Royal Livingstone Hotel, Savute Tented Safari Camp, Camp Okuti, Olive Grove Guesthouse, Sossusvlei Wilderness Lodge and the Westcliffe Hotel.

Hi Brett,

Sorry about the delay in replying, been a busy week back. All your recommendations were spot on, the entire trip was amazing and we saw many more animals than we were expecting.

Thank you for all your help and advice with planning this trip. We found driving to all the accommodation easy and hassle free. It was great to get the chance to visit areas outside of the game lodges, especially the panorama route. All of the accommodation was exceptional. We would happily return to, and recommend, any of the places we stayed in South Africa. One of the highlights of our entire trip was getting to see a number of leopards at both Arathusa and Gomo Gomo. I have attached a photo of a mother and cub we saw at Gomo Gomo.

Thank you again for all the time and effort you put into arranging our trip. Your high level of service and knowledge of South Africa made this an exceptional trip for us!

We hope to return to Africa in the future (hopefully sooner rather than later). We will definitely be in touch when we do.

All the Best
Luke and Emma

Hello Brett,

Wow, what an adventure of a lifetime!!!!

First of all, all of the logistics were like a fine tuned watch. People were at each “airport” to greet us as planned and we were promptly taken to each of our camps by very courteous, capable, friendly and knowledgeable guides who seemed extremely passionate about their work.

Adam who picked us up at the Jo’burg airport was particularly warm and friendly and very informative as we made our way to the Michelangelo Hotel. Honestly, Jo’burg made us a bit uncomfortable with the huge disparity between the very poor and the wealthy but the hotel was comfortable and a good place to rest up before our adventure. We totally enjoyed the DeWilt Cheetah reserve the next day and it afforded a real nice preview of what our safari experience was going to be like.

Xigera was a perfect start to our adventure. We think that your judgment was right-on with respect to the 3 camps that you selected for us, Xigera, Vumbura Plains and Savuti. Xigera was the most “African” of the places we stayed at, the food, ambiance seemed quite authentic. KD was our guide there and we experienced so many animals and water life that we felt quite satisfied with our first 2 day safari experience.

When we arrived at Vumbura we were greeted by Ona, the most wonderful guide. We totally enjoyed him and were so impressed by his enthusiasm, passion, knowledge and personality. He made our stay there terrific. The facility is outrageously beautiful. We had a gigantic room, even an extra room for additional people if we wanted, our own little pool and outdoor shower……exquisite. The food was top notch and the service excellent. It truly is a magical location and one we will never forget.

Savuti was equally impressive especially since the recent addition of the water arriving to the site. That brought many animals and bird life which formally were further from the camp. Sefo was our guide and was also very good. The staff even brought fish in for us one night since we don’t eat red meat and we thought that was quite extraordinary.

We managed to see all of the animals that we were hoping to see, even were lucky enough to witness two “kills”, (thanks to the amazing skills of Sefo), and have over 1000 digital photographs as a wonderful proof of our terrific journey.

The Royal Livingston was so comfortable and a perfect way to end our trip since we had an extremely long (32 hour) trek home.

Thank you again for your wonderful recommendations and coordination of our trip, we would be delighted to recommend your services to others who are considering the safari adventure.

Most fondly,
Fred and Carol Gans

Hi Brett

Thanks for your e-mail. I returned home last night so am a bit jetlagged..... in case I don't make sense!!

Motswari was wonderful again! All the staff are very welcoming and friendly and the game viewing was great! We had a lot of good leopard sightings and the rest of the big five too. Godrey, our guide, was brilliant ably assisted by Jacky, his tracker. Godfrey's special interest is birds which I enjoyed....... but I don't mind what I see when I'm in the bush. I just love being there and didn't feel the least embarrassed being on my own as everyone was so chatty. Steve and Kathy and all the staff do a really good job! Nearly forgot to mention the food......it was absolutely delicious as before!!

The transfers worked very well too..... thank you. Warren picked me up from Hoedspruit on my arrival, as his drivers were on a course, and we had a good chat. Mike, the driver doing the return transfer was very friendly too.

All together South African hospitality takes some beating!

Hope all is well with you.
Warm regards
Jenny

Renate
Hi - and sorry we have not responded earlier. We only arrived back from our world tour last Sunday and our feet have not touched the ground since!!
 
Well - what can i say - it was fabulous - and exceeded all our expectations. The best lodge was Motswari - mainly cos the staff were so fabulous - there was a real family feel for the place. Infact our boy left (can you believe it!) his IPOD there - and they sent it home to England before we even got home. Geat service and a lodge you should recommend to all.
 
Elephant plains was also good - a little more purpose built and not quite with the family feel - but good all the same.
 
I think next time we do something like this we may choose to fly to the lodge from Jo'berg as the journey was long - fine on the way there but a tad tedious on the way back.
 
We would like to keep in contact as you did us proud and we would like to do something similar in a few years time - whether it be Kruger / Kenya or Tanzannia or other safaris tied in with a Island visit eg Mauritius.
 
Thanks again for all your support
 
Bev and the gang

Hi Liselle,

Hope you are well.

This morning I said goodbye to your clients after getting them in the queue at domestic departures.
They were great people to be with, and we shared much about our countries and cultures, rugby etc. They assured me they had an absolutely lovely two days touring (verbally and with a note), they enjoyed the hotel immensely, the lunches with me and also the waterfront area.

They were very complimentary regarding their dealing with you (Pat mentioned this to me), and were impressed with the service given. You should get a very positive report regarding their Cape Town visit.

They assure me they will be telling anyone coming over here about Sun Safaris .

Keep well and regards,

Steven Muller

Hi Liselle

We had an awesome time on the safari. Chapunga was a great location, the
accomodations were nice and the staff very accomodating and friendly. We
were impressed by the drives and scenery and overwhelmed at the
quality/quantity of the food. Agreed that it is hard to beat and outdoor
bath with a glass of wine. I think we are all planning on coming back to do
another safari with different family/friends.

The only thing I would change is that there be other young people around,
but we quickly learned that it seems the safari demographic is catered to
older folk. When I come back again that is something I would be sure to ask
about.

Thanks for all you help.

Cheers
Jason

Liselle thank you for your email

Well we finally arrived home 3am Saturday morning after a wonderful 3 weeks holiday.

Africa was fantastic.

When we arrived at Cape town we were met by Steven Muller who conveyed us to our wonderful hotel ,”The Victoria and Alfred“ on the waterfront. We were greeted in our hotel with complimentary champagne and a basket of fruit.

The hotel was fabulous with large rooms, friendly staff , and a huge  breakfast . The waterfront location provided us with fantastic views of the port, fishing fleet and of the local African people. We spent each night wandering around the local shopping centre watching the local street performers who were singing, dancing and playing local instruments.

The first day with Steven was spent traveling around the Cape of Good Hope  seeing the spectacular coastline , Camps Bay, Maidens Cove , the 12 Apostles Range, Table Mountain National Park, Llandudno and Hout Bay, False Bay, Millers Point and Lions head. We were fortunate to see a troop of baboons, Ostriches and antelope in the National Park.

We lunched at a fine restaurant at Seaforth then visited Boulders Penguin Park. This was a fascinating location where we were able to get up close to the fairy penguin colony. Towards the end of the day we caught the cable car up to the peak for a fantastic view of Cape town and the surrounding district. The scenery was indescribable.

The second day was spent on a visit to the grape growing region of Stellenbosch and to Ernie Els vineyard. The views were fantastic and the tastings wonderful. We visited the old town of Stellenbosch then lunched at Boschendale an old estate set up by DE VILLIERS then later taken over by Cecil RHODES. We visited the manor and walked around the beautiful gardens.

On our way home we were fortunate to see zebras, ostriches, antelope, wilderbeast and springboks.

The girls visited the local markets near the hotel where they purchased children’s clothing and jewellery at very reasonable prices. cheap. Steven MUELLER was an excellent guide and a wonderful ambassador for South Africa. The next day we had to say goodbye to Steve and caught an early flight to Johannesburg then onward to Hodespruit where we were then transferred by road to Pondoro Game Reserve in Kruger National Park.

At 3.30pm we commenced one of 4 game drives with Robert our driver and Arnie our tracker where we saw lots of giraffe, zebra, African buffalo, jackal, mongoose, impala, hippopotamus, baboons, Duiker, water buck, warthog, rhinocerous, banded mongoose, southern reedbuck, African wildcat, lions, greater koodoo, steenbok, leopard, monkeys and lots of birds. The staff at Pondoro were fabulous, meals great, accommodation and setting on the Oliphants river wonderful for game viewing. Driver Robert and guide Arnie worked extremely hard to provide us with a wonderful experience. This lodge catered for 16 guests with 2 safari vehicles and provided excellent game viewing and commentary by the driver and guides. An excellent place to stay.

After 2 wonderful days it was time to transfer back to Hodespruit for our flight to Johannesburg and an overnight stay at DoReale hotel. This was a superb hotel and a great safe location to stay. The complimentary shuttle service from the airport soon had us in our spacious rooms. The grounds of the hotel were very impressive with lots of beautiful statutes and fountains. Our visit to the Emperors Palace and casino and arcades were absolutely amazing. Staff at the hotel were very friendly and the breakfast was huge. A great hotel to stay.

Next day we had an early departure on Air Botswana to Gabarone where we transferred to another flight to Kasane. The flight was enjoyable. Upon our arrival at Kasane we were met and conveyed to the border of Botswana and Zambia where we alighted from our vehicle and loaded our bags onto a small boat and were ferried across the river to Zambia. Upon our arrival we were made to collect our bags and drag them up the river bank some 300 metres to the immigration check point where we paid our visa fee and then were conveyed in another vehicle to the Royal Livingstone Hotel at Victoria Falls. This was a real eye opener and a wonderful experience.

Upon arrival we  were blown away by the beautiful hotel with its spacious rooms and panoramic views of the Zambezi river with monkeys running through the verandah. The meals were fantastic and the high light of our visit was the complimentary high tea in the lounge. Several visits were made to the falls and around the grounds including sunset and sunrise where we managed to take some superb photographs of the river as it cascaded down the walls and onward to Zimbabwe. A visit to the local craft shops was very entertaining and provided us an opportunity to see the many carved artifacts manufactured by the local people. We also saw giraffe, zebra within the grounds and hippopotamus and an elephant on the river bank. A great hotel to stay .

After 2 wonderful nights it was time for our return road transfer to Chobe Game Lodge in Chobe National Park and we were again transported to the border where we were conveyed by small boat across to Botswana and then transferred to our game lodge on the Chobe River. I would recommend that the experience of seeing how the local people travel between countries and live in the remote villages is worthy of traveling one way between Botswana and Zambia.

The accommodation and meals at Chobe were excellent and the game drives spectacular with sightings of large numbers of impala, zebra, elephants, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, giraffe, kudoo, baboon, warthog, squirrels, mongoose, lions, African buffalo, saber antelope, bush buck, and lots of birds.
Our driver guide Mab was excellent . Her driving and tracking skills ensured a plentiful spotting of animals and birds. The lodge which was situated on the Chobe river was in a picturesque setting with excellent viewing from the deck. Impala, warthog walked through the grounds. This lodge was larger than Pondoro with at least fifty guests, but all staff were exceptional with service and game viewing. One of the game drives was a trip on a boat down the Chobe river providing close viewing of hippopotamus, crocodiles, elephants, warthogs, giraffes, African buffalo etc.The highlight was seeing a lion and lioness in the act of mating. A very quick event not to be missed. A great lodge to stay.

After 2 wonderful days and 4 game drives it was time to leave for our transfer to Kasane airport for a flight to Gabarone. We relaxed and enjoyed our flight to Johannesburg.

Upon arrival we utilized the complimentary transfer shuttle to the Metcourt hotel which was in the same complex as the DOREALE, but not of the same class. Rooms were very comfortable with a very nice breakfast. Hotel room had no bar fridge or tea and coffee making facilities but beds were very comfortable. Our sleep was disturbed by an unplanned 4am wakeup call but otherwise a great hotel close to all the wonderful restaurants which provided exceptional nutritious cheap meals and drinks. Would stay here again.

The next day we sadly left Africa after a wonderful holiday, full of many great memories and some fantastic game viewing.

Liselle this was a great trip and good value for money. I would recommend that people should definitely visit Cape town, Pondoro Private Game Park and Chobe Game Lodge. We found these locations excellent. Visiting Victoria falls and staying at the Royal Livingstone was just fabulous as it provided us with a change of pace from the game parks and an opportunity to relax.

Otherwise a great trip and we are looking forward to planning another trip to Africa with visitations to other game parks..

Hope this is of some value to you and your future clients.

Kind regards

Hi Lisselle
 
We got home late yesterday afternoon after the most amazing holiday. Thank you so much for organising it so wel. I have to confess i was a bit apprehensive about the lodge being so small but it wasn't a problem. Monwana was a fantastic lodge , run by an amazing couple - C.J. and Carla. The lodge was very homely and welcoming. They had won an award this year for the' best small lodge in africa' (or something like that) The food was incredible the staff couldn't have been more helpful. They even got staff and locals to put on a show on our last  night. We made great frinds with our hosts who managed to get tickets for my husband and son to go to the Tri nations match in Durban last weekend.
 
We had great safari. C.j was very informative and we saw eveything we wanted. Big 5 and more. Some of our trips were quite scary - but they were the best. Sitting in the middle of a pride of lions with there kill. " male lions outside the pride called in the distance and the who pride started to roar. CJ turned off the light. You can't imgine the fear. The kids just loved it and we have some incredible photos. The nice thing about the reserve is they only allowed 2 vehicles at any one sighting.
 
I can highly recommed Monwana to big groups ( up to about 10) and families. We met allot of different people in our 5 days. All families with small children. One family stayed for 1 night only  and the other stayed 2 nights. Although they all saw some game having  days (despite my reservations that it was too long) we saw everything we wanted and really relaxed with no mobile signal or internet. We could have missed a day safari as i thought the kids may do but they didn't want to miss a thing. CJ certainly made it fun!!
 
Gve me a phone if you want to chat. Hope this feedback has been helpful. You certainly did a great job organising it and the flights ran like clockwork
 
Kind Regards
 
Helen

Hi Liselle,

We just today settled back into reality.  It was a great vacation and both lodges really came through for us.  We "bagged" the Big five and then some.  Lots of fun.  Thanks for all the help!

Again, thanks for the help in setting this up.  Take care.

Dean

Brett,

We've arrived home with great stories and better pictures. I couldn't recommend our itinerary more.

Ross: Courteney Blunden did an outstanding job with us. That experience was very personal, very customizable. Courteney was very intent on making sure that we left happy and saw as many animals as we possibily could. The experience wouldn't be the same without hanging out with him and his group.

Djuma: Very high-class preserve with amazing views of animals. We QUICKLY saw nearly all the big 5 without any problem and therefore I'd make this lodge a must for anyone going on safari. It lacked personalized service and the "quirkyness" that Ross had, but made it up in animals. I'll be highly recommending both camps with an emphasis on Ross. Please let me know if you'd like me to explain in greater detail.

Thank you many times over for all of your assistance.
 Mike Kamerman

Liselle,

Sorry for not getting back earlier.

The vacation in South Africa and the Safari at Lion Sands in particular was excellent. The arrangements all went very well - thank you. Lion Sands was a superb lodge, the service, setting, food and game were all outstanding. Viv and I both had a great time and fond memories of your country.

Just busy thinking ahead to the next time !.

Many thanks, and best regards.
John

Liselle
 
Well, Sasha and I arrived back home yesterday afternoon, and we are already looking forward to the next time we can head back!  Thank you for your assistance arranging our stay at Chitwa Chitwa Lodge...it exceeded our expectations!  The room was beautiful, had an incredible room, fantastic food and outstanding service from the staff!  We did have some noisy neighbors, though...those darn Hippo's continually reminded us they were there, but that was totally fine.  We saw every animal on our safaris (including two Cheetah) and thoroughly enjoyed oursevles.
 
I will definitely recommend both your service and this lodge to anyone that asks for a referral.  Thank you!
 
Sincerely,
 
Mike Symon

Hi Liselle!!

 

Sorry for not to reply before... Well it has been an awesome experience!!! Great place to stay, amazing game drives... Perfect place for relaxing,,, perfect!!  the connection flights with Fed Air worked extremelly well, in fact we could take a flight before time, so we could do an exra game view, excellent!!

 

And thanks about our english level, hehe... It was a hilarious situation, because the rest of the people at the lodge were spanish and they did not speak a single word in english, so we became in the official "on-line" translators!!! Really funny!

 

Liselle thank you so much for everything, if anyone ask us about going to South Africa, for sure we will redirect them to your web or send u an email!!!

 

Hugs from sunny Spain,

 

Hello, the trip was amazing! We loved Kwambili lodge...we had such a great experience. Thank you for all your help! Will definitely recommend you to friends.

 

Take care,

Ruby

hi naz

we just returned late last night from nairobi.  it was a wonderful weekend...!!!

naibor was a lovely place...7 private tents; each with comfortable bed, toilet, solar lit lamps, outside couch and double basin sinks with mirrors.  as seen on the website...

the shower is delivered as a hot bucket when requested and the bathroom has a single sink as well.  in the evening, after dinner (the food is amazing and service is lovely), we return to find hot water bottles folding into our covers...heavenly!

the game drivers are very informative and the maasai people are soft spoken and warm.  most of the staff are maasai.  the best game driver is david.

the tents are lined along the tallek river; home to a dozen or so hippo, crocs and baboons.  we hear them and can enjoy their antics on the beach below the main tent where we dine.

 

we had a problem in the nairobi airport as we attained our visas.  kenya does not accept american bills printed prior to 2000 or 2001.  we had to wait on a line for the visa for 1 1/2 hours (suggestion to have future clients complete all visa forms on the plane or go directly onto the line and complete forms on the line as they wait) because the officials are slow and rude.  when we finally got to the front, the official told us she would not accept our money to pay...told us we would have to 'find' other money; without advising us as to how.  my husband ran around the airport and we lucky to find a shopkeeper who exchanged the bills...she was probably unaware of the date.  horrible system and awful delay.  we learned at naibor that the same issue with dates prior to 2000 or 2001 applies all over kenya...

 

the transfers went well to and from the maasai.  the operators were nice and helpful.

 

we went to a maasai village and have mixed feeling about it.  the people were again lovely and informative; they seem to love to exchange information and are highly educated and curious.  it is amazing to us that they can easily return to their villages and huts once they have been exposed to dormitory life.  i suppose it shows the strong bond that exists between them...

the information and walkthrough was fairly quick; $20.00 per person.  this seemed expensive, but we appreciate the impact it makes.  but the women set up many tables with dozens of items to sell on each; your guide takes you to them and it is quite overwhelming.  although negotiable, the prices were outrageous.  it is hard to say no; hard to discern what you like because they push things on you to handle.  maybe clients can be forewarned...!!

i did not buy anything and it was fine; no one had a problem with it.

 

and we did see a migration crossing!!!!!!  just what we went for!!!!!  it was Saturday and we traveling to the maasai river; game drive along the way; and waiting several hours as the wildebeest gathered.  we had wonderful jeepmates!  a mother/daughter from america.  along with the great guide, the time was fun.  then, suddenly, you hear and feel a stampede.  they begin to leap from between rocks; splash over each other into the water; walk across in packs and gallop up and away on the other side.  it lasted approx 35 minutes; took our breath away!!!!!  several zebra were involved as well.  

the entire landscape was rich with herds of zebra and millions of wildebeest galloping in single line formation all around the maasai for the entire weekend.  it was an amazing phenomena to experience.  david told us the wildebeest are barely seen at all during other times of the year.  a true wonder to behold...

 

so...i thought i would put this all in writing so you could absorb at your leisure.

 

this time of year was toward the end of the season.  my husband was anticipating seeing the crocs pulling wildebeest down in the water; we arrived on the scene to see dozens of dead wildebeest floating on the river.  so many had been killed; the crocs were full; they only like fresh kill.  for those looking for that experience, it is best to send them early in the season.  i, on the other hand, am quite happy to have been saved from that sight!!

also, the serena (?) lodge, although big and hotel like is good for those coming just to view the crossing.  it is right near the river and seems they have a great number of opportunities to view as well as probable minute by minute status of the impending event.  but you do give up the rustic bush lodgings...we loved our combination...

 

thank you for all your help and diligence in arranging everything for us.  i highly recommend this to anyone!!

laurie

Hi Renate
We really enjoyed the holiday.
Weather was very good for us, only a couple of overcast days which were the days we spend in kruger main park, otherwise sunny and warm.
We started at the Cavern which we spent relaxing, doing short guided walks into the drakensburg mountains and also horse riding.
The accommodation and location was very nice. This was an ideal place to start the holiday.
Next we went to Cathedral Peak further down the drakensburg mountains where we did some self guided longer day walks and more horse riding.
After that we went to Balito beach where we spend a few days relaxing in the boathouse hotel by the beach and also went out dolphin spotting in a boat.
The hotel was superb accommodation and food was superb in the hotel. The beach by the hotel very peaceful.
Then off to Gomo Gomo game lodge where we spend a couple of day on safari. The guides there were excellent and the camp was great.
On returning from evening game drive we discovered on separate occasions elephant and hippos in the camp next to our tents.
During the day we watched elephants and hippos in the river outside the camp.
On the game drives we saw lions 3 times, leopard 3 times, hippo, buffalo, giraffe and lots of elephant.
we also went on bush walks where the guide explained local plants and tracking animals.
Just looking forward to the next excursion to africa

Thanks
chris

Hi naz,

I am back from kimcheche and is returning to new york tonight. It has been a wonderful experience - I saw all kind of animals and the crossing and the stay in kimcheche is nothing but amazing ppl there r so friendly and fun!.

Thanks so much for help to make this tour become true! :)

Amy

Hi Renate,

Thanks for your request.

Indeed, we really appreciated our stay at Khoka Moya Resort. Excelllent service, great food, nice landscape, exciting game drives! Very recommendable!

Many thanks again for your service.

Regards,

Burkhard

Hello Brett,

Sorry for the delay, however I wanted to provide you feedback on our recent trip to Africa.

To begin, I must say that our experiance was incredible, exceeding all expectations! We could not have had a better trip. From the flights, weather, transfers, accomodations, game viewing and the genuine hospitality of Africa, near flawless!

We began with our experiance at Victoria Falls at the Zambezi Sun. We were greeted with a cool drink at check in and the staff was freindly. We strolled to the Falls, that were beautiful and water was at full flow! The spray was high and the sunset, our first in Africa, awesome. There were resident Zebra and Vervet Monkeys. We had coctails at the pool while watching the wildlife, then a dinner buffet that was fantastic. Food was freshly prepared, and we experieanced Kudu for the first time, not our last. Very good start to our trip.

We were promptly transfered to the Island of Siankaba for two nights. The island was peacefull, the food was again very good. The hosts were very personal and made the experiance personal for us. We visited the village next to the Islands and learned a lot of tribal, African life. We also experienced sunsets on the Zambezi River, with hippos. We awoke our last day with hippos in the river, right in front of our private challet, with coffee brought to our room at the designated time.

Transferring from Zambia to Botswana was an experience in itself. We did not realize at the time of how much African culture we were participating in. The transfers were well organized and efficient.

The next three nights were at Camp Okuti. Now we were at safari! We had a local guide, knew how to track and track he did! We saw everything, lion, buffalo, leopards, elephants, zebra, hippo and birds unlimited. We even saw a pangolin, which we learned many locals have not seen. One night an elephant was right next to our front door, and another, a close encounter with a hippo. The evenings around the campfires were personal and enjoyable. The accomodations were very roomy and comfortable. There were a few lizzards and Genets that visited us during our stay. The water experieance was great. We spent several hours on the delta. Yet another unique experiance. Birds, hippos, crocodiles and sunsets. We recommend this camp. Authentic.

Ngala Walking safari was next. I would not have ever expected our experieance to get better. But as we watched the lions stalk the herd of Zebra, the Zebra stay out of reach, the thousand or so buffalo that passed on either side of our Land Cruiser, and the hippo out of water, I shook my head in amazement. All of that after a morning safari with close encounters with rhino, buffalo and giraffe. Ngala was the highlight of our trip. This was a small intimate camp with a small intiamate staff. The best camp food possible, everything cooked on the bri. Excellent! Don't let anyone miss this camp as we almost did!

The next two camps were Motswari Safari Lodge and Nottens Bush Camp. Both camps had exceptional lodging, food and staff. The camps were quiet, however there was a lot more safari vehicles and competition to view animals since we were at Kruger. Nottens was our last camp and again was very personable with the Nottens family members attending every meal and at the camp most of the time. There was a water hole in front of the camp that presented excellent game viewing from the deck.

We departed from the reserve airport back to Johannesburg. A great way to end our trip in style.

You did a fantastic job putting togeather an itenerary that was perfect for us. If we travel to Africa again, we will contact you. We had such a good time, I don't think that such an experieance could be duplicated, but will always be remembered.

Thanks again and I hope this helps confirm your choices for other guest.

Best regards,
Jon and Susan Stewart 

Brett,

Thanks for the note.

The trip went very well and aside from these to camps we went to a number of others. I think the camps were quite similar in the activities on offer but we thought that Shinde was better with better accommodation and a better combination of Game, water and birds. Unfortunately, the Game at Kanana was seriously lacking but the scenery was fantastic so the water activities were better but we didn’t see very much Game – we did get a full-on charge from an Elephant though and then at Shinde, we had Lions eating an Elephant! If I was booking the trip again, I would have done two nights at Shinde and two nights at one of the Camps in Moremi as I feel we missed out on that part of the Okavango but we have agreed we will be back to do it. Overall a great experience and thanks very much to you for organising it for us.

Regards, Mark

Dear Renate,

We had a wonderful holiday in the South African safari. All the lodges were fantastic ,each of them unique and we have fond memories of them all. The transport was great and the drivers were punctual. However need to stress that timing is everything....Almost missed the first afternoon drive in Thakudu River lodge because we arrived a little late at 3.30pm from Mhondoro. The afternoon drive departed at 3pm but the driver was kind enough to turn back to get us. That was one of the most memorable drives we had and would be upsetting if we had missed that. Another feedback Thakadu river lodge is quite cold during winter even though the bed is heated with an electric blanket. The room has a heater that blows "cold air" because of the cold in the early morning and evening. They don't supply bathrobes. Thakadu serves the best food amongst the 3 lodges but has the worst ranger. They also threw in a bottle of champagne for honeymooners.

But all in all, you did a great job in putting in the itinery and arranging of everything. We had a most memorable honeymoon.

Thank you,

Jade

Jade visited these three lodges:

Thakadu River Lodge, Madikwe Safari Lodge and Mhondoro Game Lodge 

Hi Brett,

Apologies for not getting to email you sooner. Since we've got back to reality - life is so busy again!

We had an absolutely fabulous trip - really loved Africa. We would pack our rucksacks and go again in the morning!!!!

We'd like to say a huge thanks to you and SUNSAFARIS for organising an amazing trip. Everything was perfect. Everything was as you said it would be. We really loved and enjoyed Zambia from Kasaka River Lodge to our bush camp in South Luangwa. Victoria Falls was amazing and we got to do a helicopter ride over the Falls - Wow! Botswana was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed the safari. We travelled with a great group in fabulous surroundings. Travelling in the Okavango Delta by mokoro was a brilliant experience. Over the 3 weeks we got to see great Game - brilliant!

The trip was exactly what we wanted so thanks again - we really appreciated all your time, advice and help. We would highly recommend Sunsafaris and we definitely want to go back to Africa!

Thanks again
Kind Regards
Nicki & Cormac

PS. The only change to our trip that we would have made was to book whatever activities we wanted to do at Vicoria Falls before we arrived. We found it difficult to get a helicopter slot in the time we had there.

Nicki and Cormac visited Kasaka River Lodge in the Lower Zambezi, Mfuwe Lodge and Billimungwe Camp in the South Luangwa, Chundukwa River Lodge at the Victoria Falls and then travelled on the Migration Routes through Botswana. 

Hi Renate,

Beryl and I wanted to thank you for a fantastic trip and all your help in keeping our plans to travel there a secret.

The surprise was wonderful and certainly added a zest to a group tired from travelling.

Overall, we could not have been more impressed with a trip (well maybe with the small exception of the 'tents'!) - we now know we are complete cowards and have been glad to return to our insect (me) and monkey (Beryl) free zones in Ireland.

Our trip to the winelands was excellent, great fun, informative and Steve was a wonderful guide whom we would highly recommend to others.

Our thanks once again.

Anne and Beryl

We arrived back home yesterday after our 3 weeks in Africa. What a wonderful trip! Everything went better than we could have imagined. Our trip to Kruger was outstanding - Shishangeni is a beautiful place to stay - excellent accommodations, food and service. Our guide Chris on the game drives was outstanding. My wife and I are both science teachers, so seeing the park was a great experience. We asked many questions and learned so much. And our 16-year-old son can't stop talking about it - he had a wonderful time too.

Thank you so much for arranging this part of our vacation. From the moment we landed at Nelspruit to the time we were delivered back, everything was perfect. We would love to come back! Thanks so much again for all of your help.

Sincerely,

Tim, Barbara and Ben Haag

Thanks a lot Brett. We had a fantastic time. Everything went smoothly. Each lodge was great in its own way and they were all different. A nice mixture. No complaints, only compliments.You did a great job and I will recommend you and your company if anyone in Fort Worth asks about travelling to Southern Africa.

William

William and his family visited Stanley's Camp, Chobe Game Lodge and the Royal Livingstone Hotel. 

Brett

We've nothing but good to say about the Botswana trip. The lodges in both cases were up to expectations and the staff at both places were wonderful. The new David Livingstone Hotel at Victoria Falls was really nice too. Once the landscaping grows in, it will be a wonderful destination.

Many thanks for all your help.

John & Peggy Amatt

John and Peggy visited Savute Safari Lodge, Kanana Camp and the David Livingstone Lodge at Victoria Falls. 

Brett

I can't thank you enough. Things went exactly as you had planned them out. The trip to Victoria Falls was perfect and I'm so glad you scheduled that in. The drivers between Livingston and Kasane were very nice, there on time, and very professional. I loved Okuti--as my first experience it was just right. As an aside, some more experienced travelers complained that the guides were terrific at answering questions but not in spontaneously offering information--I have no frame of reference to compare, so I can't say. I thought they were fine.

Great job and I'm now hooked. I'm sure once I move here I'll be looking for some weekend adventures in Southern Africa and will no doubt be in touch. Thank you again.
NCC

Nancy visited Camp Okuti and the Zambezi Sun Hotel.

Hello, Brett,

We want to say thank you for the trip to Africa you have arranged for us. It was the best vacation we have ever been on! It was really a facinating, fabulous trip. It is hard to tell what we liked most, since everything was beyond our expectations. The service was excellent, the people were absolutely amazing, the food was fantastic. And of course the nature and the animal world was very, very cool!

Thank you again for your help to make this trip possible, we appreciate it so much. We would like to come back to Africa some time in the future so we will defintely keep you in mind. We have also got some friends who might be interested to go next year, I will tell them about your website.

Also, want to pass you "Hello" from the camp manager of Xigera, his name is Anton. He said that he knew you and your brother and that you were excellent at sports.

Thank you again, Olga and Jason.

Olga and Jason visited Xigera in the Okavango Delta and Selinda in the Linyanti.

Brett, I will be sending a letter to you tomorrow (July 7--here in the US). Charles Perrings said to register the letter. So in case you don't receive it, it just says thanks for all you did to make the trip comfortable for Kathy. We all enjoyed every thing so very much.

Sue Kinzig

Brett:

Just a note of appreciation for the fine trip you arranged, the camps were wonderful, the transfers perfect, and all in all we had a wonderful time. Each an every place was conscientious about Kathy; putting her in the closest tent or room, making sure she had cushions for the game drives, etc. (and Chobe Game Lodge made sure she had cushions no matter where she was sitting—dinner, game drive, etc.!).

All the facilities were fantastic and comfortable, and we would recommend them to anyone, but we have to express particular appreciation for the management and staff at Camp Okavango—we will remember them, and their warmth and hospitality, for many years to come.

We were impressed with how smoothly everything went, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend SUNSAFARIS to anyone considering an African safari in the future.

Ann

The Perring's & Kinzig Family visited The River Club, Chobe Game Lodge, Camp Moremi and Camp Okavango.

I recently assisted an Irish Travel agent with a Botswana safari for his clients. Below is the feedback sent to Aidan from the guests.

Hi Brett

Thanks for everything.
Here an excellent review !!!
Regards,
Aidan

Hi Aidan,

I'm quite happy to give you a brief synopsis.

In summary: we had a wonderful time!

1. Meno-a-Kwena. This is a relaxed place with a very familial attitude, perched on a cliff overlooking a waterhole with a stunning rock pool, animal hide and bird bath for entertainment in the camp. It was the most casual and also the most closely connected to the bush - we had to be escorted to our tents every night and, unlike the other places, this was really necessary. There were lions roaring on the paths at night! It has permanent tents as bedrooms overlooking the valley with outdoor shower and loos with a view. Water is scarce, so you get a bucket of hot water on request for your shower.

Dabe, our San (bushman) guide was the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide I've ever had (worth keeping an eye out for as he is setting up his own mobile camp in the Kalahari one day for people who want to connect even more with nature). The food was great - run by a chef who headed up 5 star restaurants on cruise liners. It's also the most closely connected to the local population in terms of education and betterment.

We saw the migration of the zebra which was a smashing sight - thousands in one valley. Elephant came to the waterhole everyday, as did kudu. And we had an incredible day-trip to the Nxai pans where the oldest living things on earth are - a stand of massive, bulbous Baobab that dwarf everything. Awesome.

2. Kwetsani. Glamorous and luxurious tree houses connected by elevated walkways to the main lodge. There's water everywhere so the pace is quite sedate, but the birdlife is awesome and we saw some amazing sightings of leopard (including a two week old cub), lion and elephant. An elephant slept under one of the houses and snored all night, keeping its occupants awake. There's a lovely little pool on the edge of a plain, outdoor showers, indoor showers, and good food.

3. Savuti Lodge. Stephen's favourite, this had a mix of savannah, woodland and even water (the dried up river bed was alive for the first time since the early 80's). The houses were spacious and beautifully laid out and the main reception was very well planned. We got hot water bottles on the drives (early morning is chilly) and big fires on the deck. We chased wild dog on a hunt for impala, saw lions at sunset and herds of elephant. Very picturesque.

At all places the service was impeccable, the knowledge of the guides impressive and the food delicious. They all went out of their way to cater for all our needs (from making sure I had a flask of milk at all times to combat the malaria tablets to setting up private dinners on our decks as a honeymoon treat from my sisters). In a way I liked the first place the best, but it's hard to judge. The other two places had repeat visitors quite often. The light aircraft flights between places were a great way of seeing the landscape and you flew low enough to spot elephant and antelope in the waterholes.

4. Victoria Falls Hotel. The falls are best viewed by plane/helicopter/micro light, but you cannot beat the view from the patio of the Vic Falls Hotel. It's olde worlde charm and was a great place to wind down (although the food wasn't amazing). Lying by the pool with warthog on the lawns and eating scones for tea were my highlights!

5. Indigo Bay. it's hard to find anything that doesn't sound over-the-top to say about this place. Indulgence to the core. Exclusive, attentive, delicious. Wonderful staff, gorgeous pools, incredible food and a whole lot of activities to choose from, as well as some truly fine cocktails. Eating lobster on the beach at the edge of the sea by firelight just isn't something that happens to me every day!

And if you ever need anyone to test out any other places, be sure to let me know!
Portia.

Hi Renate

Well here I am back in dreary, England, full of unhappy people with miserable faces! Unfortunately one of them is mine due to the fact that I am HERE instead of Botswana, where, it might sound rather dramatic, I think my heart really is.

Well, the two camps could not have been more different for me. I was about 2 hours late getting to Kwetsani due to the Air Botswana flight being delayed, so when I did arrive at the camp the afternoon drive had already left. But Mike arranged for me to go out for virtually the whole day next day, which more than made up for missing that one drive.

Phenyo my guide was very polite, friendly, informative and personable. He did his best to show me anything and everything but unfortunately the game was rather elusive! But although the game is exciting to see, the bird life was wonderful and made up for the lack of animals. And to be honest just BEING there is THE major high for me. Anne and Mike could not do enough to make me (and all the guests) comfortable and to enjoy the whole camp experience.

All the staff were friendly, very polite and cheerful (and the English would do well to take a lesson from them!) The food was fabulous and considering the journey it had to make to get to the camp it was so tasty, cooked perfectly and would compare to any 'cordon bleu' restaurant here! But maybe I am just biased! Kwetsani is very comfortable, the tents have everything you need, the atmosphere is lovely, very family orientated, the dining area cosy, the lounge furniture very squishy and inviting. In fact I just LOVED the whole camp. I felt very happy and at ease there. It was very definitely MY kind of camp. I would recommend anyone and everyone to Kwetsani.

Savuti was (to me) a much more luxurious camp. The tents were much more spacious as were the communal dining and lounge areas. It was more on a par with Mombo I think. It would especially appeal to those people who prefer the more sumptuous surroundings (whereas I am more concerned about feeling happy in my surroundings). Katherine, Ross and Connie were also very friendly, but I think Anne and Mike just had the edge. I couldn't fault the food here either, it was perfect.

Sefo my guide was great too! Very knowledgeable, informative, polite and friendly. And looked quite 'sinister' in his woolly balaclava, gloves and warm overcoat at 6 am in the morning. The first morning was FREEZING, in fact I don't think any of the English winter mornings - this year - was as cold. The next morning was warmer due to it being a bit cloudy overhead.

There was more game at Savuti, the waterhole on the plain behind the tents attracted zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, the occasional elephant and there was a small pack of wild dog 'camping' out overnight on my first night, although they seemed to have deserted 'us' the next night. There was also a couple of hyena around when the dogs wre there.

We also saw large breeding herds of elephant which is ALWAYS wonderful. The babies are so cute and the mothers so protective. Unfortunately in both camps the lions were nowhere to be seen.

I think I would recommend Savuti to anyone who was more into the luxurious side of camping, who maybe hadn't been before and didn't want to 'rough it'. I realise the whole idea of a safari is to see as much game as possible but I think as I have been several times previously it is not QUITE as important to me nowadays. I just love the whole thing, starting from the time I leave my house. And it is just bliss to be back in the bush. But the arriving back at my house is utterly depressing.

Having the overnight stay at the Doreale was a wasted night as far as I was concerned, although I DO appreciate why you booked it. I would have much preferred to spend an extra night at Kwetsani) My Virgin flight was on time and I would have been able to get the connection, but the flight next day was delayed for 2 hours, so I was a bit frustrated to say the least.

So all in all I had a fabulous time but 5 nights just wasn't long enough.

I realise I have rambled on rather a lot, and I think I bore everyone silly with my holiday memories, (they have not seen my photos yet!!!), but it really is the best thing on earth for me, nothing comes close, so I hope you can forgive the rambling.

With many thanks again for arranging it all Renate, you may well have me calling on you again in the not so distant future.

With Kindest regards
Lynn

Hello Brett

We are still in the midst of jet lag, but I want you to know that we had a fantastic time and the tour you put together for us was top notch. We were most impressed with the Wilderness Safari camps.

Both Duba Plains and especially Xigera were outstanding. Our favorite experience was in Xigera - the small canoe rides and the all day boat trip were the high points of the safari. The amount of animal, bird and plant life on the Delta were incredible. I am still sorting it all out. The staff at all the camps were outstanding - fabulous service in all respects. Our least favorite camp was Savute (the last one). It did not have the special personal touch of the others and we saw much less on the drives (we realize that is not the fault of the camp). The food was not as good as the other two, but we still enjoyed the lovely lodge - the facility was very beautiful.

Ending the trip at the Royal Livingstone was the magical finale to an unforgettable trip. Talk about service! After checking in, every staff person knew us by name. We were amused by the monkey chasers during meal times. The Falls were unbelievable. You could see the spray from the hotel. The local zebras walked us to the Falls, then we took the helicopter ride to see the entire curtain. Water was high and it was certainly a wonder - right up there with the Grand Canyon. Please feel free to use us as a reference for other clients. I can't tell you how pleased we are with your planning and showing us the best of Botswana. All the people that were meant to meet us did so and all the flights from camp to camp were done as planned. We have only high compliments to you and your company. We definitely plan on coming back to South Africa in the future. Probably to see other aspects of South Africa (Capetown, Kruger, etc.) Our next venture for 2009 is Australia and New Zealand. If you have a contact that can put a trip together, please let me know. Again, the highest thanks for a trip we will always remember with fondness and wonder!

Best regards
Anne and Bob Smith

Hi Brett,

Everything went very well and we were both very pleased with the trip. Moving camps was a very good option as they are very different indeed and as you fly from one lodge to another during the big lunch break you get to do the morning activity at first camp and afternoon activity at second. And a flying safari in the middle! Which given the landscapes and views is extremely pleasant.

I thought the combination of land, full water and mixed camp was ideal. One night in Xugana was sufficient given this is where you see the least game although it is extremely peaceful and pleasant.

I think Savute had the most game but other guests said that Chobe park had bigger density of game. But i guess these are things one just cannot predict.

Camp managers at Xugana took care of everything with the light air issue, so it was no stress at all. Actually everything went extremely smoothly.

Thanks again, it was great
Fabrice

Fabrice visited Savute Safari Lodge, Xugana Island Lodge and Kanana Camp.

Hi Brett,

I arrived home Sat, after a truly amazing holiday. Thank you for all of your effort and attention to datails.

Many thanks, Corinne

Corinne visited Chobe Game Lodge, Shinde Camp and Savute Safari Lodge.

Dear Brett,

We had a fabulous trip and the camps were absolutely wonderful. Our favourites were Camp Moremi and Savute Safari Lodge because we saw the best animals. The other two camps, Camp Okavango and Chobe Savanna Lodge were equally beautiful and the staff there delightful, but they were not really what we wanted for our animal viewing. Both camps seemed much more suitable for relaxing and drinking cocktails by the pool. We much preferred the safari vehicles and seeing big stuff and we just loved driving for hours and hours spotting all sorts of wildlife.

We hope that in the very near future, perhaps next year, we can do another safari. We were thinking of Tanzania.

We took many photos and will send you some soon.

Best wishes,
Julian, Maggie and Bonny.

Dear Brett

The Victoria Falls and the Chobe Park were just outstanding, a real highlight! We booked a helicopter flight which is the best way to visit the falls

The Royal Livingstone is a top adress for those who can afford it. Very nice and clean rooms and a great place to be. Food is good and service is friendly

Slightly below, but still very nice is the Chobe Game Lodge. Beautiful location, very nice view, nice rooms, etc. The park is a jewel and I will never forget all the elephants, crocodiles, etc. in this magnificant landscape

The only negative with both hotels/lodges is if you eat "a la carte" it takes extremely long!

Everything went well. Thanks for the good organisation

Thierry

Hi Brett,

Hope all is well. Just a note to let you know we had a fantastic time, all went well everyone was there to transfer us to our various destinations. Thorntree River Lodge, was thoroughly enjoyable, the managers Lindsay and Nevin were extremely friendly and helpful and good fun. Saw 6 hippos the first night 30 metres from our hut grazing on the lawn. Great start to our trip.

Thoroughly enjoyed the elephant safari was one of the highlights! Safari into Chobe was interesting, the river was beautiful, saw stacks of animals. We were really please that you sent us to Camp Shawu we had the place to ourselves, Juluka our guide was fantastic we learnt so much from him, Saw plenty of wildlife, saw lions 3 times (saw them eating the buffalo that they had killed overnight) we saw the outline of 2 leopards lounging in a tree after they had killed a impala (which was hanging in another tree) as it was getting dark.

For future reference seeing as you didn't know anything about Buhala Lodge it was very nice, right on the banks of the Ccrocodile River great food and service and the other guests staying there who went on game drives into Kruger saw just as much game and sometimes more than what we did. It is also the only lodge at the moment that allows guests to play golf at Leopard Creek which I have to tell you is absolutely fantastic and extremely very private. All in all a fantastic holiday, Africia has so much to offer and I would like to thank you again for all your help and guidance I will definately use your services again if we get back there(which we would love to do)

Cheers andf thank you.
Louise

Hi Brett,

The Safari was fantastic. There were no hitches and all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The camps were all that we expected with great service, good food and facilities just right for a bush experience. The guides and trackers on our drives were superb. They were very knowledgeable about the bush, birds and animals and were the making of the trip.

The transfers (with Moremi air) went smoothly. Our only problem was with Air Botswana- they overbooked our return flight from Maun to Jhb and put 20 of us on a small plane instead! Not part of your booking though.

So all in all, we are completely satisfied. Thanks for your assistance.

Regards
John Rose

The Rose Group visted Kwara Camp and Kwando Lagoon Camp in Botswana.

Great Safaris Brett.

The Savanna Lodge is on the Namibia side of the river so we had to go thru their passport office. Quiet an experience. The Lodge itself is small and feels like family. All the guests eat at one large table. Very knowageable staff, and guides are great. Especially Gibson who knew the names of every bird on the river. Game Lodge was much more up-scale and very, very nice. The food was excellent. Accommodations of both lodges were very good.

Thanks for your help.
Wonderful experience.
Kay Arrington

The Arrington's visited Chobe Savanna Lodge and Chobe Game Lodge located on the Namibian and Botswana side of the Chobe River.

One of the ladies that I have helped with safari's on two previous occasions was in South Africa recently and requested a a 4 night safari in the Kruger. Read her feedback below. Sally visited Nottens Bush Camp and Kings Camp.

Hi Brett,

Just flew in this morning and now back at work which has not thrilled me at all!

My safari went well. The transfers all worked very well. Nottens is a lovely little place, not so fancy as some of the other camps but the family are absolutely delightful and very welcoming. The one down side, and it is an important point, is that the giude I had there is the first guide I have had who seemed largely disinterested in really tracking down animals for us to see or imparting much knowledge to us or even really chatting or smiling with us at all. Given that every guide I have had everywhere else has bent over backwards to make the experience totally fantastic the contrast was very noticeable. I thought this was a real shame as all the other people working there were really great.

Kings Camp is, as you know, very elegant and colonial and the guides and trackers were second to none. There doesn't appear to anything like the amount of game wandering around at this time of year as September / October, but I had great lion and leopard sightings. So I had a great time Brett, thanks for your help with the organisation.

I have to say that of the two locations Botswana is definitely now my favourite, but this doesn't mean that Kruger isn't totally enjoyable. I also prefer the tented camp lodges so will bear this in mind next time I do safari. I do hope you are well and had a good Easter, it was great to finally meet you in Cape Town and I am sure we will speak again soon.

Kindest regards,
Sally

Renate,

I so enjoyed the vacation portion of my visit to S. Africa. You all were such a big help! My safaris were great fun and I saw many animals! I even saw Southern Right Whales near Hermanus. Thanks again, You and Brett were wonderful.

Best,
Alicia

Alicia visited Gomo Gomo and Elephant Plains as well the Coachhouse and Blyde River Canyon Lodge.

Hi Brett,

We have had a fantastic holiday at all three places. The country and the people were just like a garden of Eden and we have come back with such wonderful memories.

We would like to thank you for your advice about which camps to stay in and in which order. We were very impressed with all the arrangements you had made on our behalf, everything went very smoothly. We saw lots of animals and birds despite the fact it was low season.

This was our first safari holiday and such a good experience that we would not hesitate to use you again.

With our very best wishes and kind regards,
Martin and Jeanette Shipley

Martin and Jeanette visited Savute Safari Lodge, Kanana and Shinde Camp in Botswana.

Thank you for the email Renate.

I had been meaning to drop you a line to say thank you very much for organising the trip for us. We had a really super time, loved King's Camp (everyone was very professional and friendly).

We are both now back in dreary wet Ireland dreaming of sunny South Africa!

If we decide to do another Safari in the future we will definitely book through you and will also recommend your company to any friend or colleagues should they be looking to take a trip to South Africa.

Thanks again
Jane

Thank you very much for suggesting and arranging our trip to Idwala. From the moment we arrived at PE airport to our departure everything was fantastic.

Idwala is a very small lodge but has a very big heart. From the time we were met at reception we were made to feel like friends and not guests.  

Everything was great, from the chalets (we were in Elephant which overlooked the waterhole) to all of the staff, the food was wicked - have still not ventured onto the scales!! Our ranger, Frank, was very knowledgeable and went out of his way to find animals for us on our last morning after the previous evenings drive was cancelled due to torrential rain.

It was very hard to leave Idwala.

Kind regards,
Pat Sauvarin & Gene Rowe

Hi Brett,

Thanks for your email. I had intended to contact you but have been travelling en-route to St Helena and not had an opportunity.

The safari went extremely well and every aspect was weel organised and co-ordinated. Thank you for your assisitance. The camps were all great and we dont really have any criticisms but if we were to do it again, we might opt for only one night at Camp Okavango. While the camp itself was great, the safari opportunities are a bit restricted in the wet season and we would have preferred another night at any of the other camps. Nevertheless, the safari was an unforgetable experience that went without as hitch.

Thanks again.

John and Judi.

John and Judi visited Meno a Kewna, Camp Okuti, Camp Okavango and Savute Safari Lodge.

Hello Brett,

A quick hello to let you know we arrived home safe and sound but very tired! ( 27hours to Vancouver from Savanna Camp). Just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful trip, and that the package you put together for us was terrific! For a first time trip to Africa, it gave us a great overview. The accommodations were great, the connections all worked out, Steven Muller was great, and the camps were way beyond our expectations!

I will recommend your services to any of my friends that would like to visit South Africa. Thank-you for organizing the Lounge at the Joberg airport, much appreciated. Thank-you for such a wonderful African experience!

Cheers,
Byron and Leslie Thorson

The Thorson's and Garfinkle's stayed at Xigera, The River Club, VA Hotel, The Franschhoek, Phantom Forest, Kings Camp and Savanna Tented Lodge

I recently assisted in arranging an educational for a journalist from Northen Ireland, in conjunction with Classic Retreats, to Samara Private Game Reserve, and Blaauwbosch Game Reserve.

Juliet:

Just a note to say that we had the most magical time at both reserves and to thank yourselves and Brett for making the arrangements.

I am now working my way through interviews with Andrew McNaughton - a retired Karoo farmer whom we met at dinner at Samara - and the Head Ranger there, Les Slabbert, both of whom were enormously helpful, and knowledgeable. I also got a detailed and fascinating interview with Craig Cullingworth.

When I have got my head around all this during the next few days I'll come back to you about making arrangements re an interview with Mr Tompkins.

Regards and thanks.
George Hamilton

Hi Brett

Had an excellent time at Notten's thank you. The staff had all worked there for a very long time and it was a real family business.

I had a lovely room overlooking the plain in front of the lodge.  

On the first night I was there I was the only 'official' guest however, there were 4 friends of David Notten's visiting them. 2 of them were ex rangers so it was very interesting. One of them owns part of the company 'Eco Training' which looks very interesting. He gave me their brochure in case I'm interested in it in the future.

I only saw 1 male lion but saw a female leopard, briefly, and a male leopard (photo attached). Unfortunately when we saw the male leopard it was raining and getting dark so the photos weren't great but it was still really good to see him.  

All the other game viewings were really good too. The ranger had worked there for 21 years so really knew his stuff!

The food was really good and I had a massage in my room. I definitely prefer these smaller lodges where you are looked after very well. David Notten and his wife, Mia, were very friendly.

The only down side to it was not nearly getting there. That was a real nightmare. Did you hear anything from SAA about it? (Basically SAA just changed their scheduled without advising us - Brett).

Kind regards Caley

Hi Brett

We have only just returned to Australia. Thank you for booking Motswari for us. We had the most wonderful stay there! From the warm and friendly welcome to the really comfortable rooms, the delicious food presented with such pride to the enthusiasm of the ranger and his tracker, all details making a happy and carefree stay were attended to. Motswari fits so beautifully into the surrounding bush and Steve and Kathy do an excellent job providing a good ambience. We have been to the greater Kruger many times but each experience is different and this will go down as one of the best as we had wonderful game viewings and memorable evenings around the fire in the boma.

King regards
Jenny

Hi Brett

We returned yesterday from our trip to South Africa and had a fantastic time. All the aspects of the trip that you organised were great, thank you so much for everything. We particularly liked Tanamera which was a great location with stunning views.

Motswari was also a fantastic lodge which I would highly recommend - everyone at the lodge was so welcoming and made the stay so enjoyable. The transfers all happened on time which was great and everything was exactly as you said it would be. Thanks again for organising such a fantastic trip for us. I will have no hesitation in recommending your company to friends and family.

Best Regards, Karen Goulding

We had a great time. The camps were very good and the combination was excellent, with mokoro’s (lovely experience through those quiet marshes) and walking safaris’ at Kwetsani (but relatively little game) and fascinating game drives at Duba (amazing interaction between the lions and buffalos – and such interesting, albeit sad stories about that lion pride).

The camp at Duba was probably slightly prettier, but I would note the staff at Kwetsani were better trained/more client orientated. Staff at Duba were fine, but for instance quite noisy during siesta time. The guides in both camps were very good and helpful. We did find my Pel’s right inside Kwetsani! Thanks for your suggestions - I think we made the right changes given Xigera’s closure (although we did hear very good things about Xigera and Little Vum as well..).

Peter

Brett

Thanks for organising our first trip to South Africa. We had a wonderful trip and your directions to all destinations were very well documented. We love South Africa and we are sure what we have only seen the tips of the iceberg.

We were lucky to see all 5 top animals plus 3 Cheetahs. We were very happy with all accommodation even though at Tangala there was no electricity. But the food at Tangala is lovely. Next time we will like to stay inside Kruger National Park.

Thanks again Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2008. Cheers Soon

Thanks for your mail Renate.

We had a truly memorable holiday in Gomo Gomo. The camp had all the facilities as described. Our ranger Jacques was knowledgeable and made every effort to cater for our particular interests. Our tracker Andries was clearly very experienced and got us to see all the big 5, including lions mating !
Camp staff generally very friendly and made us welcome and comfortable. Food was of a good standard, not overly fancy, but well presented and satisfying. Drinks reasonably priced.

Last but by no means least, the weather was not too hot - 26-30 - so we were able to enjoy our days without heat exhaustion !

For two of our three children this was their first trip to Africa and the bush - they were overwelmed and excited, and the trip worked perfectly for all five of us.
Thanks
Alasdair

Alasdiar and family visited Gomo Gomo Game Lodge in the Timbavati, Kruger.

 

Hi Brett,

 

We arrived back in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 11th...

Wwe are still going through jet-lag.  Overall, it was a perfect trip...we would love to come back...almost every moment, I still feel like I'm in Africa on the safari...excellent experience...wish that we had more time because it was truly a remarkable experience and didn't want it to end.

 

The transfers were perfect...the staff gentle, kind and caring to our needs...

Thorntree was great,....great fish to eat the first night. It was   the best fish I had throughout the whole trip....wish that we had more time at Victoria Falls...it was awesome to hear the Smoke that Thunders. 

 

The rain came hard, after the elephant ride, and the generator went out , and our room was flooded.  Around 6pm, the staff helped us move to a different room. 

 

Camp Moremi was awesome...we saw giraffes, leopard, lion and her pride eating a wildabeast, honey badger, baboons, zebra, kudo, impalas, hippos, and more.  Our guide, Willie was outstanding.  On the last day, we got very close to the elephants and they started to charge us.  Needless to say, it was the climax of the trip.  Willie was great in handling everything.  

 

I feel like I could write pages and pages of this awesome journey, but for now, will close with a big thank you for putting the safari adventure together.

Africa is now a part of me.

 

All for now,

Ann (and Tony too) 

 

Hi Brett !

 

This was a huge experience for us all ! Thank you very much in helping us realizing our dream. The safari was perfect, the location without fences was perfect, the houses was perfect, the food was perfect and the rangers and staff were perfect.

 

Thank you!

 

Kind reagards Kari and our family.

 

Kari's family visited Motswari Safari Lodge in the Greater Kruger Park.

Hello Brett,

 

Just got back from SA yesterday night after a few amazing weeks! Thank you for checking with us about the Motswari Safari! We had a wonderful time and could not be happier! Lots of game (big five several time + +) wonderful staff, good food etc.

 

Must admit that the safari experience was beyond our expectations, truly breathtaking!

 

Would like to check with you if you know about a nice camp in the area around Durban more precisely in the Kwa-Zulu-Natal, or Eshowe area.

 

We need to go to this area and was thinking that we maybe could combine with a safari again. Probably next Christmas!

 

Look forward to hearing from you!

 

Best regards,
Silje

Hi Brett,

 

Kevin and I arrived home safe and sound on Sunday, December 16^th.  We had an amazing honeymoon – South Africa is absolutely beautiful! We have lots of good things to say about our time in South Africa.  Steve was a fantastic private tour guide. He was extremely knowledgeable, on time and worked with our schedule.  Mardouw Country House was absolutely beautiful – we had no idea what to expect and when we arrived we were in aw.  The suite was amazing, the food was so delightful and the property was awesome.  We had such a great time there.  The Franschoek was also very nice and we had a great time on our wine tour.  Savanna Tented lodge was very beautiful – we had a great time at the lodge and on the safari runs.  Sam our guide did an amazing job locating animals and making sure we got to see everything. The service at all of the places was great.  Overall it was a terrific trip and we can't stop talking about it.  We are recommending this trip to all of our friends since we had such an amazing time.    

 

We do have a few recommendations; since it was our first time in South Africa it would have been a nice gesture to hear from you to make sure that everything was okay. Steve did ask us every time we saw him but perhaps some of your clients might feel the same and would like to hear from you once on the trip.  The Primi Sea Castle was nice but not what we expected for our first hotel on our honeymoon – it was more of a self serving place than a luxury boutique hotel experience. 

 

We thank you for setting up an amazing honeymoon and we will remember this trip forever.  Hope the feedback above helps you.

 

Thanks again!

Deana

 

As regards keeping in touch with our guests while they are on holiday SUNSAFARIS always Meets & Greets guests in Cape Town or in JHB, but from now on, in addition will make a courtesy call during the safari or holiday to ensure everything is running according to plan.

 

We constantly strive to improve our service and appreciate constructive comments like Deanna's above.

Hi Brett,

 

I just wanted to thank you for helping us plan such an AMAZING trip.  This was a once in a lifetime experience, and we had such an incredible time.  I also really appreciated all your last minute help with the chaos of missing our connection.  But, that will give us an excuse to return to do a trip to Capetown one day and do another safari!  I will be recommending this trip to EVERYONE I know and strongly encouraging them to enlist your help!  

 

Thanks again for all your help!  If you ever need a referral from any client in the states, they can always email me, and I will give you a glowing report of excellent customer service and planning and AWESOME trip!

 

Best,

Cori

 

Cori and her husband visited Kwara Camp, Kwando Lebala and Songwe Village.

Hi Brett,

Happy New Year!

Thanks for everything.  Xigera was amazing (favourite camp!) - ace staff, setting and even game.

Little Vumbra was slightly more commercial but still amazing.  Both camps were superb!

Islands of Siankaba were beautiful too.  Much better than Royal Livingstone which we visited.

Thanks for everything Brett - we will recommend you.

best, Matt

Hi Brett,

 

We had a wonderful time at Motswari.

 

I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it.

 

The quality of the service was 1^st rate from start to finish.  The staff take a genuine interest in their guests and really help to make you feel welcome.

 

The game viewing was also excellent and the knowledge and amiability of our ranger made the drives special.  It was also refreshing to have the management dine with you around the camp fire of an evening, we heard some wonderful tales of encounters with wild animals whilst also gaining an insight into how the reserve integrates with local communitites.

 

Thanks for your assistance in arranging a wonderful start to our honeymoon.

 

Regards,

 

Kelvin

 

I assisted a couple with their safari plans to Motswari Safari Lodge in the Greater Kruger Park. Read their feedback below:

Hi Brett

We returned from South Africa a few days ago and are now looking at snow and -25c temperatures, quite a change. I cannot tell you what an amazing time we had on our trip. South Africa was all we imagined and SO much more. Our time at Motswari was exactly what we wanted. As neophites to the whole safari thing we were smiling the whole time. The accomodation was classy but relaxed. The location was perfect. The food enjoyable. The greatest plus there is the people. They were so friendly and like family and we immedietly felt at home. Our guide and tracker on the twice daily drives were very understanding and knowledgable. We told them this was our first time and they didn't act at all bored though in hindsight having to stop for impala all the time that first drive must have made them chuckle as we saw them so much through the coming days. We tracked leopards and rhino through the bush. We saw a large group of elephants bathing. Lions and snakes and giraffe all right close to the vehicle.

I would really recommend them to people who want that small group feeling.

Thanks for arranging our time there. I have attached a couple of pics. My husband Jon is in the middle with a German and Brazilian couple who were our safari buddies.

All the best Hilary Eade

Renate recently assisted an Austrian couple with their South Africa and Botswana holiday and safari plans. Read their feedback below:

Dear Renate,

Dear Brett,

 

now we are back at home from our trip to South Africa and Botswana and I would like to say thank you for all your efforts.

Everything was perfect organised and your recommendations for the accommodations were great!

We spent an unforgettable time on our safari trips in SA and Botswana and learned a lot about animals, plants and last but not least the culture.

 

Many thanks again and we’ll come back to you by our next trip.

 

With a lot of greetings from Vienna (sunny but with snow)

Elisabeth & Wolfgang

 

Elisabeth and Wolfgang visited Ezard House in Cape Town, Phantom Forest in Knysna, Bushmans River Lodge in the Eastern Cape, Exeter Dulini Safari Lodge in the Kruger, Tanamera and Kwetsani in the Okavango Delta.

 

I recently assisted a US guest with her safari to the Ngala Safari Lodge in the Greater Kruger Park. Read her feedback below:

Thank you for taking care of this and your professionalism.  The trip was wonderful.  Again, thank you for helping make it all happen.  Kind regards, JILL

Brett assisted an Irish couple with a short Garden Route Safari. Read their feedback below:

Hi Brett,

Safari was excellent, Our lodge at Eagles Cragg was fantastic, our guide Franz was great with really good knowledge of all the animals, insects, trees, flowers even the stars.. I'm not kidding this guy was amazing....

We had a great time, thanks for your help...

Regards,

Derek O'Brien

Brett assisted a US couple with their safari plans to South Africa and Botswana. Read their feedback below.

The trip exceeded our expectations.  You did a great job.

Tanda Tula was a perfect place to start.  It could be a Relais et Chateau if they wanted.  Wonderful staff, great food, imaginative management.  My only concern was that it was almost impossible to personally be active- everything was done for us.  Highly recommended for a first place to visit.

Camp Moremi was almost the same - great staff, good food, good game.  I think having only one night there meant we had less opportunity to get to know the people and the place, which was unfortunate. (Unfortunately the Smith's flight with Air Botswana to Maun was delayed so they missed their connecting light air transfers into Camp Moremi and so had to overnight in Maun, otherwise they would have spent 2 nights at Camp Moremi - Brett)

Camp Okavango was our favorite - great to be able to go on long guided game walks (saw 14 lions on foot) and spend casual time on the water.  We wished we could stay longer. Some people might not like Okavango as much- you are much more involved with nature there (fabulous birds too) and there are risks that some people don’t like- i.e. being far from ‘civilization’, snakes, animals while you are on foot. 

Frankly, when we went to Cape Town it was a lovely city but no match for these camps in the bush.

My wife is already talking about returning to Africa- perhaps not such a luxurious trip next time- and seeing Mozambique, or Namibia, or north to Zambia.

Thanks for all your hard work

Steve Smith

Hi Brett,

Arathusa was absolutely fantastic !!!

The accomodation and food was excellent, the safari's were also great. We saw leopard and lion at 3 different times, and cheetah once , besides all the other game of course.

Thank you so much booking us in there at such short notice, and I certainly would not hesitate in recommending Arathusa to anybody who wants to have a fantastic South African safari experience.

Once again thank you for all your help.

Brett recently asssisted a repeat guest from the UK with her safari in Botswana. See her feedback below:

Dear Brett,

I had an extraordinary time in Botswana, really wonderful. All the camps were fantastic, all with thier own character. You were right about moving to three different areas of Botswana - the scenery was quite different in each place, so it enhanced the experience.

And the view from the air whilst flying in between each camp was breathtaking...and I had a swim in the Delta on the last day which was very exhilerating! The Royal Livingstone is the most beautiful place to stay - the location is perfect and I felt like I had stepped back in time. Thank you yet again for all your help.

Kindest Regards,

Sally visited The Royal Livingstone Hote at Victoria Falls, Savuti Camp in the Savuti Channel, Little Vumbura in the northern Okavango Delta and Jacana in the heart of the Okavango Delta.

Brett assisted a US Mother and Daughter with a short safari to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Read their feedback below.

Dear  Brett,
 
Hannah and I had an awesome time at Baine's Camp. The staff were wonderful, the food was outstanding and the wildlife superb.  I highly recommend a visit to the Okavango Delta for anyone!  It is truly an amazing place. 
 
Thanks for arranging everything for us!
Jeanne 

Brett assisted an Irish couple with a 2 week holiday through South Africa. Read their feedback below.

 

Hi Brett,

 

Just wanted to send you a big thank you for aiding us in what turned out to be a holiday of a lifetime in amazing South Africa.

 

This holiday far exceeded our expectations in every regard. All the accommodations and placed we visited were top notch and we left everywhere feeling as if we were leaving family members behind especially on Safari and in Blyde River Canyon Lodge.

 

Primi Lodge was excellent, as was Ocean's 11 and Avondrood in Franchhoek.. 

 

Also it was great to know that we had the backup of someone to call if we cannot follow simple directions...

 

I can't recommend Chapungu enough especially Estiann our guide who is one cool dude and a superb guide. Got quality viewing of all 5 big ones and witnessed a stalk, hunt, kill and devouring of impala by lions. Also the off roading ability was tremendous. Strongly recommend him to your clients!!!

 

Shonga was a little disappointing in that you cannot off road in Kruger but this disappointment was purely down to being spoilt in Chapungu. However it was an excellently run safari lodge with quality food and attention to our needs.

 

We will definitely be coming back and will recommend you and South Africa to everybody we know...

 

Thanks for all your help.  

Regards

Colm & Clare

Brett assisted a couple arrange a 5 night safari at Savanna Tented Lodge and Tanda Tula in the Greater Kruger Park. Read their feedback below:

Brett

We had a fantastic time, everything was well organized and we thoroughly enjoyed both locations…Thanks for your work in making this a great holiday. And heres hoping SA can do it at the RWC……for the southern Hemisphere

Brad

Lance assisted one of our regular guests (who loves safaris as much as we do!) on a safari through Kenya. Read her feedback below.

Hi Lance

I had an amazing time thanks. It didn't make any difference at all being by myself.

Amboseli was really good. The camp was about a 3.5 hour drive but as I was there by 11 in the morning this was definitely the best way to get there. The camp itself was very nice and quiet and in the middle of nowhere. On my first night a giraffe visited me outside my tent. I could see it stop outside as I hadn't closed the blinds! The food was wonderful. I'm not sure how they prepared it in a tent! The staff were all really nice. Our guide, Emmanuel, was very good and on the first day we visited the nearby Masai village. This wasn't too touristy as I think the only people that visited were from Porini Camp. Got to throw a Masai spear which is a lot harder then it looks! Amboseli itself was absolutely abundant with animals. It was amazing to see so many different species of animals in one area at the same time. Saw lion and a big herd of elephants, hyena + all the usual animals there. The only thing was it was about an hour to drive there from the camp. You did see some animals on the way though.

I was glad that I flew from Amboseli/ Nairobi and then to the Mara. I got to Porini Lion airstrip at about 11.00 however, some Americans who were at the first camp and who were driven to Nairobi and then got a flight didn't get there until 4.30. Luckily I caught the connecting flight though as my flight was late from Amboseli and I had to go straight across the tarmac where they were boarding the flight to the Mara. After landing we went on a drive on the way to Lion Porini. Straight away we saw a big hippo grazing, then we saw a cheetah and cub (unfortunately the cub was killed by the lions the next day although I didn't see this), then a pride of lions and herds and herds of wildebeest and this was even before we got to the camp! The camp was similar to Amboseli Porini but the tent etc were slightly better and the staff even more attentive. Our guide was John, a Masai, and he really looked after us. We saw quite a few cheetah, lions, a wildebeest crossing, a leopard very briefly as it came down a tree and many more animals. I decided to do a hot air balloon trip and this was really amazing. We saw a big male lion, female lions, giraffes, wildebeest, the pilot saw a cheetah but our eyes weren't so good! Again the food was really good.

After lunch on the Sunday John drove me to Governors Camp. I only had 1/2hr before going on my first drive. My guide was Joseph and I shared the jeep with another couple who arrived the day before. Again we saw a lot of animals including lion, cheetah and on the last morning we eventually managed to see a leopard on the move which was really good. The guide hadn't seen one in a month so I think we were pretty lucky. Also saw another wildebeest crossing. Unfortunately, the day I got there a fire started nearby and this got worse and worse over the next couple of days. It was quite smoky and obviously the animals were quite disturbed. Governors was good but I wouldn't see it matched it's very high reputation. There was nothing wrong with it but what I found strange was that everyone sat at their own tables. I was therefore supposed to sit by myself but luckily the couple I was with invited me to join them. Also the evening drive finished at 6 so there were no sundowners. You only saw the guide on the safaris so there was a lot less personal attention. The place itself and the surroundings and food were lovely though. On the last morning I saw dwarf and banded mongoose in the grounds which was interesting. On the first night elephants visited the camp. I heard them and saw the destruction the next morning but didn't see them!

My flight back to Nairobi was fine. The only problem was that my transfer was not there to meet me. After about 1/2hr safarilink contacted them and they came and picked me up. Luckily I had loads of time to spare.

Overall I would definitely say that Porini Lion was the best camp as you could drive round the conservancy it was in plus the Mara. The staff were all really nice and the camp was conveniently located.

Thanks very much for organising my trip. Brett is now sorting out my next one, probably to Botswana.

Kind regards

Caley

Renate recently assisted a gentleman from the USA with a walking safari itinerary. As luck would have it, both Renate and Charene were booked on the same safari as an educational, so they all got to know each other very well over the 3 night itinerary! Read Glenn's feedback below:

Brett assisted a German couple on a short 3 night safari at the Thornybush Game Reserve in South Africa. These guests dates were set as they had already booked their stay in the Kruger National Park. If guests are self driving through the Park, then they should aim to visit the private reserves afterwards as opposed to before their own self drive safari. Read their feedback below:

Hi Brett,

I've never been better - except for I had to leave Africa the day before yesterday!

Our stay at Chapungu was absolutely perfect. We have to thank you a lot for offering us this lodge. We had the best time. Extremely nice people (the whole staff was very helpful but also relaxed and easy-going... you know?). The guides (ranger, as they call them) and the Tracker did an extraordinary good job and helped us to experience their world of wonders. They shared theit substantial knowledge about all the surroundings with us so that I had the feeling of learning a lot about. We had the chance to see so much wildelife so close that for me, as a European who is not used to so much wildlife, it was unbelievable. The service in the lodge was very good. All the facilities, the rooms: perfect. I don't need more luxury then this.

The food (for me as a vegetarian) was not perfect but good. No real complains about this.

Our stay in Chapungu made our stay in the Krüger Park itself looking a bit small and less adventurous. Next time I would do it the other way round. First going to the National Park by myself, then enjoying the professionality of a private game reserve.
But anyway... thanks again for helping us to find this perfect place! I can recommend Chapungu to everybody else without restrictions.

Best regards,

Lisa.

Brett assisted a couple from the USA with a safari through Botswana in September. Read their feedback below.

Hi Brett,

We arrived home last night from England but I wanted to get an e-mail off to you.

 

Thank you again for all  your hard work in planning our Safari. We had an amazing time and Steve has been working on his computer since we arrived home. He is so excited about our photos.

 

I thought I would write to you and give you our feelings about some of our experiences.

 

Duba Camp was great. We arrived for an afternoon ride. That morning, a pride of lions took down two adult and one baby buffalo. They said that had not happend in several years. We were able to see the pride feeding on their kill. Because of the kill, all the buffalo were gone. We never did see any buffalo at any of our camps. The tents at Duba are very nice and it is a well run camp.

 

We liked Sandibe also. They were very sweet there and our last night they surprised us by putting candles all over our room and setting up a private  dining table there for us. I am sure you had something to do with that. We did not like the Nxebega Camp. We felt that the tent was a bit too primative. We also were not particularly happy with our ranger there.

 

Our favorite camp was Savuti. The accommodations were fantastic. The tent was wonderful. I liked the elevated walkways. The watering holes right in camp made for some fabulous animal viewing. Our ranger there, Thuso, was the best. He really seemed to make and extra effort to view animals and he was so knowledgable and informative.

 

Steve and I both feel that Wilderness Safaris do a better job overall. If we were ever to go on Safari again, I would only book camps that they run.  Every aspect of their camps seemed to be a step up from the CC Africa camps.

 

Victoria Falls was interesting. The hotel was lovely. We took a day lunch trip to Livingstone Island and we did the small boat ride at sunset the next day. All was fine with our visas and we didn't have to pay extra costs. Several people we met at camps had to pay for visas. One couple had to pay $100 per person to get through immigration.

 

You can let future guests know that the craft market near the falls is a great place to stock up on gifts to take back home to family and friends. We brought home some lovely wooden bowls and annimal carvings. They were happy to take US dollars.

 

Aside from a couple of our inter camp flights being a couple of hours late, the schedules of getting from camp to camp were perfectly arranged. The bush pilots were terrific. I am not crazy about small aircraft but it was interesting, flying from camp to camp. I don't know how they schedule people all leaving on different days, going to different camps. We really do appreciate all the hard work you must have done to schedule our trip.

 

Thanks again for all your hard work. We loved our tripand it was truly a life changing experience.

 

Adria and Steve August

 

Renate recently assisted a British couple with their Safari In Madikwe Game Reserve. Read their feedback below.

Hi Renate,

Thank you so much for arranging our trip to Madikwe Game Reserve. We just arrived back in England this afternoon after a marvellous vacation, not least of which was the absolutely fantastic visit to Thakadu River Camp. We are now busy recommending the lodge (and your company) to all our friends, and we will certainly try to visit again in the future. Special thanks also to the guys from Waterberg Transfers who waited patiently for the TWO HOURS it took for us to get through passport control at Jo'burg - not everything can run smoothly, I guess

Once again, many thanks to yourself and Brett.

Rob and Debbie Rimmer

Brett recently assisted an American and Irish couple plan their honeymoon to Botswana and Zambia. read their feedback below.

Hi Brett

Here are a few more detailed comments that hopefully you will find helpful:
 
Sandibe:
All of the staff were fantastic. Guides were brilliant (ours was Katembo, James was the tracker).  We saw a LOT of game here.  Cheetah, Leopards, 2 male lions, lioness and her cub, elephants (running through the water and a group of 4 even charged the truck at one point!), hyena, etc.  The game really was excellent.  At the night drive we even saw a wild cat and a serval.  The game viewing was simply outstanding.  Food was all very good, the staff was very accommodating (we skipped the first morning game drive and they brought us breakfast at the room at 830, champagne and private dining in the room our last night, etc).  They just did everything right.  Management was there if you needed them, they introduced themselves and you saw them around during the day but they didn't constantly try to talk to you, which we thought was the right approach to take.  Rooms were perfect, clean, etc.  Definitely our favorite and we were very glad we stayed 3 nights here. 
 
Jao:  Already mentioned the lodge, disappointing breakfast, worms, not being romantic, mgmt over-attention.  There were high points to be fair.  The activities were great.  The guide was very knowledgable.  First evening we did a game drive and had a sun-downer.  Saw lions the first day and a lot of nice birds, and a small croc in the water.  Day 2 we woke up, did a game drive as we made our way to Kwetsani where we got on the speedboat, flying through the narrow reed-lined waterway to the island where Tubu Tree camp is.  Got on a truck, did a game drive there and saw 2 leopards feeding on an impala among other things.  Relaxed at Tubu Tree for a bit, then made our way back to Jao in the afternoon.  We did the makoro ride in the evening which was relaxing and enjoyable.  Day 3 in the morning we got on the boat again and went through some of the larger channels which was fun, and saw some locals on their makoros fishing.  We talked to them for a bit and they gave us 3 Bream which the camp cooked up for us for lunch before we departed, which was a nice touch.  We definitely enjoyed the activities, and they made us forget about what we disliked about the camp itself while we were out, but I think you can get the same experience for the activities at Kwetsani as you mention (and I'm assuming Kwetsani is cheaper than Jao...).    We liked the contrast of the setting (water-based) when compared to Sandibe.  As you told me, it was very different and nice to be in such a different setting.  One other thing about Jao we didnt' like was that we were in the LAST cabin on the walkway, which we were told is a whopping 0.5km from the main camp area.  That got old, especially after dinner and drinks in the evening.
 
Savute Elephant Camp:  Very unique.  Tent overlooked the watering hole.  Facilities were all fantastic.  You were far enough away from the neighboring tents to have privacy, but not miles away like Jao.  And the tents had Air conditioning, which was VERY welcome!  The food was very good here as well, and although they coudln't do private dining due to recent animal activities (leopards, wild dogs in camp) they did set a special table up for us right at the edge of the drop to have very good viewings of the elephants while we ate.  The management were great (Wayne and Sandy I think were their names), which we think were new to that camp (not real sure though).  We were getting a little tired of game drives at this point, and it was very dry there, but we kept seeing things that kept our interest.  Wild Dogs during the day (which is very rare - so rare that the guide made us leave our tea and the table, etc, jump in the jeep immediately, as we gave chase!), lions, leopards, giraffe, ostrich, and obviously huge hoards of elephants.   2 nights here was enough for us, but we definitely enjoyed it.  They did mention that Sept wasn't the peak season for game viewing, but it was still good.  The one thing that was noticeably different at Savute vs. the other 2 is that it was not a private concession -- we missed being able to drive wherever you wanted to drive...but we still had great viewing angles of the game.  They actually lost their generator the day we were leaving, but they were working very hard to get a new one flown in, etc, and we saw how the management were dealing with newly-arriving guests and were very impressed with how upfront they were and professional.  They also left a bottle of champagne in our room on DAy 2 after the morning game drive... 
 
Royal Livingstone - out of all the places I expected to be bug-free, this was it, but there were a decent number of mosquitos in the room each night.  The staff were accomodating, and gave us bug spray which helped us get the situation under control, so I'm not going to complain about the mosquitos...  The food was outstanding and reasonably priced (contrary to some reports we read on the internet).  The location is fabulous.  We loved being able to walk to the Falls at our leisure and not have to go with / pay for a tour.  The sunset Deck is great for a drink.  I really loved the bar also.  We would have liked to have had another night there to relax but we got to do everything we wanted.  The helicopter flight was very fun, especially since we got to sit in front...we even bought the cheesy $40 video...  We did the 30 minute flight which we enjoyed because you got to fly through the canyon, but the 15 minute flight would have left us just as happy as you get to see plenty of the falls in that amount of time.  We booked this through the hotel and flew with United Air Charter.  The lunch on Livinstone Island was fun, but unfortunately we left our swimming togs at left luggage at Jo'burg airport so coudln't go swimming which was unfortunate.  The food served on the Island was good.  The sunset cruise was relaxing but a little cheesy.   I think we would have enjoyed it more on the first night instead of after all of our activities.  It also came across a bit as a booze cruise, since you really didn't go very far at all, the snacks served were pretty bad, but they did serve drinks pretty promptly.  It would have been a lot less romantic had we not nabbed two great seats in a corner of the boat.  
 
Kasaka - Game viewing was surprisingly good here, which we didn't expect.  We were really tired of game drives at this point, obviously, but the scenery was again different and we had a night leopard sighting on the first drive, then the next morning we saw four lions eating an impala.  A leopard killed the impala, which was chased off by a hyena, which was then chased off by the 4 lions.  So we saw the lions chase the hyena off, and as one of our group looked around for the hyena as the lions were devouring the impala, he sees the leopard in a nearby tree.  So we saw all of these at the same time.  And I had been close to lions several times at this point, yet found the deep growling noises they were making a bit unnerving!  It was really the best lion encounter we had.  We did a canoe trip which was very relaxing and enjoyable, and saw an elephant in the river eating away.  It was cool to pass by the elephant as he was eating.   The fishing was great.  I ended up catching an 8 lb tiger fish on our first fishing trip!  The 2nd day we got to go out on the pontoon boat which was very relaxing and enjoyable, and I almost caught a big fish (30 lb or so) but the line broke.  The last morning we slept in.  The food wasn't as good as the Botswana camps but was still OK.  It wasn't an issue really because we enjoyed everything else there so well, and the private dining they set up for us was really nice (and the food served that night was very good).  We also liked the fact that the honeymoon tent was at the end of the footpath and had a nice outdoor bath overlooking the river.   I didn't like the big huge hairy spider that was in the bathroom but fortunately for me, my wife is not afraid of them so she killed it with my sandals.  No bugs in the tent at all, which really we found surprising.    The managers were Melany, Chris and her husband (whose name we can't remember now).  Chris is absolutely lovely.  
 
You clearly did a great job in helping us put together a tough itinerary on short notice, especially considering we were going in peak season. We really appreciated being at 4 camps, all of which were very different and unique. We also really appreciated that all of the transfers were taken care of and that everything ran smoothly. Also in the planning process I very much appreciated your responsiveness to all of my emails.
 
We are considering a trip to Namibia and South Africa (not sure when exactly), but you'll be the first person to know if we decide to come back. And I've already talked to someone at work that is going to Jo'burg for work and he wants to go to the Lower Zambezi...if he gets his business trip arranged, he'll be dropping you an email to help him arrange his trip.
 
Thanks again Brett. 

Jonathan

Brett recently assisted a French couple with a 20 day safari though South Africa. Read their feedback below.

Brett recently assisted a family celebrate two 20th wedding anniversary's at the Madikwe Game Reserve. Read the clients feedback below.

Hi Brett, 

We had a wonderful weekend.  The lodge was beautiful and the staff was friendly and helpful.  The lodge manager, Steven went out of his way to make our wedding anniversary a memorable event/weekend, everyday something different was planned.  All of us had an absolute wonderful time.  Thank you to you for recommending Madikwe Safari Lodge.

Thanks, Yolanda

Brett recently assisted two clients with a safari to nKaya Safari Lodge in the Thornybush Game Reserve. Read their feedback below:

Hallo Brett, our trip was really wonderfull. Andrea and me enjoyed it so much, specially to stay at nKaya with Bruce and Deidre. We felt very comfortable and the service was axcellent. We hadnt expected this comfortable lodge with this wonderful atmosphere. Also the food was excellent and Deidre did everything to fullfil the speciel diet for andrea.

Best regards

Regina

Brett assisted two ladies enjoy a safari in the Timbavati in the Greater Kruger Park. Read their feedback below.

Hi Brett

Gosh I am so sorry to only get back to you now. Things have been crazy since we got back from Tanda Tula. What an amazing experience, we had such a lovely time. The staff were very friendly and the accommodation was great. We were very lucky to get “Scotch” as our guide, and he really went out of his way to make sure we had a memorable time. The food was great, we were spoilt beyond words, and we saw lots of exciting animals. I can only really say that it was a truly unforgettable experience.

We will hopefully be booking another safari soon. Thanks again for all your help!

Kind Regards

Candice

Renate recently assisted the Gray Family with a 3 night safari on the Garden Route at Idwala Safari Lodge. Read their feedback below.

Idwala: Was Brilliant; everthying was 5 star, from day one and we saw each and every animal the venue had to offer. The rooms were amazing and we simply loved the décor. The staff were the most proffesional and the most friendly people we have ever met at any resort anywhere around the world. The food was excellent. The game drives were excellent, there were special requests to see animals in the evenings and the requests were granted. And "this is sure the place to visit with the family"

The package you put together for My inlaws was excellent, and they are already mentioning this to the rest of their family and friends, and you will sure get loads of business from them.

Idwala is still a non stop conversation topic and there is talk of the entire family visiting there in the future.

Regards Warren Gray

Renate from SUNSAFARIS recently assisted the The Fordham Family in planning a fantastic safari in the Timbavati and Sabi Sands in the Greater Kruger Park. Their booking consisted of 2 nights at Motswari Safari Lodge, 3 nights at Arathusa Safari Lodge and road & light aircraft transfers thorughtout. Read their feedback below:

 

Hello Brett and Renate,

 

I wanted to write to you today and thank you for arranging our holiday / safari in South Africa.

This was the first time we had ever tried out this type of holiday, and your input and guidance in helping to choose a tailor made' safari resulted in us having the most amazing and wonderful experience. 

 

Both the Motswari and Arathusa lodges were of the highest standard and faultless in every way. The people running each lodge were complete professionals and should be awarded the maximum praise.

 

Over the years, I have been fortunate to of travelled to many places in the world and experienced both leisure and cultural diversification, but never have I returned from any holiday and felt so privileged, content and gratified, than I did than when returning from South Africa.

 

Again, many, many thanks for all your efforts and we very much hope to repeat this wonderful experience next year.

 

Regards

 

Carl, Rachel and Max.

Brett recently arranged a safari for the Mouton family to the Kruger Park. Below is feedback on what turned out to be a fanatstic safari in terms of quality game viewing, especially the 4 cheetahs on an impala kill.