Amazing Safari Vacation – Client feedback

Amazing Safari Vacation: Simbavati River Lodge and Arathusa Safari Lodge

Celeste booked Sean and Lauren on a wonderful Kruger adventure, and we received such lovely feedback all about their amazing safari vacation. Celeste booked them into the Timbavati reserve at Simbavati River Lodge and then the Sabi Sand reserve at Arathusa Safari Lodge. Both are high on our list of favourite camps in the Kruger National Park area.

Hi Celeste!

 

Sorry I have not emailed you sooner, it’s been hectic back to work, etc. since our amazing safari vacation!

 

Simbavati and Arathusa were both awesome and we would love to return to both someday!
I would not hesitate to recommend Simbavati and it looks like their nearby Hilltop lodge will also be very nice.  We actually hope to return someday as it has a special place in our hearts as our introduction to safari.  We loved the tent!  Rustic enough to make us feel like we were on safari, but plenty comfortable with every needed amenity.  Also, as a smaller camp, it is very peaceful and relaxing.

 

Some highlights in camp (other than incredible safari drives): seeing an elephant right near camp past the pool, having a warthog family come into camp every afternoon, baboon running by our deck, monkeys playing above and on our tent one afternoon including baby monkeys, hearing an elephant eating tree branches/leaves outside our tent the first two nights.

The main lodge is beautiful, large, open and airy. Comfortable furniture, attractive bar/lobby and small gift shop. Every staff member was friendly, smiling and helpful.  Lucky helped us choose different beers/ciders and also introduced us to Amarula, which my wife had for evening sundowners and after dinner by the fire.

The safari drives were amazing. The South African bush is a special place, the terrain is varied and the area around Simbavati includes riverine, bushveld and rolling hills. Our guide was Moshe and he was fantastic, quiet and low key but informative with a dry sense of humor. He was actually by himself, acting as guide and spotter for half of our trip. Within 15 minutes of our first drive we saw a leopard. Incredible. He also has connections in other lodges and although lions weren’t in the immediate Simbavati area, he located some on the radio and got us very close to two large male lions.  We saw the Big 5, as well as many other amazing sights. I was shocked at how close the animals come to the vehicle. I will try to let our pictures provide an idea but it’s pretty indescribable.

As for Arathusa, it was definitely luxury.  We were upgraded to the Jackalberry Suite, which is a luxury suite closer to the lodge than the other luxury suites and it has a great view of the waterhole and dam. The suite had a sitting room with adjacent half bath, a master suite with huge very comfortable canopy bed, big shower and a Jacuzzi tub facing the waterhole. It also had a small private patio with plunge pool (too cold to use in winter). Now I probably didn’t need all the space and luxury, but my wife really enjoyed it. The main lodge is very nice with pool and deck and patio areas overlooking the waterhole. The waterhole is a constant parade of animals, herds of elephants, waterbucks, monkeys, warthogs, hippos, etc.

Our safari drives were incredible, Sabi Sands defeitely earned its reputation for big cats and everything else.  We had multiple sightings of leopards and lions (Styx Pride).  We also saw cape buffalo, hippo, giraffe, zebra, hyena, elephant, jackal, mongoose, baboon, monkeys, warthog, many variety of antelope (bushbuck, steenbok, waterbuck and of course MANY impala). Some unique sightings include bushbaby (spotted at night in a tree), spotted genet (also spotted in a tree at night) and secretary bird. Big 5 more than once, all ugly 5 except the Marabou Stork.

Our guide was Roy and spotter was Chris (Rock and Roy). They were great, informative, helpful and Roy is a funny character.  The food at Arathusa is very good, quite a variety and Chef Malcolm is not only an accomplished Chef, but quite a character as well.  The entire staff was friendly and helpful, Winnie always greeting you with a big smile at reception and in fact all of the rangers very friendly and sociable.

We were sad to leave South Africa and plan to return.

 

Thank you so much for helping us with an amazing trip!

 

Sean and Lauren