Stay for 3 nights for the price of 2 at Fynbos Camp, situated in the 10,000 hectare Gondwana Game Reserve – one of the first and only authentic Big 5 private game reserves in the Western Cape, located 15 km west of Mossel Bay.

The setting is remote yet easily accessible to the Garden Route, with its beautiful beaches and some of the best golf courses in the world, and only 3.5 hours from Cape Town. The area is also well known for its moderate year-round climate.

Safaris in search of the Big 5 are conducted in open game viewing vehicles in the Big 5 malaria-free reserve, and horse-back safaris will be possible in a fenced off area of the reserve.

All meals, local beverages, and 2 game drives per day are included.

Children under 12 years are welcome.

Valid for travel between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010. This offer is only applicable on bookings which are confirmed BEFORE 1st June 2010.

AS us to check availability now !

Travel Butlers are pleased to now be working with Sibuya Tented Camp, in the malaria-free Eastern Cape.

The 3,000 hectare malaria-free reserve is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including the Big 5 of the African bush – elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo. Over 400 bird species have also been recorded.

A wide range of activities await guests, including guided game drives, fishing, canoeing, and horseback safaris. But the most unique part of a stay here is the 30 minute boat transfer to River or Forest Camp from the main reception area – during which, if you are lucky, you may see dolphins and turtles in the river mouth.

Accommodation is in safari tents, split between 2 camps – Forest and River. Children are welcome at River Camp.

Tipping in a private safari lodge is one of those grey areas that always catches people out, and can send even the calmest person into a complete panic.

Your time on safari will probably be the most expensive part of your trip. Once there, however, you will forget all about the cost, as you luxuriate in your wonderful accommodation, eat more food than you ever thought possible, forget all about the problems at work as you relax by the pool in the African sunshine inbetween game drives, and experience wildlife encounters that you could never have imagined seeing, or that you only thought you would ever see on The Discovery Programme.

Your last night comes, and you reluctantly return from your last evening game drive to a (yet again) perfectly turned down bed … and then you spot the envelopes, thoughtfully left there by the turn-down staff, with ‘that’ word emblazoned across the front … ‘GRATUITIES’ …. Help !!

You don’t want to ask your fellow guests what they are leaving, because it is just ‘not the done thing’ and tipping is a personal matter; you feel too embarrassed to walk into Reception and ask someone there … so what to do ??

Some lodges will put a ‘guideline’ in their brochure, which we honestly think are sometimes a bit OTT in their expectations, so our general ‘rule of thumb’ is as follows :

Your Ranger – by the end of your stay at the safari lodge, he or she will probably be your new ‘best friend’. And of course you want to thank them profusely for having shown you the best ever lion / leopard / elephant / rhino sightings in the entire history of mankind.

However, there is no need to go overboard and give them the equivalent of a month’s salary (even if you CAN afford it) as this could set a level of expectation that future guests just could not match.

What we normally recommend is think about it in terms of what would your ranger really appreciate, and that could be something like the money to cover a really good meal out for 2, with a nice bottle of wine, so that he / she can treat themselves (and their boy / girlfriend !) on their valuable time off.

Your Tracker – he will have proved himself to be invaluable, as he will no doubt have spotted things that the normal human could never hope to see – a chameleon on the lowest branch of a tree on the way back to the lodge at night, or a leopard hiding behind a rock – again, tipping too much would not be appropriate.

We would therefore recommend tipping something equivalent to giving him a good night out in a local bar, where he can buy himself and friends a few round of drinks !

Cleaning Staff – if they have kept your room spotless, then a tip is certainly a nice gesture – but maybe just the equivalent of a couple of drinks.

We do hope this helps – but please note this is just a personal opinion, and we are not for one minute promoting the partaking of alcohol beverages … but we have found, having been on a lot of safaris, that this rule of thumb works pretty well and it is a relatively easy way of estimating a tip amount that should not offend anyone.

If you are thinking of arranging a family holiday to South Africa, and including a couple of days at a safari lodge, you will be amazed at the number of lodges that do cater specifically for children – and by this, we mean not only just offering to put extra beds in the room for them to sleep on !

A growing number of safari lodges now offer children programmes for their younger guests. These obviously vary from lodge to lodge, but in general the majority of the programmes will include ‘bush bumbles’ – a shortened version of the adults game drive, plus the vehicle will not get as close to the larger animals of the African bush (such as elephants, lions, buffalo and rhino); short bush walks in search of insects and animal spoor (what child wouldn’t just LOVE the opportunity to be able to pick up some zebra dung !!), and story-telling about ‘Why the Elephant has a Trunk’ , ‘Why the Zebra has a Stripy Coat’ and ‘Why the Warthog is so Ugly’. Some lodges will offer kiddies bush picnics or special ‘themed’ meal times, some will even invite the children into the kitchen where the chef will help them bake cookies.

And all this goes on while the parents either enjoy their own game drives or just relax around the pool !

You can see a selection of lodges that Travel Butlers work with who offer such programmes by clicking HERE.

Even if you want to go to a lodge that doesn’t offer a bespoke children’s programme, there will always be babysitters on hand to look after the really young children during game drives. In general, all the lodges right across South Africa will not allow children younger than 5 to go on the long adult game drives (but the age restriction does vary from lodge to lodge so you do need to check with us before booking).

If you really do want to share the safari experience with your little ones, you can ask the lodge if you can hire a Land Rover for a day, and the ranger will only take you and your family out on your own game drives.

This will be an extra cost over and above the rate that you would normally pay, and whilst the lodge will do everything they can to accommodate this, they all do state that they cannot guarantee this service – purely for the reason that each lodge will normally have just one ‘spare’ Land Rover – and if one of the vehicles that is due to take out the other guests breaks down, then the spare vehicle has to be used !

Finally, for most families, the family-friendly lodges in the malaria-free regions, such as the Eastern Cape, the Waterberg and Madikwe, will offer the most appeal, as this will mean that the kiddies will not have to take malaria tablets before, during and after the safari part of the trip !

South Africa is ready to welcome the world in June 2010 as it prepares to host a World Cup like no other, and this will provide an ideal opportunity for many fans to combine sport with a trip to a truly world class travel destination.

Of course (whisper it quietly)…not everyone likes football! Given the huge number of teams, fans, and media that will invade South Africa next June/July, careful planning is required to make sure that anyone thinking of visiting the country in 2010 gets the most out of their trip regardless of whether they are travelling to follow the World Cup or not.

Love Football – Visiting South Africa during the World Cup
Stunning scenery, long sandy beaches, vibrant city life, and excellent game viewing are making South Africa one of the fastest growing holiday destinations in the world. Steeped in history and culture, there are outstanding attractions in every part of this vast country, and these can easily be included to fit in around the games … from whale watching and wine tasting around Cape Town, to tracking lions in Kruger or scuba diving near Durban…this will be a World Cup to remember!

The recent British & Irish Lions Rugby tour of South Africa saw a 40% increase in visitors from the home nations to South Africa. Given the immense popularity of football and the number of nations taking part in the World Cup, fans that are planning on going out to follow their team are strongly advised to plan their trip and book accommodation as early as possible to avoid disappointment, especially as flights are now available.

To help fans research and plan their trip, we have prepared a comprehensive guide to the tournament including travel information, host city guides, what do do between games and more – click here to read more : World Cup Travel Guide.

Hate Football – Avoid The Crowds And Save Money By Avoiding The World Cup
For anyone not interested in following the World Cup, the best advice would definitely be to avoid travelling there during the tournament!

The World Cup will run from 11 June to 11 July 2010, and it is expected that the whole region will be extremely busy with teams, fans, and the media from 1 June until 15 July.

For non-fans, visiting outside of this period will not only give them a greater choice of hotels and safari lodges, but it will also mean they can take advantage of the numerous special offers that we are offering during this period (such as “Stay for 3 nights and only pay for 2″, or free accommodation in Cape Town when you book a safari at selected lodges) that will not be available during the World Cup period.

Of course, even some football fans might prefer to watch the tournament on TV and travel to SA at another time!

Whenever you decide to go to South Africa, we can help you research, plan and book a dream holiday to this exciting country. As well as the World Cup Guide, our comprehensive website includes travel guides to the major highlights of the region, details of hundreds of hotels, safari lodges and specials offers, and suggested itineraries for your trip.