Sabi Sabi

[ksp48a]

My wife and I traveled in August to Southern Africa, where westayed at Sabi Sabi Selati and Earth Lodge. Sabi Sabi is outstanding.At Selati Camp we were upgraded to the honeymoon suite, though all theregular suites were lovely. The ambiance was very laid back and quiteromantic. The guiding (game drives) was outstanding. At Selati onehuge elephant sauntered into camp about lunchtime and we all watched itfrom about 20 feet away while it proceeded to drink from the swimmingpool. Meanwhile a score or more of elephants and herds of wildebeestwere visible from the deck at the water hole. Also saw 15 lionssleeping en mass. We saw lots of Rhinos, giraffes, tons of elephants,cape buffalo and some spectacular leopards. Great food. Very lovelyplace. As we were leaving Selati for Earth Lodge a leopard came intothe camp stalking a bushbuck. The birds alerted the bushbuck, whichstarted barking like a dog and the leopard and bushbuck stared eachother down for a half hour. Later that day the leopard killed a Kudunearby.

Earth Lodge was simply spectacular. Like living in a sculpture.Amazing suites and public spaces. Perhaps the nicest place we've everbeen any where in the world. Also great food, lovely staff and a great ranger/guide.I really wanted to see a leopard in a tree and we wound up watching aleopard eating an impala in a tree for an hour (without any otherrange rover coming over). The sighting just kept getting better andbetter and better. It was a spectacular place to end our extended trip.

[betsyv]

We stayed at Selati Camp and Earth Lodge also. Our take on it though was a little different than yours. We enjoyed Selati Camp a lot more than Earth Lodge. We had better guides, enjoyed the other guests and food more and just felt more comfortable at Selati. Earth Lodge was nice, don't get me wrong but so many of the guests were so impressed with themselves. Our guide was from a sister property (Bush Camp) and actually had a nicer room than us at Earth Lodge. We made friends at both places but I think we would bypass Earth Lodge next time-although I did like the electric light over the kerosene lamp...



Topping both was our stay at Mateya Safari Lodge. To have a guide and tracker to yourself, Unbelievable accomodations, fantastic animals-we could go on and on. If you get a chance try it. We want to go back and try Botswana and maybe some other places.

[ksp48a]

I would love to go back to Southern Africa and also Eastern Africa. We were in Botswana also. Thanks for the advice about Mateya. I was wondering if it is as nice as t looks. Check out a place called Ntwala Island. Technically its in Namibia (the Caprivi Strip) but its just across from Chobe National park at the confluence of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers. Its quite an adventure just getting there.There are only four suites; each has its own pool, dock boat and guide and its almost entirely water based. Its a wonderful perspective seeing hundreds of elephants along the shore from 20 feet away in a boat. We started at at Livingston Falls at the Royal Livingston , which was a perfect beginning to the trip, then after Ntwala we were at Selinda Camp (very nice) and Kanana in the Okavanga Delta (very friendly and quite relaxed and lovely, but almost entirely birds and water based with not much land animals). There are so many other places I'd love to try.

[ksp48a]

Ooops . I meant Victoria Falls Obviously.

[kyshel]

KSP--did you stay at the VF Lodge? LL has a really nice package that we'd like to consider. I understand they are requiring a multiple entry visa for Zimbabwe if you go over to Zambia side for even part of the day. I just started getting a newsletter called the Vic Falls Bush Telegraph and it's quite informative.

[ksp48a]

I don't know the VF Falls lodge, but it does look nice. We only spent 2 days at the Falls. We stayed at the Royal Livingston, which was very lovely, on the Zambian side. Its about a 3 minute walk to the Falls. About 2/3 of the Falls are on the Zimbabwan side so we went over for a about 3 hour tour of the park and Falls. When we entered Zambia we paid for a double visa, allowing us one re-entry (back from the Zim side) and of course we had to pay for a Zim visa (in dollars-- that's how they get their money) when we went over for the day. I don't recall if its multiple or not; it was whatever they charged us.But it was well worth it. We also did the helicopter, but if you have the guts (we don't) do a microlite over the Falls (or bungee jump). There's an elephant "safari ride" that was recommended, though I understand some people love it and some dont. We didn't have time. Lots more to do there like rafting and there is a small pool (island like) right at the tip of the Falls that depending on the season can be accessed safely. Here is what I reported to my South African travel agent who helped with a majority of the non-Luxury Link portion of the trip.



"The Royal Livingston was EXACTLY the right way to start the trip. It was elegant but had a wonderful colonial look and feel and of course you could see the spray of the falls immediately. Within a few minutes of checking in we walked over to the Zam side of the falls (with raincoats supplied by the Hotel). The power of the falls were matched only by the spectacular rainbows. The next morning we took a helicopter tour of the Falls. That was ever so slightly disappointing because (a) we were placed in the backseat and (b) they fly higher than I had hoped, but it was still worth doing and I would recommend it. The best advise you gave me (which I repeated endlessly to other travelers we met going to the Falls) was to cross over to the Zim side to see the falls from there. We did a tour of the park that stretched to about 3 hours and the Zim side is, as you said, much larger and even more spectacular. Dinner in the main dining room at the Royal Livingston was exceptionally good and also very romantic. "



I also mentioned to a Luxury Link representative when we got back that its just too hard to string multiple places together on LL but if they managed to do that they could put together a wonderful trip to Southern Africa (as they did with an Orient Express 8 night trip to Peru we went on a couple of years ago).

[kyshel]

betsyvv is the queen of stringing together LL pkgs in Africa--I believe she's the record holder with 4!
the key is time and flexibility?

[betsyv]

KSP, I am with you-there is just so much to see, we want to go back also. Now, I am a definite for Ntwala (thanks for the rec), Botswana and a return visit to Mateya. There I go putting multiple packages together again! Thanks Kyshel for the queen label, I did put together 4 packages together-Grootbos, Mateya, Sabi Sabi and Steenburgh in Cape Town. It was fabulous and they all proved that it should be LUXURY Link and not just vacation Link.



I posted a review on Mateya but still haven't seen it appear on the Luxury Link site. Don't know how long it takes... Something I don't think is well known about Mateya is that they have one of the largest collections of African art. Susan, the owner (from Atlanta, GA), spent a year traveling around Africa, buying and bartering the collection. It is unbelievable.

[kyshel]

I am looking forward to hearing about Grootbos, too, Betsyv. We miss the Delta service to Cape Town and hope it comes back soon. I noticed the LL pkg is available again. They used to offer Ntwala--maybe it will resurface, too!

[ksp48a]

I think you are confusing N'gala ( &Beyond lodge in Timbavati just north of Sabi Sands) with N'twala Island in Namibia (at the confluence of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers). LL sometimes has Ngala (where my daughter once stayed and loved).We also met some people on our trip in Cape Town who were going to N'gala . They later wrote me that they loved it there. While we were in Botswana, we originally were booked to stay at Chobe Game Lodge but it seemed very large (47 rooms) compared to the other places on our itinerary, so found the nearby Islands of Africa lodge for a little bit more money.

The only LL place we stayed was Sabi Sabi, but I'd love to try some of there others, especially Phinda. I'm really impressed at scheduling four locations together on LL. So many places, so little time.