Sabi Sands or Phinda... please help!!
 

Me and my fiancee are going to South Africa and Botswana for our honeymoon this coming december.
We only have 20-23 days for the trip, and the more I study the countries the more places I want to visit!! I cannot decide which places to leave out. If you are experienced with southern Africa...PLEASE HELP!! =)

My dream itinerary would be something like:
1.-Victoria Falls (Tongabezi Safari Lodge or Royal Livingstone Hotel) ?
2.-Botswana Okavango Delta (Xaranna Okavango Delta Camp or Vumbura Plains)?
3.-Cape Town
4.-Rent a car and drive through the Garden Route. Maybe spend a couple of days?
5.-Phinda (Vlei Lodge, Mountain Lodge, Forest Lodge?)
6.-Drakensberg Mountains (I dont know where but at least on internet pictures the place looks amaaaaazing!!)
7.-Sabi Sand (Leadwood lodge. If I still have a budget, is Singita really worth it?)

I need to cross out parts of my itinerary...I cant decide which. I've never been to Africa before and everything looks spectacular in the internet.


PS
If I had to choose between Phinda and Sabi Sand...What would you advice me?


Thakyou in advance...=)

Tatiana

I'd go for Sabi Sands. Phinda is cool, but imho there's no comparison between Phinda and a huge open area as the Kruger.

I don't know about your choices in the 'Sands though. Leadwood is in that west-block of the 'Sands, furthest away from Kruger borders. It's not so much for the animals; you will still see plenty because of the river. Although I don't know if buffalo herds get that close to the borders. It's more about the light pollution at night etc.
Singita is better then, but soooo expensive. Some people will say it's worth it, but I guess it depends on your budget. Personally, I think there's better to be had.

In the 'Sands I'd rather go for the northern block. Plenty of affordable lodges sharing traverse there. Like Elephant Plains and Arathusa. Map here (hover over it with your mouse to see traverse); http://www.sunsafaris.com/south-afri...abi-sands-map/
There's also other reserves close to Kruger, offering similar things, but less known and therefor (on average) more affordable. Like Timbavati and Klaserie. Map here; http://www.sunsafaris.com/south-afri...uger-reserves/

Happy travels!

J.

Tatiana, Congratulations on your pending marriage, and choosing Africa for your honeymoon.

I would suggest:

My dream itinerary would be something like:

Johannesburg. 1 night

Botswana Okavango Delta Vumbura Plains. 3 nights

Cape Town. 2 nights

Rent a car and drive through wineries of Stellenbosh/Franshoek. 4 nights

Continue and drive through the Garden Route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth . 4 nights

Phinda Forest Lodge. 3 nights

Sabi Sand Leadwood lodge 3 nights

Johannesburg 1 night

For the Garden Route and Wineries, I always use www.portfoliocollection.com to get ideas for small boutique properties.

Let us know how you go.

RWA

To answer your specific question, if you have to choose, pick Sabi Sands over Phinda all day long. Suggest Mala Mala rather than Leadwood for your first Sabi experience.

Definitely Sabi Sands over Phinda. The northern block as pointed out above is good and Elephant Plains is one of the most affordable lodges in SS. Also for a honeymoon they have stunning accommodations with everything you would want except a private plung pool. My experience was the animal viewing and the guiding was top notch. However due to all this be aware EP is very popular and gets booked quickly.

On to Botswana. In my opinion it's not with going for only 3 days. Go for 6 and do two camps such as VP and Chitabe (Wilderness Safaris) and/or Little Kwara ( Kwando). Otherwise just stay in South Africa.

Thank you pixelpower! What do you mean by "pollution at night"? Why do you recommend the northern block more? Will I see more animals there?

Thankyou for your reply Road Africa Warrior.
I see you eliminated the Drakensberg Mountains, and gave a lot of time to Garden Route and Wine Lands.
Are the mountains not really worth it?

902alert!
I reaaaly hope we can afford it!! I've heard great things about it...

"Are the mountains not really worth it?"
Depends. Where are you from? If you've ever seen the Alps or Canadian Rockies or Yosemite or Durango CO, or Grand Tetons, or Rocky Mountain Nat Park, or any of the other famous world mountainous areas - no the Drakensberg Mountains are not worth going out of your way to see.

regards - tom

Hey Tatiana,

I meant; light pollution of course. But if you stay at some lodges (even very expensive ones like Ulusaba), you might also hear barking dogs or traffic at night. Not at Leadwood though. The northern block is further away from civilization, that's why I recommended it over the western block.

Animals; due to the proximity of the Sand river there shouldn't be much difference, although... well I know that animals like elephants and buffalo are seen a bit less near the edges of the reserve.

Another tip; if you really want to go for Singita Boulders, book it through a local (South African) TA like Sun Safaris. It will cost less that way.

Ciao,

J.

Pixel Power,
That was a great explanation. I got the idea perfectly!! Thankyou for the advice. I will stick to the northern block, and if I can afford it, I´ll try Singita with Sun Safaris.

One more question...if I choose one of the expensive ones...would you recomend Singita or Londolozi?

Tatiana

cary999 -Tom
I'm from Mexico but I do go a lot to Colorado.
Thankyou for the advice!!! I am going to leave the Drakensberg mountains for a second trip.

Tatiana

902 Thanks!! I´ll get in touch with them tonight!!

Hey Tatiana,

Honestly, I'd go for Lonodolozi then. But that's a personal thing. Londolozi was the first property in that area to go the ecotourism way, if I recall correctly. You may want to read Dave Varty's "Full Circle". Amazon's got it for sure.

Ciao,

J.

pixelpower

Mala Mala were the first to go the ecotourism way followed by Londolozi and Sabi Sabi. Singita fell into the fold when CC Africa was formed. I know this as when I started Taga Safaris way back in 1994 I personally visited all these lodges.

I think when choosing a lodge one must look at the level of luxury they want as the safari experience (IE Game Drives) are really all the same and truly does come down to luck. The Western Sector can and often does become crowded with 7 lodges sharing traversing rights, however I have had amazing sightings there.

Londolozi is not a Northern Lodge, it is a central Lodge shared in that respect with Singita, Utah and Mala Mala although traversing rights are limited.

IMO it really boils down to a persons budget and there are a few lodges that do offer extremely good value for money like Elephant Plains and Arathusa although 3 in a seat is not to my liking.

In ending off I would recommend Mala Mala Main Camp as the best average priced and certainly best game viewing lodge in the Sabi Sands.

Yours on Safari
Mark
Taga Safaris Africa

We've stayed at Singita Boulders, Singita Castleton Camp, Mala Mala Main Camp,Lion Sands, and Phinda. Of those, Phinda was our favorite,Lion Sands second and Mala Mala and Singita about even. Personally, after our 2nd visit to Singita we decided that it's not worth the extra money to us. The animals in the Sabi Sands region are going to be the same everywhere. So pick a place that has the atmosphere and accomodations you like. Singita was a little stuffy for us. Phinda was a blast!We loved all the people there.

agswimmer

Extremely well said. This is exactly what I have been trying to convey to my guests over the past 18 years. One man's meat is another man's poison. We all know that saying, yet so many people flock to the travel forums for advise not knowing the taste the poster has and get extremely confused. I have always said and even posted it here that if all of us here went to a restaurant we would definately not all order the same food.

I think I have said it plainly and what makes a good operator is understanding the needs of your guest first and foremost.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone

Yours on Safari
Mark
Taga Safaris Africa

As others have suggested, I would choose Sabi Sands. I stayed at Exeter River Lodge in the Sabi Sands and at Phinda Mountain Lodge back in 2008. Phinda was great, and I had some good sightings of Cheetah which are rare in the Sabi Sands, but I found that the Mountain Lodge was a bit too large for my tastes. With 25 rooms, there were quite a number of large tour groups cycling through the lodge during my stay. I'm finding that I prefer the smaller camps, like Exeter River Lodge where there were only 8 rooms and the experience is more personal.

Now there you go, that's exactly what I am talking about.

The forums are great to read others experiences but when it comes down to planning your safari you need an experienced and reputable tour operator of which there are quite a few.

Yours on Safari
Mark

Agree with Mark. A good agent has a lot of first hand experience with what they are talking about. And they will ask you questions to determine what you want/expect, and compare many variables for you. Like camp size, as lifelist says above. You mention around 9 places to visit, the agent will arrange the many many details required for transfers/transportation. And give you a single point of contact for any difficulties that may arise.

regards - tom