Madagascar 2009
I like to move it… move it.. That was the lyrics going through all our minds at the airport waiting for our flight to the fourth largest island in the world. Madagascar! The land of King Julien (The ring tailed lemur)
We started this awesome trip from Johannesburg traveling to Antananarivo where we were suppose to connect straight away to Nosy be, But due to a flight delay we had to spend the night in Antananarivo which was fantastic. I will suggest to all clients that its safer with flight connections to always spend a night before and after in Tana when visiting Madagascar. We proceeded through customs with no problems as we did not require any visas (This is effective until the end of December). As I got out of the aircraft I expected the usual rush of hot, humid air, and surprisingly did not get any.. Tana is cold compared to Nosy Be, so in the winter months take a jersey.
We spent the night at hotel Du Louvre which is a good 3* hotel. The hotel is currently undergoing refurbishments but the construction work did not affect our stay there.
We visited the markets in Tana the next morning, you have to bargain with anything you buy here, and the prices are cheaper compared to Nosy Be Island. Tana should definitely be part of any trip to Madagascar as this adds to the cultural experience.
Our flight to Nosy be was just over an hour, on arrival at Nosy be I was finally happy as I left the freezing cold climate of Jozi and now welcomed the heat and humidity. We were greeted by local dancers with garlands and info packs of Nosy Be Island. We were transferred to the Nosy Be hotel where we had an exceptional welcome and escorted to our rooms. This resort is very nice and has a very rustic feel to it. However there is no hot water at this hotel.
The next morning was a whirlwind of visiting, Tsara Komba, Floralies, Madirokely, Domaine de Lokobe, Nosy Tanihely and finally getting to Nosy Iranja.
Before arriving at Nosy Iranja we had our first encounter with the lemurs.. I think Chantele and I were the only 2 bang brooks there as the lemurs were on everyone’s shoulders and heads… so we shooed the lemurs away from us and took pictures from afar ;-)
(If I could do that again I would have welcomed King Juliens family to walk over me ;-)
Nosy Iranja is a wonderful honeymoon getaway, very private and very in touch with nature. We were treated to a prawn dinner on the beach which was fantastic. The beach at Nosy Iranja is fantastic and the speedboat ride from Nosy be to Iranja is about 1hour and a half.
The next morning was another long boat ride to the north were we visited Sakatia, Amarina, SanganyAnjiamarango, Le Grand Bleu, Explora Village, Eden spa, Mont Passot and finally overnight at Vanilla Hotel.
Vanilla Hotel is a beautiful hotel which is currently building a spa as a new addition to the property. The hotel offers all the comforts you could want including a lovely lobster / prawn dinner which was a good end to the day.
The next day was absolutely awesome.. We went to Explora Village where we went quad biking, this was my first time and I had so much of fun. At first I was very scared as I was not sure what to do and the trek looked very scary… but as we moved on I got braver and in the end I loved it, can’t wait for my next Quad adventure. By the time we got off the quads I was covered in dirt and scratches but it was all worth it. After our super charged morning we visited La Maison Des Parums, Orangea Village, Madavoile, Gerard et Francine. We had lunch at LHeure bleue and thereafter took a leisurely walk on the beach passing allot of bars and restaurant arriving at Royal Beach hotel.
Here we attended a workshop with all the tour operators, hotels and Nosy be Tourism office. Taryn and I got interviewed by the local TV stations so we were very pleased with ourselves by the end of this evening ;-)
Madagascar at the moment is really struggling to survive the political crisis they just had, most of the hotels are closed as there is hardly any tourist on the island.
While In Madagascar we had a call from South Africa finding out if we were all ok as the news had reports of problems, needless to say there were no problems on the island and we were completely safe.
The people in Madagascar are so friendly and go out of there way to make sure you are happy and comfortable. Many of the locals speak French/Malagasy with no English so when going into the villages or markets you might have a problem communicating.
While driving through the picturesque towns and villages in Madagascar you get to see how basic people live and how happy and content they are with this.
All in all I loved Madagascar and can’t wait to visit it again…. From loosing hopelessly at pool “tournaments” with members of my group.. (Harry my partner, Kevin and Cheryl) to stuffing my face with so much of seafood that now I don’t want to look at anything remotely seafood for the next year ;-) and of course having our very own “Hannah Montana” (Chantelle) for entertainment.
The reception we received from everyone on the island from the time we got there was exceptional. Madagascar has so much to offer from private island getaways to nature reserves and bustling cities. I only really visited a small tip of the island and fell in love, so I can wait to go back again to explore the rest.
Egypt 2008“This little world, the great Cairo.. the most admirable and the greatest city seen upon earth..the Microcosmus of the greater world..” William Lithgow, 1614
What a difference, visiting Cairo the second time around. The airport has changed so much since my first visit and I was definitely impressed. Our Ground Handler was waiting for us on arrival and assisted us through customs which is a big help especially to clients that feel lost in a foreign country.
I think a day room in the start of the package and the end of the package is something we should try and sell clients as when you land the only thing you want is a shower and a bed and sometimes clients have to wait till 11am or 2pm to get a room and this can be very frustrating. When you done with your trip as well you have a very long wait before your flight home and a room is a welcome to shower and have a change of clothing and some sleep.
Our Sight inspections in Cairo at the hotels: (Oasis, Cataract, Le Meridien and Movenpick Pyramids) was very informative, from all the hotels I will definitely sell Le Meridian as our standard 5* and Oasis as our 4*. There is a lot of stairs to be climbed on these inspections ;-)
Our Egyptologist / guides were very informative throughout our trip on all the temples, landmarks, history etc to such and extent that your brain goes into overload. I really enjoyed going inside the pyramid this was really awesome, and I have never seen Kom Ombo and Edfu temple, these were really nice to see with a different story behind them, I have also never seen how a loch works and I expected something more, but it was a good experience.
Our train trip to Aswan was definitely something not to be missed. The trains are the Egyptians local trains. The cabins are very small; your baggage stays in the same cabin with you. You get dinner served in your cabin. Your chairs open into beds and you have a wash basin in your cabin. The toilets are communal. The cabins are also interleading. The whole train experience is very basic so if you have 5* clients maybe sell them flights. The train leaves Cairo at 8pm and gets into Luxor at 07.30am then carries onto Aswan, arriving at 11am.
Aswan and Luxor is such a different experience, there is so much history and temples to see here. The Nile Cruise as well is such a nice breakaway.
I will not recommend children under maybe 8 years as it’s very tiring and the boats do not have safety features for small children.
In Aswan and Luxor I will definitely suggest taking walks in the evenings to visit the bazaars as they are all within waking distance and its so much cooler and very safe to walk around at night.
On the cruise sightseeing you must warn clients that on certain days they will have to get up quite early.
The Presidential Nile fleet is awesome; the boats themselves are not showy eg: they don’t have big chandeliers and winding staircases (which might be a problem as well as clients will go through other boats and see this), Presidential Nile focuses more on customer satisfaction with regards to food and service. The Presidential Nile has 1, 5* deluxe boat called M/S Adonis which is very flashy.
They have a night on the boat where they have a Galaba party and they get all the guests to partake in games etc …Juan won the title King Nile Admiral ;-)
The convoy to Hurghada is done with an air conditioned kombi through Excel Tours and you depart with police leading the way with other vehicles. It is a 3 hour drive with a halfway stop, beautiful scenery along the way.
Hurghada is a very nice beach holiday and I think in the summer months especially, it is a must, after all the temples and tombs a few days on the red sea is just what you need to relax before heading home. Personally I will stay in El Gouna which is 20min from Hurghada. El Gouna is a new development so the hotels are all up to standard with very nice trendy restaurants and they offer a wide variety of activities for guests which are just fantastic.
Alexandria, I will only suggest as a day trip, I feel Alexandria is more of the local beach holiday spot and if clients want the beach, the red sea is a much better option. None the less Alexandria is very beautiful with a lot of Greek/ Roman History.
What really surprised me on this trip was that I did not get harassed like my last trip. I was also expecting the train trip to be horrendous and it was not that bad.
The cruise was really nice, I thought you’d get bored but there is no time to be bored. I think the biggest surprise of all was meeting the team at of our ground handlers in Egypt as I have worked so long with the staff and have put my own faces to there voice’s and they looked like nothing I imagined ;-), they are all wonderful, kind hearted people.
Last but not least was Juan’s company im surprised that I did not feel like throwing him into the Nile, he was really good company to have even through he had moments where he considered trading me for Camels or Chickens.
If I ever go back to Egypt I will definitely want to visit the Abu Simbel Temples, do a hot air balloon trip in Luxor and Visit Sharm El Sheikh.
Egypt has so much to offer its not like your usual island holiday where you can only go there for 1 purpose.. In Egypt you get excellent value for money you can see one of the Ancient wonders of the world, enjoy island beach holidays and visit ancient temples and artifacts. Where else can you enjoy all of this in one place?
Tanzania May 2010
As the seconds trickle by, legs set to leap at any moment, waiting for the perfect opportunity. In a split second he leaps from he’s crouched position, concealed between grass.. Leaping into the air he capture’s he’s prey, tearing through the gazelle’s gullet he’s finally satisfied, he now drags his lunch to a secluded spot where he will be able to satiate he’s appetite…
Hakuna matata. What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna matata. Ain't no passing craze. It's a problem free..philosophy. Hakuna matata!
Jumbo Tanzania.. ! Jumbo Kilimanjaro! During the 45min flight from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro I could not wait to get my first glimpse of the mighty Kilimanjaro.. and as luck was on our side we had a perfect clear view of Kili.
I must admit I am not a nature person and anything that crawls and slithers will make me run a mile, so for the first day I did not know what to expect and had horror visions of snakes and bugs.. But as the trip went on I forgot all about the city girl and truly started enjoying natures best! And so the adventure began
“You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life.”
-- Lion King, The
The first night we spent at Kia Hotel at Kilimanjaro hotel. This hotel is only 3min drive from Kilimanjaro airport. You will get a fantastic view from their pool area of Mount Kilimanjaro and we were very lucky as we had a crystal clear view. The lodge and rooms are very clean but basic and offers you a very nice tranquil atmosphere set in the midst of their lush tropical gardens.
The next morning we started our journey to Lake Manyara. On our way we drove through Arusha town, which is about 1 hour from Kilimanjaro.
When we got to the gates of Lake Manyara National Park, I was so excited as this was my first official game drive ;-) So all decked out with my sunglasses, Hat and fully loaded camera, we took of in our 7-seater open roof land rover.
Lake Manyara, I think should definitely be a stop before heading off to Serengeti or the crater. You will pass Tarangire National Park and the snake park along the way.
Here you will find a very diverse sight where lush green foliage hides some of nature’s best predators in comparison with the endlessly dry land of the Serengeti. This is a painters dream as you get picture perfect views of Giraffes, Flamingos, Antelopes and Buffalo lounging along the shores of the lake, while in the distance you can visit hippos in the water pools.
You can be rest assured you will feel nature’s infinite beauty especially after a game drive, relaxing on the deck at your lodge; you are overcome with serenity as all you observe is nature at its finest.
On our game drive we spotted Elephants, buffalo, Giraffes, hippos, Antelope, Zebra and LOTS of monkeys. This was actually very entertaining.. Everywhere you go you would find the monkeys grooming themselves in very odd positions, which had me in giggles most of the time, and of course if you lucky, you will spot mountain lions which Juan heard calling him that night at Lake Manyara Wildlife Lodge.. ;-)
Lake Manyara Wildlife Lodge is strategically located on the very edge of the vertiginous western escarpment of the Rift Valley, affording magnificent views down across the whole Lake. This lodge was not what I expected and I was very much surprised by the excellent service and layout of the hotel. Just be warned, Mosquitoes are in abundance here so please make sure you are well protected. We also visited Serena Lake Manyara which has the most awesome infinity pool overlooking the lake.
The next day we set out for the Serengeti via the Ngorongoro Crater.
We visited Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge which has a lovely view of the crater. We then set out for Serengeti, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way at Olduvai Gorge.
Olduvai Gorge has a small museum which you will be able to visit after lunch which includes fossils of both human and animals that were dug up from the gorge.
The drive to Serengeti is very long, dry and dusty. When you finally enter the Serengeti National Park, you can’t wait to look out for animals; we spotted plenty of antelopes, Giraffes, birds, ostriches, LOTS of Zebra’s and Wildebeest.
Please be alert for the troublesome Tsetse fly, the government is trying to get this under control by putting up black and blue nets that attracts them. Try and wear light colors as the tsetse fly is attracted to dark colors mainly black and blue.
Serengeti is very different from Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro crater. Here you are surrounded by color and vegetation. In the Serengeti all you see is dry parched terrain. In the Serengeti we stayed at Seronera Wildlife Lodge and then we spent a night at Lobo Wildlife lodge. Both these lodges are outstanding and the staff makes your stay a memorable one. We got to see “Mufasa” and “Serabi” (Lion and Lioness), both of them lounging in the middle of the road right next to our vehicle.. Looking at them, all you want to do is cuddle them.. Fortunately I controlled myself otherwise I would have been the nibble of the morning ;-)
After this encounter we often spotted lions lounging on the branches of the sausage trees, looking sooo adorable!
Throughout the drive in Serengeti you keep on imagining where the artists for the lion king got all their backgrounds, as every second rocky outcrop could be the one Simba would be held over or where the stampede ran through..
On the last day in the Serengeti we got to see a Cheetah and her baby cubs having breakfast on a gazelle and we were very lucky to get very close to this.. What an experience.
On the drive back to Ngorongoro Crater you leave behind the hot dry weather to cooler conditions. The crater is very cold and this is no exaggeration..
From the top of the crater you wonder what could possibly be down there… doesn’t look like much but once in the crater you will be very amazed.
Here we saw a very lonely, injured hyena.. my sympathies really went out to him, watching him walk next to a lake, so depressed with his head bowed and all the troubles in the world on his head, whilst all the animals just took flight as he stepped in there direction.
On the other side of the lake were a few lion and lionesses huffing and puffing by the waters edge. A lioness looked wounded as she had a cut and blood on her body. Nearby were more zebras, Wildebeest, buffalo, Antelope and Flamingo’s just waiting for movement from the lion’s in order to flee for their lives.
Here you will mostly find old elephants with huge tusks that are almost dragging to the ground as this is what we’d call the elephant graveyard or the old age home. We also saw 2 black Rhinos in the crater, which was the highlight of the crater experience for me.
My overall thoughts on the accommodation are as follows; we visited all the Serena and Sopa Lodges, Gibbs farm and 2 tented camp sites. I would recommend the Serena lodges as the quality is very good. The wildlife lodges were a huge surprise; I did not expect quality accommodation as the web sites do not have very updated pictures. The lodges have just been renovated and are now in excellent conditions. They were also one of the first lodges in the area so they have excellent views and are situated in prime spots. We received excellent service from the staff and we were made more than welcome at the lodge, it’s definitely a lodge I will try sell more of.
The ground operator we use is based in Aruhsa and is only a radio call away from all the drivers that take you on safari; you are always in contact with the main office so you can be rest assured you in good hands.
All the safari vehicles have open roofs and small fridges for water and any other drinks you might want to keep chilled.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and always willing to go the extra mile to make sure we got the most out of our safari experience.
Along the way there are rest stops with public toilets so don’t worry people, you do not have to stop in the middle of the bush for a rest stop ;-)
Meals are generally buffet unless the hotel is running on low occupancy where they will then have a set menu with 2-3 different meal options.
Your lunches are generally packed picnic boxes which the lodges will give the driver when you leave in the morning. I did not particularly like these picnic box lunches and would rather suggest you take hot lunches at the lodges but this would mean extra driving.
I was very fortunate to be chosen to go on this awesome, once in a lifetime experience visiting Kilimanjaro, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater and this is something I will remember with great awe. Asante Sana .. Squash banana .. to African Encounters for adding a memorable tick to my bucket list!
Malindi is a beautiful old town boasting history from the time of the early Chinese, Arabs, Portuguese and European settlers, this has now made Malindi a wonderful tourist destination
What I loved most about Malindi were the friendly people, shopping and beach.
We stayed at the Tropical Beach resort which is part of the Planhotel group chain; this is one of the nicer hotels as you stay here under an all inclusive basis which includes all meals and drinks. Actually all the Planhotel properties only offer all inclusive basis
The resort has a nice beach and offers a variety of activities for all ages.
We visited 4 hotels in Malindi, Malindi Resort which is a very nice resort that I will suggest to people looking for a very quiet hotel more for your older adults. This resort offers all the comfort you could want and at the same time solitude.
Coconut Village is very similar to Tropical village resort, but does not have all the facilities of Tropical village but this is not a problem as evening entertainment will be supplied by Tropical Village and you can use the facilities of Tropical Village.
Then for the 5 star clients there is Dream of Africa which is an excellent resort but there are no sea view rooms at this resort. This is resort is a small resort so clients who want to stay away from crowds this will be perfect for them, this resort also houses a wonderful spa which all the resorts can make use of at an additional charge.
All of the Planhotel properties are next door to each other and you can use each other facilities, meals can also be taken between resorts (depending which hotel you stay in there might be a supplement that needs to be paid)
What surprised me in Malindi was the Gedi Ruins, I never knew this place existed and this was definitely worth a visit. The African Markets are also must do… please brush up on bargaining skills here as well, you will notice if you buy anything in the markers the locals will always insist that they want to bargain with you and you should name a price for an item. This can be frustrating after a while as well as you cannot get a price out of them without first haggling about how much you think it should be.
Just a tip.. If you love sandals you can get lovely hand made leather sandals at really good prices from the locals, they make this to your design, color and size.
The beaches are always filled with beach boys; they can get a bit much after the 1st day, trying to sell you activities etc, just be polite and say no thank you.
All in all Malindi is definitely a must see destination that has a lot to offer a variety of clients. For those clients that don’t like being confined to just the resort you can always jump into a “tuk tuk” and go into town and enjoy meals at the local cafes or go shopping and for those clients that like some nightlife there are lots of disco’s where they can dance the night away.
