CLIENTS TRIP REPORTS SOUTHERN AFRICA – JAN-MAR 2017 (SOUTHERN AFRICA)

Big Five Safari to South Africa

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for you note. We had an absolutely wonderful time in South Africa! Here’s a quick summary of the highlights:

Saw the Big 5 and then some! Kapama provided great viewing of giraffe, zebra, along will all of the big 5. We saw a herd of elephant and about 12 rhinos in one morning! Cheetah Plains provided great cat viewing (leopard, cheetah, lions) as well as some other animals we didn’t expect to see (wild dogs, leopard cubs, and hyena).

Both camps provided a great experience. We really enjoyed the tent experience at Kapama, it felt like our own private treehouse, complete with visiting monkeys on some mornings. The staff were wonderful and the food and overall experience was fantastic. We had a great guide and tracker who were incredibly knowledgeable and also fun. It was truly a 5 star experience.

Cheetah Plains was really unique in that it had a watering hole nearby where we could watch the hippos all day which was a special treat. The accommodations were nice…The cabin’s also had more of a “studio” feel to them, with no full wall separating the bathroom from the rest of the room, lacking a bit of privacy. I think it definitely provided more of the “roughing it” experience that we had anticipated from the trip, it was just hard to follow Kapama’s experience so in some ways I wish we had reversed the order of the camps. That said, we still really enjoyed our stay. The dinners out were fantastic and the staff even surprised us with a special private dinner for our anniversary. We had a great stay at Cheetah Plains as well.

In short, we had a wonderful two weeks in South Africa. Thank you for all of your help with the booking, preparation for the trip, and follow-up. It was an unforgettable vacation for us. Thank you so much!

Best,

Maya Pellegrini, Feb 2017

 

Deluxe Safari to South Africa and Visit to Victoria Falls

Dear Elena

Everything went very well. Rovos Rail was a real treat and luxurious experience. Service and hotels were excellent everywhere. We had doubts about Grootbos but found it to be a wonderful place. Winelands were exciting and could have eaten at every winery in the valley if we had the time but the ones we did dine at were exceptional as was Test Kitchen in Cape Town for which the concierge in Cape Grace got us a reservation.

Thank you for a job well done!

John Garafalo and Peter O’Hara, Feb 2017

 

8-Week Safari to Southern Africa and Australia’s West Coast, Red Center and Top End

Ian and the staff at Africa Adventure Company organized an incredible trip for us to Africa and Australia, which was no easy task, as we were on the road for 2 months! Everything turned out so much better than we ever dreamed, as we were completely taken care of throughout our entire journey, thanks to AAC’s extraordinary attention to detail. They made sure that we had all our documents in order prior to departure, that we visited areas with lots of wildlife (in Botswana and S. Africa), that we were always met by someone to bring us to our next destination, and that we had the best connecting flights. There were wonderful surprises along the way, including stunning 5-star accommodations, full breakfasts, open bar at the safari lodges, fabulous guides, bike rides along ancient elephant trails, dinner under the stars, breakfast in the bush, boat rides, and a visit to Devil’s Pool above Victoria Falls, that our son thought was the most incredible adventure ever.

When we traveled on to Australia, we thought we left the good life behind, but it just got better! The hotels continued to be top notch with terrific meals and we often had one bedroom suites, giving us more space, which was so appreciated after long flights.

We’re planning another trip next year and will be working with AAC again; their customer service is super high quality in that they’re always nice, enthusiastic, and quickly respond to questions, they pay attention to details that made traveling easy and fun, and they are incredibly knowledgeable about their travel business. It’s obvious they love their work and the spirit of adventure for traveling and are so eager to share their knowledge with others for an extraordinary adventure. We’re looking forward to working with Ian again as we know he’ll plan the best trip ever for us.

Rachael Long, Jan 2017

 

Adventure to Madagascar and South Africa

Our trip was lovely!  It went really smoothly from start to finish with all of the logistics and the guides.

Madagascar was full of lemurs as we wanted to see!  It’s not quite set up for tourism is as the other places we’ve been, which I expected so it was a bit tougher travel but the accommodations and guides were excellent.  The only frustrating part was how much of the forest they burned.  I knew a lot of it was missing because I was told but it wasn’t until I saw it, I was utterly shocked!   Our guides spoke excellent English but it was tough to converse with the locals because of the language barrier but everyone had smiles and was super friendly.  Berenty was fabulous after we got there and I liked the domestication of the animals.  We struggled with the heat a little, especially when they turned the air off at night but the food was great, as was the service and of course the lemurs made us smile endlessly.  Andasibe had excellent rooms and we loved the National Parks.  Our guides, Stefan and Zach were great and professional.  We drove past the place we were supposed to stay and that looked amazing too.  Overall, I’m really glad I got to see it and I hope tourism picks up there so they start understanding how the forests could benefit them!

South Africa’s safari was over the top and probably our highlight!  We did not expect MalaMala to be that nice and luxurious so we were pleasantly surprised.  As promised the game viewing was beyond expectations.  There were a few times we had to decide between which animals we wanted to see because of all the options!  I also really liked that there were only 3 vehicles per sighting which made it feel more intimate.  We saw everything, big 5, active cheetahs, leopards eating and mating, lion prides, male lions, giraffe, elephants playing.  It would be hard to go to other reserves after that one! They were definitely set up for tourism and had done this before and perfected it.

I hope this helps!  It was a fabulous trip and you guys really take the thinking out of it for us which makes traveling so much easier.

I thank you again,

Amanda Olusanya, Jan 2017

 

Southern Africa Safari to MalaMala and Cape Town

Ian:

Sara and I got home from our South African adventure on Saturday morning and I don’t know where to begin except to say, I would not have changed one moment of our trip.

Cape Town was stupendous, especially for new years and our accommodations there were perfect, only steps away from the Water Front and all its excitement, yet still allowing us to get away from the crowds when necessary to relax by the pool.  Table Mountain, Boulder Beach, the wine country, all perfect!

What can I say about the safari?  Rattray’s was decadent.  The accommodations again were perfect.  The safari itself was unbelievable.  We even received certificates for seeing MalaMala’s Top 7!

Thank you for helping me put together a trip of a lifetime.

Regards,

Diane Plowman, Jan 2017

 

Namibia and Botswana Flying Safari

Kyle / Mark

…..the trip was fantastic – Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp really blew us away…really outstanding – the day we drove the river all the way to the coast may be one of the most fun days we ever have had on safari. Really an amazing echo system. Also, they let me take a couple of 5K runs to the airstrip as the lion activity is not in the area – it was awesome jogging by desert giraffe and oryx for a little PM workout.

Mombo was outstanding as always – big 5, black rhino, mating leopards, hunting cheetah, etc… Mombo never had more than 8 people in it over the 4 days we were there. It was not nearly as buggy as we thought it would be and the weather was great. One of the staff members – Obvious – is in charge of surprises (Official title is director of WOW) – he made sure everyday we received a great surprise either in the camp or on the game drive. Having ice cold sherbet delivered to you as you watch some cheetah stalking lechwe is a bit over the top but certainly appreciated – really nice touch. Onguma / Etosha were very nice – we saw leopard cheetah, and black rhino there…certainly the camp is constrained by the national park restrictions – your 2 day rec was perfect. Same for the Soussevlei Desert Lodge – we had a ball…hiking, quad biking and one day in the park was again a perfect amount of time…