It’s hard to find words to describe our trip to Africa this summer that would do it justice, I’ll just say that it was a truly awesome and amazing trip of a lifetime! (If you’d like to skip the trip overview and just get to the real stars – the animals – go right ahead!)
We had been thinking about doing a trip to Africa for a few years, but this year Jenn’s office instated a policy where employees who had served 10 years were eligible for four weeks’ sabbatical leave. This was the catalyst we needed to pull the trigger; she applied and was granted the leave – luckily my office was on board with me taking the time off as well. At the same time, good friends of ours, the Coozes, were also interested in an African vacation, so that cemented it. Planning started in January; Jenn and Helen worked with Maryanne at Reservations Africa in Canada and Ankia at Coach Connections in Cape Town to plan the entire trip. We had flights booked by late January and ultimately the itinerary was finalized at the beginning of May. We would all fly to Cape Town via Atlanta, with us (Wilsons) leaving August 5th and the Coozes coming a week later. Our week before the Coozes’ arrival would be spend exploring some of the Garden Route, along the southern coast of South Africa.
Our flights to Atlanta and then Cape Town went off without a hitch; we arrived into Cape Town on a Sunday evening (after a 15-hour flight) to a glorious sunset over nearby Table Mountain, a sign of good things to come! We would start our journey in Stellenbosch, about a half hour west of Cape Town, where we stayed at the Oude Werf hotel. We had two rooms, as typically throughout the areas we stayed in Africa, they limit you to two people per room.
A little side note: when planning the trip, rather than book car rentals and driving ourselves around, we opted to having a private driver / guide shuttle us around in each of the locales we visited. This ended up paying dividends for us, as not only was this much more convenient and safe in general, but our first driver Chris and Ankia were amazing at working together to change our plans on the fly to navigate around the closures & cancellations arising from the taxi strike in the Cape Town / Stellenbosch area while we were there (in a nutshell, workers who lived in Cape Town couldn’t get to work in Stellenbosch resulting in various businesses being closed). In the end we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything, thanks to their quick thinking and knowledge of all things touristy in the area!
We spent two days in the Stellenbosch area, visiting a few of the wine area’s beautiful farms the first day and enjoying the vistas in between. Babylonstoren was a highlight, as was Stark Conde, which we stopped in at on our e-mountain bike tour on our way to the scenic trails at nearby Jonkershoek. Our second day was generally unscripted, but our impromptu visit to the Alpaca Loom near Paarl to walk some fluffy Alpacas certainly made for some happy campers! On the way to Spier winery for some chocolate / wine pairings and an eagle encounter, we sampled some beer and some fancy chocolate bars at Spice Route Destination. Josh had a friend attending school in Stellenbosch, so we finished our time in the area with a nice dinner with her at Lanzerac Taphuis before going to bed to prep for an early flight the next morning!
After an early (4am) wake up call, we boarded a flight to George, about 1 hour’s flight to the east of Cape Town. Our next driver, Irma, greeted us at the airport to take us for a quick sightseeing tour of the nearby Knysna area, where we would spend the next few days. After a quick breakfast at a fancy bakery, we were dropped off for a catameran cruise around the Knysna River (it was more like a lake!); they nearly took us out between the Heads into the choppy waters of the Indian Ocean – thankfully they turned the boat around as it was pretty chilly in the wind (Jenn and the kids were bundled up in blankets)! We took a drive later to see the Heads from the top (what a view!) on our way to the Knysna Elephant Park. There, we got our first real experience with what we think of when talking about African animals – feeding elephants in a field, and walking among a small group of Zebras, including a one-day-old baby! Very cool experience, we were all so happy to be so close to these animals.
Other adventures in Knysna included an awesome zip line tour, a mountain scooter tour, and a little shopping down at the waterfront area on the lake. The food was pretty good at both Drydock and 34 South (though Ryley went a little overboard on the seafood…), as were the breakfasts at our hotel, Kanonkop House. The hotel – more of a guest house I’d say – was really cool. We had an amazing view over the river from our huge suite (we could see all the way to the Heads), the kids had their own smaller room upstairs (again the limit of 2 people per room), and there was a common area with a kitchen. The Owners, Mark & Adele, also came by one evening to set up a bar and a bonfire in the firepit area outside; we enjoyed a few fancy gin cocktails from their extensive selection.
We Wilson’s aren’t idle for long, however – after breakfast the next morning, we hit the road with Irma at the wheel, heading further east about 3.5 hours to Elephant House in Addo, our home for another two days. Our timing was bang on as we had about a half hour to check in, get refreshed, and get back in an awaiting open-air safari vehicle for our first real game drive! (Ryley unfortunately wasn’t feeling 100% after her seafood & lemon feast plus the long car ride… so she came along but slept through most of this first one.) We were a little rushed but it was totally worth it, the game drive was marvelous. We saw lots of different animals like zebras, warthogs, and kudus, amongst about a million elephants! We even saw a few dung beetles. Then, just before a gorgous sunset, we found a small pride of lions! So amazing. The only not-great thing was that our Land Rover broke down just before we saw the lions – and while we were able to get the vehicle going again to get back to the hotel, we’d have to switch to a decidedly more uncomfortable closed-in vehicle for our morning game drive the next day. We did get a fun, snacky breakfast while out for our drive early the next morning, however; we stopped on a hill with an breathtaking view for miles around.
Addo National Park was wonderful, and before we moved on from the area we did an afternoon game drive at another nearby reserve – a private one this time – called Schotia. This area was smaller than Addo, we saw many of the same animals there but Schotia featured a few animals we had yet to see, such as a hippo (who put on a rare show for us) and some giraffes! And given that the reserve was private, our guide was able to go fully off-road where appropriate – which came in handy when we came across a Cape lion and followed him off the beaten path as he tried to evade some persistent females! The afternoon was remarkable, we finished off the day at Schotia with a braai (a bbq, but the food is cooked over wood or coals) featuring kudu steaks. After a quick mini game drive in the dark (Josh worked a floodlight and found lots of glowing eyes!) we were back at our hotel, where we had to get ready to fly back to Cape Town the next day to meet up with the Coozes.
Sunday mid-morning we’re on the road again for about an hour to the Port Elizabeth airport to catch an afternoon flight back west to Cape Town to meet up with the Coozes at the hotel in Camps Bay. Unfortunately, they were delayed by storms in Atlanta and thus missed their flight to Cape Town; they’d be arriving two days late! We were, luckily, back in the hands of our original Cape Town tour guide, Chris, and once again he and Ankia worked their magic to shuffle around some of the activities planned for the whole group and found us other things to do in the meantime. Over the next few days, we went back out to the Stellenbosch area for a some hot air ballooning, rode the Wine Tram at Franschhoek to a few wineries (Delaire Graff, Anura, and Boschendal), Chris did some official ‘tour guiding’ around Signal Hill and Cape Town itself, and we spent an afternoon shopping and sightseeing at the Waterfront area.
The Coozes arrived Tuesday evening and were raring to go! Wednesday was a jam-packed day, even by our standards. 😉 After an early breakfast, we started at Table Mountain where we rode the tram to the top (we were originally supposed to hike, but time was of the essence and ultimately we were all glad we didn’t!). It was quite chilly at the top, but a lovely clear day, with astonishing views of the city as well as Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years) below. We all piled back in the van for a gorgeous hour-long cruise along the coast down to Simon’s Town and Boulders Beach to see some wild penguins, much to the delight of everyone! After a fancy seafood lunch at Kalk Bay, it was back on the road north past Cape Town to the Atlantis Dunes to do some sandboarding and a few laps on a quad! It was pretty fun by (nearly) all accounts – it was interesting to find seemingly endless dunes of white sand out in the middle of nowhere. Back to Camps Bay for the night – needless to say, after dinner and gelato, we were all beat, but excited to head up to our first safari lodge at Phinda on Thursday!
We had a 2.5 hour mid-morning flight from Cape Town up to Kruger International, then after a short wait in the small lounge of the very small airport, we boarded our first “private” plane for a 1 hr+ flight to Phinda Airfield. (Traveling in a group of 9 via a 12-seat airplane meant, in our case, no one else was booked on the flight… hence our “private” plane!) We were picked up right off the tarmac by our guide, Andrew (and tracker Joel) who transferred us to the Lodge in our “private” safari vehicle (again – our group of 9 in a 10-seat vehicle meant it became ours alone!). The lodge was a good 15 minutes away through the bush, so we essentially had our first mini game drive on the way! We didn’t waste any time once at the lodge, we had a quick snack and freshened up before heading out on an afternoon game drive.
While at Phinda, our days typically went as follows: wake up at 5:30am, head to the Lodge for a pastry & drink at 6, on the game drive with Andrew & Joel no later than 6:30. Depending on what was happening, we’d stop for a hot chocolate / coffee (with Amarula!) somewhere around 9, then back to the Lodge around 10-10:30 for a proper breakfast. We’d hang out and relax for a few hours, then have lunch around 1pm and be ready to head out around 3:00 for our afternoon drive. We’d stop for a cocktail and leg stretch while enjoying the sunset, then continue on the drive, finishing around 6:30. We’d all sit down for a nice dinner in the Lodge around 7, then the kids would go off and ‘chill’ (phones!) for the evening while the adults would have a nightcap by the fire. Tough life I know – but come on, this is what vacations are for!
Besides the main attraction – the animals – there were lots of little things that made our stay in Phinda memorable. The lodge itself was beautiful, as were our rooms (thatched-roof shacks for two, typically). The food was exceptional, as was the service – every time we returned from a drive there was someone waiting for us with a hot (or cool) towel and a delicious drink! Dinner one evening was a ‘boma dinner’ – which was a braai (BBQ) in a boma (enclosure like a fenced-in area), the food and ambiance were both amazing. Andrew and Joel were a great team as well, finding animals all over – never a dull moment. We also enjoyed their setting up snacks while making our morning drinks or afternoon cocktails while in the bush! All so, so good.
As for the animals, we were certainly not disappointed. We did 6 game drives while in Phinda – on the very first one (the day we arrived) we saw a cheetah with her two cubs, plus a white rhino, neither of which we had seen yet. Another time, we saw a bull elephant in musth strutting towards us on a road as we carefully backed up. We found a bloat of hippos, including babies playing with their dad. A field full of buffalo at first light. The adults did a walking tour in the bush one afternoon and came across four giraffes, who stared us down as it was likely odd for them to see people outside of a safari vehicle! We only saw one sleeping male lion, but it was cool to see him right beside an empty fresh carcass of a wildebeest! (We had so many great sightings, these were just a few examples.) The only one of the big 5 that eluded us before we left was the leopard – we spent the better part of a day or so looking for one known to the area but she was well hidden.
After a wonderful almost 3 days in Phinda, it was time to move on to Tintswalo Lodge in the Manyeleti area. We squeezed in a final cheeky 2 hour game drive before heading back to our “private” plane for a nearly 1.5 hr flight from Phinda to Hoedspruit, then an hour’s drive to the Lodge. After Phinda, we thought it would be tough to beat our experiences there – and it was – but Tintswalo raised the bar yet again. We arrived to the lodge and walked in (after being handed a drink of course, from our butler, Lonic) to find a bunch of elephants having a drink / shower right off the back patio area! After a tour of our respective rooms (the 5 Coozes in the large Presidential Suite, our smaller family in our own slightly smaller suite), we convened at the Cooze’s pad for ‘substantial tea’ (late lunch – prepared by Mo, the presidential suite chef) outside with elephants roaming by in the background. Then as per the norm, we’d get ready and head out for an afternoon game drive with our guides, Mike and Erick. (Our schedule at Tintswalo was much the same as in Phinda. Early morning drive, back for breakfast at the Lodge, hang out, late lunch at the Cooze’s before an afternoon drive, then dinner at the Cooze’s again before chilling / bed.)
The game drives were similar to Phinda as well, in that our guides were top notch and they both made excellent Amarula hot chocolate and gin & tonics! One difference, though, was that here it was originally assumed by the staff that each family would have their own vehicle with a guide and tracker. We requested to just fill up one vehicle, however, so we had two guides with us, which freed up our two trackers to go out ahead to scout for animals. I don’t know this for sure (just a hunch as to the behind the scenes stuff), but given the number of amazing sightings we had, it sure seemed this was the case. It was a running gag throughout our stay – we would request something (half jokingly) and sure enough we’d end up seeing it before too long. It was actually pretty remarkable.
The animals sightings were next level. First day – Leopard cub! Turned out to be one of two cubs, we found them both together the next day. We came across two big prides of lions at different times, each group had distinctive characteristics (one group was like a band of rough-n-ready hooligans and the other were like lion supermodels), both were amazing. We finally found some hyenas too – a small group of them had chased a Leopard (not related to the cubs) up a tree with her kill, we saw her eating her prize and the hyenas would wait down below for bits to drop. Picture a herd of elephants, including some babies, with the sun setting behind in the distance… saw that! Lions walking single file on their way to set up for a hunt… we were there! Two cheetahs making a kill and eating it in front of us… you bet! Our guides could even find a chameleon in a tree, in the dark – pretty much every night. Unreal.
We have many fond memories of our stay here. The food was out of this world, and there was so much – substantial tea was always quite, well, substantial, and we’d always be served a full cake (which we would eat most of – we actually had to ask Mo to make less food as we felt bad leaving so much!) The rooms themselves were awesome, each complete with a plunge pool and a view to an open corridor behind where we often found animals like elephants or baboons strolling by. The Presidential suite had it’s own boma and firepit out back, so Mo did up a full-on braai one evening and the staff came by to sing and dance for us – even Mo and Lonic joined in, it was awesome (plus some Hyenas came by in the dark afterwards to clean up the grill, we could see their eyes glowing in our flashlights… eerie!). We were surprised with a full-on cooked breakfast out in the bush one morning, and another time they surprised us again with a full bar and appetizers around a bonfire in the bush (with other guests this time) after an evening game drive. As at Phinda, our guides were really great, were super knowledgable, and were always happy to stop for us to take a photo (or ten). (Interesting side note – our guide, Mike, has a daughter named Kira that was working at Phinda, we met her briefly when we were there – apparently she called him after we left to give him the low down on us as she knew we were heading his way next… small world!) Such an amazing place, we were sad to have to leave!
Alas, on day 18 of our vacation (a Thursday), we had to move on to yet another destination. We arrived at the penultimate stop of our African vacation, Avani resort at Victoria Falls in Zambia (after another “private” plane ride back to Kruger then a boring regular plane north to Livingstone, plus a 20 minute drive to the resort). Avani was decent – we knew Phinda and Tintswalo would be the highlights of the trip – everything from here on out was gravy. We wanted to tick the box and see Victoria Falls, so we walked over right after we arrived at the resort and dropped our bags in our rooms. It didn’t disappoint; it was pretty amazing at sunset, even if it wasn’t in full flow this time of year! The next day we adventured around in the area; the boys went quadding, the girls went shopping in nearby Livingstone, then we went on a jet boat ride up the river (through rapids, too!) to the Elephant Cafe to feed some of the gentle giants. We squeezed in a zip line at the Victoria Falls bridge, too – Ryley and Isla got to go tandem, which was pretty cool!
We did a day trip to Botswana – about 1.5 hrs – on Saturday for two final game drives, one being a ‘river game drive’ and another on land. The border crossing was relatively easy (as compared to the crossing into Zimbabwe the next day…), it wasn’t too busy and with the help of our guide, Joshua, it went pretty smoothly. Botswana was hot – about 36°C – so we were happy to be on the water in the morning and have a shade over our safari vehicle in the afternoon. The river drive on the Zambesi river was pretty relaxing, we found lots of birds among the hippos, impala, and crocodiles on the shoreline (to name a few animals we saw). Once we were on land in the afternoon, we saw so many elephants and giraffes; they had wandered down near the river to cool off so we spent lots of time watching the elephants play in the mud and laughing at the giraffes trying to stoop down for a drink. A couple of sleeping lions and a troop of baboons later, and we were on our way back to the hotel. We stole one more quick look at the Falls before heading for our final African destination in Zimbabwe the next day.
As eluded to before, this was a less-than-straightforward process. The border crossing was much more chaotic and ultimately it took 2 hours and some ‘encouragement’ from our guide to get us across the border. Our final hotel was the Elephant Camp, only about 30 min drive south of Avani – all the buildings, including the main lodge area, were essentially tents (at least the roofs were) – gave it all a bit of a whimsical feel. Food and service were again great, there was just one other couple around so we more or less had a run on our side of the resort. As our vacation was winding down, we weren’t fussed about doing a whole lot (we already did all the things!), though we did do one last adventure to do a zip line canopy tour at the Lookout Cafe. The kids went one step further, with Ryley and Isla once again doing a tandem foefie slide (zip line with a big dip in the middle from where they need to be retrieved), and Josh doing a scary-looking gorge swing (basically drop towards the water / rocks below, then swing way out)! We also did a walking tour back to Victoria Falls to see them from the Zimbabwe side. Otherwise, our activities were a little more low-key: a sunset boat cruise, having drinks in the bush (a la game drive) overlooking a gorge, a shopping trip into town (to find some gin that we liked), enjoying a bonfire at the resort in the evening, or playing a spirited game of Wildlife or Mancala in the lodge. We did one final elephant feeding nearby at another part of our resort (strangely enough the only time we saw elephants at the ‘Elephant Camp’).
And that’s it! Just a 36-hour journey back to Bermuda (Victoria Falls to Johannesburg, to London, to Bermuda… with a few hefty layovers) and vacation was officially over. What a trip! Next up, going through the (literally) 13,000 photos from everyone’s cameras and phones… 😳