Hi Natasha
Thanks for your email. We (sadly!) left SA Wednesday morning and are now in Thailand. Here for a few days on the beach before returning to Tokyo Monday.
About the safari….SUPERB. Yes, Serondella was exactly like we imagined; small and intimate.In fact, my wife and I were the only guests there all day Saturday and Sunday morning. (though, not that great for them business-wise, I suppose). Lovely grounds, great set up with the main building and pool, plus our suite was truly wonderful. Our suite was the photo included in the general info you sent. Jacuzzi overlooking the main watering hole. Meals were fabulous – I put on a few kgs in only 4 days! And yummy SA wines at reasonable prices.
The game drives were absolutely amazing. We got up close and personal with leopards, lions, cheetah, rhino, elephant, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, saw some hippos too, and more. On the last day, we found 3 lioness and 2 leopard – mother and son, who was up a tree!! to avoid the lions that went through the area. Truly spectacular. Ranger Ben and our tracker Celebrate did a fantastic job. Celebrate is highly skilled.
Our hostess was Justine and ranger was Ben. Both are lovely people whose passion for what they do oozes out in bucket loads, which made the whole experience all the more enjoyable.
Very notably, for our honeymoon dinner, they prepared out suite while we were on a game drive; rose petals on the bed, around the jacuzzi, candles and a bottle of bubbly!!! We we so surprised. And, they prepared dinner on the decking to our suite – flowers and all. Ben was the waiter! A truly perfect way to end our time with them.
We had the most fabulous time. I will recommend to friends and family that they must do a Safari at least once in their life…and suggest they contact you and stay at Serondella. BTW, I am happy to write a testimonial or the like for Sunsafari and Serondella if this would be useful. Please let me know. (Also, the two drivers who took us to/from the airport were excellent. Informative and very nice chaps. I didnt tip the first driver as tipping is new to us. Its not done in Japan.Wasnt sure of it was appropriate. So apologies for this. )
And thanks to you Natasha as well, for providing such great advice and on the mark information about lodges and game reserves etc. Very helpful and very much appreciated.
On a side note, we spent 3 nights in Cape Town. Loved the city. It is one city I could come back to, and take a second look.
All the best for the remainder of the year. We can imagine ourselves doing another safari in the future, and will definitely be in touch if we do.
Take care
David
Client stayed at: Serondella Game Lodge
