Subject: Our holiday
Date sent: Tue, 12 Jul 2005

Amor and Jeremy

What a great holiday we have just had!!!

It was a wonderful experience in terms of what we saw, what we learnt from our guides and the local people and the way they looked after us. From the moment we were picked up at Cape Town airport till we left Dulini Lodge everything was great. There was always someone to greet us whether at the airport, river crossing or camp. We were truly looked after.

What was also great was the range of experiences. Okavango seemed to us to be in the middle of no where and activities were water based, Moremi was land based, Victoria Falls and white water rafting down the
Zambezi was awesome and Kruger though closer to the city was vast and inspiring. To finish with the luxury of Dulini was perfect. We were fortunate to be the only 4 at the lodge. To be able to be so close to the
animals was unbelievable. In all three camps our guides and drivers were excellent. They were very knowledgeable and eagerly imparted their knowledge to us. In our two days driving ourselves around Kruger we
appreciated just how good the guides were spotting animals - its hard work but thrilling when you see something.

We have come home with hundred of photos and even more great memories.

Thank you so much for all your advice, and patience during our planning, and for putting together such a great holiday for us. You live in a lovely part of the world and we are delighted to have been able to share it.

Many thanks

King regards

Anne

From: Kingsley Warner (SYD)
Subject: Hello There!

Dear Amor

I hope this email finds you well.

Well, we have finally arrived back from our trip to Africa and as we imagined it was an amazing place. To say it was spiritual would be an understatement as we were all moved very much by its beauty and drama.

Firstly, I would like to pass on a heartfelt thanks to you from all of us for helping put the Safari trip together - your suggestions were spot on! I believe I speak for our group when I say the Safari exceeded all our expectations.

From the moment we landed in Botswana we were looked after impeccably by the very good people at Chiefs. Their professionalism and service was outstanding but even more impressive was their warmth and good spirits which made our trip that much better. The wildlife we were told is world class and we agree - Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Zebra, Giraffe, Impala, Water Buffalo and many more, and that was just in the FIRST 24 hours! The General Manager of Chiefs, Matt was a wonderful host as was our guide, Comic as they certainly left a wonderful impression on all of us. The camp itself was beautiful and we could not have asked for anything more (maybe air-con for our American friends who had just come out of a North American winter..haha). On the first morning of our stay were awakened (I believe we were all awake by the sounds of the delta anyway) to see a Lion and Water Buffalo 'standoff' some 50 metres from the camp.unbelievable! And we thought they were joking when they warned us of the Lions around the camp!!! From there it just got better..Lion Cubs, wonderful food and spectacular scenery.

After two days at Chiefs we were almost sad to leave but we knew Baines would be exceptional as well (The previous GM of Chiefs was now at Baines). Our flights with Safari air were good and HOT (middle of the day) but I knew we were in good hands as the pilots were from New Zealand and Australia. The flight between Chiefs and Baines was spectacular for game - flying at 1000 feet we must have counted about 20-40 Elephant plus many Giraffe.

Once we arrived at Baines we were met by our guide, Martin (great sense of humour and very cheeky - he pretended to get lost!) who finally got us to camp where we were greeted by some wonderful singing by the camp staff - just beautiful! Craig, the GM was a great lad and was full of good stories and information - his walk through Safari was a highlight, Sarah was sticking to him like glue as he was the only one with an Elephant Gun!!! I'm not sure if you have seen the camp, as it is new, but it is stunning - the main part of the camp is situated on a hippo pond and the view is simply breathtaking. The private lodgings which flow on from a raised boardwalk make it very personal and each offers a piece of scenery which is very inviting - I imagine that when the camp has settled in after a number of years it will be one of the best. One of the highlights on the whole trip would have to have been our first encounter with a Leopard. It almost seemed surreal as Martin asked us what we would like to see next (Leopard was the cry as our team of seasoned Safari travellers had seen everything else?), sure enough we get the call and off we go to 'Spot a Leopard'. We encounter our first 'traffic jam' in Botswana (two other trucks from Stanley's) and push, shove, mow, barrage and plough our way through thickets, trees and bush to finally come face to face with a stunning female Leopard (we came so close that Martin said it was the closest for him - 4-5 feet and even to the point we nearly ran over the poor girl as one of our Safari experts suggested!). For me it was a highlight, a Cat that has it all, beauty, power and speed and of course very hard to see. Of course this story gets better when we were able to see two more the next day! Another first for Martin (or he was just pulling our leg).

Both camps were everything we hoped for and thanks again for dealing with the many emails I sent you over the past year. I know Sarah and I will always cherish the trip and to be quite honest we can't wait to go back!

Anyway Amor I could write on and on as we all have much to say.

Much appreciated

Kingsley Warner