just returned from Africa!
 

Hi everyone! We just returned from our first trip to South Africa and Madagascar. You have all been so helpful in the planning of our trip, so I thought I would post in case you needed help with yours. Our trip was perfect and we plan on returning!

We flew from the US to Frankfurt and then to Johannesburg. The flight from Germany to JoBurg was wonderful on South African Airways. From JoBurg we boarded a small flight to Singita.

We stayed at Singita Boulders Lodge for 5 nights. We had 11 game drives, and it blew our minds. We saw so many beautiful animals up close and personal. I can't believe how close we got to them! Singita's lodging and service were impeccable.

From Singita, we had a small flight back to JoBurg and then boarded a flight to Antananarivo, Madagascar. We landed at 3pm and had to spend the night in town at the Hotel Colbert. We didn't do much other than eat and relax at the hotel.

In the morning we boarded a small flight to Anjajavy. We had an increible time there! It is right on a beach, so you can enjoy activities on the Indian Ocean, or spend your days hiking and enjoying the wildlife. We saw brown lemurs, sifakas and even mouse lemurs!

From Anjajavy, we flew back to Antananarivo and then from there to JoBurg to connect to Cape Town.

We ended our trip at the Ellerman House in Cape Town. It was heavenly. We took day trips to the wine region, to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope to see the African Penguins and the Baboons. We also hiked up Table Mountain.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Good to hear you had such a good trip! I'd love more info on the Anjajavy hotel and entire experience plus any stories of particularly interesting game drives or nature/ wildlife walks...

Any pics?

THANKS!

5 nights at Singita Boulders would be spectacular.

How did you view the lemurs? On a lemur outing? In a certain park? With a guide?

Since you mentioned you'd be returning, what are those plans?

Anjajavy was paradise. I have always wanted to visit Madagascar, and this is certainly the way to do it if you prefer some pampering and great food and wine at the end of the day. Anjajavy is a Relais & Chateaux, so if you are familiar with them you know their standards. I cannot BELIEVE how luxurious the place is considering that it is in the middle of nowhere.

You fly in on a small plane (it is about one hour from Antananarivo) and you land on a small air strip. Hilton, the manager, picks you up in a truck and then you drive through the forest for about 20 minutes on a rocky road to the resort. Hilton and the main guides at the resort are all from South Africa, so they speak English and can assist you with all of your needs. The rest of the staff is all from the local fishing village. Anjajavy supplies a school and a doctor and other supplies for the villagers in exchange for their service. The people are amazingly kind and professional.

They quickly learn what you are interested in seeing/doing, and they cater to your every wish. For example, I enhoy photographing wildlife, so the servers and workers would run and find me during lunch or walks on the beach and let me know if there was an interesting animal in the vicinity.

The food and wine list/bar was wonderful. All of the seafood is fresh and caught daily. The fruits and vegetables are flown in, and still a treat. Every afternoon, they serve tea and cookies in the garden.

Wildlife viewing was effortless for those who want to relax. We chose to go on guided hikes through the surrounding forest. They have guides at your disposal who really know what they are talking about.

While you walk around the grounds or swim in the pool or enjoy your morning breakfast, you see brown lemurs, and sifakas jumping through the trees. You can even watch them hop on the ground. You are surrounded by flowering trees that attract love birds and other beautiful birds and chameleons and snakes. Anjajavy hasn't had malaria for the past 3 years, so that is a plus as well. We were already on Malarone because of our trip to Singita, but it was nice to know this about Anjajavy because we did a lot of night hikes.

My favorite hike was looking for mouse lemurs. They are nocturnal so you bring a flashlight and shine them into the trees to look for their eyes. We saw so many and heard many more. At the end of our hike, we were lucky to see one that didn't jump away, so I got a GREAT photograph of it. THEN, we learned that it was a new kind of mouse lemur that hasn't been identified, yet! It was such a thrilling experience to be the first people to see such a beautiful creature.

They also have different boat excursions that are relaxing and exciting. They take you out to see different boabab trees and one that is about 20 feet in width! They also offer fishing excursions, etc.

The rooms were very relaxing and romantic. They have ac and we didn't have a problem with any bugs getting in the room.

I hope this answers your question. It is hard to describe what an awesome place Anjajavy is. We are planning a return trip next year. It is really worth it!

Wow, wonderful, thank you sooo much!

Would love to see any photos if you do put any online!

Also, can I ask who you booked with and whether you booked any of it independently or all through one agent?

I wanted to correct my previous post, as the trees are baobab trees. I always have typos!

At Singita, one of my favorite drives was one of our first night drives. It was thrilling because it was completely dark, so the guides had a large light they were shining to alert the animals that we were in the area. We rounded a bend and scared an elephant that was about 4 feet away from the jeep. It ROARED and SCARED the living daylight out of all of us. It is so hard to explain, but it was very exciting and very real. After we all calmed down, the elephant just sniffed us out and walked away. I couldn't believe how graceful it was. It didn't make any noise when it walked away. It was so beautiful.

The rest of our drives were all unique and pleasurable as well. We saw EVERY animal we were interested in seeing, and we saw them at close range. I didn't know that we would be able to get so close to the animals. It was incredible.

Plus, ending your day with a delicious dinner and South African wine was impeccable. The entire experience often felt like a dream.

I am in the process of uploading all of my photos. I will post a link once I get them organized.

I booked this entire trip by myself. It was difficult, but I enjoyed it. If you are interested in a great travel agent, I can recommend one, though.

For our next trip, we are going to return to Anjajavy, and then try Singita's new resort in Tanzania. They are now managing a resort in the Grumeti Reserves.

http://www.singita.com/site/about/news.asp

We had such an wonderful experience with Singita, so we are sticking with them.

Yes, please, Shari!

Interesting report. We absolutely loved our time at Singita, so find your tales reminders of wonderful time spent here.

As to Grumeti Reserves... I wouldn't call it a "resort." Rather, three very very expensive camps (one even more expensive than Singita). If considering a visit here, I would earmark the period between mid-June thru mid-July, when the wildebeests herds pass this way.

I thought the Sasakwa Lodge wasn't tented.

http://www.go2africa.com/tanzania/gr...ommodation.asp

Hi Shari

Thanks for sharing.

i am very curious, who identified the mouse-lemur as 'unidentified' ?

aby

Thanks for all of your answers. You're going back! Not that many people return to Madagascar, that I'm aware of, so that says a lot.

Our guide and a scientist who were on the hike said it was unidentified. Scientists go on different hikes around the year to look for and classify new species. They said this new one would be classified in 2007. They said that this particular one had distinctive rings around its eyes, and that is what helped them to determine this fact. I am not a scientist, so I am sorry if I can't relay the information more specifically.