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Bill Siviter
GB
Visited:
May 2012
Reviewed: Oct 8, 2012
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience
The animal and bird life I saw in one day was profuse and I took over six hundred photographs.
The Rissington Inn Hotel in Hazyview where I stayed was excellent. The accomodation was of a high standard as was the food.
Altogether a great experience which eclipsed all my other adventures in the Grand Canyon and Tokyo or Hong Kong.
Visitors to the southern part of the park must expect the heavy cover which is commonplace and not expect the open grasslands of say Kenya.
We hired a car from the airport at Joburg and the drive though tiring after our flight was easy even though some SA road
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signs are ambiguous or non existant in places. It is my second time in SA I loved my visit to the Cape and the wine tour I took but big game close up is an experience I wouldn't have missed for the world.
Jonathan
Visited:
October 2014
Reviewed: Apr 11, 2015
Tanda Tula Private Game Reserve a unique and simply wonderful life experience
My family and I all enjoyed a holiday of a life time during our 5 day stay at Tanda Tula game reserve within Timbavati Nature reserve. The tented accommodation exceeded expectations, with wonderful views of the wildlife from our own veranda. A real family atmosphere amongst the Tanda Tula team is evident, the food simply amazing, the local music and dancing truly captures the essence of the mood of wild Africa. The attention to detail and customer service from the team within the camp is simply world class. The guides (Foremen and Given in our case) are wonderful people, friendly, extremely knowledgable and are willing to tailor the drives to your individual requests. We completed a total of 12 drives during our time along with a number of short safari walks. I am sure some luck was on our side as we were privileged to witness a number of rare sightings, such as honey badgers, african wild cat and a leopard stalk which ended in a successful kill. Weather was fantastic during our time not too hot during the day and comfortable during the evening. Overall an amazing experience!
Tommy
US
Visited:
August 2011
Reviewed: May 22, 2012
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect experience for anyone wanting to experience the South African Bush.
The food at Umlani was incredible as well- It was by far the best out of our month-long trip. Some of our meals included a delicious sweet potato and butternaut squash soup, casseroles, full english breakfasts, various meats, impala stew (try it!), and of course rusks. I was at Umlani during the Winter so the weather was nice
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although it had rained a few days before we arrived.The wildlife was beyond anything that I had expected. We encountered all of the big 5 many times and saw a huge variety of animals. My group was fortunate enough to see a lion kill as well as enormous herds of Cape Buffalo. The elephants were everywhere and seemed to not care about our proximity to them.
Umlani is located next to a water hole so that viewing animals is still possible in between game drives. About a mile away is another water hole where interested guests can stay in a tree house for the night! Thanks to encouragement from the staff, I summoned my courage and spent one night in a tree house in the bush.
Overall, The Timbavati Nature Reserve and Umlani specifically is the best place to go to experience the South African Bush. There are friendly staff members, good food, knowledgeable guides, beautiful scenery, and of course lots of wildlife to observe. I don't often check 5 stars in all categories but Umlani deserves it. Too see videos from my trip, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/futbol7t/featured. Make sure to make Timbavati and Umlani part of your trip.
Amy
Visited:
July 2014
Reviewed: Apr 20, 2015
Down-to-earth but comfortable bush experience! Amazing Wildlife!
truly amazing. We stayed at Shindzela Tented Camp. The small size of the camp makes for an intimate experience, and you have a chance to meet and make friends with the guides, as well as other guests from around the world. The tents are extremely comfortable, providing everything you need. Our guide, Eugene, and tracker, Guyane (spelling?) were outstanding. They were a great team, and their knowledge and skill resulted in some extremely close encounters with wildlife.
The game viewing at Timbavati was outstanding. During our transfer drive into the reserve, we saw a herd of elephants, including babies! During game drives, we saw lions on a recent kill, got very close to elephants, hyenas, giraffe, you name it. Being able to continue the game drives after dark is also amazing, hearing a lion roar after dark, spotting honey badgers and a jackal were all highlights
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once the sun set.The overall experience and atmosphere at Timbavati was exactly what we were looking for, and better. If
you are looking for a rustic, yet comfortable, true bush experience, this is your place. We are already
talking about going back in the future, and staying more than 2 nights!!