Dear Petra,
Yesterday we returned from South Africa from a great trip. The whole trip was meticulously organized by you, for which our compliments. We would like to evaluate all accommodations briefly.
- African Rock Hotel: perfect hotel to stay one night to travel the next day with a domestic flight. Friendly reception, delicious breakfast, nice luxury room.
- Kapama Southern Camp: definitely highly recommended! Nice private reserve, very good service and skill of the staff. We may not excel in the amount of different animals (such as Kruger Park), but we often saw large herds of animals. Advantage that there is no asphalt; due to the unpaved roads and also regular off-road this gives a great 'nature feeling'. It also has the advantage that it is not so massive. If there is a lion, for example, only two cars are allowed to stand still. This is a big difference from the massive Kruger Park. We also had a great ranger (PJ) and tracker (Richard). Both of them provided absolute added value and were very concerned with the welfare of the animals. Good wi-fi coverage in the bungalow and public areas.
- Rhino Post Safari Lodge: fine location, what we regretted however is that it is located in the Kruger Park. We really thought the Kruger Park was too massive, even though we watched with amazement how some tourists approached the animals (not paying attention to the behaviour of the animals, hanging from cars etc.). Here, however, we have seen many different animals, but these were not large herds often only one or two animals. Because almost exclusively on asphalt, animals were often only viewed from a considerable distance. Rhino Post is offered as a full board, but this was not the case! We got breakfast and dinner. Around 3.30pm there was a high-tea, but this was definitely not lunch. Rather in the form of a drink and a cupcake. You get a limited number of Mb's of Wifi per day for free, however our experience was that without satellite phone no connection was possible.
- Oliver's Restaurant & Lodge:super nice room. Even though the food was quite exclusive, this was quite affordable (not yet ZAR 600 for a three course dinner for two people including drinks). Very good and extensive breakfast. Good base for the Panorama route; which we found quite disappointing ourselves. The exception is God's Window (especially the trek all the way up to the rainforest) and Bourke's Lucky Potholes. However, we would advise tourists to bring food and drinks on the road. Even at the most touristy places this is not for sale and along the way you will also find almost nothing where you can buy something. Wifi in the public areas was fine, on the room itself quite changing.
- Mlilwane: a bit of a search to get here... In the Dutch colony, because it is full of the Dutch. The Beehive hut was fun to experience once, even bigger than expected. But we wouldn't choose this one again. It smelled huge in the cabins, so bad that we left all the clean clothes in the car. And there is no closet or storage option for clothes o.i.d. The park is very poorly lit and so are the cabins. Staff at the restaurant were very friendly, we certainly couldn't say of the people with whom you could arrange excursions. You could eat very well here and cheap, ZAR 165 for a three course buffet. Book your table on time, because there are too few tables for all guests. The excursion to the Chief's Village was commercial but cheap and fun to do. The game drive here was not comparable to other parks. The driver really tried his best to make something interesting out of it, but the amount of (different) animals is very disappointing here. Wifi was virtually impossible.
- Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge: although Hluhluwe is a national park with a lot of asphalt, this is a very beautiful and green park in terms of nature. There were indeed many rhinos (close by) to spot. The property was very good and luxurious. Dinner consisted of an à la carte menu. Even though our travel records stated that the prices include two game drives and one bushwalk per day, the bushwalks had to be paid extra. Nicely landscaped accommodation. For people who come by car: the road to Rhino Ridge is unpaved and quite steep so a too small car is not recommended. The park fees for Hluhluwe still had to be paid and these are quite pricey. For three days in our case ZAR 870. Wi-Fi only in public areas, but a good connection.
- Lidiko Lodge:nice small-scale bungalow park with very friendly, welcoming and service-oriented staff. There are a lot of vervetmonkeys around the park. So it is very advisable to keep doors and windows closed. Wifi connection is good, also in the bungalow. It was available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is advisable to take excursions from St. Lucia book in advance, as many are already fully booked. We did the Hippo and Croc boat trip here. This one has arranged the reception for us at Shakabarker; this had the advantage that you are picked up at the property itself and that there are only 15 people on a boat instead of a few dozen on some other boats. Boat trip was definitely a must. St. Lucia herself is not very big, but offers some dining options. Well bring a flashlight, because after 5.30pm it's pitch black in the streets.
- Canelands Beach Club: beautiful and luxurious hotel, only pity that despite the hotel being by the sea the rooms with sea view have hardly any sun on the balcony. Lots of closet space in the room. Friendly staff. The food was a bit more exclusive, but delicious yet affordable. (About ZAR 950 for a three course dinner for two people including drinks and amuses.) Towels for the hotel's sunbeds or beach are provided free of charge. Wifi was good throughout the hotel.
At all accommodations in South Africa it was possible to have the laundry done for a small fee. At all accommodations in South Africa free shampoo and shower gel was available in the room. Often also body lotion, liquid soap and insect spray with DEET. Overall the accommodations in South Africa were very luxurious and the service very good.
Unfortunately the food that was served was very internationally oriented. As far as we are concerned, this should have been a bit more African. Kapama had some more local specialties like food.
We had reserved a manual rental car, however we got a vending machine. In retrospect, we were very happy with this; is really recommended with the often steep and winding roads in South Africa. We had rented a GPS; however, it is advisable to bring an old-fashioned paper map.
We noticed that all the staff of the national parks (rhino post and rhino ridge accommodations) were very condescending about the 'private game reserves'. They say that it is the private parks only to do the money and that this is at the expense of animal welfare. However, our feeling was that kapama's staff are very concerned about animal welfare and they also have good knowledge of their animals and associated behaviour and act accordingly. Also, the national parks pretended that there would be far fewer (different) animals to be seen in a private park because the area is smaller than the national parks. However, we do not share this view at all!
The comfort seats on the plane were definitely highly recommended and well worth the extra cost.
Both the hot water and the power supply did not cause any problems. As a tip, we would recommend travelers to bring an extension cord with multiple sockets. This way, you can charge several things at once with one travel plug. Some accommodations also had Dutch outlets.
Perhaps it is good to give an explanation as an extra service for the people who are transferring to Johannesburg (in our case first flight Durban-Johannesburg) how such a transfer works and where someone should go at johannesburg airport. With us this was completely unclear and quite chaotic. At the airport itself this is not or very poorly marked. Also inquiries with walking staff at the airport did not work enlighteningly, we were sent more from the locker to the wall. Luckily we finally found a nice gentleman who dragged us through half the airport so that we finally stood at the right desk and were able to go through customs again. We were not the only ones who had this problem.
All in all, we are very pleased with this very successful trip to South Africa. A trip to South Africa is certainly subject to repetition and we will gladly use your services again. Maybe in two or three years we'll make another nice trip.
Sincerely
Mariska & Michel Lieskamp