IT IS HARD FOR US TO SELECT ONE FAVORITE EXPERIENCE BECAUSE EVERYTHING WAS SO AMAZING AND THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE VARIOUS VENUES WAS PERFECT.
Lise,
I have been attempting to write to you from the moment of our return to the States, but it is amazing how quickly time flies and I apologize it has taken this long.
We love Africa and found everyone to be exceptionally warm. It is hard for us to select one favorite experience because everything was so amazing and the contrast between the various venues was perfect. As you had said Singita Ebony was very different than Singita Sweni, even though they both were in SA. Of the two our favorite was Ebony. We loved the staff there as well as the food and decor.
We loved Cape Town and David was a pleasure to work with. We even hired him for another full day as we could not fit in all we wanted to see in one day. We added a trip to Langa Township and he took us there and hooked us up with a local tour guide who was great. FYI we found that the gift shop in the Cape Grace Hotel to carry very high-quality items at reasonable prices.
Delaire Graaf was an unbelievable luxury and we do wish we had planned another day there, as we needed the rest after the 5:00 AM Singita wake up calls, and where could you find a better place to just relax?
We found Eagle Island to be the most “authentic” of the safari locations.
Here the animals were still not accustomed to humans and motorized vehicles and I think this area was probably what Kruger was 15-20 years ago. We did find that Eagle Island was the least luxurious of the camps but what Dot called “shabby chic” worked. We found out that Orient Express just was granted a long term renewal of their lease for the property and is planning to do a major refurbishment. In a couple of years it will be even better. Currently, the water levels are extremely low and the motorized boats are having trouble navigating the waterways.
Our only mistake was that we did not take a picture with you when we met.
We feel very badly about that. I did take over 5000 pictures and am in the process of reducing them to a manageable number. I plan to send you a select few shortly.
We wish we could be going again!!
Regards,
Frank