Travel Butlers were delighted to have our 6 Night Mobile Safari Adventure in Kenya featured in yesterday’s Sunday Times Travel Section (UK) as one of the best 100 holidays in the world for 2012.  This great trip was the top placed african safari holiday, and was one of only seven wildlife holidays to be featured in the “Into The Wild” section of the article.

The trip they selected includes 3 nights at the Gamewatchers Molible Camp  in the Amboslei reserve, followed by a further 3 nights at their Mobile Camp in the Masai Mara.  As the article highlighted,  the tented accommodation is in no way flashy, however the  location of the camps in the heart of two of Kenya’s most iconic parks means that the game viewing is exceptional…especially if you time your trip to coincide with the Wildebeest migration’s arrival in the Masai Mara.

The cost including accommodation, meals, transfers, and game drives is US$1525 (approx £978) per person.

One of the main attractions of the Eastern Cape is the opportunity to visit a wildlife park and see the Big 5 in a malaria-free environment.

Right in the heart of the Eastern Cape’s game viewing region you will find Pumba Private Game Reserve, situated a mere 105 km from Port Elizabeth.

The reserve stretches over an area of 6,000 hectares. Home to the Big 5, the Reserve offers visitors the chance to experience the wonders of Africa – from the graceful giraffe to the seldom seen leopard. There are also 22 species of antelope and other small game.

Pumba is also home to the near extinct white lion and for bird lovers the 200 + species will delight.

There are just 2 lodges on the entire reserve. The stunning Pumba Water Lodge is, as its name suggests, situated overlooking Lake Kariega and offers magnificent views from its terraced deck. The 12 air-conditioned suites lead off meandering footpaths and are set along the lake’s edge. Each suite has a unique view of the lake and opens onto a private deck with outside shower and plunge pool.

Pumba Bush Lodge overlooking a small watering hole on a flood plain. There are just 11 thatched, glass enclosed chalets here, each in it’s own private bush setting – giving the ultimate feeling and experience of an African bush safari. Each chalet is air-conditioned, and has a spacious en-suite bathroom. Outside your chalet is your own private game viewing deck and plunge pool, plus an outdoor shower.

From NOW until the end of April 2013, Travel Butlers are delighted to offer a Stay for 3 Nights, Only Pay for 2 for any stays here (the exceptions being stays over the Xmas and New Year periods), which, coupled with attractive rates that only Travel Butlers can offer, really does make this a fabulous safari experience.

As an example … for 2 people staying at Pumba Water Lodge for 3 nights in May 2012, the total for all 3 nights would be just R13,320 / £1,210 (based on current exchange rates) – and this rates includes all meals, local beers, ciders, soft drinks and house wines, and morning / afternoon guided game drives.

AND if that isn’t enough … for any bookings between the 27th November to the 20th December THIS YEAR if you confirm with a deposit before the 30th September, we will offer you a further 10% reduction from our rates for this period. This would make our rate just R3,816 / £340 per person per night – and the Stay 3 / Pay 2 would STILL apply !!!

And finally, children of ANY age are welcome – Water Lodge has family rooms – children rates on request.

We look forward to hearing from you and booking your stay in this incredibly special game reserve.

The 5* Tuningi Safari Lodge is set in a valley on the western side of the malaria-free Big 5 Madikwe Game Reserve, situated just 5 hours from Johannesburg.

Daily game drives in open 4×4 vehicles allow guests to sense the excitement of the African bush. Lion, elephant, buffalo, white and black rhino, leopard and the rare and endangered wild dog are only some of the sightings that can be experienced during your stay.

The lodge has 4 luxury suites and a further 2 family cottages, each consisting of 2 bedrooms with an adjoining lounge.

Little Tuningi is part of the main lodge but can be booked as ‘stand alone’ accommodation. It has a double room and a family unit as well as a private pool and boma for outdoor meals around the fire.

The rate in a luxury suite from now until the end of September 2011 if you book with Travel Butlers is just R3,795 per person per night, and from 1st October 2011 until 30th September 2012 is just R4,510 per person per night. For stays of 3+ nights over selected periods from October, too, the rate quoted will INCLUDE return air flights from Johannesburg to Madikwe.

Having just returned from a 2 week trip to Kenya, this is the first report about the 10 places I stayed at.

Porini Amboseli Camp in the Selenkay Conservancy – what a fabulous place ! I was picked up from the Amboseli airstrip by my 2 guides, Harry and Jonah, and immediately offered a coffee! They took me on a game drive through the Amboseli National Park to begin with, and within 5 minutes I had the ‘elephants in front of Mount Kilimanjaro’ picture safely snapped – so what more can I say !!

Once you leave the Park, it is a 10 mile drive through Masai land to the actual conservancy, but it is an interesting drive, as you get to pass the people living their daily lives, and herding cows and sheep along.

Once in the conservancy, the vegetation changes to more trees and bushes, so again, within just a few seconds of arriving, I saw giraffe, zebra, antelope … including the gerenuk, this strange looking long necked antelope that thinks it is part impala / part giraffe as it browses from trees by standing up on its hind legs to reach the higher branches.

The camp is so friendly, everyone comes up and introduces themselves, and it has a lovely atmosphere. The tents are great – not OTT luxurious at all, but extremely clean, comfortable (a double bed and a single bed, great for me as I was on my own so I had a lot of room to spread out my stuff although it was only for one night !), and a large en-suite bathroom with flushing toilet, sink and a shower (bucket style, so you get 20 litres – if you are unsure, ask the manager about the best way to be efficient in them – basically you don’t have time to stand and enjoy, you get in, wash, and get out before the water runs out !).

Food was great, a total treat. I didn’t eat the banoffee pie at lunch, but my 3 fellow guests absolutely raved about it !

I did a walk to the Masai village in the afternoon, which was extremely informative and interesting, and you are under absolutely NO obligation at all to part with any money, which is lovely. We were escorted into the village by 5 ‘warriors’, who chanted as we walked behind them, then the village leader, Tom, introduced us to everyone, including the children. We went inside a typical mud hut, we watched them make fire from sticks, play games, and sing – and the warriors displayed their strength by showing us their jumping and spear throwing skills.

After we left the village, we went on a game drive through the conservancy and stopped for a scenic sundowner, then on the way back, we were all surprised by stopping in the bush for a lovely bush dinner under the stars and lit by lanterns.

In the morning, I did an hour bush walk with Jonah, which ended in a bush breakfast out in the wild.

All in all, would I recommend this camp ? Without a shadow of doubt. Excellent service, comfortable accommodation, superb game viewing … all in all, a real ‘safari / bush’ experience. 10 out of 10.

You may think that all elephants, zebras and giraffes look the same … but if you take a closer look you will see that zebras all have slightly different stripey markings; the same applies to the markings on giraffes; but you have to look at an elephant’s footprint to notice the difference between individuals.

Elephant only have 6 sets of teeth during the course of their lifetime.

They get their last set at the ripe old age of around 45 years, and this set can last upwards of 10 years.

But once this set have worn down, then unfortunately the elephant dies as they cannot break down and digest the food any more.

In case you ever are lost and you come across a rhino in the wild … if it has just one horn you are in India; if it has 2 horns you are in Africa.

The horn(s) are made of keratin, and are not actually attached to a bone, only skin – so if you wanted to grab the horn, you would be able to move it from side to side. However, we definately do NOT advise doing this under any circumstances.

But as long as you stand very still and don’t make a sound, you will be OK – rhinos are extremely short-sighted – they can only see ahead of them between 10 and 20 meters – but to make up for this they have incredibly sensitive and acute hearing.

The African rhino (remember … the one with the 2 horns) are either White or Black – but to the normal person, they actually look the same colour. The term ‘White Rhino’ is actually a misunderstanding by the British many years ago – the rhino was originally named by the Dutch, who called it a Whit Rhino – with Whit meaning wide to describe the size of its mouth. The Brits though they were saying White … and the rest is history.

Just as an aside, the Black Rhino has a more pointed mouth / lips because they prefer to eat leaves off trees, so this mouth ‘format’ makes it easier for them to strip the leaves away. The White Rhino grazes on grass, so the wide mouth is ideal for chomping through this.

Did you know these 5 facts about giraffe ?

A male giraffe has thicker horns, which are bald on the very top as they use their horns for fighting, and the hair gets rubbed off.

A female giraffe has thinner horns with tufts of black hair on the very top of the horns.

Giraffe sleep on their knees.

Giraffe cannot keep their head down for more than 45 seconds otherwise the blood will rush to their brain and cause a hemorrhage. So you will never see a giraffe drink for a long time.

Giraffe walk with their 2 left legs going forward, then their 2 right legs going forward, which gives them that ‘ambling’ gait.

What is this ?

Answer : A tree frog nest.

5 things you may or may not know about zebra :

1. The way to tell whether a zebra is male or female from behind (aside from the obvious, of course) is to look under their tail – females have a broader black ‘stripe’ between their back thighs than males.

2. When males fight each other over a female, they have been known to bite off their opponents tail.

3. Zebras can sometimes look fat – this is just gas and air as a result of bacteria that is in their stomach to help them break down their food via fermentation – which has the unfortunate side effect of also producing methane gas.

4. A zebra’s neck is actually THE only place where the animal has any fat store, and the mane is a good indication of the health of the animal – an upright mane means a good layer of fat – so a healthy zebra.

5. The zebra’s backwards kick is powerful enough to break a lion’s neck / back or jaw.