Just wanted to provide some feedback on how FABULOUS Liesl’s assistance was, and how great our first trip (of hopefully many more!) to South Africa was. She assisted us in organizing our safari to Camp Shonga and the entire experience was great – she was even able to help us when we found an earlier flight, and was able to have our driver pick us up earlier than expected. We had such a great experience and her advice and assistance was invaluable in making our trip the trip of a lifetime. We will definitely be going back to South Africa.

Thanks again Liesl!!!! Oh, and our trip to the wine country fell on my 30th birthday – it was the best birthday ever! Akademie was so lovely!

Andrea

  

Hello Lise,

I wanted to let you know what a wonderful time we had at Londolozi and Singita Sweni.  Your recommendations were perfect.  The lodges completely exceeded our expectations.  Thank you for suggesting the split because we found each area so interesting.   You were so right – Singita Sweni definitely blew our mind.  The food was out of this world and the lodge itself was utterly gorgeous. 

We sincerely appreciate all the arrangements you made for us and your guidance.  We absolutely loved South Africa and hope to visit again in the very near future.

Thank you again!!!!

All the best!

Elissa

  

Congratulations to our new senior consultant, Lorna Symons who has been breaking office records recently.  Many happy travellers have been writing wonderful feedback emails thanking her for her careful itinerary planning, thoughtful accommodation choices and attention to detail. Its always a warm feeling getting good feedback, and best compliments you can give a travel consultant is to refer her to your friends and family. 

Lorna used to be a tour guide and therefore knows and loves Southern Africa.  She has had hands on experience hosting visitors from all nationalities and is therefore compassionate and good at matching people with places. She lives in beautiful Hout Bay with her husband Brett (also in the travel industry ) and her young son, Ben.  Contact Lorna for her expert advice… lorna@southerndestinations.com         Â

Samara Safari

It was pitch dark outside and freezing, but the excitement was palpable. We were off to see a new lodge called Samara and had no idea what we were in for.
The drive from Cape Town to Samara is 8 hours and one would usually combine Samara with the Garden Route or a lodge in the Eastern Cape, but we were short of time. And since we were taking the beautiful Route 62, with a quick stop at the infamous watering hole, Ronnies Sex Shop, it didn’t seem like a hardship.

As we approached Samara our tiredness evaporated and we saw the staff, headed up by Elaine the manageress, coming out to greet us with hot cloths and cold drinks. We were just in time for afternoon tea, which was a stack of sandwiches and decedent cakes (I was in heaven). After stuffing ourselves with food, we heaved ourselves onto the game drive vehicle and we were off to spot some animals.

Les, the head ranger at Samara, has eagle eyes and within seconds he was pointing out kudu and vervet monkeys to us. His enthusiasm was infectious and soon we were outdoing each other with sightings of field mice and the rare aardtvark. It was wonderful to have a ranger who enjoyed the drive and had so much to tell us about everything he saw. As the sun went down we stopped for a glass of gin and tonic and a handful of biltong while we listened to the call of the hyenas in the distance.

I must point out that we visited Samara in the middle of winter and temperatures were around zero degrees which brought out the sense of humour in all of us. We wrapped up tight in jackets and blankets, with hot water bottles and beanies. But I will never forget the one tiny Thai lady who wore her slippers on game drive in her effort to keep warm!

Back at the lodge, we enjoyed a sip of sherry while thawing at the fireplace. If we had known then what a feast we were about to be served, we would have put on larger pants! The food at Samara is outstanding. Gwen, the chef, prepares everything herself and we were served four delectable courses. I will even admit, for the record, that I ate a whole plate of chocolate fondant without feeling any guilt whatsoever!

Les woke us up at the crack of dawn the next day. We were off to track the famous Samara cheetah! I am happy to report that we definitely made space for our next meal on the trek up the side of a mountain. The cheetah had tried to hide from us in the dense bush, but we found them and managed to sneak right up to them. For the first time in my life, I was less than 8 meters from a cheetah, with no vehicle to protect me. I am not ashamed to say that I was scared out of my mind. But Les chatted away to them and the cheetahs weren’t bothered by our presence at all.

After our full day of cheetah tracking we were more than ready for a nap in our plush chalets before dinner. The rooms are decorated in a colonial farm style with a four poster bed and an outside veranda. The rooms all have fire places, a mini bar, air-con and enough space to invite your friends over for drinks.

When we left Samara the next morning we were thrilled to have spent time at such a professional and exciting lodge and met such lovely and friendly people. Hopefully we will be able to visit Samara again in the near future and check up on the progress of the cheetah.

  

Hot in the city
Its almost summer time and ….CAPE TOWN IS HOT ! The word is out that our beautiful city is the place to be for the coming festive season. Beds in the popular hotels such as the The Bay Hotel and the Mount Nelson are filling up fast. We urge you to contact us soon with your holiday plans NOW and advise that you try and avoid the peak Christmas and New Year period and aim to come out in March and April which are lovely months in the Cape as well as the rest of South Africa. Its encouraging to see how much development is in progress in Cape Town.

New hotels and guesthouses seem to be inviting us to their opening launches once a week! We are insistent on inspecting all these new properties thoroughly and will only recommend them to you if they pass the Southern Destinations test. It’s going to be interesting watching the building of the new 6 star One & Only Hotel due in the V&A Waterfront soon. A lot of attention is on us as South Africa prepares herself for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, but more hype about the big event in another newsletter.

  

Hi Lorna,

We have been meaning to drop you a line since getting back……….so great to hear from you!  We had a sensational time in South Africa…..quite fantastic.  I think mostly due to your fantastic suggestions of where to stay wherever we went…..

The hotels you recommended were all perfect, and we didn’t have a single hitch with any bookings, transfers, cars or travel arrangements!  So it was a brilliant job, thank you!  The waterfront apartment in Cape Town was fabulous and perfectly situated.  The 2 game parks were awesome and we saw some brilliant game in both places.  The weather was fine in Kruger but then packed up for the cricket at Hilton College.  (That was the only place we had a bad place to stay……..Hilton Hotel is like Fawlty Towers, and we checked out to a B&B straightaway!).

Honeyguide was incredible……….the personal service was really good. A fantastic guide.

Phinda was divine.  We had the most amazing room, and although it was a bit daunting when we arrived and saw the construction……..they worked around it really well and it didn’t impact on our stay.  We saw some awesome game.

Cape Town we loved!  The cricket was great there and the whole place is stunning.  We went down the coast and also up to the wineries………..all in all a great city to live in I would imagine!  Sun City was Sun City!  Cascades was definitely the right place to stay for us, and we had a great couple of days in the sunshine for a perfect end to our holiday.

So thanks so much for making our trip so enjoyable.  We would love to come back again………….!

carey

 

Just spent two amazing nights at Londolozi Tree Camp with my family. Londolozi is looking fantastic. The lodge has just been completely rebuilt and I must say, I can’t fault it.

The rooms at Londolozi Tree Camp are massive. And when you slide open the door to the veranda, you are literally perched on the sand river. The bush becomes part of your room.

The food was the best I have had on safari - awesome lamb cutlets and pork neck, just what you need after a day of bumping around looking for animals.

Londolozi provides a superb safari experience. There is not a single thing I would change (well, perhaps I would suggest a pole for vaulting into the rather high bed!!!).