Family holiday to South Africa

South Africa

“A wonderful country with a good road network and some amazing countryside and wildlife. All the staff proved so friendly and helpful. We must return soon.

Watch out for baggage transfer at Johannesburg and staff who will tell lies to keep you happy rather than give you the hard truth so you build up false expectations.

Budget Car Hire that don't supply the cars you have ordered and when they do they are not fit to drive. We spent two hours at Durban airport getting the cars changed to fit our luggage in when it arrived and replacing one because it had flat tire and the other because it has a brake warning light showing. They had cars there we could have switched to but they were a grade above what we had ordered.. customer service????”

“Thanda Camp Site was splendid, the tents were magnificent and superbly equipped and the staff were lovely and could not have been more helpful. Breakfast and high tea were superb but the evening meal could have been a bit more plentiful and although the cooking was good the meat could have been a bit more tender. I would hope this could have been improved but was perfectly adequate and we certainly did not feel it was something we could directly complain about. The bar, bomma and pool were fabulous, a bit cool but it was winter.

The game drives were a massive success as described above with the most fantastic guide and experiences.”

“Rocktail beach camp was lovely but the accommodation was less luxurious than Thonga but perfectly adequate with some superb views. There was some night noise from small animals in the roof space which was a bit off-putting but there was no actual invasion. The welcome, food and service were great and there was nothing they would not do to make our stay enjoyable.

We did trips to Lala Nec for a day on the beach and they supplied a picnic and a guide to look after us and had a fabulous day on our own on the most magnificent beach, snorkelling swimming and sun bathing.

We did the trip to Sabaya Lake for the crocodiles and hippo's which proved a bit over rated as we only saw one sleeping crocodile but had drinks watching the sunset and a great trip through the local area and explanations about local life etc.

We had marvellous ocean experience trip out to sea to watch and swim with the hump back whales as described above.”

Phinda Forest Lodge

“The welcome at Phinda was lovely, the Lodge was superb and very quiet and luxurious while the central area with its bar and restaurant overlooking the waterhole, giraffes, impala and nyala was fantastic. The food was excellent although we could not manage very meal.
The game drives were good but not up to the Thonga standard probably because the park is four times the size but we did get to see Black Rhino and some lovely groups of Cheetah as well as some leopard cubs.

One night there was a big bomma evening with an outside barbeque with tremendous atmosphere and excellent food and drink.

We could not fault the staff or how we were looked after and all the special touches.
A bottle of champagne and named glasses hanging in a lantern lit tree on one game drive.
Returning to our lodge to find the bathroom candlelit with a hot bath run and a half bottle of bubbly in an ice bucket.
A picnic supplied for our transport back to Durban airport.”