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!!!).

Shamwari Bayethe Lodge

Of the Shamwari lodges, Shamwari Bayethe is my favourite. Bayethe Lodge is situated in the northern part of Shamwari, and interestingly enough, just outside the reserve itself – although you would never know that unless someone told you.

There are two types of tents at Shamwari Bayethe Lodge. The older tents are large canvas structures with a very modern feel. The décor is farm style goes modern which gives the rooms a very comfortable atmosphere, without those dreadful Biggie Best touches! In these tents you have a large en-suite bathroom with a view of the bush. Each room also has an outside shower. As an added bonus, all the standard tents have private plunge pools.

The newer luxury tents are set a bit back from the others and have lovely views of the mountains. Each of these rooms has a bedrooms with a fire place on the one side and an open plan bathroom with shower and romantic stone bath. And to add to the romance, there is an outside Jacuzzi for sipping bubbly on those warm evenings! The luxury tents at Bayethe Lodge have private verandas with massive hammocks strung along the side.

What I loved about the main area at Shamwari Bayethe Lodge is that it is all built in keeping with the surroundings, so the entire front of the lounge is open to the bush (although it is actually sliding windows that can be used if it is cold). Bayethe Lodge offers awesome inside/outside living and great atmosphere. This to me is what a safari lodge should be like.
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Liesl visited Tswalu in the Kalahari and this is her feedback: 

Flying on the PC12 with Execujet to Tswalu is an effortless journey with snacks from The Picnic Company and the local newspaper to keep you company helps make your journey there comfortable and entertaining, expecting someone to go to the loo on board is downright hilarious !

Our Ranger at Tswalu, Murray and Tracker Samuel collected us from the airstrip – its pretty windy (note to self : August is windy season) but clear blue skies, deep red earth and Acacia Trees is the perfect backdrop to our Kalahari stay.
We managed to see a fair amount of intriguing game en route to Tarkuni (our destination) and were looking forward to our more extensive evening drive with the boys.

Tarkuni is the perfect family hide-away, this is an exclusive use lodge at Tswalu with your own chef, ranger and tracker and housekeeping staff – my kind of holiday indeed. 4 double large bedrooms (or twins) fully equipped with air-con, electric blanket and down duvets to keep you warm on a cold Kalahari evening. The room is large, in fact big enough for another single bed if you need it. (kids only)
The kids room is quaint with 2 sets of bunk beds (Sleeps 4) and bathroom (with shower only). An ingenious design of Tarkuni is of course is the bedroom next door dedicated to the nanny (or additional crew).
All main bedrooms have an outside shower – my favorite !

The communal area consists of a dining / lounge area separated by a beautiful and cozy stone fireplace, upstairs is the games/TV room (apparently there is a floating laptop for those who cannot tear themselves away from the office or their outside world)
The outside area has a large assortment of lounge and deck chairs, a swimming pool and a private tsala for some quiet reading or thoughtful contemplation.
The outside area is stocked with drinks galore to make any barman weep and a gin n tonic set the mood and pace forward.

Just enough time to sit down and enjoy a light lunch (selection of salads and homemade chicken pie) with cakes for dessert.

Off on game drive where we saw a collection of interesting critters : porcupine, meerkat, sable antelope, springbuck, hare, running brown hyena in the distance, fox, eland, antelope, gemsbok, kudu, waterbuck – the list goes on (just for the record, we did ask Murray to show us the unusual Kalahari variety but they do have leopard, cheetah, lion, rhino and buffalo in the reserve – no elephant though)

The red wine sunset toast gave us the time to sit back and look at the sheer size of this property (well at least one part of it) the enormity of space and peacefulness collide into the perfect place to catch your breath, reconnect with yourself and loved ones. Tranquility Sublime !

Samuel has the best eyes in the Kalahari and quickly pointed out all sorts of things our city slicker variety eyes could never see and Murray added running commentary to everything you could see, hear or ask.

Evening dinner with Saskia was tasty with a camembert salad to start, Kingklip for mains and the chocolate to end all chocolate cravings for pud.
The entertaining evening was sealed with a particularly large splash of Amarula cream on ice before my bed called me to sleep.

The morning started with a luxurious bubble bath and followed by breakfast.
Then we packed up and headed out for the day, first stop was Motse the main lodge at Tswalu. There are 8 individual “chalets” 6 of which take 2 guests and 2 of them take families – these are 2 bedroom units with a lounge separating them.
Each chalet has inside and outside chalets, lounge areas lead onto a patio area overlooking the huge expanse, that is Tswalu.

The gardens are perfectly tailored to the environment with typical plant life you would find in the Kalahari (succulents, cacti, quiver trees etc) which are strategically placed all over the lodge for full impact ! Just beautiful.
The lodge has a curio shop (note to self : bring a FULL wallet next time), huge swimming pool, treatment room, kiddies playroom which comes standard with its own babysitter and an upstairs TV and computer room – so you can always stay in touch with your real world if you need to.

Then it was off to our horse riding excursion ( I confess, its been a while and I was slightly nervous - but eager) We were suited up to fit the part, they provided us with chaps (full or half – your choice), shoes (boots), gloves and hard hat.
I looked the part, now the big challenge was acting the part.
Horse riding through the reserve was a perfect way to breath in a little fresh air and be part of the whole system (a pleasant change to the usual open game vehicle and roaring of the engine)
My butt and thighs may not recover for a while, but I loved it !

Ending our journey at a beautiful lunch “Spot” with an aerial view over the Tswalu reserve is enough to take your breath away ! Sadly we didn’t have enough time to have a look at everything the reserve has to offer including the Bushman etchings … Note to self : I need more time at Tswalu.

Tswalu is truly a magical property offering great service and top class accommodation. It is a place so unique and special that you will want to go back for more – more red sand, more wide open spaces, stars you feel you can touch and unique wildlife to give you yet another dimension into this wonderland I call my country !

Shamwari Game Reserve

A friend and I enjoyed a two night visit to Shamwari Game Reserve at the end of June. This was Seans first safari and he was incredibly excited.

We stayed at Shamwari Riverdene Lodge which is situated in the game rich Southern part of the Shamwari Game Reserve. The lodge itself is quite hotel-like, so not the usual safari lodge style. This is great if you prefer hotels style rooms and the knowledge that there will be no bugs hiding in the room!

If you love the romance of the big flashy safari lodges with thatched roofs and lots of wood and stone, then Shamwari Riverdene Lodge is not for you. If that is your preference, then rather choose Shamwari Bayethe Lodge which is the more typical safari lodge.

I was very impressed with the game drives at Shamwari. Our ranger, Kier, was really informative and gave a great interactive game drive. We saw lion, rhino, elephant and loads of other exciting game, including a pod of about 9 hippo, walking around on land!

On our last morning we did a bush walk instead of a game drive. It was absolutely fantastic. There is no better way to experience the wild than standing there in the middle of the animals. On foot we saw hippo and a number of different antelope. One tries to stay away from the very dangerous animals when on foot.

I would recommend Shamwari as a malaria free alternative to the lodges in the Sabi Sands and for anyone wanting a safari combined with Cape Town as it is such an easy and quick link by plane.

Do not book Kruger Flexi Tours! 

I booked clients of our on a transfer in the Kruger National Park with Kruger Flexi Tours. It was all booked and paid for.

On the day of travel the clients phones us to let us know that their flight had ben delayed and gave us the new flight time. We ten phoned Kruger Flexi Tours to let them know about the change. Kruger Flexi Tours told us that they had no vehicles and couldn’t do the transfer for us.

We then managed to find another company to do the transfer and the guests were happily unaware of all this.

Kruger Flexi Tours are now refusing to refund us the money for this transfer because it wasn’t their fault that the flight was delayed. Dave at Kruger Flexi Tours wouldn’t even discuss this matter with us and put the phone down.

So please make sure never to use Kruger Flexi Tours when visiting the Kruger National Park, rather use a reputable company like Eastgate Safari’s

last minute Bush & Beach special to Zambia and Zanzibar !

Feedback on Kariega Game Reserve 

Hi Liesl,
I’m pleased to say that we had a fantastic holiday from start to finish.
Generally, the parts of South Africa that we saw were spectacular, food was excellent, people lovely and the weather fine. The wine was pretty good too !! 

Re: Kariega Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, we really enjoyed the experience and will be going back for sure. It wasn’t exactly as I expected (I had visions of thousands of wildebeest on Serengeti-type plains) but it was all the better for that.
The fact that the rangers are in contact with each other and able to find the various animals relatively easily is a big bonus, especially with kids (even older ones - 10 & 14).

Being in one place for a relatively long time (6 days) actually worked v well as we were able to recognise where we were going,spot the various animals and start to understand their interaction with their environment. This was partly due to the fact that we had an excellent ranger but also because we had him to ourselves for 2.5 days. Thus we were able to relax from chasing the “Big 5″ (we’d seen all but the leopards) and actually really enjoyed the flora and smaller fauna and bird-life.

The boys were riveted for the whole time, we were amazed at how they took to the early starts and late finishes and didn’t even ask for their game consoles or watch TV for 6 days !!

The River Lodge itself was great, 5 star food, service and setting. The staff are all outstanding. As you can tell, we loved it !!

Looking to take the extended family on safari? The Tintswalo Manor House in the Manyeleti Game Reserve bordering the Kruger National Park is the superb venue for a family gathering.

The lodge is an old farmhouse revamped into a spectacular safari lodge that is sold for exclusive use only. This means that the 4 bedroomed house can sleep your family of up to ten people with your own chef and game ranger giving you the freedom to do what you want, when you want.

The lodge also offers a complete child program where your children get introduced to the wild through interactive games with the rangers. This means that parents get a bit of a rest and can enjoy the pool or nearby spa.

I did indeed have a great time in South Africa, so much so I plan to go again next year! Not sure how much of my other articles you have read but there are plenty more outlining what I did while out there, I also have photos from my trip at www.flickr.com/photos/thecssdiv/ and videos at www.youTube.com/thecssdiv/ - all very good indeed!
¼br /> In regard to the Baz Bus I think its a pretty good service for anyone wanting to explore the garden route. Though it is rather expensive (about R840) the fact that it actually drops you off at backpackers hostels means that you don’t get into trouble trying to find places in towns you have never visited before! If you leave from PE or Cape Town the early start times are rather prohibitive and for anyone going all the way in one day I would think its better to get a coach (i got one from Cape Town to PE for R140). The drivers all seem to be pretty nice, friendly and everything though sometimes when they pick up a mate its a bit of a pain as they do seem to concentrate less on the pick ups; equally the rather rigid schedule means that you have to make the most of the stop off for going to the toilet (I didn;t at one stage and almost got into a situation! It is also not quite as flexible as they make out - you should plan your pick ups two days in advance and if they make a mistake or you forget to book a pick up you have to wait a day for the next one - but apart from that its certainly a very valuable experience and service.
¼br /> In my opinion Shamwari was also worth the money. I have never been on a safair before but the team and experience I had there was excellent! I stayed in Eagles Crag (which is the most expensive place at R5500 a night) but my hut, meals, game drives and tour guides were well of the standard I would have expected for that matter - my suite (with my own pool) was truelly jaw dropping! If there was one thing I would say about the place it would be that I don’t think that one day is long enough to get the best experience out of the place - two days would have been excellent and given me a much better chance to see the big five. I did see elephants though which were the one I did most want to see.
¼br /> Kind regards,
¼br /> Ross Bruniges