Agneta, Torbjörn, Sophie, Charlotte & Christopher COLFACH (Sweden)
South Africa and Mozambique (January 2010)

“After a good flight with SwissAir we arrived in Johannesburg where we spent the night at Athol Place; what a gorgeous, friendly and well run hotel – perfect! The following day our car was delivered and we set off to Tzaneen and Kings Walden. Bulls eye! Unbelievably special and fresh place, with a wonderful and enthusiastic manager. Stephen is also a king in the kitchen and prepared superb food. The guided tour with David Hilton-Barber gave us a lot in terms of getting to know the area and its background and culture.

We set off and stopped to view God’s Window and enjoy pancakes in Graskop – both are a must! Our destination was Exeter River Lodge, an amazing safari lodge. EVERYTHING was perfect. We had a lovely female guide, Kari-Ann, and as there were five us in the family we were on private game drives most of the time. A big hand of applause to Kari-Ann and the rest of the team!

Goodbye to the bush and time for the next part of our adventure; Mozambique. This is where paradise begun. On arrival in Vilanculos where the meet & greet and transfer worked smoothly and soon we were greeted at Marlin Lodge by the whole management team. Peter de Klerk, Colette, Jason, Grant and Bertha all made us feel so welcome! We spent the following week in paradise; the excursions, diving, swimming, weather and food. Thank you for the surprise excursion to Paradise Island!

Warm regards from us all and again, a big thank you for fantastic holiday filled with unique experiences. It gets one step better each time!”

JULIA KENNEDY & JW RAISTICK (UK & USA)
Zimbabwe & Botswana - February 2009

"Daffy was a terrific guide and took us on a walk to get close to elephants. He was a good photo-grapher, so we had lots of fun with him trying to get good shots.

This one of lioness and cubs was one we were all proud of, including Daffy.

And we got great shots of a hungry male too!

Take Care

Julia Kennedy & JW Raistrick”

“Our weeks in South Africa were absolutely fantastic!!! We had SUCH a lovely time and are more than happy. All the places we stayed at and restaurants we dined in were top class and we are so grateful for all the help you gave us. The safari was our # 1 experience at Tintswalo Safari Lodge; the accommodation, staff and wildlife were amazing.

The only part of our holiday we did not enjoy was the flight from Johannesburg to Kruger as there was too much turbulence.

However, it won’t stop us from coming back! What we thought was so special was that each area offered something very different; Cape Town, the winelands, Plettenberg Bay by the coast and then the safari.

Again, thank you so much and we will most certainly recommend to those planning to go to South Africa, to start off by contacting you!”

“Lillian cried all the way out from the bush, while heading towards Hoedspruit Airport. The last two days made an enormous impact on both her and myself. The only animal we didn’t see was the male Lion. We saw everything else. Nice Elephants, hostile elephants close up.. Puh ... Leopard and her kill – the half eaten Impala up in a tree while hyenas drifted around our Landcruiser. Extremely nice staff at Tintswalo (and of course at Birkenhead House and Steenberg Hotel as well). The Butler, Ashley, made Lillian’s Birthday-dinner a fantastic experience. Candlelight-dinner in romantic surroundings – the wine cellar – specially made cream cake, etc. Everything was at the top end of life!!!!

Thanks for organizing such an unbelievable trip. We came home with about 1000 pictures in addition to those imprinted in our minds. I just checked flights for next year!”

"A note to say thank you very much for all the hard work in organising and supporting our fabulous trip to Southern Africa. We all had a wonderful time. A quick recap of thoughts on the trip.

Grootbos was fantastic. Staff wonderful, Food truly fantastic, great activities - including the riding. We would love to go back to Grootbos. Could hang out there easily for 5 days.

Tinswalo Manor House. Great fun. Loved our own house. Staff were tremendous. Very good food. Would highly recommend it to other people.

Saxon Hotel was superb. Loved it.

Vumbura Plains. Botswana was stunningly beautiful. Would love to go back. Vumbura was very good. Staff very professional and hospitable. Rooms very good. Guide was excellent.

A Toka Leya, Zambia. Again all good. Very nice staff. Had a wonderful New Years eve and superb boat trip.

Maybe one day we will make it back to your wonderful part of the world.

I hope that business remains very good for you. I will certainly be recommending you to people.

Best Wishes,

Stephen (and family)”

“Natalie and I have had the most amazing experiences. In so many different ways we were positively surprised, both about quality of accommodation and unbelievably friendly and helpful people who made our holiday what it was.

Our programme was professional and successful in every way! We would like to extend a special thanks to Tim & Hally at Rocktail Beach Camp and to Natalie’s diving instructor for their fantastic enthusiasm.

We arrived home with over 500 photos which we proudly show off. Next time we come to South Africa (we will for sure), we will definitely turn to you again.”

LARRY & CHERYL GINSBERG (USA)
September 2008

"Now that we've been back about three weeks and had some time to reflect on the trip, we can say, without reservation, we had an extremely enjoyable experience. "

"The accommodations were all above average. Since this was our third trip to Africa, I can say that South African game lodges are quite luxurious and the guides are without parallel. The boutique hotels were architecturally interesting and welcoming. The logistics including cars, boats, and planes were flawless. However, due to my negligence, I left an important bag in security at Durban Airport. After making contact with Sussi, my bag (including all camera gear and travel documents) was returned to me the next day."

"Without question we experienced a high level of service throughout this trip. Sussi's recommendations for guides will not be forgotten. Guides can make or break an involved itinerary. All the guides were prompt and nowledgeable, especially Jackie from Capexec. Jackie was with us for more than a week, and her depth of knowledge concerning wine, art, flora, and fauna as well as the city sights is to be commended and she's a delight to be with every day. Lastly, the food was great all the way from simple meals to gastronomical feasts. The meal most remembered was at the Showroom - most innovative. I rank it with the dinner we had in Hong Kong at Felix's atop the Peninsula Hotel. "

"What else can we say except thanks, Sussi!"

"We are back home after a fabulous journey, full of happy memories and equipped with superb photos. Botswana is indeed absolutely wonderful: on a scale of 1 - 10 our safari trip was a 20!!!"

" Both Kings Pool and particularly Little Mombo are beyond anything we could have imagined. Really, we don't know how to put it - but we are absolutely overwhelmed having had the opportunity to see and experience the spectacular wildlife and to take fantastic shots. Guides and camp staff were outstanding as well, all of them are attentive and charming hosts; thus, the whole Safari operation did run as smoothly and efficiently as a Swiss watch. "

" Thank you very much, Sussi, for your careful help and professional organization!" -  Ulrich Althaus

"Thank you for your wonderful organisation and recommendations- and of course the totally unexpected beautiful book about the Busanga plains - what a captivating place and how spectacular Shumba Camp was - not to be missed at all!  The book will be a permanent reminder of so much we enjoyed there.  Thank you, thank you for a very kind thought.  Much appreciated."
 
"The camps were all sensational in every way - and what was so brilliant was how different each area was - special game viewing of all categories - including ravishing  leopard - not one, two, three or four - but five - including three on one impala being taken up a tree! We were thrilled to bits.  Lionesses, near and far (better far as they showed their strength and total disdain for all around them) the world went mad and screeched and screamed in alarms they strolled across the plain in front of our tents at Puku Ridge early one morning!  How spectactular they are!  Also a huge lion on a kill." 

"The birds were dazzling and numerous, the little animals quite brilliant - ardvaark (rare and a first for everyone), porcupine with a baby - 16  banded mongoose in a moving river, very newly born wildebeest, lechwe, and puku calves and almost best of all; four cheetah - three year old cubs with their mother stalking (unsuccessfully) an oribi!  Africa certainly lived up to its huge reputation and well beyond!"

"Our holiday to South Africa was absolutely fantastic and exceeded all our expectations, several times! You certainly managed to be spot on with all the places you had booked. The combination of luxury and décor with child friendliness can not have been the easiest to get right! Everything worked so smoothly, not one little hitch at any time, and the service was incredibly personal and helpful everywhere."

"We would especially like to mention Birkenhead Villa. Unbelievable and the best place we have ever stayed at, and we can highly recommend it to families travelling with young children. Amazing food and exceptionally friendly staff who went out of their way to spoil us and our boys. "

"So...a big THANK YOU for all your help with arranging our holiday."