An African Safari is one of those things you think about, but seems very out of reach for most of us. It's one of those lofty, almost impossible things you want to do, but usually never get to do - like going to the moon, swim in every ocean, bike across the USA or the "trip of a lifetime".
Before starting my travel hobby, I would have never imagined actually doing an African Safari. 3 1/2 years ago when I started my travel hobby, an African Safari quickly moved up the list as a possibility and a trip I was definitely going to make happen.
And it finally did. And it was amazing. It exceeded expectations. It is difficult to describe. It's not like going to the zoo or the wild animal safari park in San Diego. Everyone needs to experience an African Safari. It's unlike any trip you have ever taken or will take.
A Travelzoo deal popped up for a safari at an unbelievable price. So unbelievable, I thought it was an error or scam - it was 70% off the normal price. Well, you know those offers - too good to be true, that's not the normal "regular" price, there's a catch, it's at a bad hotel or location. Well, I did a lot of research to find out what the "catch" was. I looked up the lodge/reserve to see if it was real. Every review I found was 5 star. Every review was positive. No way they were all real. I did more research. Everything I found indicated this was an amazing location, great accommodations, all meals included, multiple game drives a day. I've never bought a Travelzoo deal before, so that was another concern. Was it real? What if it didn't work? The deal was only available for purchase for a week, but I could cancel and get refunded for 2 weeks. I wasn't going to pass this up if it was real. So with 2 weeks to get my money back, I bought it.
I followed the instructions and booked it. Everything was easy and as described. The true price was really 70% more than I paid! The trip was still almost 9 months away, so that gave me enough time to find good flights.
It's SO far away! As I started to plan and look at flights, it's pretty common to spend 25-30 hours from the Western US to get to South Africa and two stops:
That's way too long! I finally found one with just one stop - in Atlanta, just over an hour layover, and then direct to Cape Town. Total travel time just 20 hours.
The flight from Atlanta to Cape Town is Delta's longest non-stop flight coming in a 15 hours and 5 minutes.
This was the best and fastest way to get there from Salt Lake. As you can see though, the price is extremely expensive - $1700 per person one way! Or 160,000 Delta points! Well, you know me, I didn't pay that much cash or points! More on that later.
On our way 3 1/2 hours to Atlanta
Then a relatively straight shot to Cape Town - a mere 15 hours away!
We arrived late afternoon the next day and stayed 2 nights in Cape Town at the Hyatt Regency and found some welcome treats in our room
The expansive breakfast buffet, had a very unique item - Koesister's topped with different kinds of coconut. From google: A koeksister is a traditional South African sweet pastry, similar to a doughnut, made of plaited or braided dough that is deep-fried and then soaked in a very cold, sweet syrup, resulting in a crunchy exterior and a syrupy, gooey interior. This popular treat is an Afrikaner delicacy, often served at special occasions
This is what it looks like, then they put this into warm butter and syrup and top it with the coconut. It was pretty tasty! As we explored Cape Town the two days, we saw lots of places that advertised they served Koisters, and we were able to get them every morning!
We took a tour around the city on the "hop on-hop off" bus, which we've found to be a pretty good activity in just about every city we've been in. Cape Town is a huge city. The metro area has about 5 million people and is a coastal city - surrounded by beaches. Being in the southern hemisphere, South Africa's seasons are opposite ours. Winter was just ending and Spring was starting. Days were pleasant and nights cold.
Table Mountain is one of the main destinations in Cape Town. There is a gondola that goes to the top, but the mountain is usually in the clouds, just like this photo, and it was pretty much the entire time we were there. We decided not to go to the top as we wouldn't be able to see anything, and it was pretty cold and windy up there
The back side of Table Mountain
We took a city walking tour which was very informative and entertaining.
This is an actual piece of the Berlin wall
We learned a lot about Apartheid which was so bad...so so bad and pretty recent just ended in 1994 and still exists to some extent there
It was a Saturday and in the parks and markets, groups of school kids gathered to sing and dance and earn money for their school
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Cape Town is a pretty city, modern and full of life. We felt pretty safe walking around too, which is always good
We even got a photo with Nelson Mandela
This group of school kids were great!
Shelley wanted to participate, but just donated instead
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We also took a walking tour in 'Bo-Kaap' - a neighborhood of colorful houses built in the 1760's and home to the slaves of the time
On Sunday, we found a local ward to attend church. We were there about 10 minutes early and were just about the only ones there! It quickly filled up though
We then visited 'Kirstenbosch Gardens' - which is one of the greatest botanical gardens in the world. It's on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain and has over 7000 different plants including many rare and threatened plant types. It was beautiful and peaceful
This elevated path was in the trees and meandered through them up high
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Late that afternoon, we headed back to the airport for a short 1 hour flight to Port Elizabeth (8 hour car ride east of Cape Town), a port city closest to the reserve we were going to.
Along the way, we passed several areas like this where people lived. South Africa has a 50% unemployment rate, so more people than you would think live like this
We stayed the night at a very small (8 room) 'bed and breakfast' type place called Treetop Guest House that had extremely good reviews and was close to the airport.
This was part of our "suite"
Cozy but comfortable. As is normal in South Africa, the power was out when we arrived, but they had a generator going to provide lights and hot water until 9pm when the generator was shut off to let everyone sleep. Luckily, the power came back on in the middle of the night
The breakfast room was very cool and unique! We were the only ones there. They had a yummy continental breakfast and then the owner came with the 'hot' breakfast of eggs, hash browns, bacon, roasted veggies
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We loved it here! All the reviews were correct!
Later that morning, we met my cousin David and his wife Katherine (who I convinced to come with us) at the airport and we met our driver who would take us the rest of the way -an hour drive to Hlosi Game Lodge.
Hlosi is one of several lodges on the Amakhala Game Reserve which is a private game reserve (there are hundreds of them in Africa). Amakhala is about 19,000 acres (about 29 square miles) and is fenced to protect the animals from people and other animals on neighboring reserves.
Hlosi has 14 'luxury' tents/lodging and is all inclusive - all food is included as well as 2 game drives a day. They also offer night drives, walks, massages and time to relax.
Security was tight! We had to pass through 2 gates where employees checked our names, passports against a list of those that has reservations to help keep poachers out.
Our daily routine (we were there 5 nights) was this:
Light continental breakfast (juice and pastries, muffins) at 6am, morning game drive from 6:30-9:30. Breakfast. Rest and relax. Lunch at 1pm. Rest/relax. Afternoon game drive 3-6. Dinner.
We got there about 2:30, dropped off luggage, checked in and then whisked directly to our assigned truck for the afternoon drive. We didn't even get to see our tents or unpack. No time to waste!
We immediately started seeing animals
This reserve has both white and black rhinos. There are only about 27,000 rhinos left in the world, and quickly diminishing. The black rhino is critically endangered with only about 3,000 left in the world. We came across these two black rhinos and our driver was thrilled and excited! Interestingly enough, we saw rhinos every day we were there! Amakhala won't say how many rhinos they have as they don't want to publicize it. We did learn the rhinos have "body guards" to protect them day and night from poachers. We didn't believe that story. More about that later.
We turned a corner and saw this. It was magical.
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This was our driver for several of the days we were there. His name is 'Lucky' and he was fantastic. He had a knack of knowing where the animals were, their habits and asked us what we wanted to see and he found it. He was also a tracker, using poo and foot prints to find the animals. He was good!
Don't these cheetahs look so nice?
Just like a friendly kitty cat
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Or the lioness? She also thought the cheetahs looked good....to EAT! We learned they've had 6 cheetahs killed in the past few months by lions. The cheetahs usually stay close to the fence line at the top of a hill. There, they can overlook the valley and keep an eye out for their only predator - the lion.
Very quickly the cheetahs stood up and became alert
Then, we saw why............
A lion crossed in front of us heading towards the cheetahs
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Then two more lions came into view! The cheetahs were watching them very carefully
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The cheetahs quickly went the other way and escaped the lions. We saw A LOT! And it was the first drive! It was crazy. We thought we would see this many animals the entire week, not the first day!
Upon returning to the lodge, we were served hot chocolate (it was pretty cold once the sun went down) and dinner was almost ready.
I had the stuffed chicken which was very yummy
And lemon meringue for dessert. All the breads, meals and desserts were homemade on site
We were in the last tent, #14 all the way at the end of the path
VIDEO OF OUR TENT:
The next morning at 6:30 we headed out again before the sun was up. It was COLD! We were all bundled up, coat, jacket, scarf, gloves, hat and still cold. We were not expecting it to be so cold. And we were in an open truck! It was all worth it though.
White rhinos
The Lion King - Amakhala has just one. He rules the entire place
VIDEO: He knows he runs the place!
We came across this male elephant all alone. Our guide, 'Lucky', told his he was an outcast from the herd which happens when males reach their "teenage years" of 15-16. They can threaten the herd's dominant male, so they get pushed out. This one was not a happy elephant and we referred to him as the "mean one" and we sure found him often. He didn't like us there either. He blocked the road so we couldn't pass and then started walking towards us. Lucky said we better get out of there as he started to back up. The elephant kept coming towards us. Luckily, Lucky was good at backing up with speed and we were able to get out of sight of the "mean elephant". He could have easily started running and they can run pretty fast.
Everyone calls these "pumbas" and not wart hugs. They were everywhere but very shy! Every photo of them is usually of their backside as they are running away. This one stopped, looked at us, and then ran away saying "come follow me - let's play!"
VIDEO: At the fence line, we came across the lion who was trying to fight with the lion on the other side
The rides were bumpy!
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Upon arriving back at the lodge, they were there greeting us with hot towels and hot chocolate and time for breakfast. I had the French Toast with bacon. It was good!
Another morning I had the 'pancakes' - basically it was crepes
Now that is was daylight, I can show you the area. This is the path going to our tent
This was the electric fence that surrounded our lodge and tents. Not as big as you would think, but it did the job
We had a nice porch where we would sit in the afternoon and relax and read
One afternoon we saw giraffes out on the hill from our porch area.
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Here's our tent, #14
The view from the soaking tub
The main lodge
That afternoon's drive included some Ostrich sightings...
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VIDEO: Typical drive
Black rhino.....
And an elusive Aardvark! The guide was extremely surprised we saw the aardvark, as it's usually only out at night and hardly ever seen
Everything you can see is part of the reserve
Dining room
This night was a BBQ buffet and we had some dinner entertainment
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VIDEO: Shelley and Katherine got pulled in to dance
When we got back to our room, it was all decorated fancy
The next morning was a little warmer. Actually, each morning was a little warmer than the previous morning.
VIDEO: Antelope chase
Yep, we found the "mean" elephant again
He was going to the water hole
And then started walking towards us. Our driver got us out of there and kept a safe distance
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We'd been looking for the elephant herd a few days, and never saw them. They hide in the trees and thicket most of the time. Our driver tracked their footprints and said today was the day we would see them. Suddenly, they all just came right out of the trees! It was pretty amazing!
And one rhino trotting towards the elephants like he wanted to play. Our driver was surprised he was out there by himself going to join the elephants
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The first few days the Zebra were few and far between. Then all the rest of the days they were everywhere. So many of them.
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We came across the cheetahs again hanging out by the fence where they could look down on the valley - watching for the lions
The Cape Buffalo came out of hiding as well
The next morning, it was very misty with the valleys all covered with heavy mist
It burned off pretty quick
Mr. King of the Jungle was just chillin
VIDEO: The cheetahs were up by the fence line again, but this time they were very aware of the cheetahs on the other side:
Some smaller monkeys
Termite hills are all over. Some of them are huge! Here is Katherine showing us how big they are. These termites don't eat wood though - they eat grass, dead leaves and plants and help the soil to be more fertile
VIDEO: Lion ROAR! Driver said he was calling to find the females
We came across this hyena. This animal is usually nocturnal and our driver was so excited when we spotted this
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At our morning "rest stop" one of the 'Rhino Monitors' stopped by and pulled out his drone. He told us one of the female rhinos had a baby that week and she's somewhere down in the valley in the trees staying out of sight. He was using the drone to track her - the larger animals are all tagged, but it's not like you would expect. They don't use gps to keep track of them - it's a high frequency ping that gives them the general location of the animal. We thought the drivers could just pull up a webpage and see where the animals were. Or that the control center could do the same thing and tell the drivers where to go. Nope. We confirmed that with the drivers too - it's not that easy. The drone is high tech with heat monitors so they can see the heat signature of the rhino and her baby. We asked him about the poachers, and he said a reserve close by had 1 rhino killed the previous week and the same night the poachers went to another reserve close by and killed another - for the horns. That's all they take. He said they haven't lost a rhino in a long time though and he and his team want to make sure it stays that way. He also wouldn't tell us how many rhinos are there, but he confirmed they have a team of 'rhino monitors' working 24x7 and he loves his job and loves keeping the animals safe. He said at night, the drones can even see a footprint in the dirt due to the heat signature it leaves for several hours. Crazy!
About 90 minutes in to every drive, we stop for about 10 minutes for a rest stop, bathroom-yep in the bushes, but only after the driver goes in to make sure there are no animals nearby, and they bring snacks and drinks for us
Our lodge has a watering hole the hippos frequent often, but they were not there during our stay. We told our driver on our last day we never saw the hippos, so we went out to find them. He said he knew where they might be. He was right. Mama and baby
No, she's not mad or growling or whatever noise hippos do, she was just yawing!! She was sitting down, and then stood up, let out a HUGE yawn, and then walked into the water
....and baby followed
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It was dark before we got back to the lodge, but literally 5 minutes from the lodge, our driver spotted the three female lions.....hard to see it as so dark
The next morning it was time to leave. 😞😞
We made our way to the airport for the 90 minute flight to Johannesburg
We splurged and stayed in the Park Hyatt. Park Hyatt is Hyatt's extra luxe brand, top of the line. This one is Hyatt's smallest Park Hyatt, with only 31 rooms and it just opened 2 months ago. It used to be a mansion for some richy rich dude and has been under renovation and remodeling for 2 years by Hyatt.
It definitely was beautiful!
View from our room
Instead of a breakfast buffet, they actually bring the buffet to you at your table. It was so delicious!
The next day we spent most of the day touring Johannesburg - we had heard it's not the safest city and that was confirmed by uber drivers, hotel staff, shuttle drivers and others. We opted for a city tour on the hop-off-hop-on bus again which was perfect. Our hotel was in the most exclusive and upscale area in the city, and a huge mall with expensive stores and restaurants and movie theaters was only 1/2 mile way - which is where we had to go to get on the bus. We were going to walk but the hotel staff said no, we probably shouldn't, even during the day. Most of South Africa, and especially Johannesburg, has an unemployment rate of about 50%. So for many, crime is the only way to make money to survive.
Johannesburg is a huge city - about 5 million people, with about 6.5 million including the suburbs
Johannesburg is a city of extreme wealth and extreme poverty - no in-between. These schools we passed are extremely elite schools up on the hills surrounding downtown
The downtown area is big and crowded with many buildings. But, about 600 of these buildings are empty, abandoned and have been hijacked by gangs and criminals for years. The property owners have turned off all water and electricity to the buildings and some have even bricked up all outside entrances, doors and windows 3 and 4 stories high to keep people out
The four large buildings here are all abandoned buildings
And this dark brown one
And these.....
And this one.....
And this one......
Here's the bus we took around
We even passed a big amusement park. Admission was only $15!
And a large spaceship
Our tour included a guided tour inside the Soweto suburb, which is South Africa's largest black city with a size of 77 square miles and a population estimated to be around 2 million currently, with most of them speaking the Zulu language. Nelson Mandela also lived in Soweto.
Soweto was created in the 1930s when the government forced all black people out of the city and moved them about 12 miles away from Johannesburg. The white people forced them out and took their homes, jobs, businesses and left them with nothing.
In 1976, the government said it was illegal to teach Zulu anymore in any of the schools and forced everyone to teach everything in Afrikaan and make it illegal to speak Zulu. Well, that was the turning point for those in Soweto and there was an uprising and mass protests which led to the police opening fire on 10,000 students peacefully protesting by marching in Soweto. This resulted in 23 people being killed, including many young children.
Even now, Soweto is not a safe place - you don't go in there without a guide. We actually had 4 guides and 12 of us taking the tour. We only got out of the van at carefully selected places, like places to shop, Nelson Mandela's house, but with the guides all watching out for us. Now, it's possible they were doing this to get more tips and pretend it wasn't as safe as it really is, but we didn't want to take that chance. We felt absolutely safe the entire 2 hour tour - even when we were out of the van.
Soweto is a very vibrant and busy place. Those that live there are proud of their heritage. It is disheartening to see how they live there, and many are trying to make the best of their situation. There were bars, small stores, dance lessons being advertised, even a learn to swim school. Unfortunately, some of the houses, if you can call it a house, still don't have running water or even electricity.
You know you are in Soweto when you see the two shut down nuclear towers. You can now do a bungee jump from one and walk a bridge between both towers
At one of our stops, dancers suddenly appeared
The very humble homes of some of Soweto
Late that afternoon, we headed to the airport for the long trip back.
This time we flew north to Paris and then from Paris to Salt Lake for a total of 21 hours in the sky. Good thing they have lots of movies to watch!!
Ok, how was the trip? Amazing. We didn't really know what to expect but whatever that was, this exceeded our expectations, by a lot. Words cannot express the feelings you get when you see giraffes walking by, and a herd of elephants, and lions and cheetahs stalking each other and every animal in their element.
People always ask us, 'what has been your favorite trip, favorite cruise or best place?' and that's a hard answer because every trip is different, and the answer is usually, 'well...that depends on what you're looking for' It's like asking someone what's your favorite thing to eat.... Well, that depends....do you mean main dish? dessert? what type of food? do you mean breakfast? dinner? snack?
But, this trip definitely will be one of the highlights for sure. Simply amazing. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to take this trip.
So how did we do it?
First, the actual safari was so discounted, it seemed too good to be true. I made sure it wasn't and jumped on it, knowing it wouldn't last long and it didn't.
Here's the normal price for 5 nights for 2 people:
I paid $1200 - so $600 per person and that included all game drives and all meals.
Hyatt Regency Cape Town - 3 nights - normal price = $1606 - my price $0 and 9,000 points. The hotel was only 3,000 points per night!
Treetops B&B - normal price - no discounts or free - paid full price of $59
Park Hyatt Johannesburg - 1 night - normal price = $520.04 - my price $0 and 20,000 points
Airfare from Cape Town - Port Elizabeth - $108 pp = $216
Airfare from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg - $65 each = $130
Airfare from SLC - Cape Town - normal price - $1703 pp = $3406 (I paid $0 and 120,000 points)
Airfare from Johannesburg to SLC - normal - $1954 pp = $3908 (I paid $0 and 130,000 points)
So, normal cash price:
Safari - $4,587
Airfare - $7,660
Hotels - $2,185
Total = $14,432
My price:
Safari - $1,200
Airfare - $346
Hotels - $59
Total = $1,605
So we got over $14,000 of travel for $1,605
Points used = 279,000 (my points were worth 3.5 cents per point)
It was an amazing trip and we were so blessed to have been able to take it.
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