Hi Ilze!
We loved Simbavati and thought the staff were fabulous. We also saw a ton of animals and had much better luck (or maybe our tracker just rocked!!) than we anticipated on our game drives. Saw all 5 of the Big 5: buffalo on our way TO camp from the airport as well as on a drive, saw TWO leopards one right after the other not 5 minutes into our first drive the day we arrived, at least 4 different herds of elephants (3 of which had babies) plus some solo elephants, and finally saw the rhino on our last full day there. Also saw several baby hyenas nursing, just missed a waterbuck giving birth, and saw a THIRD leopard on our last full day there, which we followed for about 30 minutes. And of course a million other things! We also spotted a herd of wild dogs not once but TWICE, which we were told is the second rarest safari sighting in S Africa.
Most of the food was fantastic, some of it was just okay – but there were two meat options and one veggie option every meal so you had choices. Every other night they served dinner down in the boma and had the drivers join their cars for dinner. Not sure if it’s typical of all lodges or unique to ours, but they stopped mid drive every morning for a coffee/tea/hot cocoa break out in the bush, and every evening for a refreshing alcoholic beverage, as well as nibbles. Our guide had no problem plowing through the bush to keep up with or circle around in front of animals and gave us some fabulous views.
The tents were very comfortable and exceeded my expectations. They left daily fact sheets in our room every day about various animals, provided an international charger to each room upon arrival, etc. Again, not sure if this is typical of all lodges or worth mention so I’m mentioning 🙂
They added a spa tent and services a few months ago so we took advantage of a few spa treatments. They weren’t the best massages I’ve ever had, but the girls were sweet as could be and absolutely a pleasure to hang out with.
Ilze – You’ve been fabulous. I cannot thank you enough!!
Jessica