Janelle and Phill from Brisbane, Australia, recently went on a dream trip to Africa. And it didn’t start off too shabbily either. They share their Safari Diary with us.
“We began our South African adventure in Cape Town on the 20th April 2017 after arriving on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth cruise ship. Prior to our arrival, we had sailed for 20 nights from Singapore to Cape Town via Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion Island and Port Elizabeth.”
Samantha Myburgh, one of our senior consultants, helped to plan Janelle and Phill’s trip. Here is Janelle’s wonderful description of their once-in-a-lifetime 12-day safari in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
Day 1
“Upon our disembarkation from the ship, we checked into the lovely Portswood Hotel for four days of exploring some of the many highlights of Cape Town and its surrounds! We found the Portswood to be the perfect location, adjacent to the Waterfront area, with many restaurants, shopping and lovely festive atmosphere! First up was a walk around the Waterfront whilst waiting for our room to become available, followed by a half-day city tour and a cablecar ride to the top of Table Mountain later in the afternoon!
Day 2
Perfect weather and spectacular scenery as we travelled south from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope and back up around the shores of False Bay! We encountered antelope, ostriches, baboons, seals, and a delightful colony of penguins! Also got to visit a beautiful botanical garden, Kirstenbosch, before our return. A very enjoyable day!
Day 3
A full day Winelands tour was lots of fun! As if we haven’t had enough wine today! Cracked another bottle of Pinotage whilst waiting for our meal of Springbok and Ostrich to arrive at Karibu Restaurant!
Day 4
Whilst eating breakfast and thinking what a wonderful day we enjoyed yesterday with Phillipe, our driver and guide travelling through the Winelands of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, we were gearing up for another fabulous day, visiting one of the oldest townships, Langa. We were to later visit Robben Island, however, due to the strong winds, that was not possible. But this provided a welcome opportunity for an afternoon of shopping before flying to the Kruger International Airport tomorrow to begin the next part of our adventure!
Day 5
We were very much looking forward to heading off on safari to the north of South Africa and seeing the rest of the Big 5 animals that we hadn’t yet spotted like leopards and rhinos! After our flight, and arrival in Nelspruit, it was then another two-hour drive to our safari lodge, Idube Safari Lodge. Such a delightful place to call home for the next four days!
Day 6
Since our arrival at Idube Safari Lodge 24 hours ago, every second of every minute of every hour has been filled with absolute delight! An afternoon safari ride straight up after arrival followed by a delicious fireside dinner under the stars! This morning’s safari was even better, with not only it being our 36th wedding anniversary, but also seeing up close and personal all of the Big Five, along with so many others! The accommodation is amazing and very romantic! From our own rustic deck, we have been surrounded and entertained by vervet monkeys, antelope, kudu, and warthogs.
After our evening safari, we were totally surprised when opening our front door of our lodge to discover a very romantic setting with lots of candles spread throughout, the bed decorated with different arrangements of leaf patterns, and a bath halfway to the ceiling with a mountain of bubbles! I could not help myself, I had to indulge in all of those bubbles before heading off for pre-dinner drinks! To add to our evening surprises, Phill and I were taken aside at the bar and lead down into a private courtyard for a romantic candle-lit dinner for two in front of a beautiful log fire! Such a special evening for our 36th wedding anniversary, one which I will never forget! The staff and accommodation here are totally amazing!
Day 7
Game drive #4! Each and every drive was always so different and surprising! You never knew what you would see! But the anticipation was always so exciting! The standout highlight from this morning’s game drive was definitely finding the female leopard that we saw yesterday morning, but today she had with her her baby 4-month-old cub (which had been fathered by the leopard we saw on yesterday’s evening drive). It was so special for us to follow them on their journey through the bushland and watch their antics! A very precious experience!
Coming in a close second was observing a herd of elephants, literally running towards a waterhole and watching as they drank from the waterhole, shared by two hippos and a crocodile! It was also entertaining to watch the three rhinos as a family unit grazing, and how the male was kept at bay by the female when he was wanting to be promiscuous! The little two-year-old was staying close to mum at all times! We also were privileged to see baboons, wildebeest, impalas and warthogs! We had certainly been enjoying one of the best experiences in our life! During our evening drive, we had witnessed a crocodile dragging under a small impala and watching as it slowly killed its prey! Sad, but nevertheless, all part of the food chain!
Day 8
This morning’s game drive turned out to be one of our most productive game drives of our trip! Just awesome, awesome and more awesome! First animal sighting on today’s drive was this handsome looking leopard!
We had amazing bird sightings and priceless memories of our lion sighting! Next up after the lions, we were thrilled to see both the zebras and giraffes together! Further along, next up was an awesome sighting of a tower of giraffes.
We saw a small tortoise, cheeky baboons and a rhino! To top of this amazing game drive we saw the mother leopard and her precious baby cub once again. Just beautiful! Then it was off to the waterhole to see the elephants enjoying sloshing mud all over themselves. In the morning we were heading off to Victoria Falls! Wow, what a great experience we had enjoyed here at Idube Safari Lodge! Sure do really hope to come back again one day in the future!
Day 9
Farewell to our safari adventure! After our arrival into Livingstone, Zambia, we then crossed the border into Zimbabwe to head to our home, Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, again to be surprised with an upgrade to a VIP Club room for our final three nights of our trip! Soon after we were picked up for our sunset river cruise on the Zambezi River! A delightful first evening of our stay!
Day 10
We visited one of nature’s supreme masterpieces for a truly awe-inspiring experience with the sight, the sound and the smell of Victoria Falls also known as the “Smoke that Thunders.” It is at this time each year (April) when the falls are at their peak in water volume, due to all the rainfall in the upper reaches of the Zambezi River. After visiting the Falls we had lunch at the Lookout Cafe, which overlooks the dividing gorge between the two countries! Quite a spectacular outlook!
We were delighted to be treated to a special dinner experience, African style at The Boma! A very enjoyable evening with traditional African cuisine, buffet and BBQ style, along with great entertainment, complete with the bongo drums for all!
Day 11
One last country to visit on this trip is Botswana. We spent the day in the Chobe National Park for one last game drive and river cruise before we begin our long trek back home. It turned out to be such a relaxing day, cruising the river with masses of animal sightings, a delicious lunch, followed by one last land safari ride!
Day 12
It was such a beautiful clear crisp morning at Victoria Falls, as we ate breakfast overlooking the bush and waterhole where many of the animals come out to quench their thirst and graze! Indeed a lovely location! What better way to end off an amazing adventure than with the ultimate experience of flying high over the Victoria Falls known as the “thundering smoke” with a helicopter ride! It was such an amazing experience! So glad, as it gave us a completely different perspective from the air, compared to our very wet walk along the walking track beside the falls!
As we began our long journey home, it was time to reflect on how totally amazing our first South African adventure had been! Truly one of the best holidays ever, and really hope that we have the opportunity to return again one day, to this awesome part of the world!
It was just the best adventure ever, and I can highly recommend Rhino Africa to set you up on a thrilling adventure tailor made especially for you! I was very fortunate when Rhino Africa came up on my research via Google as I knew straight away I was dealing with an absolute professional company from Africa! It made complete sense to me, to use an African company for our African trip! They are the experts and in particular, Samantha Myburgh, who looked after us from beginning to end!”
Some more pics from Janelle…
