I was at Rattrays the last few days of January and we had such miserable weather that game viewing was definitely impacted and off roading was a real challenge. We got mightily stuck on the Kruger Break road and had to be rescued! Photo's to follow.

I do agree with Jenna's comments on the social side of things, if your vehicle mates are compatible then your trip is much enhanced, if you have horrible vehicle mates, the whole thing can really be a downer on your trip.

It's an old subject, but without the strike, I don't think MM would have done away with the tracker position. On a positive note it was great to catch up with Phillemon, he was our tracker of choice for a number of trips and also at Main Camp, we were delighted that Michael was back behind the bar.

Hi Matt

Also working on my photos! Wasn't it great to see Michael back, though he was at Sable when we were there. Unfortunate about the weather, but as usual we also had a fair bit of rain and cloudy days, though not as bad as in November when they had nearly the whole summer's rainfall in one month!

Kind regards
Kaye

ULUSABA is in the same category price wise as Londo but certainly not at the elevation of SINGITA as long as we don't speak about Londo's granite suites and Ulu's tree house. The latter are almost reaching into Singita's altitude.

Ulusaba is on the western bounderies of SS means when game driving one might see the fence (in the earlier days that fence separated SS from Kruger; now the fence is shifted behind the SS concessions. To some it's disturbing - I did not find it disturbing as I consider that fence a necessity in order to safe the animals from leaving the protected area.

The service at Ulu is impeccable! All drinks incl. champagne is included in the daily rate - even at the most favourable accommodation (river room which is in the same price range as Londo's Varty camp).

Meals are very tasty and the presentation can be compared to a starred restaurant. Extremely pleasant atmosphere throughout! Very well trained staff and genuinely friendly.

Game viewing is comparable to other SS lodges.

SV

Wow-very sad to hear that Filomen is not out front tracking. He was brilliant when we had him in Sept 2008. Have not been to Singita, but we were not fans of Rattrays, per se. While the game viewing was superb (and in the end, that is what mattered most) and the room ( it is more like a small house!) was lovely, we found the atmosphere very stuffy. Perhaps it just depends on your preferences-we would have LOVED to have had dinner just the two of us. (it really can depend on who your truckmates are) We did ask to have a dinner in our room and they weren't exactly "thrilled" to arrange this. Small thing, but we were stunned we were charged for bottled water at meals at Rattrays, given the price of the room.

NJ