Choosing the right safari accommodation is no easy task. Should you opt for a mobile camp, a luxury tented camp, or a lodge? When helping clients decide where to stay, we’re sometimes asked what our favorites are. Of course, we all have our personal preferences and we thought it would be fun to share them here on our blog. Yvette was first in line and her top choices are ….

Jao Camp

Jao is located in Botswana‘s Okavango Delta. It’s a beautifully designed camp in a great location in a private concession area. This allows for some off-road tracking and night drives which translates into excellent game viewing. The variety of activities on offer can’t be beat like the mokoro rides, sleep-outs and walking safaris. The spa facilities and the wonderful staff here are just the cherry on top. Jao is not a cheap place to stay, but compared to other similarly priced properties, I think it’s the best. More about Jao …

Toka Leya

Toko Leya, just outside Livingstone, Zambia, is a beautiful contemporary camp without being “too modern” and “out of place” for my taste. This isn’t a prime game viewing destination but basically you are here to see the Victoria Falls. It’s location is very convenient, away from the masses and big hotels closer to the falls, but close enough to enjoy all the activities in the area. The sundowner cruise in their small private boat, away from the crowds, is a fantastic way to end a perfect day. More about Toko Leya…

Tintswalo Safari Lodge

Tintswalo Safari Lodge is located in the Manyeleti Game Reserve in South Africa. The Manyeleti Reserve is huge, but with only one other property, there is minimal competing traffic on game drives. With an unfenced border with Kruger National Park, the game viewing is great. This lodge has excellent guides and the best outfitted game vehicles I’ve seen (including complimentary use of a pair binoculars, field guide, bird book, etc. per couple). The private plunge pool for each suite and the excellent food makes this camp a definite favorite. More about Tintswalo…

Marrakech is filled with energy every night of the week. The main square, the Djemma el-Fna is a hive of activity with kebab shops, snake charmers, musicians and story-tellers. And it’s really not just for the tourists, villagers from surrounding areas enjoy the spectacle as much as everyone else. But every few months, Marrakech and other towns in the vicinity host cultural festivals that add even more to a visitors’ experience. Here are some you shouldn’t miss:

• Marrakech Popular Arts Festival

  The Marrakech Popular Arts Festival’s program includes folk singers, dancers, fortune-tellers, acting troupes, snake charmers, fire-swallowers and more, from all over Morocco. Since 2000 the festival has also attracted many artists and entertainers from Europe and Asia. The main events take place in the ruins of the 16 century Badi Palace and the Djemma el Fna (main town square). Not to be missed, outside the city walls at night, is the Fantasia. A horse-riding spectacle that includes hundreds of charging horsemen (and women) wearing traditional clothing.

  Where: Marrakech, Morocco
  When: July 16 – 24 (2010)

• Imilchil Marriage Festival

  The Imilchil Marriage Feast is a Berber marriage festival where up to forty couples tie the knot. It takes place in Imilchil in the Middle-High Atlas Mountains near Marrakech. The festival is a great way to experience Berber culture including music and dance.

  Where: Imilchil (near Marrakech), Morocco
  When: August/September (2010)

  

• International Film Festival

  The always lively central Place Djemaa el-Fna sets the stage for Marrakech’s International Film Festival. The city’s central square, is transformed into an open-air cinema. Festival visitors in the past have included Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Susan Sarandon, David Lynch and many others.

  Where: Marrakech, Morocco
  When: 3 – 10 December, 2010

  Save the Date for 2011
  

  Essaouira Gnawa and World Music Festival

  A music festival based on the traditions of Gnawa music has grown to include musicians from all over the world. This successful annual festival has been around for a decade and venues are dotted all around the picturesque town of Essaouira. Gnawa music is a combination of acrobatic dancing as well as music. Its origins lie in a unique mixture of Berber, African and Arabic songs, religious rites and dance.

  Where: Essaouira, Morocco
  When: June 2011

  Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in traveling to Morocco. Check out our sample itineraries or let us customize your trip.

Rosalea and Dick just returned from their first African adventure with us. They traveled to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. They visited wineries and penguins, were drenched by the spray of the Victoria Falls and were joined for lunch by and elephant outside their tent in the Okavango Delta. Here are some excerpts from their trip report:

We enjoyed a traditional African 16 course dinner with fabulous drumming (including lessons before dinner) and dancing. Dick was chosen to dance with a performer. With all the excellent African wine in him, he danced with abandon!

A small charter plane flew us to our first Botswana safari camp, Duma Tau, which means Roaring Lion. Camp is quite an exaggeration – our tent looked nothing like a tent inside. We had running water, an indoor/outdoor shower and a flush toilet. The bed was king size and surrounded by mosquito netting.

We saw more wildlife – African buffalo herds, cheetahs, leopards, vultures, francolin (a bird), storks, wildebeests, wart hogs, kingfisher (no relation to our family!), guinea fowl, violet breasted roller (my favorite bird), pelicans.

We were shown huge elephant tracks near our tent, and indeed one afternoon during siesta time, we saw an elephant right outside our tent, munching on his lunch. One day a different elephant even stepped on “our” boardwalk and broke a few planks. We saw his footprints in the mud.

It was a trip of a lifetime. Waiting for our plane to depart from Johannesburg airport, we heard cheers and screams and loud horns blowing all over the airport – South Africa had just scored a goal in the first World
Cup Game. Everyone was so excited,

Read the full trip report and contact us if you want an experience just like this!

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