African Adventure – South Africa, Zambia & Botswana
Some great in depth feedback from clients who have recently traveled with us. Open, honest & some super footage at the end too. Enjoy the read and if you need any advice or thoughts on the properties or itinerary they mention please get in touch with us and we will happily help you out:
Dear Jeff,
I hope your trip was as wonderful as ours! Marvelous and memorable. Thanks for all the help with planning. We were picked up everywhere we were supposed to be and ushered where we needed to be. Flights were all on time. But, this was clearly not a “restful” vacation as we were never up after 6:30 a.m. Go, go, go!
Kensington Place was beautiful and we certainly could have had a few extra days in Cape Town – love that city. My bike ride was awesome and I can highly recommend irideafrica.com for rentals and guiding. My route is here: https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/46512042 . Mark went to the horse race track but didn’t win a thing all day – he had a blast.
Transfer to Vic Falls went well and I can certainly recommend Islands of Siankaba. Beautiful property, very relaxing, and nice to be away from all the activity closer to the falls. We can also highly recommend the Rhino Walk in Mosi oa Tunya Park, especially for guests not doing a South African safari and who won’t have a chance to see rhino otherwise. I am sorry we missed other things at Vic Falls, though, so you might suggest an extra day there to do Devil’s Armchair, white water rafting or other activities. The helicopter ride was ok, and if we hadn’t done it we’d be sorry we missed it, but now that we’ve done it, we could have lived without it, especially in the drier season when the falls are so amazing and visible from ground level. Plus, there was a bit of an attitude on the flight as the helicopter company had some mechanical issue before we got there and so some very young kid was rather upset that he had to wait, kinda making his family and everyone else a bit stressed.
Heading to Chobe was also easy with a smooth transfer. Chobe Under Canvas, I think was our favorite camp. Although it was “glamping,” really cold in the mornings, and incredibly secluded, the staff and the wildlife made it the highlight destination. Could have done an extra day here, too, and the list of wildlife we saw here was impressive. Ten minutes into the camp we saw a leopard!
On to Baines Camp. I think our favorite thing about Baines was the fact that there were only two other couples, one of whom we came to learn is good friends with some neighbors in Lost River. Small world. We had fun with them and ran into them again on the way to Jo’burg. We did the “sleep on the balcony” thing at Baines and were surprised by an elephant chomping grass and bumping into the railing not 5 feet from our bed. Pretty cool! They also did an amazing private dinner for our anniversary, which was extra special.
Finally, we were at Eagle Island, a lovely camp but after having such incredible privacy – none of the other camps had more than three other couples staying – Eagle Island was full up and crowded. We loved the communal meals at the other camps, whereas Eagle Island/Orient Express does separate tables as a corporate rule. Because Baines and Eagle Island offered more water options, I’d recommend three days at one or the other, but not both, and use the extra days so you can have an extra day(s) in Cape Town, Vic Falls and/or Chobe.
The amazing thing about Chobe was just the sheer volume and diversity of wildlife. Nothing like it anywhere else. Once we’d been to Chobe, going on a game drive elsewhere was cool because we could see the other tourists, who’d not been to Chobe, getting really excited about seeing an impala or elephant a quarter mile away! In a sense, Chobe “ruined” it for us by spoiling us. What a treat! I’d probably recommend going to Chobe last, because guests will be totally blown away.
Everywhere we went, the food and weather throughout was incredible – great meals, no “stomach” issues, barely a cloud in the sky the whole two weeks. And, as you’d told us, there was no issue at all with being gay at any property. Not even a glance. Thank you also for the champagne treat. We shared it with others and it was really special. We appreciate that.
Before I saw your message this morning, I was just saying to Mark, “I want to go back to Africa.” He does, too. I’m thinking Namibia!
Thanks again for everything. Mark, you and Lise gave me an amazing birthday I will never forget.
Scott & Mark also got some super footage while they were away which they loaded up on YouTube. I have chosen a couple of clips which I think are great – enjoy!