Dear Sir Stevens,
We have had a fantastic trip. The car rental went smoothly in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. Excellent service from Europcar and excellent auos, very comfortable and spacious. The part of our trip that was organized by the South Africa specialist started with a flight from Cape Town to Joburg. This flight was delayed for 45 minutes. The car was picked up very quickly, but it was not possible to arrive at the Iketla lodge in Ohrigstad before dark. As a result, the last part of the trip was very exciting, about dirtroads, little lighting. A good route description. We were warmly welcomed, they had kept supper for us and the rooms were spacious and very well furnished. But unfortunately we had to leave early the next morning to be on time in Letaba Restcamp in Kruger Park. As a result, we have hardly been able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and the hospitality. It was just too short. In this case, a simple hotel would also have been fine. Our stay in Kruger Park was above expectations. I had expected something very simple, but we had a complete house, with a large terrace with an unobstructed view and bbq.
On New Year’s Eve we lit the BBQ, but at 10 p.m. all our neighbors were in bed. We made another fire outside at 11:30 pm and let the champagne pop ‘softly’ (it didn’t stand out because it had popped that night because of the thunderstorm) and that way we started 2018. Letaba great base for safari, a nice pool for the youngest and sitting on a bench by the river was also nice.
The highlight was the Umlani bush camp! Fortunately not too far away from Letaba (and we saw many animals along the way, including lions crossing in front of our car), so that we could still experience the evening drive. Great welcome, beautiful place, and also the small scale is pleasant. Great order, because after Umlani you are ruined :-). The great thing about Letaba was that you were among the South Africans, while many nationalities were present in Umlani, which is also nice. The bush rides were long for the children, but getting up early was no problem and the joint evening meal was very pleasant.
And a fight for prey between wild dogs and hyenas was impressive to experience. We would have liked to have stayed there longer and made some bushwalks.
And then the Rissington in Hazyview. What a nice place to end the holiday. An oasis. Special English atmosphere and we were very happy with our rooms. Almost an entire apartment, with a beautiful veranda, a side terrace, wonderful. The pool, which we only shared with the neighbors, was much appreciated.
The Hupstofweijs family