penelope41

hi all
we are going to South Africa in August and are staying at Mala Mala Main Camp for the first 4 days. Does anyone have any suggestions on where we can go after that would be romantic, relaxing with not too much travel for 5 days after Mala Mala. We want to see wildlife. Any ideas? We live by the beach so we don't want to go to a beach area and would rather experience the wildlife and see nature.
thank you for your help!!!

penelope41

forgot to mention we want to spend under $1,400 per night. thanks

sandi

Phinda!

cw

Phinda would be great. Another suggestion is Ngala Tented in the Timbavati area just north of Mala Mala.

A tented camp would give you an entirely different experience.

CW

hills27

Phinda. We are going in August and are taking a charter flight directly from Phinda to Singita. I'm sure the reverse could be easily arranged.

Phinda appealed to me because it has great diversity (something like 6 ecosystems within the reserve) and a lot of animal viewing activities besides the typical game drive - cheetah tracking, rhino tagging, riverboat cruise, canoeing, a day-trip called Flight of the Fish Eagle, etc. They also have four different lodges, so you could spend two days at one and two at another, if you wished.

Here's a link: http://www.phinda.com/Attractions/attractions.aspx

atravelynn

I'll say Phinda also. After 4 nightss in Mala Mala, I'm going to Phinda in June. There are several choices of lodges. As I recall the forum concensus favored Forest Lodge (the less expensive option) and Vlei (more expensive option). There are also Rock and Mountain. I chose Forest.

penelope41

thank you so much. I think I like the idea of Ngala Tented Camp. What about if I did 4 nights Mala Mala, 3 nights Ngala Tented camp and 2 nights at either Tree Camp Londozzi or Leapard Hills or Dulini I think we would like a little luxury as well. Would this be too much traveling? Can you reccomend a place that is upscale and romantic? The lodges at Phinda don't seem that nice. But of course I have never been there. We are staying at Mala Mala main camp so we would like at least 2 nights that are a little fancy and romantic even though we have a budget. Does this trip look doable in terms of traveling to get to the above places? Thank you so much for your help and suggestions it is great..

mkhonzo

After being at MM for 4 nights anything else in the Sabie Sands area or similiar biome will pale and be disappointing.

I would suggest that you go into Botswana for the balance, but your budget will be exceeded, so perhaps it would suite you better to go up to the Madikwe and as far as romance and luxury are concerned little in the market place can beat mateya Safari Lodge...winter pricing on the web shows that you will come in under your budget.

hills27

Thanks for slamming my vacation before I even get there. ;-)

hills27

I would suggest checking availability before getting your heart too set on any camp in particular. I know we had an impossible time getting into any of the luxury lodges in Sabi Sands (including Londolozi) near the end of August (and we booked over a month ago).

cw

Penelope,

I'm not sure it would be worth moving around to stay in two different Sabi Sand reserve camps, but if budget was a factor, the transfers would be easy.

Ngala Tented Camp is wonderful. The tents are very luxurious, even better than the photos on the website. Forest Lodge at Phinda has the most wonderful glass houses as lodging. There is absolutely nothing missing. If you wanted a smaller lodge, look at Phinda Vlei, where I think the elephants often come and drink from the plunge pools.

We stayed at Londolozi Founders, Phinda Forest, and Ngala Tented. I'd be happy to answer any other questions about those lodges.

CW

LAleslie

Or you could stay at Tree or Pioneer camps at Londolozi (luxurious, small, romantic) and go to Phinda for completely different terrain. When they were both CCAfrica camps the transport was direct from camp to camp and I believe you got a deal on the price. Not sure if that arrangement has changed since Londo is now back in the owner's hands. We stayed at Mountain Lodge at Phinda in a large nicely decorated suite. But after the intimate Pioneer camp it was a a bit too large for us, and there were many families, which we liked but may not be your idea of romantic. The food was fine but not as good as Pioneer's the service fell a bit flat. The guide was fairly green, but her enthusiasm and cahrm made up for her lack of experience. Forest Lodge and Vlei are more luxurious from what I hear. You may also want to check out Ivory Lodge in a different area, which looks to have chic and deluxe accommodations. Not sure about the price there.

hills27

This site is pretty good for easily looking at pictures of the rooms at various lodges:

http://www.kiwicollection.com/search...=South_Africa/

I've heard CCA treats honeymooners phenomenally well.