My husband and I recently returned from a 2-week African safari adventure. I enlisted the help of a trusted supplier in South Africa to help me plan and book this trip, which had us visiting several different countries in Africa. It was planned down to the finest detail so that we didn’t have to do much more than pack and show up.
Our trip began with three nights in Cape Town, where we were greeted by our private guide/driver, Graham, who met us the moment we stepped off the plane and walked us through immigration. He then whisked us off to our hotel in Cape Town, the Victoria & Alfred Hotel, which is perfectly situated on the waterfront with views of Table Mountain. He picked us up from our hotel each morning and escorted us on private tours to different areas around Cape Town, including a visit to the Apartheid Museum and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a drive along the Cape Peninsula to visit an Africa penguin colony and the Cape of Good Hope, and a full day tour through the Winelands region with wine tastings at three different wineries.
We then flew from Cape Town to a small airport near Kruger National Park. Our driver met us upon arrival and drove us nearly two hours to Dulini River Lodge, a luxury safari lodge located in Sabi Sands Game Reserve, where we spent the next three nights. On our drive to the lodge, we even had elephants cross the road right in front of us!
Sabi Sands is a private game reserve connected to Kruger National Park in South Africa. There’s no barrier – animals roam free from one to the other. Sabi Sands is private, so you can only go on safari there if you’re staying in a lodge on the game reserve. Our lodge had only six suites, so there is a maximum of twelve guests at any given time, allowing complete individual attention for each guest.
We were greeted at the lodge by the friendly staff who served us a welcome lunch and explained how our stay would work: each morning we had a 6:00 am wakeup call. I’m not a morning person, so the thought of this was brutal, but I promise it was worth it! All guests meet in the lobby area where light bites and coffee/tea are served.
At the lodge, we were paired with Bright, who remained our guide/driver for all our game drives, and Prince, who was our game tracker. The morning safari lasts from 6:30 to 9:30 am, with a quick coffee break around 8:30 am. Upon arrival back at the lodge, full breakfast is served in a group setting. Guests then have free time until 1:00 pm when lunch is served. You can also take your lunch out by the pool or opt to use the included room service where you can enjoy your private deck.
After lunch, there is free time to swim, nap, lounge, get a massage, or just watch the animals stroll by on the other side of the river from the lodge.
On our first safari game drive, we were paired up with another couple from Australia, and they were lots of fun. Just 10 minutes into that first game drive, Bright told us he had a surprise for us….he then took us to view a pride of lions feeding on a buffalo they had killed that morning. We were amazed and could not believe this was the beginning of our FIRST game drive! We were so close to the lions that it felt a bit unnerving at first, but Bright explained that as long as we were in the vehicle, the animals know we are no threat to them and don’t even acknowledge we are there.
The evening safari begins at 3:30 pm when guests meet in the outdoor lounge again before heading out into the bush. The evening safari lasts until about 7:00, with a stop for cocktails to watch the sunset every night. I’ve decided Africa has the most beautiful sunsets on the planet. Each evening safari has a brief period where we were actually out there in the dark….and I mean REAL dark because it won’t be like the dark you’ve experienced in a city. It was quite an amazing experience, and one evening we were lucky enough to see a huge shooting star right in front of our eyes as we drove through the bush.
Dinner at the lodge was different each night. On our first night, everyone was at individual tables in the dining area. On our second night, all guests were treated to a group dinner served buffet-style in a beautiful lantern-lit area near the main lodge area. Our last night, we were surprised with a gorgeous candlelit dinner in our room, complete with flowers, champagne, and wine. Our second night, we arrived back at the lodge after our evening safari drive and were greeted by all the staff members welcoming us with local music, singing, and dancing. They even let us join in!
I think Dulini Lodge is the best place to stay in Sabi Sands. Everything is included with your room: delicious fresh food, two safari drives per day, unlimited alcohol, and laundry service. Each guest has a personal butler for the duration of their stay who will offer impeccable, friendly service (Positive took excellent care of us). We saw all of the Big 5 wildlife during our first two days there. Dulini is the definition of luxury, but I love that they also give back. In addition to collecting donations from guests for various local charitable organizations, they also have their own community trust.
A private driver picked us up from Dulini Lodge and took us back to the airport where we then flew to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. We were again met at the airport by a driver who took us to our next lodge, The Elephant Camp, where we spent the next three nights.
The Elephant Camp is a luxury safari tent camp set in its own private portion of Victoria Falls National Park, just a short drive from the falls themselves (we could see the mist rising off the falls from our suite). But this is no standard tent…it’s more like luxury glamping complete with creature comforts such as air conditioning, Wi-Fi, and even a private plunge pool on the deck of each suite! The property where the lodge sits is a sanctuary for orphaned elephants, where you can meet and even feed these gentle giants.
Upon arrival at the lodge, we were greeted by the manager, Hope, who sat down with us to go over the many included activity options we had during our stay. We opted for two game drives, a private tour of Victoria Falls, breakfast at the Lookout Café overlooking the Batoka Gorge, a private tour of a local village/school, a sundowner safari cruise on the Zambezi River, and (Brad’s favorite) the elephant encounter.
We learned that the lodge could help arrange a trip over the border into Zambia to swim in the Devil’s Pool, an oddly calm 10-foot-deep natural pool that sits right on the edge of the waterfall’s abyss, separated from the raging white water by the narrowest of rock lips. On very short notice, Hope was able to make arrangements for Brad to visit the Devil’s Pool on our last morning before check-out. I opted to stay back at the lodge and enjoy a leisurely breakfast and some reading in the lobby because, well, I’m not crazy like Brad 😊.
After departing the Elephant Camp, we were driven across the border to Botswana, where we then met another driver who took us to our accommodation for the next three nights, Chobe Game Lodge. This 5-star lodge is the only one located inside Chobe National Park.
This beautifully decorated lodge has an old Hollywood feel to it, and I felt as though I’d been dropped onto the set of Casablanca with the tiled floors, towering arches, and Moroccan-style lanterns scattered around the lodge. In fact, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were regular visitors of the lodge in the 1970s and were even married and honeymooned there in 1975.
There’s a pool surrounded by gardens, a spa, a gym and riverside deck offering views over the water, which looks especially spectacular at sunrise and sunset. As we opted for an all-inclusive package, it included all of our meals, drinks, activities, and laundry service.
We were paired up with our guide, Captain, for the duration of our stay. We enjoyed early-morning and late-afternoon game drives, safari cruises on the Chobe River, and game viewing from the lodge’s riverside deck. Chobe’s diverse wildlife is in abundance – it is home to the largest concentration of elephants in Africa. During the dry season, the animals congregate on the shores of the Chobe River to drink, bathe, and play.
On the safaris, we were paired up with Tony, a 78-year-old solo world traveler from Queens, NY, and Roxy and Roy, two friends traveling together from California and Arizona. You never know what to expect when being paired up with strangers for hours at a time, but we hit the jackpot with those three, as we all became fast friends and even exchanged contact information before leaving. Roxy was a wealth of information as she shared stories about her many trips to Africa, Tony had us rolling with his witty quips, and thanks to Roy, we now know far too many elephant jokes 😊! As Brad recently said to me, “Sometimes it’s not about where you’re going, but who you’re with that matters.”
I’m pretty sure I could write a book about this trip, but since I’m trying to keep this blog post at a reasonable length, I will wrap it up by saying that this trip was life-changing for me….and I don’t use that terminology lightly.
Like many visitors to Africa, I went there for the animals and the scenery, and the raw power of nature does force you to confront your place in the grand scheme of things. But it’s the people there who stand out in my memory the most. To me, they represent dignity, respect, strength, resilience, and kindness. They were some of the warmest and friendliest people I’ve ever met, and the personal stories some of them shared hit hard and affected me deeply.
Traveling to Africa changed my mindset, my perspective, and my priorities. It took me out of my comfort zone. I was touched by the encounters with people who had so few material goods yet seemed to be filled with happiness and contentment. The simplicity of Africa made me think about how it often feels like our lives in the Western world are dominated by consumerism and materialism, and how it seems to take more and more to make us happy. It also makes our wastefulness as a society so glaringly obvious in a way I had never felt before. Although I’ve always been grateful for what I have, this trip made me develop a whole new appreciation for my incredible life and opportunities. In a nutshell, I think traveling to Africa is a must-do experience!
If you’re thinking of taking a trip to Africa, there are several great options to choose from for your trip. For example, AmaWaterways has some amazing river cruise/land tour combo itineraries, or you could opt for a guided group tour with a reputable tour company (I can recommend the best options for you). For the more seasoned traveler, there’s also the option we chose, which is independent travel but with a lot of handholding along the way.
An African safari does require deeper pockets than your typical trip to Europe, but there are lots of options, depending on what type of experience you want to have. When you’re ready to book your dream trip to Africa, I can help you navigate through the different options, best time of year to go, etc., to make it the perfect trip for you!
Contact me to start planning your own African safari adventure!
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