A few musings on the trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe & Zambia

Struggling to find the words to describe the trip, I heard Sharon tell someone that it was phenomenal. It really was a once in a lifetime trip. At one point, Sharon ranked it as the best trip that we have ever taken.

One of the things that made it so amazing was the itinerary by Rothschild Safaris. We used Rothschild because Holly and Van had done two trips with them: one with Van and Stacey, and; another with Van and Holly. I can't say enough good about Rothschild. Everything was top shelf: the acommodations; the guides; the transfers, and; the airport greeters. Although we moved around quite a bit over the three weeks, the trip went extremely smoothly. As Donna said, the airport greeters at Capetown and Johannesburg were the bomb. Although we have had better individual meals, the food for the whole trip was very good.

The service everywhere was also very good. With high unemployment rates in several of the countries and tourism an important part of the economy, they throw people at service.

The prices were very reasonable in South Africa. We were surprised that dinners weren't more expensive. In contrast, in Zambia, everything was pricey.

Taken in total, the games drives at the two Safari Lodges were unbelievable. [Note to self], I need to build an index of all of the animals that we saw. As I said over the course of the trip, I am amazed that the predators are so comfortable with the jeeps. We got a chance to see lions, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs up close and personal.

Before the trip, Drew asked me what I was looking forward to the most on the trip. I said the Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve. It was supposed to be the most luxurious of the two game lodges. As it turned out, I enjoyed the Makanyi Private Game Lodge more. I liked the acommodations, the food and the guide at Makanyi more than at Leopard Hills. Nevertheless, we had some remarkable experiences at Leopard Hills, including: cheetahs; the vultures on the cheetahs' kill; a large group of elephants drinking at the watering hole outside our room; Sharon's encounter with an elephant; and lots of leopards. Leopard Hills also included the Sands River; the terrain was very different from Makanyi. When we were with the guide at Makanyi, we felt like we were with Indiana Jones. The Leopard Hills guide was more of a college professor. I wouldn't hesistate to recommend either lodge.

While we won't ever go back to Zambi, I really enjoyed the Tongabezi Lodge.

When we were at the Tongabezi, we ran into the Nicci Bonella, the Group General Manager for Green Safaris, on an inspection tour of their lodges. Having a drink with her on the second night, I asked her where she would go back to in Africa. Somewhat surprisingly, she said Fundu Lagoon on Pemba Island. While I don't think that we will ever get there, I have added it to my places to travel. She also talked favorably about Lake Malawi.

Interestingly, on our last night, we ended up talking to a travel agent, Sandra Schonbachler from Anderson Expeditions. Originally from Switzerland, she came to Africa and fell in love with countries. Sandra was checking out the Tongabezi for clients. She also mentioned Lake Malawi as a destination. Although I don't think that we will get there either, I added to my places to travel.