After all the months of planning and research, I can honestly say that everything exceeded our expectations and then some!  You both provided us with fantastic guidance and our final itinerary of Cape Town, Botswana and Zambia could not have been more perfect for us and our 2 adult children.  Nothing can quite prepare you for the magic that is Africa.  Here then are the highlights of our trip.

As you know, this trip was planned to coincide with our daughter, Mary, finishing her semester abroad program in South Africa.  We arrived in Johannesburg on May 4th and met up with Mary at the airport.  We spent the night in Johannesburg and left for Cape Town the morning of the 5th.  Charlie, our guide in Cape Town, was just the best!  He deftly arranged for us to see all the highlights Cape Town has to offer in 3 full days.  Our tour of the Cape Peninsula, the Eagle and Cheetah conservation projects in Stellenbosch, and our excursion to Table Mountain were spectacular indeed.  Charlie was even able to find a store in the Cape Quarter for me to buy some of the Cape Malay spices to take home.  Of course, having the opportunity to meet up with Jeff at Beluga our last night in town was a special treat.

Camps Bay © Jeff McClay

The morning of the 9th we departed for Botswana via Johannesburg and Maun.  From Maun, we took our bush flight to Savute Safari Lodge in the Chobe National Park where we were met by Gee, our guide during our stay at Savute.  The lodge is just fantastic – our rooms overlooked the watering hole where elephant herds would make regular visits during our stay.  Our hosts, MC and Michelle made sure we had all the comforts of home.  The game drives in Savute were the best viewing we had the entire time on safari.  In the first two days we saw leopard and lions, which according to my daughter, is very lucky indeed!  Gee’s skill at tracking wildlife made the game drives very exciting, and we loved the sundowners out in the field with our safari buddies from the Netherlands.

During our last sundowner, the call came in that lions had been spotted and we literally dropped everything and jumped in the jeep for a wild ride reminiscent of the Indiana Jones attraction at Disneyland!  Our wildlife sightings also included elephant, zebras, cape buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe and warthogs.  After 2 nights, we departed Savute for Camp Moremi in the Okavango Delta (Xaxanaka Lagoon).

Zebra © Jeff McClay

Camp Moremi was a very different environment where we were able to see many avian species on the water (and kept our distance from the hippos!), including a fish eagle who had just scooped up a tilapia and was enjoying his dinner in a tree.  Frank, our guide, was delightful, and even made a necklace for Mary out of a water lily during our afternoon cruise on the lagoon.  We found the elusive wild dogs hanging out under some bushes during one of our game drives.  BK, Hannah and Charity were lovely hosts and we so enjoyed the evening choir concerts before each dinner.  After our 2 nights at Moremi, we left for Leroo La Tau in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.

Our rooms at Leroo La Tau faced the channel where we watched herds of elephant and zebra come down to the water.  We even heard lions roaring during the night.  Juan, Priscilla and Fred were terrific hosts, and arranged a lovely 21st birthday celebration for Mary, complete with birthday cake and candles!  It certainly was a far cry from the standard Las Vegas blowout most of her friends have experienced.  How many college students can say they spent their 21st birthday in Botswana?  Calvin, our guide took us on a tour of his village where we visited a primary school and a clinic.  We brought some school supplies and marveled at the dedication of the teachers and the politeness of the students who greeted us as we walked into their classrooms.  By the end of our week-long safari in Botswana, we had seen everything but rhinos.

Leroo Le Tau © Jeff McClay

Our last stop was Zambia and the Isands of Siankaba, located about an hour from Victoria Falls.  Our trip would take us by plane from Leroo La Tau to Kasane, where we were met by a Bushtracks guide who drove us to the Chobe River.  From there we transferred to a boat to cross the river into Zambia, where we were met by another Bushtracks guide who drove us to the lodge.  We were able to experience the African version of Four Corners where the countries of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe meet in the middle of the Chobe River, much like the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet in the southwest U.S.

The lodge is located on the Zambezi River and is an idyllic setting located in the treetops and connected by rope bridges and platforms above the river.  Nothing can compare to listening to the sounds of the mighty Zambezi at night as you are falling asleep, including the occasional hippo snort!  What an incredible ending to our vacation.  The lodge is truly 5-star with amazing food and lovely accommodations.  Graham, Brett and Claire and their staff are definitely top notch.  They arranged a lovely birthday celebration for Paul’s 60th birthday.  Matthews took us on a tour of his village which included a stop at the preschool where the children entertained us with songs and imitations of Zambian chameleons!  They were thrilled to line up for happy face stickers which we brought along with more school supplies.

Leopard © Jeff McClay

The highlight of our stay was the trip to Victoria Falls escorted by Lucky, our guide.  He took us on all the trails for the best views of the falls, and gamely carried 5 sets of rain gear for us to put on!  Needless to say, I was a bit nervous listening to Jeff and Mary talk about swimming in Devil’s Pool and white water rafting (both of which were closed, thank goodness!).  When they decided on the zip line across the gorge, I felt my stomach turn as I realized they expected me to do it too!  Well, there was no way I was going to wimp out, and on the video you can hear Jeff say, “I can’t believe she actually did it!”  The falls was truly awe-inspiring and like nothing we’ve ever seen.  We left Zambia on the 18th for our marathon flight home to San Diego.

Jeff and Liesl, every aspect of our trip was spot on – no delays, missed connections, late flights or missing transfer drivers.  We came home with thousands of pictures, some of which I have included here, and many incredible memories.  Thanks to your expert consultation, we had the trip of a lifetime and have been smitten by the people and places we’ve experienced.  We hope to plan another adventure to Africa – perhaps Namibia next time and will be sure to call you!

Many thanks to the McClay’s for the kind words and awesome pictures! If you’d like to see more of the McClay’s pictures, check out our Client Submissions pin board on Pinterest.

Warona taking a short nap.

Warona and mother Shireni

Warona being carefully watched over by mom

Many thanks to the Wilderness Collection for their amazing images. We wish little Warona all the very best!

Now here is a dilemma. We recently had a couple who all in all had a fantastic safari in Botswana and Kruger except for one recurring problem….They proclaimed to not be very interested in birds, but just as luck would have it, they found themselves on game drives with keen birders, or twitchers or bird fundis or whatever other
name you give to people who want to stop, reach for their binoculars, and identify and observe our little feathered friends! Our clients found this boring and frustrating, and would have preferred to have spent the time
tracking the Big Five as opposed to sitting in hushed bird-watching mode.

Now this is a tricky potentially explosive situation! And as a safari operator, I have given a solution some thought.

Firstly, serious birders would let us know that they are looking for a specialist birding trip and we would arrange a birding guide and exclusive use of the safari vehicle accordingly. Fanatical birders can be quite weird and potentially intimidating! They are known to travel vast distances in extreme conditions to tick off a sought-after rare species. Dinner table conversation will be exclusively about birds and brag stories about which SBB (small brown bird) was spotted where. They are a mixed bag of humans, coming from all walks of life but will definately have a pair of super-binoculars hanging around their neck at all times.

In this particular case, the other guests on the game vehicle were most likely just keen birders who love seeing the animals, but who have seen their share of lazy lions lying in the shade. These folk have probably been on safari a few times and want to learn more about the birds and the trees. It is generally first-time safari goers who aren’t particularly interested in birds and the ‘Little Five’, and who still have a lot to learn about the African bush. For them (and our recent past clients), being on safari with keen birders can be dull and seemingly time wasting. I am tempted to say to these folks ‘sit back, relax and enjoy the sounds and smells of the bush…you never know what might walk out from under a tree off to the left while everyone else has binoculars glued to their faces looking right!!!‘ But in all seriousness, the solution lies in the hands of the safari lodges. Lodge staff and rangers should chat to their guests and get an idea of their interests and then, if possible, assign them to separate safari vehicles so that…birds of a feather can flock together!

African Jacana - his long toes allow him to 'walk on water'

We were particularly cognizant of the value of having someone in NY and in Cape Town looking out for us when, in the middle of our trip, a Chilean volcano eruption caused the cancellation of one of our flights.  Liesl quickly got us rebooked and all of our downline transfers re-organized so that we were able to rejoin our intended itinerary as soon as the skies cleared.  This had the potential to be a nightmare, but ended up being a small blip on our radar screens thanks to the excellent in-country support of ASC.

Our expectations were high, but our trip far surpassed them.  Every part of the trip was just as advertised by the folks at ASC.  There were no unpleasant surprises, and we would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone planning a trip to Africa.

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have about our experience with ASC.”

Jill & John Pollock, Houston, TX

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:  http://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!

Elephants in the Mud     |    Energetic Lions    |    Super Staff

With Irene causing havoc along the coast of the USA it is a good time to remind you of why you should visit our beautiful continent Africa!  I have also covered some good tips on how to choose your Safari in previous blog posts (so go back and have a look) which just adds substance to the above!

The main difficultly I have with this subject is actually where to start!  There is so much here to indulge in.  You are also spoilt for type of holiday – from adventure, to romance, viby cities to desolate wilderness, vacations for retired folks as well as vacations for families!  Maybe the easy way to do this is to list some of my favorites and hopefully that sparks off a desire in you to get away from the first world havoc and come and see what Africa is all about!

Having grown up in South Africa I have been privileged enough to regularly enjoy areas like the Kruger National Park, Garden Route, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and even the Malaria free areas of the Eastern Cape and Madikwe.  I can speak endlessly about the sea, mountains, wildlife, people and just awesome beauty that South Africa holds.   It honestly is one of the most beautiful countries I have been too – and I have traveled fairly extensively!  If you want variety – South Africa is it!

My favorite for game experiences has to be Zambia and the South Luangwa National Park.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many lion and the hippos – wow!  But the other awesome thing about South Luangwa is the walking.  If you’ve had a few safari experiences in your life and are looking for something a little different, than walking safaris are the way to go!  It is super thrilling and you really have the opportunity to get very close to nature and wildlife.

I also relish the opportunity to get away from it all, leave the rat race behind.  I love going to places where I don’t see many people, have amazing views, can see millions of stars at night (this is quite common throughout Africa actually!) and have experiences that are just totally different to everyday life.  One country that gave me all of this was Namibia.  The baron vast endlessness……..and honestly, it is impossible to take a bad photo (unless of course you stupidly have your camera on the wrong settings)!  Namibia delivers on so many levels.

My final thoughts for today are with the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana.  A truly magical place that not many people have the opportunity of experiencing!  The desert adapted wildlife throws a whole new perspective on how remarkable nature is.  Whether you travel in the wet season or the dry season this place puts the world into perspective and reminds you of what is actually important.

Don’t forget to contact us if you want any advice on the above!  Or please let me know your favorite places?

Last week I promised a few more tips on how to choose the right safari.  Last week I covered:

1.  When do you want to go?
2. Winter vs Summer?
3. Malaria Free Safaris?
4. Your budget?

With these 4 questions covered we can look at getting a little more specific about your experience.

Once you have covered the above the next thing that I would ask is what kind of vacation or safari are you looking for and who are you traveling with?
There are options out there that are more suited to families, older generations, honeymooners, adventurers, 1st time safari goers and those looking to volunteer and give something back.  So believe it or not, this is an important consideration and really helps your consultant provide you with the product best suited to you.

Although your budget might decide where you can go – it would be good for you to have an idea about this too?  There are plenty of choices out there – somewhere like East Africa with Kenya and Tanzania and of course the Gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda – has been on the safari circuit for decades.  They are awesome destinations for game viewing and they can be busy and expensive.  Botswana is going to give you an exclusive wilderness experience.  I think it has been said that there are more beds in the Cape Town Waterfront, then in the whole of Botswana!  Because of this exclusivity there is a premium cost attached to staying in this beautiful country.
South Africa has marketed itself well over the years and certainly is a destination that has something for everyone.  So if you are looking for other experiences to include with your Safari, then perhaps South Africa is the right place for you.   Of course – if you like Deserts……nothing compares to dunes and ancient paths in Namibia.

The last thing I would consider when making my safari choice is how much support these establishments are providing to the local communities and how much they are giving back to wildlife.  This is actually something that you do find often now and I think it is an important consideration.  You want to know that you are also giving back to the local people and wildlife you are seeing.

In this way we all play a small part in preserving our Earth’s amazing treasures.  I hope this has been useful.  I always value any comments or thoughts so please feel free to add yours!

We are often asked in this business where the best place to go on safari is.  People ask this without realizing the choice that is out there and without really thinking about what it is they want to get out of the experience.  Everyone is different, and we are all looking for that awesome “thing” that we can tell all our friends about, or that will last a lifetime.

By choosing a Safari destination you are one up on everybody already!  It is a totally unique, mind blowing, awesome thing.  You will never experience anything like it, anywhere else in the world.  That is why Africa is so unique!  That should be enough to sell you on the ultimate vacation…..but if you still need some pointers on how to choose the right Safari, below are a few pointers:

1.  When do you want to go?  – The biggest thing to remember is that the seasons are opposite way round in the southern hemisphere, where most of your big safari destinations are.  So summer in the northern hemisphere is winter in the southern.  The good thing about this is that winter in the southern hemisphere is generally the best time for game viewing.  The general lack of rain in the winter months keeps the vegetation dry and short – this allows for much easier spotting of wildlife or the big 5.

2. Even though winter months are generally better for game viewing, the summer months also provide their advantages.  These are primarily better package deals due to the “low season”, but it also provides a more intimate safari experience.  The summer months are not as busy as the winter months.  My favorite summer safari experience are the magical, electric thunder storms.   Paints a safari in a whole new light.

3.  You should consider if you are looking for a Malaria free safari or if you are comfortable taking prophylactics or other precautions.  Certainly there are times when a Malaria risk is not good – usually involving pregnant ladies or very young babies.  There are not many areas that are Malaria free, but South Africa has 2 locations – Madikwe and the Eastern Cape.

4. The final pointer for today is your budget.  Everyone has a budget in mind when going on vacation and a safari vacation is no different.  The advantage about Safari’s is the broad range of price choice over a wide range of destinations.  Some countries offer value for money, others offer the ultimate in privacy and exclusivity, some have been hosting safaris for generations, while others allow for pristine wilderness.

So you need to decide what your important factors are for this ultimate vacation experience.  Next week I will highlight a few more that should really help you make the perfect decision!

One of the Big 5 - The King of the Savanna