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