CountryLiving

I have been reading this forum for about three years when I first became interested in making a trip to Africa. My daughter introduced me to it. At first, the many options seemed overwhelming. Finally, I realized, I would just need to pick one country and plan a trip. There wasn’t one perfect country, perfect time of year, or perfect itinerary. Everyone’s Trip Reports showed they had a great experience.

I decided on Botswana and I did a lot of reading. Then, early summer last year, I contacted Julian, of Timeless Africa, [email protected]. We discussed the trip. There would be five of us, myself, my husband, our two daughters, and our son-in-law. We had a very specific time period in August when we could travel because of work commitments. Julian made some suggestions, we did more reading, we agreed to a general itinerary, and then he worked at getting 3 tents in some very small Botswana camps for very specific days. Finally it came together, and I think we ended up with a great itinerary which should provide something special for each member of the group.

We will be flying from the US separately since we are spread out geographically, and the younger members of the group will be leaving early to visit Namibia first (mentioned in another thread). We will meet in Johannesburg.

1 night Johannesburg – Intercontinental at Airport
1 night Livingstone – Royal Livingstone
3 nights - Duma Tau
3 nights – Chitabe Trails – one night the younger group will go for an overnight in an effort to get away from their parents. They are concerned about too much togetherness.
2 nights – Kwetsani
3 nights – San Camp

We all have our plane reservations which have already been changed several times because Iberia decided to drop one of our flights. We all received binoculars for Christmas presents along with mosquito repellant and travel toilet paper. I have accumulated quite a collection of Africa books as suggested on this site which I have been sharing amongst the family. I’ve been watching Meerkat Manor and I’m particularly looking forward to my time with the meerkats.

Now we are getting our shots and looking over our packing lists (thanks again to Fodor’s) and trying to figure out what we will leave home in order to get it all in our packs.

I still need to purchase a new camera. Like some of you, I was waiting to see what Canon would provide as an update to the S3 but now I’m seriously thing about the Sony H9. I just want to wait for some hands on reviews.

I don’t know exactly what we will do in Johannesburg for one night. We are supposed to get there at 11 AM. We also don’t have anything planned yet for our one night in Livingstone. Where should we eat dinner that night on the Zambian side? Has anyone ever rented bicycles there? I’ve seen it mentioned on the hotel website but I couldn’t figure out where you would ride. My husband and I aren’t into the adrenalin activities but we all like to ride bicycles.

Thanks again for everyone’s help. I never would have planned this without you. We are looking forward to a great trip and creating wonderful family memories.

mkhonzo

Why rent a bike in Livingstone? Take a car and be done with it!

JNB for a night and half a day, go shopping......and enjot=y a good dinner , then get some rest because tthe balance is really what its about... IMO anyway.

Shots !!!! who recommended those and why?

Otrher than that it looks like handsome itinerary, have fun.

MoiraS

Hi! This sounds like a great trip...your itinerary loooks a lot like the one me and my sister are working on!

Getting toilet paper in my Chirstmas stocking would make me wonder a bit though...does it mean I was good or bad?

I think the biking sounds fun. Me and my sister like to be active on our vacations so we're planning on some serious adrenaline stuff in Vic Falls (white water rafting!). I've been thinking about bungee jumping too.

When did you make your reservations? We're still researching camps and stuff, but I don't want to wait too long if it means we might not get the camps we want.

Moira

atravelynn

Country Living,

Looks like a fabulous trip.

CountryLiving

Thanks for your comments. We made our reservations last summer in July. Since we needed 3 tents and since we had no flexibility with our schedule it made it difficult even then. I'm sure the travel experts can provide more detail but it seems one year in advance is not too early. You seem on schedule planning for 2008.

MoiraS

Hi CountryLiving,

Thanks for your reply to my question...we are only two people and are reasonably flexible so I hope we will be OK. Also we aren't trying for Mombo or Singita or any of the other ones which are so hard to get into.

I meant to ask another question...what made you pick San Camp instead of Jack's Camp? It seems like most people here choose Jack's Camp, but San Camp seems just as nice to me, and less expensive (we are trying to cut costs where we can).

Moira

CountryLiving

I picked San Camp for exactly the reason you stated. It's less expensive. The activities at both places are the same. The accomodations are slightly less luxurious. But it's the activities and the environment we are going there for. Have fun planning your trip!

atravelynn

I chose San too and would choose it again. Better view, smaller, less expensive, identical activites.

Plenty luxurious.