scootr29

My wife and I are making the trip in 3 weeks. Our itinerary is below and would appreciate any feedback on the locations we are going to. We have been working with Journeys of Distinction and they have been really good to work with.

Also if it was not for Delta and our skymiles this trip would have been way too much money. But we used a total of 160,000 skymiles and paid $100. Much better than the $6000+ in potential airfare. We would have liked to have stayed a couple of more days, but we were limited on the skymile dates.

We are traveling from Greenville, SC thru ATL to JNB.

JNB (Southern Sun) 1 night
Mashatu 2 nights
Mala Mala 2 nights
Camp Jabulani 2 nights

We are transferring via air between all the camps. I have been checking out this site for about 3 months but just wanted to get any final advice before we left.

Thanks in advance.

SSF

ShayTay

The best advice we can offer is to pack light and ENJOY YOURSELVES! Have you checked out National Geographic's webcam at Matshatu? It's called "Pete's Pond" and you may find yourself visiting it in person. Mala Mala is a great place for the Big Five and even the Big Seven (perhaps wild dogs and cheetahs.)

napamatt

Mashatu and MM are excellent. I have no knowledge of the other location, you will have a great trip.

scootr29

Thanks for the heads up Shay. I will check out the National Geographic's website.

atravelynn

These would be unique and distinctive locations for a well rounded safari. I'd prefer more than 2 nights ate each, but understand your mileage limits.

Here is a link to a report with 2 nights at Jabulani.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34992680

I remember they recommended doing the elephant ride for every outing because that was the unique feature there.

scootr29

Yes I agree Lynn I would love to do 3 nights at each location, especially Mala Mala. We will be doing as many elephant rides as we can do, plus we are headed to the Hoedspruit Endangered Center for an afternoon. Thanks for the link...it is about all I found about Camp Jabulani on this forum.

I imagine we will be hooked on Africa and after getting a taste of these 3 locations we can try new places or come back to the camp that we like most on this safari.

betsyatl

scootr29,
I was at Mashatu tented camp in April and loved it. To me it was the true safari experience. Staying out in the fresh air in tents, really long game drives(sometime +5 hours each), very few people, lots of animals.

I am curious as to how far in advance you booked your skymiles tickets? and how limited the dates were? I will book 331 day out, for my next trip (April 09). I am using skymiles for 1 ticket (coach) and United miles for 2 additional tickets , all 3 tickets on miles. For my last trip, I booked all 3 tickets together on AA miles, with a stop in London. I really want the 1 ticket on the direct ATL-JNB Delta flights. Any insight would be appreciate. If you have any questions about Mashatu, please ask me.

Thanks, and have a great trip.

scootr29

Hello...I booked our flights in Feb of this year. Since skysavers uses only 80,000 miles you will be limited on those seats. We needed to use skysavers because we had just over 160,000 miles and skysavers = 80,000 miles pp. Now if you have unlimited skymiles you will be able to pick and chose your dates with no problems using skychoice.

I checked Delta daily for skysaver flights and the October dates were the best we could do. I also like the 767 configuration that Delta uses because it is 2 3 2 seating.

CarlaM

Do you have a breakdown what the cost to fly from Mashatu to MM is? We are doing Mashatu (6) and MM (4) in July 08 but most likely will drive instead of fly the entire route. Will be waiting to hear all about your adventure! Will you be doing any of the special activities at Mashatu? &lt

scootr29

Carla I do not know the cost for flights between Mashatu and MM....sorry. We are just going to concentrate on the game drives and enjoy Mashatu.

I will do a report when I return. We have added 2 days in Paris on the way home.

HariS

scootr,

Have a good trip! Lookforward to ur Mashatu report. Sounds like a nice place to just stay put for 10 days. That's the best value for money in Botswana with good gameviewing (from their website). I am very intrigued!

Hari

scootr29

Thanks to all for advice. My wife and are leaving tomorrow for Mala Mala, Mashatu, Camp Jabulani and then 3 days in Paris.

Trip report and pics in 2 1/2 weeks.

Marija

Have a great time!

atravelynn

Bon Voyage. I can say that because you added Paris.

cw

I'm envious. You'll have a wonderful time. Take notes for your report! (and include Paris).

CW

Lillipets

Have a wonderful trip. I'm looking forward to hearing about Mashatu!

CarlaM

Au revoir mon amie! Bon Chance!