South Africa with Southern Destinations
This item appears on page 26 of the October 2016 issue.
Two days after flying from Miami to Johannesburg, and prior to taking a 2-week cruise to Mombasa, I began a 9-day private tour in South Africa on Nov. 30, 2015. My tour arrangements had been made through Southern Destinations (46 Main Rd., Claremont 7735, Cape Town, South Africa; phone, in the US, 646/291-8992, www.southern destinations.com) with the help of Candice Petersen.
Candice was recommended to me by friends from a local camera club. She and I exchanged several emails before zeroing in on an itinerary and price (about $4,900 for one person).
For my first overnight in South Africa, I reserved, through Booking.com, a room at the Premier Hotel O.R. Tambo (73 Gladiator St., Rhodesfield, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; phone +27 11 393 8000, www.premierhotels.co.za), for $67 per person per night.
The hotel was near the Johannesburg airport and offered a free shuttle, but breakfast cost extra.
Traveling by small plane, having purchased my ticket through Expedia.com for $104, one of the first destinations on my private tour was the Umkumbe Safari Lodge (www.umkumbe.co.za), located in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve near Kruger National Park, where I stayed two nights.
My driver/guide was waiting for me at the airport. We drove along the Panorama Route to the lodge, along the way finding photo ops at Blyde River Canyon, God’s Window (a lookout point) and the prehistoric-looking Bourke’s Luck Potholes (my favorite).
After arriving at Sabi Sands, I jumped into a waiting vehicle for the first of three safari drives that I would take during my stay. On the safari drives, we got close to giraffes, antelope, elephants, rhinos, oryxes, tortoises and birds, but I saw no lions or leopards and only one hippo.
Incidentally, in the private reserves, vehicles were allowed to drive off the designated trails, providing much better views.
At the lodge, my chalet (a room with a private bath and patio) was nice, but I felt the food was only passable. At the time, there was a shallow river behind the lodge where animals, such as an occasional elephant, could be seen.
My driver for the next few days picked me up for our journey to Swaziland, one of Africa’s smallest countries.
In one village we stopped at, the residents put on a private show just for me. I was invited to dance with them and, much to their surprise, I was able to follow all of the movements.
I spent the night at the Royal Swazi Spa, (Old Mbabane/Manzini, Main Road Ezulwini, Valley Mbabane; www.suninternational.com/royal-swazi-spa), an upscale hotel with a delicious buffet breakfast. The golf course there seemed to be world-class.
We drove back into South Africa, where I stayed two nights at the Ghost Mountain Inn (Fish Eagle Road, Mkuze; www.ghostmountain inn.co.za). Breakfast and dinner, included in the price of the tour, were very good.
We continued on to take a cruise on Jozini Lake in a crowded boat with about 75 to 100 people. I saw a few hippos that were almost totally submerged plus a couple of Cape buffalo and various wading birds.
Another excursion was to a homestead, where the unmarried Zulu leader explained that, at 40, he was still accumulating cows to exchange for the hand of a wife not yet chosen. The buildings were shabby, and the children and animals seemed not well taken care of.
We returned to the inn, where my stay included a 30-minute upper-back and neck massage — most welcome!
My 8-night South African tour ended with a several-hour highway drive and an overnight in Durban at the quaint The Benjamin Hotel (141 Florida Rd., Morningside, Durban; benjamin.co.za).
JOYCE BRUCK
Boynton Beach, FL
