RETURN TO BOTSWANA, PLUS JOHANNESBURG, 2017

Old Jun 11th, 2017, 07:52 AM
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RETURN TO BOTSWANA, PLUS JOHANNESBURG, 2017

Since the preview here does not work for me, I am not going to chance a long report with a million typos and errors. But I do want to thank everyone who helped me plan this trip here on Fodors, including Craig Beal and the folks at Safari Beyond, who are just marvelous in answering questions both here and on Trip Advisor. I certainly would have turned to Craig had I not had two previous life-changing safari trips planned by my Travel Guru and Planner Extraordinaire, Liesl Matthews, of SouthernDestinations.com, in the Mother City of CapeTown.

By now I've not only used Liesl for planned three times, but have referred her to quite a number of friends, and a few Fodor-ites. Each person reporting back to me was more than thrilled by her genuince warmth and professionalism. I cannot speak more highly of anyone in the travel business than I can about Liesl!

https://www.southerndestinations.com/



And so once again, I turned to Liesl for this past trip, which was a celebration both of a major birthday for me, and a return to health of my partner. We had originally scheduled the trip for spring of 2016 but medical issues intervened and we were able to push the same trip forward to this past month, May, 2017. Thank you to Liesl for allowing us to do this without penalty, and no thanks to TravelGuard which would NOT allow us to use the purchased insurance to cover this trip, since the departure date was a couple of days more than a year from the original trip.



I am going to sketch quickly the trip and would be more than happy, thrilled exactly, to answer any and all questions about this, or any of my two previous visits to southern Africa.

This was the plan for a trip lasting 2 weeks, in May, just before the high season kicks in:

JOHANNESBURG..three nights at The Saxon

BOTSWANA:
ZARAFA CAMP..three nights

VUMBURA PLAINS..three nights

MOMBO TRAILS (temporary camp while MOMBO is being renovated)..three nights

JOHANNESBURG...day room at INTERCONTINENTAL hotel at OR TAMBO airport



I bought my business class tickets from KLM and we flew Delta metal to Amsterdam, leaving JFK about 4pm on a Monday in mid-May. I originally wanted to book the non-stop on SAA but the price was almost double what we paid on KLM, hence the easy transfer in Amsterdam. Delta was great.

We arrived AMS at 6am morning on the Tuesday, spent some time in the lovely business class lounge (the airport is so nice that the lounge was really not necessary in any case).

Our flight departed for Johannesburg about 10am and it was a breeze. Does anyone else collect the cute little KLM blue and white houses??? I am still relatively new to business class on my own dime. When I traveled for work I could go that way on press junkets but it's only in the past couple of years that various minor joint ailments have set in that I have been willing to reliquish the extra money to insure less anxiety and more comfort on international trips. I am very fortunate to be able to do this.

Before I go on, I will say a word about packing. In short, if you have to think about it, do not take it!
If spending time in CapeTown one might need something fairly decent to wear. I vastly overpacked on previous safari trips, and did it again this time. YOU NEED NEXT TO NOTHING IF STAYING AT UPSCALE SAFARI CAMPS IN SOUTH AFRICA OR BOTSWANA! (Caps intended). And I mean next to nothing: Two t-shirts, 2 pairs of pants,, shorts depending on season, pajamas if you wear them, lounge wear, perhaps, for the time between game drives. You do not need any "safari" specific clothing and, as I wrote in my last report on an SA trip, to Londolozi and Tswalu, most experienced safari gtravelers just wore jeans, closed shoes, and t-shirts, with baseball caps or other hates to shade the face. I love my Tilley hat but you can buy a decent copy in Costco for under $20.

Laundry is done each morning at these type of camps, andn that includes undergarments in SA and Botswana.


https://www.tilley.com/us_en/men/clo...FU1LDQod0uQC-w


We arrived early evening in Johannesburg, a city which has fascinated me since my last visit a few years ago. We were met by a driver arranged by Southern Destinations, whisked through immigration very quickly, and shepherded to our large car to be driven to what would be our home for three nights, The Saxon Hotel in the suburbs of Saxonwold.


http://www.saxon.co.za/#SaxonEighteen05

I've stayed before at other Johannesburg properties, The Winston and TenBompas, and TheSaxon was at another level entirely. Simply put, one of the best hotel experiences of my life, and I have been fortunate enough to stay at some pretty fine hotels. Standards in South Africa are extraordinarily high, I believe, and The Saxon did not disappoint, except in one important way:

We planned three nights there, with two full days, to rest after the long flights. As a swimmer, the best relaxation for me is to swim laps and I was attracted by the photos of the gvorgeous pools at The Saxon. Unfortunately, these pools, while ideal for lap swimming, were not heated and thus were impossible for me to use during our stay. If I am lucky enough to return, I will be sure to investigate about heating in hotel swimming pools; the Four Seasons does have heating in their pools so perhaps that would be gthe place for me to stay.

Because? Because I was fascinated by Johannesburg! Multi-level, multi cultural, rich and poor, this is a place that needs time to peel back the layers and explore.

More soon...
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Old Jun 11th, 2017, 08:20 AM
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I neglected to tag this for Botswana...any idea how I can do that after the fact, apart from triangling the report, as I've already done?
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Old Jun 11th, 2017, 12:07 PM
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>You do not need any "safari" specific clothing

Ha ha. Even though I knew this, last year we were going on a game walk and we thought the KNP rangers might insist. They didn’t care either.
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Old Jun 12th, 2017, 08:18 AM
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Hooray to see this today!
I've been checking daily for your TR of last trip!
I already miss Africa so much in the 3 weeks since our return, that I've emailed Liesl tons of times to plan a return for 2019.... too long a time to wait, but I need my DH to retire so he has more time to travel...

Were the 3 camps in Bots worth the "stratospheric" (your words I believe) costs?
We want an all Bots safari next time, and Mombo/VP sound amazing but
We can't wrap our heads around any place that is more than $2000 pp per night...

Hope to read the rest of your report soon!

Did you ever write anything of your other Bots trip ages ago or E. Africa?

We were debating on E. Africa for second safari trip, but the hordes of cars surrounding any predators have been such a negative, that we fear we'd not enjoy the experience.

You've had several trips: any camps you've particularly loved for wildlife sightings?

We too prefer a May timeframe to avoid the crazy increases (plus we want to avoid children out of school from the USA) in June-Aug)

Thanks so much !
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Old Jun 12th, 2017, 08:21 AM
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Oops... just re-read your sketch and now know you may not write more due to Preview problems.

Would just love more details on pros/cons of lodges this trip

Thanks as always, as I love your TRs and have followed your for years on Fodors.
Happy travels!
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Old Jun 12th, 2017, 10:46 AM
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Sd, thanks..I will do my besgt to continue this. I know what you mean about wanting to return, as I've spent the last two weeks, since coming home, debating with myself about Zimbabwe vs Zambia vs NAmibia vs returning to the two camps we did the last time...

Here is what I've written here before, but I think the first one might be incomplete.

I don't think the camps were quite that pricey when we went, but might have been close to that since Botswana camps charge in US dollars. And we got a discount since Mombo was closed and we were lodged in the tempporary camp, not that anyone would know the difference unless they'd been before...

I wish they would fix the preview!


Please ask away and I will respond to any of your questions to the best of my ability......the game viewing was superb at vumbura Plains and at Mombo, but disappinting at Zarafa. We were paired with a German cople who had been to Zarafa before in the same season and they said they had much better viewing the first time. But you know what, it was ok..nothing is guaranteed and just being oout there in the bush and in such gorgeous surroundings made it fabulous just the same. And then we had the great sightings at Vumbura Plains.


http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...lsbotswana.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...in-october.cfm



Here is another idea for you: At Mombo we met a man from New Zealand who was on his 8th return visit to Mombo and about his 15th or close to that, to Botswana. He was super knowledgeable aboout many of the camps run by Wilderness. He said he can "only" afford Mombo every few years and that he has had fantastic game viewing on Hunda Island in the Jao Concession,, at Tubu Tree Camp. That is a classic, rather than a premier camp, so I would certainly take a look if you are thinking of Botswana.


I will tell you that I do not like the small planes and that is about the only negative about Botswana for me apart from the price. Most of our flights were fine, as we were in the small Cessnas only twice but I am really scared almost out of my mind in those. On my first trip to Botswana I had a very scary bumpy flight and honestly I was almost in tears with fright. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case you did not know about those little planes.

But even saying that, I would go back tonight and fly in any plane they put me on just to be out there again.

I'd love to hear from you and where you are in your planning for the next trip...
I cannot tell ly ou how many hours I've been online looking and salivating over various camps.

I did not write a report on Kenya, but I wrote a magazine article about that trip...I will see if I can find it..this was before the days of the internet so that gives y ou an idea of how long ago...in the 80s, I'm sure. I see pics of Kenya now on TripAdvisor, with all those vehicles surrounding one poor lion. The scenery there was outrageous but give me southern Africa any time.
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Old Jun 12th, 2017, 05:04 PM
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thanks SO much for offering to help!!!!
Planning for 2019 , but hope to figure it all out so we can get exactly the lodges we want and hopefully, better airfare.
Please ask Liesl to give you my private gmail account if ok with you: it would be great to speak more directly, as I have some questions I prefer not to post on a public forum.

I would lOVE to read your magazine article! I have always loved reading your TRs!!!

We did stay in Zimbabwe this time and met a great two guys who loved Namibia.
More info if you want, let me know.
Hope to hear from you!
Africa is so addictive! I'd leave tomorrow and stay soooo long... if I could take my puppies with me (and husband would quit work so he could go too)
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Old Jun 13th, 2017, 02:38 AM
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Hi!

I got it from Liesl and will lwrite later on today...
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Old Jun 13th, 2017, 08:03 AM
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Glad to here you had a great time. If you are willing, I would love to read more about your time in Joburg, it doesn't get nearly the amount of exposure on this board that it deserves.
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Old Jun 13th, 2017, 08:59 AM
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Kellyee, I agree and I will write some details of our stay now and again later. Although we had three nights there, and two full days, we pretty much wasted the first day since we were knocked out from the flight. I do wish we had had more time in the city; we even missed what isi surely the star attraction, The Apartheid Museum. So we have one more of many reasons to return. (I will have to say here in all honesty that my partner was not as thrilled with the city as I was).

I had planned to relax and swim on that first day and the pools were one of the reasons I chose The Saxon, but as I think I wrote above. I was very disappointed that these were unheated and too cold to swim. So we hung around in the room much of that first day, after the sumptuous (and that is an understatement) breakfast at The Saxon.

We got started around 5pm that first full day, with a visit to the 27Boxes complex in Melville, where a local artist and huge booster of his native city, Hermann Neibuhr, was hosting a gallery opening of his latest work, which included cityscapes painted on asphalt. Unfortunately for us but great for the artist, most of his works had already sold by the time we arrived!

http://www.niebuhr.co.za/HN/


I don't know how 27Boxes compares to the other night markets in the city but I liked it very much and had not seen anything like it in the US. 27Boxes encompasses 27-meter-square recycled shipping containers creatively put together to assume a lively retail, food, and event space in the Melville neighborhood, not far from The Saxon hotel. (Although the drive took quite a while due to traffic congestion!) this is the scene of one of the city's "night markets," most of which I believe take place on weekends.

http://27boxes.co.za/

https://www.voanews.com/a/joburgs-tr...l/2813283.html

The gallery opening was super and we got to chat with the artist who is a delightful person who is a font of information on Johannesburg and also happens to be the brother of Liesl Matthews, our travel agent and now friend, who accompanied us.

After the gallery visit we wandered around and did a bit of shopping: Shops showcase some creative costume jewelery, paintings, furniture, and a host of tempting items.

From there, we returned to the hotel in time for our dinner reservation at Luke Dale Roberts X The Saxon, the Johannesburg outpost of this renowned chef who made it to #22 on the San Pellegrino Top 100 List last year with his celebrated Cape Town eatery, The Test Kitchen, where we had two fantastic dinners on our last visit to South Africa.


http://lukedaleroberts.com/saxon/




I'll return with more on the restaurant, and the next day's activities in the city..
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Old Jun 13th, 2017, 10:17 AM
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Thanks, sounds good so far! I have only been to 27 Boxes during the day, I will have to get to the night market one of these days.

Can't wait to hear more about your LDH dinner. We were on a waiting list when it was still the popup a few months back but never got in. Still want to go but it is so expensive compared to what we paid at the Test Kitchen a few years back (plus we were still earning euros back then haha). Luke is also opening a Popup Potluck Club next month at Hallmark House in Maboneng and I am definitely going to try and get in. Last time we were at Test Kitchen, we spent quite a bit of time talking to Luke; he was asking my French partner his advice on various wine pairings he was considering. He really is a nice, down to earth guy and really deserves such a great success.
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Old Jun 13th, 2017, 10:49 AM
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Opps I meant LDR...
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Old Jun 14th, 2017, 03:29 AM
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Thanks for sharing your travels with us, ekscrunchy. I agree with you that Johannesburg is a city that takes time and effort to appreciate. The Apartheid Museum is very well done and worth the trip the next time you go. Looking forward to hearing about Botswana. Did you encounter much rain when you were there?
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Old Jun 14th, 2017, 03:37 AM
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No rain at all. Perfect weather every day for the entire stay. It's a good time to go.

Kelleyee: I booked the reservation a year in advance! How's that for being obsessive!? Will write it up later..
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Old Jun 14th, 2017, 03:40 AM
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A year, haha, I did book Test Kitchen before I actually bought the plane tix!
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Old Jun 15th, 2017, 11:33 AM
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As I mentioned the dinner at Luke Dale Roberts x The Saxon was wonderful.
The dining room is serene, with large windows along the edge that overlook the inner courtyard of the hotel.

We chose the five course tasting menu (there is also a longer one). Each and every dish was excellent and I surprised myself when I found the kudu to be probably the best of all the dishes. What a great meat (listed on the menuu as venison, so perhaps they have a different antelope on other nights; the waiter told us that on that night it was kudu). Each of the dishes was beautiful to look at and servings were adequate. I wish I could remember all of the details but since I waited so longn to write this up, I do not, so I will ust list what I ate (there are two choices for every course).

White Bean Potage with smoked mussel, quinoa and garlic oil

Lamb Scottati with Luke's dressing, smoked bone marrow and radish salad

Scallop/crab ravioli with Asian cabbage and kimchi

That kudu, with butternut squash and marigold

Coconut sorbet for dessert (I wish there had been an option with chocolate). this had dill jelly and yogurt cream

I drank a Chenin Blanc but again, I just can't remember the details on that, either. The menu is priced at 790 ZAR, about $61USD, not including drinks.

Apolgies for not providing any further detail. I think we were so tired, and so much transpired on the trip after that, that I blanked out on the details of the dinner. But I certainly would head there first next time!

We dragged ourselves back to the palatial room after dinner and slept like babies.

Next I will sketch out our next and last day in the city.....
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Old Jun 15th, 2017, 12:16 PM
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Would love to hear from you via gmail when you have time.

Thank you for Tubu tree idea: we didn't know wildlife so good there...

We may return in March for green season: photography ideas and other differences.

Thanks for your wonderful delicious details!
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Old Jun 15th, 2017, 01:23 PM
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I know what you mean about the kudu. I had a similar experience with it as well as with ostrich, both in South Africa.
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Old Jun 17th, 2017, 03:48 PM
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Sounds amazing, I really to go one day. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
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Old Jun 29th, 2017, 01:41 PM
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Waiting to read more.
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