shouldbewriting

Am getting ready to finalize SA safari for Sept. 2011. Have seen multiple enthusiastic reviews for Forrest Lodge & not too much about Vlei Lodge. Can anyone compare & contrast? Vlei costs a bit more, but there are far fewer guests & the possibility of seeing more animals from your deck -- elephants evidently will drink out of your plunge pool. While this sounds exciting sitting here at home, not sure how I would feel about it in reality... But presumably in Sept, plunge would be too cold for anything else; is this accurate? Forrest seems less open, but people seem to love it. Any comments welcome.

cw

We stayed at Forest Lodge and did love it but I'm sure we would have loved Vlei if we had stayed there.

You pay extra for your own plunge pool and a smaller camp. I'm not sure if there is much of difference beyond that. The two camps are not far apart and we did see people from Vlei come over to Forest Lodge for the gift shop and to use the computer. This was four years ago so computer access may have changed--and the connection was relatively slow so not many people were even interested in using it.

The food was very good at Forest and I think from talking to a couple, that both camps had basically the same menus.

We did see elephants drinking from a plunge pool at Vlei. Forest has small animals wandering around but there was an elephant wire around the camp to keep them out. From the dining deck and the pool deck at Forest we did see both impala and elephants.

You won't go wrong at either lodge, and I did absolutely love the style of the rooms at Forest.

shouldbewriting

cw, thanks so much! This helps a lot.

mytmoss

I also stayed at Forest Lodge and loved it. It is pretty spread out, so if you want to be close to the main lodge you need to request it. It can be about a 5 minute walk from the farthest room.

If you choose Forrest, ask to see if you can get Walter to be your ranger. He is one of the top 3 rangers I have had anywhere and that says a lot.

Mike

shouldbewriting

Great info on Walter! Thank you so much.

cw

If Walter isn't available (or even if he is) I can highly recommend Thulani. He was by far the best guide of the three camps we visited. (The "h" is silent, as it is in "Phinda.")

KK01

Walter doesn't work for andBeyond anymore. Thulani is a great guide! I wouldn't think twice to request Thulani.

Kind Regards,

KK

shouldbewriting

KKO1 -- much appreciated! Thulani it is.

mytmoss

Wow, shame Walter is not there any longer, he is one reason I would go back ! I am sure you will be fine with Thulani if others have recommended him. Have a great trip!

Mike

ps...KK do you know where he now works?

KK01

Hey Mike.

I'll send you a pm on Facebook.

Regards,

KK

kimssouthafrica

Hi Mike, if you haven;t already booked, Forest is bigger than Vlei Lodge, which has only 6 rooms and is a very intimate experience. All the lodges in Phinda are great though, so enjoy.
www.kimssouthafrica.blogspot.com

mytmoss

Thanks Kim, but I am not heading back to Phinda. Its too difficult/expensive for a single traveler to get there as well as Sabi Sand which is my first love. I am heading back to 3 lodges in Sabi Sands on Monday!

Mike

kimssouthafrica

Goodluck and enjoy, you should try and come to Kzn some time though it is very different ecologically and very beautiful.
www.kimssouthafrica.blogspot.com

kimssouthafrica

Hi Mike I think I got myself totally confused, it seems I was calling the original poster by your name, apologies.
www.kimssouthafrica.blogspot.com

shouldbewriting

Well, we are in the final stages before laying down the money. Thanks everyone -- Lynn (who got me on this board as I was bumbling round another one),Tom, WildWings, KK01 & everyone else who chimed in with advice on every aspect of planning what I believe will be a spectacular trip.

Looks like 1 night Safari Club in J; 4 nights Ngala Lodge; 4 nights Exeter River; 1 night outside Phinda (thanks Tom!) 4 nights Forest Lodge and 4 nights Sodwana Bay Lodge (I did finally find out enough about snorkeling there to feel we could give it a try).

This is our first, and quite possibly only, trip to Africa, so I felt we needed a lot of hand holding. Tanya from Africa Direct has been great at that. If we survive the flights and feel we could go again, I would be very interested in trying some of the more independent ways to visit -- driving through Kruger etc.

atravelynn

You are welcome and I don't know if I previously told you how much I enjoyed Thulani.

shouldbewriting

Sounds like he is a must...

shouldbewriting

living4safari deserves a shout out too.

Candace_c

We stayed at Phinda two years ago, one night in a mountainous location (can't remember the name) and 3 nights at Vlei. The former was too big for us, but Vlei was superb. Beat MalaMala to shreds!

One reason was our team, ranger Benson and tracker Bernard. I seem to recall they also worked at Forest some of the time. They had a friendly sighting/tracking competition going with the other teams on the property and won every time when we were there.

And animals did come to drink at the pool -- nyala, monkeys, storks, black and yellow kites, crested guineafowl, etc. No elephants, though. There was a lion sleeping by the main lodge's kitchen one morning -- Bernard spotted it.

Hope you have a great time!

Candace

Candace

kimssouthafrica

'The mountainous location' is Mountain Lodge at Phinda which is the biggest of the lodges, some people like it others prefer the more intimate smaller lodges at Phinda. www.kimssouthafrica.blogspot.com