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Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari



 
 
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  #11  
Old January 2nd, 2007, 01:00 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Rita Daggett
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

You might like to look at Zambia?
There are now some pretty luxurious places (Tongabezi, for example) with
'honeymoon suites'.
It doesnt have the massive herds that East Aprica has, but is good for birds
and has excellent guides.
I'm a great fan of the Coppinger's places (Tafika
http://www.remoteafrica.com/) but you may think they are not luxurious
enough. You can do night drives and walking in Zambia.
Sunvil is an excellent agent to book through (now called Expert Africa
http://africa-holidays.sunvil.co.uk/...p?source=menu2)

--
Rita Daggett


  #12  
Old January 3rd, 2007, 05:05 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 52
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

In article . com, "Fred"
wrote:

Dear Liz,

thank you for your answer.
In fact, we really do not know the season we are going to travel ...
So this is completely open !
Thank you for your advice.



This makes considerable difference. During the dry season there are
considerable difference in where animals go than during the wet season.
The Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana would be an OK place during the dry
season, but when the rains start to come a lot of the wildlife starts
moving inland because the water holes start to fill up.

Kruger Park in South Africa and its surrounding areas offer a considerable
variety in activities. They have night drives (must be reserved in
advance due to limited space and popularity), evening drives, etc. There
are places outside the park, reasonably close, where one can also do such
things as hot air baloon trips. Other places in South Africa offer quite
a variety, including a breeding site for Jackass Penguins.

Depending on how long you are there, you might want to try a variety of
places. Even, for example, within Kruger itself there are several major
centers to stay the night. The same spot on the Sabie River gets awfully
boring after a while after you have seen it over and over again over the
course of several game drives. Given enough time you could spend several
days in each place within Kruger and get a lot of variety in both
locations within the park and the wildlife you see. Or, you could do what
I did and spend some time in Zambia (Victoria Falls), Botswana and South
Africa.

--
-Glennl
The despammed service works OK, but unfortunately
now the spammers grab addresses for use as "from" address too!
e-mail hint: add 1 to quantity after gl to get 4317.
  #13  
Old January 3rd, 2007, 01:53 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Fred[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 23
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

Dear Rita,

thank you for your suggestions. Our french travel agency had already
talked to us about Zambia and the links you have sent to me shows there
are beautiful places to have such activities we are found of.

Even if it is not for our honeymoon trip, i will keep these precious
information for a further safari.

Best regards.


Rita Daggett a écrit :

You might like to look at Zambia?
There are now some pretty luxurious places (Tongabezi, for example) with
'honeymoon suites'.
It doesnt have the massive herds that East Aprica has, but is good for birds
and has excellent guides.
I'm a great fan of the Coppinger's places (Tafika
http://www.remoteafrica.com/) but you may think they are not luxurious
enough. You can do night drives and walking in Zambia.
Sunvil is an excellent agent to book through (now called Expert Africa
http://africa-holidays.sunvil.co.uk/...p?source=menu2)

--
Rita Daggett


  #14  
Old January 3rd, 2007, 05:40 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Liz Leyden
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 85
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

In message . com
"Fred" wrote:


Depending on the season and on th places, we would like to know what
part of Masai Mara are the best ?

The Migration comes into the Mara reliably in the third week in July,
but usually before that, sometimes in late June. Early on, you want to
be in the south, round about Keekorok Lodge, which although nice
probably isn't small and romantic enough for you. I don't know of any
small camps in that area, but there seem to be new camps springing up
all the time. Siana Springs is nice, but way out of the reserve, and
away from the migration route. But you can do night drives, which are
always hit-or-miss (good in July 06 - last year already!
Come to mid-August and the Migration will be crossing the river, and
you want optimally to be in the area of the Mara Serena.
After that, you'd want to be in the north of the reserve, then follow
the migratory route back southwards until it goes back into Tz late
October/November.
Personally, I wouldn't choose to be in the Mara outside the Migration
- I've posted several times that it happened once by accident, and
there was very little in the way of mammals to be seen: but still
plenty of birds. Other people say they have seen plenty 'out of
season'.

In parallel of our e-talks, we have also consulted some french travel
agencies. One of them made a proposal (which seems very attractive but
also very luxurious and expensive) which is the following : Cottars
1920.
Do you know this place and the services provided there ? Have you hear
about it ?

I'd heard that it's very nice and exclusive, maybe that was just their
advertising, I can't remember, and haven't been there.

Another suggestion (in the north) might be Little Governor's Camp.

Maybe someone can comment on Tortilis Camp in Amboseli: I've heard
mixed reports, but the only really bad one was from a driver/guide
based on a pre-opening event for tour companies - I think they were
unlucky with their food, which clouded their opinion! Amboseli is
pretty much underrated.

If you're going to be in a few places, consider having your own guide
for the full trip. If you stay at a camp, you might have to share the
vehicle with the other guests, whose interests may not be the same as
yours, or if they've never been to Africa before, they might want to
spend longer with the more 'usual' species while you want to birdwatch
or look for less usual species.

Lang may yer lum reek! (Scottish New Year greeting for Frederic and
all other readers)

Slainte mhath (Gaelic for 'Good Health')

Safari njema (goes without saying)

Liz

--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos
Photo Gallery:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/g...emberID=165111

  #15  
Old January 3rd, 2007, 10:59 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Fred[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 23
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

Dear Liz,

thank you very much for your advice and wishes !

Best regards


Liz Leyden a écrit :

In message . com
"Fred" wrote:


Depending on the season and on th places, we would like to know what
part of Masai Mara are the best ?

The Migration comes into the Mara reliably in the third week in July,
but usually before that, sometimes in late June. Early on, you want to
be in the south, round about Keekorok Lodge, which although nice
probably isn't small and romantic enough for you. I don't know of any
small camps in that area, but there seem to be new camps springing up
all the time. Siana Springs is nice, but way out of the reserve, and
away from the migration route. But you can do night drives, which are
always hit-or-miss (good in July 06 - last year already!
Come to mid-August and the Migration will be crossing the river, and
you want optimally to be in the area of the Mara Serena.
After that, you'd want to be in the north of the reserve, then follow
the migratory route back southwards until it goes back into Tz late
October/November.
Personally, I wouldn't choose to be in the Mara outside the Migration
- I've posted several times that it happened once by accident, and
there was very little in the way of mammals to be seen: but still
plenty of birds. Other people say they have seen plenty 'out of
season'.

In parallel of our e-talks, we have also consulted some french travel
agencies. One of them made a proposal (which seems very attractive but
also very luxurious and expensive) which is the following : Cottars
1920.
Do you know this place and the services provided there ? Have you hear
about it ?

I'd heard that it's very nice and exclusive, maybe that was just their
advertising, I can't remember, and haven't been there.

Another suggestion (in the north) might be Little Governor's Camp.

Maybe someone can comment on Tortilis Camp in Amboseli: I've heard
mixed reports, but the only really bad one was from a driver/guide
based on a pre-opening event for tour companies - I think they were
unlucky with their food, which clouded their opinion! Amboseli is
pretty much underrated.

If you're going to be in a few places, consider having your own guide
for the full trip. If you stay at a camp, you might have to share the
vehicle with the other guests, whose interests may not be the same as
yours, or if they've never been to Africa before, they might want to
spend longer with the more 'usual' species while you want to birdwatch
or look for less usual species.

Lang may yer lum reek! (Scottish New Year greeting for Frederic and
all other readers)

Slainte mhath (Gaelic for 'Good Health')

Safari njema (goes without saying)

Liz

--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos
Photo Gallery:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/g...emberID=165111


  #16  
Old January 4th, 2007, 08:25 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
Fred[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 23
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

Dear Glenn,

thanks for your message and advice.

First of all, i understand the season is a quite important choice (i
have been living in Cameroon for two years) but we would like to choose
the best season for the best place !

Then, we do not wanna have a trip with several stop and go and plenty
of hours on the road to go from place to place. We have done that
before in several countries, but this time, we wnt to choose a
wilderness area and have may one or two different romantic place inside
or around that area.

Our original idea was to go in Masai Mara for two weeks and having may
be one week in the north-west of the park and one week in the south in
two luxurious tented camps.

Moreover, we have already been to Botswana and i must recognize that we
had a really wonderful time there especially near Chobe in Elephant
Valley Lodge (Kasane Forest Reserve).

I am also very interested in your advice and comments about South
Africa and especially Kruger park and its neighbourood. I have heard
that the park has several different part (north, south) with also nice
private reserves around like Sabi-Sabi or Sabi-Sand.

Tell me : if you were getting there for two weeks in which place will
you go and stay ?

I am also very interested in another region of South Africa which is
Natal with parks and reserves like Umfolozi, Hlulluwe, Santa Lucia and
Pindha. Have you been there ?

Thank you for all
Best regards

a écrit :

In article . com, "Fred"
wrote:

Dear Liz,

thank you for your answer.
In fact, we really do not know the season we are going to travel ...
So this is completely open !
Thank you for your advice.



This makes considerable difference. During the dry season there are
considerable difference in where animals go than during the wet season.
The Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana would be an OK place during the dry
season, but when the rains start to come a lot of the wildlife starts
moving inland because the water holes start to fill up.

Kruger Park in South Africa and its surrounding areas offer a considerable
variety in activities. They have night drives (must be reserved in
advance due to limited space and popularity), evening drives, etc. There
are places outside the park, reasonably close, where one can also do such
things as hot air baloon trips. Other places in South Africa offer quite
a variety, including a breeding site for Jackass Penguins.

Depending on how long you are there, you might want to try a variety of
places. Even, for example, within Kruger itself there are several major
centers to stay the night. The same spot on the Sabie River gets awfully
boring after a while after you have seen it over and over again over the
course of several game drives. Given enough time you could spend several
days in each place within Kruger and get a lot of variety in both
locations within the park and the wildlife you see. Or, you could do what
I did and spend some time in Zambia (Victoria Falls), Botswana and South
Africa.

--
-Glennl
The despammed service works OK, but unfortunately
now the spammers grab addresses for use as "from" address too!
e-mail hint: add 1 to quantity after gl to get 4317.


  #17  
Old January 5th, 2007, 09:29 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 52
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

In article . com, "Fred"
wrote:

I am also very interested in your advice and comments about South
Africa and especially Kruger park and its neighbourood. I have heard
that the park has several different part (north, south) with also nice
private reserves around like Sabi-Sabi or Sabi-Sand.

Tell me : if you were getting there for two weeks in which place will
you go and stay ?



The park is some 380 km from north to south and covers about 2.5 million
hectares. This ignores the additions of the Zimbabwe Gonarezhou National
Park and the Mozambique Gaza Rezerve. This creates a conservation area of
some 37 million hectares, not including some privately owned game reserves
nearby.

I'm no expert on Kruger. I have only visited a small portion of this vast
area, and most of that was in the south of Kruger. If I were to visit
there for two solid weeks, I would choose somewhere close to the middle of
the park, just to be able to cover a much wider range of areas that I
hadn't seen before. Central-south is also where the largest number of
overnight locations are, and that may or may not be a good thing. It's
convenient there, but it is also popular. I don't know that much about
the area in the far north of the park, other than there are only a few
camps to stay.

Of the guide books on South Africa I have, I think I like Frommer's South
Africa the best in terms of giving out useful information. The writer was
born in Durban, raised in Johannesburg and lives in Cape Town. The
"Kruger and Environs" chapter has 52 pages of text and maps - no space
consuming photos. There are some two pages of other activities (hot air
balooning, rafting etc.) listed near the start of that chapter.
Considering the very large area and the variety of activities, and your
desire to stay in one place, I would probably choose what activities to do
and *then* choose an overnight location convenient to the activities.

I'm quite certain that there are others who participate in this group that
would know more about South Africa in general and Kruger in particular.

- Glenn

--
-Glennl
The despammed service works OK, but unfortunately
now the spammers grab addresses for use as "from" address too!
e-mail hint: add 1 to quantity after gl to get 4317.
  #18  
Old January 8th, 2007, 02:44 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Jacques Zénon
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

Fred,

Why not to go to Tanzania in the South Parks like Selous
and Ruaha !
We spent in November 2 weeks in Selous and Ruaha for
the second time and it's a very nice place for a reasonnable
budget if you compare with Botswana .
Small camps , wildlife everywhere , few tourists !
You can see the website : www.africatravelresource.com
and select Tanzania and South .
Best to go : Augustus-September-October-November
And after , some days on the Dar-es-Salaam coast or Zanzibar !
You can contact me for more details and also the tour operator
we used for a long time :

"Fred" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Dear Liz,

thank you very much for your advice and wishes !

Best regards


Liz Leyden a écrit :

In message . com
"Fred" wrote:


Depending on the season and on th places, we would like to know what
part of Masai Mara are the best ?

The Migration comes into the Mara reliably in the third week in July,
but usually before that, sometimes in late June. Early on, you want to
be in the south, round about Keekorok Lodge, which although nice
probably isn't small and romantic enough for you. I don't know of any
small camps in that area, but there seem to be new camps springing up
all the time. Siana Springs is nice, but way out of the reserve, and
away from the migration route. But you can do night drives, which are
always hit-or-miss (good in July 06 - last year already!
Come to mid-August and the Migration will be crossing the river, and
you want optimally to be in the area of the Mara Serena.
After that, you'd want to be in the north of the reserve, then follow
the migratory route back southwards until it goes back into Tz late
October/November.
Personally, I wouldn't choose to be in the Mara outside the Migration
- I've posted several times that it happened once by accident, and
there was very little in the way of mammals to be seen: but still
plenty of birds. Other people say they have seen plenty 'out of
season'.

In parallel of our e-talks, we have also consulted some french travel
agencies. One of them made a proposal (which seems very attractive but
also very luxurious and expensive) which is the following : Cottars
1920.
Do you know this place and the services provided there ? Have you hear
about it ?

I'd heard that it's very nice and exclusive, maybe that was just their
advertising, I can't remember, and haven't been there.

Another suggestion (in the north) might be Little Governor's Camp.

Maybe someone can comment on Tortilis Camp in Amboseli: I've heard
mixed reports, but the only really bad one was from a driver/guide
based on a pre-opening event for tour companies - I think they were
unlucky with their food, which clouded their opinion! Amboseli is
pretty much underrated.

If you're going to be in a few places, consider having your own guide
for the full trip. If you stay at a camp, you might have to share the
vehicle with the other guests, whose interests may not be the same as
yours, or if they've never been to Africa before, they might want to
spend longer with the more 'usual' species while you want to birdwatch
or look for less usual species.

Lang may yer lum reek! (Scottish New Year greeting for Frederic and
all other readers)

Slainte mhath (Gaelic for 'Good Health')

Safari njema (goes without saying)

Liz

--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos
Photo Gallery:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/g...emberID=165111



  #19  
Old January 29th, 2007, 11:47 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Magoo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

Fred wrote:
Hi all,

my girl-friend and i are looking for some ideas for a honeymoon safari.
We are not newcomers as we spent some time in Africa : two years in
Cameroon, two safaris in Kenya, 1 in Tanzania and one in Botswana.

We are looking for a romantic and luxurious place where we may have two
weeks of safari in a rich wildlife area.

Requirements are the following :
inside a wildlife reserve
beautiful landscape
luxurious tented camp or lodge
highest quality of game guides
opportunities for having other activities like walking, night
safaris, ....
balloon or aircraft trips
fine place for bird watching also

So, your best ideas even the craziest ones are expected.

Thanks for all.

Carine and Frederic

FRED,
YOU MIGHT WANT TO LOOK INTO MUKUTAN RETREAT AND MAKENA'S HILLS IN
LAIKIPIA (RIFT VALLEY)..THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES I'VE EVER STAYED,
WITHOUT A DOUBT.. www.gallmannkenya.org.. ALSO I AGREE WITH DAVE
PATTERSON'S SUGGESTION REGARDING FINCH HATTONS IN TSAVO WEST...EXCELLENT!
  #20  
Old January 30th, 2007, 12:18 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
Liz Leyden
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 85
Default Looking for ideas about a honeymoon safari

In message
Magoo wrote:

FRED,
YOU MIGHT WANT TO LOOK INTO MUKUTAN RETREAT AND MAKENA'S HILLS IN
LAIKIPIA (RIFT VALLEY)..THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES I'VE EVER STAYED,
WITHOUT A DOUBT.. www.gallmannkenya.org.. ALSO I AGREE WITH DAVE
PATTERSON'S SUGGESTION REGARDING FINCH HATTONS IN TSAVO WEST...EXCELLENT!


Is that Kuki Gallman's place?
I'm currently re-reading African nights.
Hadn't heard from anyone who's stayed with her.

Slainte

Liz

--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos
Photo Gallery:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/g...emberID=165111

 




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