FABULOUS trip! Wanted to share recommendations
 

We just returned from the BEST trip ever! 17 nights total: 9 days safaris in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa (3 of each), 2 nights in Johannesburg with a one day guided tour, 4 nights in Cape Town (3 full days) with 3 days private guide, 1 night Vic Falls.

Below are our highest recommendations for anyone wanting travel agent and private guides for the 2 cities:

Liesl Matthews, of Southern Destinations, planned the entire trip , which was complicated due to our many locations. She was extraordinary in her advice , good humor and we loved working with her and were so happy we were able to take her to dinner while in Cape Town, where she lives.
DON'T bother to search for others, just go with Liesl!!!

Her guides for Cape Town and Johannesburg were the BEST: Charles Ratcliffe in Cape Town made our 3 days there amazing and so much fun and gave us tremendous insight into living in S. Africa.

Gavin Spowart in Johannesburg was our guide for the day there and likewise was an encyclopedia of knowledge and safely guided us there: NO sense of any danger whatsoever. We think Jo'burg gets a bad rap. WE had no problems with luggage (and they were duffels) being vandalized, etc.

Both guides can be reached via Liesl Matthews.


Helicopter, 13 minutes, in Vic Falls was terrific!

We thoroughly enjoyed our 3 safari locations, as they were varied in terrain and the guides were great.
Liesl can recommend which camps for you, based on your interests.

It was a LOT of travel with planes, cars in a short time, but we don't know if we will ever return here.
So, we are very glad we did what we did.

A trip of a lifetime!

SDSunflower: I am THRILLED to read this!!

I am now in the Intercontinental airport hotel at OR Tambo, waiting to check in for my late-night fight back to USA via AMS, after a magical 2-week-long visit to J'burg and three Botswana camps--Zarafa, Vumbura Plains and Mombo.

Liesl planned it all, once again (my third trip with her) and once again she excelled in her craft. We even had the chance to meet with her and her most talented brother, a well-respected artist in J'Burg who had a gallery opening at the time of our visit!

These trips are in a class by themselves, I think. They simply cannot be compared to a vacation in Italy, or Bangkok, or anywhere else that I have been lucky enough to visit.

I had tears in my eyes leaving Mombo this morning.

Hope to catch up with you sometime to compare experiences!!

SDsunflower, very happy to read about your awesome trip to Africa. Which parks and / or reserves did you visit? Any favorites? Are the areas you visited still dealing with the recent droughts?

Ekscrunchy, Africa again? Wishing you another great adventure full of worthwhile memories.

Ekscrunchy: would love to know if you loved the specific camps in Botswana?
We loved our trip SO much that we hope to return in 2019 and want to dream about which locations....
Did you enjoy May as much as your other time frames (september I thought?)
Please write another wonderful TR when you can!!!!!

I am so happy you had a fantastic time!!!!!
Thanks to YOU, so did we , as Liesl was brillliant!!!
We also ADORED Charlie, as our guide in CT

Tripplanner: we visited Kirkmans Kamp (Sabi Sands), The Hide (Hwanage Park, in Zimbabwe) and Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana.. Actually drought seemed to have lessened, as brush was high and areas green (trees, etc).
We had amazing guides in all 3 camps; specifically GAO (in Chobe: the BEST!!!!) who extended our safari mornings from 5:30-11:30 and 5:30-1:30 one day by request!!!! An encyclopedia of info and she adores her job and it shows.
Daffy (17 year veteran at The Hide) was also like having a professor with you: vast knowledge and passion for his country and the flora/fauna
Our night in a "tree house" alone and 2 km from the camp was once in a lifetime: as we were visited right in front of the tree (on ground thankfully!) by a huge male lion, roaring at 4 AM.
Kirkmans also was great (Sabi Sands): Matt a guide of only a few years, but loved tracking and trying to find as many cats as he could.

the guides made the stays wonderful, however, I prefer smaller venues for our next trip (hopefully!): The Hide only had 8-12 people and was more intimate.
The other two had beautiful accomodations as well, but large groups.

we had a fabulous trip!

Thinking about 2019, I see. I thought about going back this year, but ultimately decided otherwise. Namibia appeals to me for the unworldly landscape, as do Madagascar and East Africa.

Glad to hear that you too enjoyed Kirkman's Kamp. I stayed at Kirkman's during my visit last year as well and absolutely loved it. I had a different tracker, Barney, who's resident camp is Ngala, but he was a joy. Matt was actually who drove us to the airport when we left; I remembered him being quite jovial.

At Chobe, I stayed at a tented camp in the park itself. It was quite fun and very different from the luxuries of Kirkman's.

Hi to you both. I'm pretty whacked out by jet lag but will respond briefly.

We spent three nights at The Saxon in Johannesburg. That city gets a pretty bad rap but I think there is much to see as long as one takes care and, if possible, is accompanied by a local guide.

Then on to three nights each at three Botswana camps:

Zarafa
Vumbura Plains
Mombo

This truly was the trip of a lifetime, even if the sightings at Zarafa were a little disappointing. I think that's just the luck of the draw. We loved it all the same.
Mombo is being refurbished and they have built a new, temporary camp, Mombo Trails. This is the vision of Africa as you have dreamed about all your life. We pretty much saw all the animals we hoped to see, from cheetah with cubs feasting on a fresh impala, to dogs on the hunt. So many lion, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, on and on....

Prices at these camps are stratospheric cause they price in USD, not rand. I say if you can work it, do go!

Kudos to our guides:

Isaac at Zarafa (Sarafa is run by the Jouberts; you may have seen their many documentaries, and know that Beverly was recently wounded severely by a buffalo, but is coming along ok, or so we heard)

Ike at Vumbura Plains.

And last but not least, Professor Moss at Mombo.

These guys made the trips for us.

Food at Zarafa, especially, was a wonder!

Do set aside money, cause I think once that Africa bug bites, you will feel as if you "need" to return.

Liesl is a joy, a delight in every way, even consenting to go with us to the wilds of far south Johannesburg in search of Mozambique prawns at a Portuguese restaurants I'd read about!!!



https://www.southerndestinations.com...liesl-mathews/

Preview is stil not working for me so please forgive any errors here..

So happy to hear from you so soon
Rest and get over jet lag: we are just a week post trip and barely over it....
Looking forward to your report eventually.
"Stratospheric" indeed are the prices at those amazing camps... so glad you had the BEST experiences there!!!!

True about animal sightings: we had hoped for TONS of cats at Kirkman's, but only 1 sleeping leopard after 3 days there... as our guide kept saying, "it's nature".

Hope to return and now need to figure out where for next trip!
The "bug" definitely has bitten us....
The BEST trip : more fun than China, and all our European adventures.

SDsunflower, so glad that the bug has bitten you too. Looking forward to hearing about your plans as it comes together. No plans for me on returning at the moment, but at some point...

Ekscrunchy, I agree with you on Johannesburg. Unlike Cape Town, a city that you will either like or don't in short order, to enjoy Johannesburg is to scratch below the surface and understand it to be begin to appreciate it. It certainly is a complex place.

Also, just returned last night from terrific trip that Liesl put together for us (second time), too bad there weren't any overlaps, would have been so nice to meet up. Our itinerary (after a Doha stopover):
3 nites Namibia in the Namib Reserve, stayed at Wolwedans
Overnight Windhoek at Olive Guesthouse
2 nights Victoria Falls River Lodge (also loved the helicopter ride)
3 nights Savute Elephant Lodge
3 nights Camp Okavango (water based)
3 nights Sandibe Lodge (South Okavango, land based)
Overnight Cape Town (had spent lots of time there on first trip)

Really fabulous guides and game drives, landscape in Namibia is absolutely incredible. Happy to answer questions.

DC: wow! Too bad we didn't overlap!
We would love to know your thoughts on Savute, Okavango, Sandibe as far as game viewing?
We are debating sticking only with Botswana: but so expensive!
Or returning to other areas in S. Africa...
Having been 2 times, what are your thoughts? Where did you go last time?
What did you think about Namibia? Desert doesn't "draw" us, but what were your experiences?
When you have time, would love to know!
We hope to plan for 2019 return....
Liesl can put us in touch if private email is better: let me know what you prefer?

SD, probably better to communicate directly, Liesl can give you my email address.

I emailed Liesl for us to connect
Great!

Thanks for the great info. Is anyone willing to share if August would be a good time to plan for a trip like this. Also, may I get ballpark estimate for a trip like this for a family with 2 adult and 2 kids (10 and 13 yrs)?

Thanks again

August is a great time, high season. I would call a safari planner such as Liesl Matthews,, who I used for my trip this past May, and who SD, the OP here, also used. She can tailor trips to conform with your budget. Contact info above.

Liesl is who I used and is the only one I'd recommend!
I have no idea for budget for 4 people... contact Liesl at southern destinations.com