Renate recently assisted the Hayes family with their holiday in South Africa. Read their feedback below.
Hi, hope you are well, and ready for spring in the cape (which sounds far nicer than the oncoming winter in England!)
I was going to email you before, but things have been mad since I got back.
It was quite simply the best trip I have ever been on. The quality of the lodges was always great, and the distances between them about right, so there was always something interesting to, and even the driving around bits were interesting in their own right, as you can get a real feel for a place by being there, rather than being escorted and driven around.
My daughter loved the trip, and was particularly impressed by Isibindi Zulu Lodge, and Motswari. She liked the owl and the cats at Isibindi, plus the visit to the sangoma was very interesting to her. She liked Motswari because the staff were friendly, and she enjoyed meeting some of the other guest's children. She would like to complement you on all the choices, as she didn't want to leave each place. Having a swimming pool at each place, and going swimming nearly everyday certainly made her trip even better, even if the unheated pool at Cathedral Peak was a bit chilly. I'm pretty sure all the children in her class are very envious of her trip.
For me the high points of the trip would have been Cathedral Peak and Motswari. Cathedral Peak for the landscape, and Motswari for the atmosphere, and the great game viewing. Although Shawu had a greater density of game, the way that Motwsari would work really hard to get you close to the game made it that much better. Getting mock charged by elephant at Motswari was certainly one of the most exciting parts of the trip. The photographs I got from Motswari were outstanding, because having seen the big 5 already at Shawu, I could take my time, and work on getting quality sightings, and well composed photos (see enclosed picture!).
Everything went really well, and the whole trip fitted together perfectly, in a way that simply wouldn't have happened if I'd planned it myself, as even with lots of research online, you can never be sure about a place until you get there, and it only takes one bad experience to spoil the trip. I particularly enjoyed the way we did 2 days game viewing at Shawu, then something different at Blyde for 3 days, and then back to 2 days game viewing at Motswari. Game viewing is amazing, but taking a break from 5 AM starts allows you to recharge and really apprieciate the experience properly when you start the next series of game viewings. The contrast between at the places was also great, as it felt like we did several different holidays within the same two weeks, which really made it worth the long flights.
I was very impressed at the standard of the lodges, the friendliness of both the lodge staff and the people of South Africa, plus of course the game and the landscape was amazing. I was very interested to see the changes since 1994. Of course, there have been many problems along the way, and things are not perfect, but the ecomonic growth, development and stability of South Africa is impressive, and is something the country should feel pride in, especially if you compare it to all to many african countries which have wasted their chances (something I saw first hand in west africa).
I'd certainly recommend a trip to South Africa, and SunSafaris in particular to any of my friends. I'd certainly recommend any of the places we stayed to others.
I'll encourage my daughter to finish writing her little bit about going on a safari. She had the most amazing time there, and loved seeing all the wildlife. I suspect it's something she'll remember for the rest of her life. I'll also dig through my huge number of photos to find some good photos for the blog of us doing safari things.
And lastly, a big thank you to you all for making the trip possible!
Best regards,
Dylan
