mkhonzo

I don't care for the radio in the ear thingy. Many sightings are found by hearing birds chirp, monkey calls, bushbuck barks etc. The constant jabbering in my ear would drive my nuts. As a tourist I like to know that my guide has me and my attention at heart, onbce again with the buzz in his ear he can't be giving me my $800 a night attention that I deserve. I am happy to listen to the radio banter when it becomes just that.

mytmoss

LOL....Tom I think part of what you said is true for me. I do like to practice my Shangaan and Zulu. Also personally for me, I know that most of the "surprise" encounters are not really surprises as the animals have already been located. So from a photography point of view, I want to be ready ahead of time. When I was at Thornybush, the ranter there was not comfortable with trying to listen to the radio and do what he needed to do. He tried to let me listen in but it was not working out. So I asked him to just keep me informed as to what to expect and he did so and that also worked out fine.

Go2Maui the Wildearth drives are currently at 6AM and 930 PM Pacific time. I think there is also a night drive at 9AM Pacific time.

I also do not think you will regret just Sabi Sands, but lots of people really do love the Kruger experience too.

Mike

Safari_Craig

Peter Pretorius is the genteleman who often runs the Wildearth videos. Sometimes, it depends on his personal travel schedule and vacaction but they have fill-ins too. Peter is a high school mate of one of my cousins from South Africa. Peter is a genuine safari enthusiast and takes his friends on safari as their private guide! This is a cool program.

Craig Beal

Gritty

Go2Maui,

Wildearth is a good way to familiarize yourself with African wildlife and the landscape of the Kruger area. There's also another webcam called Africam which is located near where Wildearth is filmed. They don't do game drives, but I find that their static camera and sound is a little better than Wildearth's static camera and sound. National Geographic also operates a "WildCam" at Pete's Pond in Botswana.

As for your question about whether you'll regret not visiting Kruger for Sabi Sands--I honestly can't answer this question because I have not been to Sabi Sands or any of the other private reserves around the park. In general, Kruger offers a much less private experience. It's like going to Yellowstone and driving around on your own. There are sometimes traffic jams at the big cat sightings and the rest camps have a lot of people in them.

However, I've never had problems finding solitude outside the camps. I also make sure that I do the game walks and wilderness trails that are offered; these are much more private (no more than 8 people) and I have always been pleased with the guides that I've had.

After two self-drive trips, I'm starting to think that time in the private reserves would not be a good value for my (meaning me personally) money. I don't care at all for luxury--I'm looking at doing a backpacking trip in Kruger at some point. I'm also not much of a photography guy, and it seems like the private places are geared more for photographers. I enjoy the freedom of setting my own schedule and seeing what crosses my path. My single most relaxing day of 2008 was the first full day I was in Kruger, driving some quiet back road. I've also had very good luck, seeing the Big 5 plus wild dogs and honey badgers on my last trip, and cheetahs on my first trip. I also have learned a lot of the bird species and I'm busy trying to learn the different tree species. I personally think the game viewing at the private reserves is a bit zoo-like for my personal tastes. (Can you imagine how zoo-like it would be if they started putting radio transmitters on the animals!) There's nothing wrong at all with the way they do things, I just like a different way. It's worked for me.

cary999

Gritty - If not Sabi Sand private camps, have you been to any private camps in South Africa? Do you live in SA?

regards - tom

Gritty

Tom, no I haven't been to any of the private camps. I live in the U.S.

I have thought about spending a night or two at one of the less-expensive camps just to have a comparison and see if I learn a lot of new things. I'm debating another trip to the Kruger area (because it is easy) and the possibility of a self-drive trip to either northern Botswana or South Luangwa. That would be more adventurous and would be a real learning experience.

cary999

Gritty - I just thought that maybe your lived in SA and went over to Kruger on you days off and leisurely cruised around. Sounds good to me!!! But you live in USA like me so just getting there it its own "adventure". A private camp and Kruger are very different experiences for me/us and I/we love them both.

Re self drive Bots, if you haven't already be sure and check out poster canadian_robin. They self drove Bots, Namibia, a year ago. They are just now starting to self drive Kenya and Tanzania.

regards - tom

Go2Maui

It sounds like both Kruger and Sabi Sands are wonderful experiences - we'll try to visit both.

I'm also going to start watching Wildearth, Africam and WildCam!

Thanks again everyone!

Lisey

LAleslie

Go2Maui,
Please consider Chobe Game Lodge instead of Chilwero because it is INSIDE the national park. If you stay at Chilwero you have to drive in everyday. Chobe Game Lodge is right on the river, they have there own river boats, and you can see the elephants trudging across the plains from your room.
I second the vote for Vic Falls. If you stay in Zambia there won't be much water, the the more spectacular falls are in Zim. You may have to take more cash because they don't take credit cards at Vic Falls, however. I'm not sure about Ilala. But you can walk to the falls from either place, and it's quite a hike (or a cab ride) from the Zambia side, plus you have to pay extras visa fees. The Ropyal Livingston is a very nice place on the river, however. Mighty pricey. I only had lunch at the Vic Falls hotel (freshly caught bream, delicious) but it was fun to see the old colonial atmosphere of the hotel.
You've got too many activities on your Cape Town visit. I'd scratch Hermanus; it's too far away for only 4 days. You can squeeze in a day trip to the Cape of Good Hope and visit little towns on the way, and even do a tiny portion of the Winelands in a day (I was there 3 days and wanted at least a week), but even with that you'd only have 2 days left in Cape Town itself. Not enough IMO.
I goive a huge thumbs up to Londolozi: great food, great staff, lots of leopards and most everything else. We stayed at the smallish Pioneer camp and loved it for huge luxurious chalets and intimacy.
Hope this helps. You'll have a great trip.

Go2Maui

LAleslie,

Thanks for your suggestions. How is Chobe Game Lodge in terms of the accommodations and food? We have a group of people that not only want great game viewing but great accommodations and food (the food doesn't have to be gourmet, but it has to be good!). I think we'll need to extend our stay in Cape Town - some of us wants to go see shark breaching as well. Londolozi sounds wonderful but I'm afraid it may well exceed our budget. I think the choices now are Lion Sands River Lodge (through some combo deal) or Mala Mala - any thoughts?

cary999

I'm sure you will be happy with either MalaMala or Lion Sands. Room availability might make the decision for you.

regards - tom

Go2Maui

Tom - you are correct - room availability may be the determining factor. At this point I'm just happy to get there!

By chance have you gone on a shark cage diving excursion around Cape Town?

Lisey

cary999

Lisey - Again both camps are 5 star plus, I'd go to either in a heart beat. You're planning for Sep 2010 so you have some time yet. But by Nov. I'd expect these camp reservations to more than half taken for Sep 2010.

Shark cage, no. Others here have I'm sure. I'm not big on water/swimming. I've never even been to Cape Town. I go to Aahfreeka for only safari.

regards - tom

LAleslie

Go2Maui, Chobe Game Lodge has very nice, comfortable rooms, with balconies, but it's not not over-the-top luxury. (It's been there forever; this is famously where Liz and Dick honeymooned ages ago.) There are resident warthogs on the grounds. You will be happy there. I'd say the food ranges from quite good to mediocre, depending on what's on tap. But given the advantages of being inside the park, believe me, you won't care.
I haven't checked prices lately but am I wrong that Mala Mala and Londo are priced similarly? You'll get a posh experience at both. Dunno about Lion Sands.
I reiterate in Cape Town, even with one or two more Cape Town days, you've got too much on your plate. Check out the distances between all these must-dos.

mistypopper

My two cents...

I am Londolozi fan - amazing game, great staff and chirpy guides, each camp has its pro's. Lion Sands Ivory is also lovely but I just prefer Londolozi. It's run by the Varty family and has the most wonderful atmosphere because it is not pretentious at all but everything is of a 5* standard +

Chobe Chilwero is definately the superior property to Chobe Game Lodge. It is smaller, I enjoyed the food more, loved the spa and found my particular guide to be extremely informative from wildlife to politics! All that said at the end of the day Chilwero is much smaller and has a much more boutiquey feel to it than Game Lodge. If you are looking for an exclusive, luxury safari experience definately go with Chilwero. Try combining it with Sussi in Livingstone (same group ownership) - you might get that deal ;-)

Chilwero is right on the border with the park and it really is not an issueof being in or outside the park.

Safari_Craig

i believe the issue when you stay outside the park is if you have to enter the gate from the kasane side. at chilwero (i think) you use a different gate so the crowds are not big deal. am i correct?

craig beal

mytmoss

I stayed at the Chobe Lodge on my very first trip and its one of the few places that I have no plans to go back. The lodge itself is clean and the people are nice and the food is OK. However I found viewing the cats was poor at best. There are lots of elephants at Chobe, over 150,000 of them, so if you love elephants, you will be in heaven, although you may be sick of them by the time you are done. They do provide you with river canoeing and also a small motor boat that goes up and down the river. I found that to be more fun than the driving part of the safari. If you go to Chobe, go there first as the rest of the trip will only get better.

Mike

Go2Maui

Mistypopper and Mike - thanks for your input - Chobe Chilwero it is!

Craig - I hope you're right about the gate!

Lisey

LAleslie

Go2Maui,
Like everything else on this forum, be careful taking one (or even two or three) person's experience as gospel. There are a myriad of stories. Please do a little research (or ask your TA to find out, although TAs aren't always unbiased) and find out exactly how long the drive from Chilwero is to the park entrance (keeping in mind you will have to get up all that much earlier in the morning). And, once you're in the park, how long a drive is it once you're in the park until you'll see game? Craig clearly isn't sure. Maybe someone else here knows.

I had a very different Chobe experience than mytmoss'. We saw all kinds of game in addition to the thousands of elephants (and how one can get sick of watching these magnificent creatures stampeding to the river in the afternoon, splashing about with their babies and swimming across to the other side is beyond me!). We saw: many herds of buffalo, quite a few lions--including two feasting on a fresh buffalo kill, and a thirsty female in a fascinating inaction with a buffalo herd, which was trying to cut her off from the river after she'd killed on of their own. Plus sable and roan, quite unusual antelope sightings. And crocs, hippos, lots of birds, impala and more. One difference from the private game reserves of SA: you can't drive off the roads in national parks (although our guide did a couple of times). And the landscape is completley different than Sabi Sand. I was impressed, even when compared to Londolozi and Phinda.
I don't travel to Africa for a spa experience, and though I consider myself a foodie, not really for the food either. (You'll be more satisfied in Cape Town and the Winelands.) The food at most upscale places caters to an international clientele, so it's often generic "continental" cuisine meant to satisfy Western tastebuds. I always prefer to try local fare, and it's almost nonexistent in the luxury safari market. Your TA, if he/she's any good, should be able to choose properties that cater to the kind of travelers you and your group are. Some people selling travel to AFrica have never been there!

mytmoss

LALeslie is right, you cannot go by one person's experience. However I have made 6 trips to Southern Africa, and Chobe Lodge was by far and the way the one to be least remembered. The rangers while extremely nice were not up to par with other places I visited. Chobe Lodge would be the one place that comes closest to what I would consider to be a "hotel". As for who could get tired of elephants, I guess I am one. When I see the desolation that has been created by the elephant overpopulation there, it gives one much to think about.

While I do not go to Africa for a spa visit, I do go there for the total package. Of the 10 lodges I have stayed at in southern Africa, Chobe Lodge is solidly on the bottom. Being on the bottom does not make it a bad place, it was far from it. Its just the others are much better.

Mike