Stay 4 nights in a Superior Sea-Facing Room at the luxurious 5* Twelve Apostles and Spa, and receive one complimentary night at the superb Madikwe Hills Private Game Lodge in the malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve.

The luxurious 5* Twelve Apostles Hotel lies poised above Atlantic rollers and flanked by the majestic Table Mountain and her Twelve Apostles mountain range.

Whales are regular visitors to this particular stretch of coastline between June and October, so a 4 night stay here gives you ample opportunity to see these magnificent creatures – even from your own bedroom !

The Madikwe Game Reserve is home to a wide range of African wildlife to flourish – including the Big Five, cheetah and a thriving population of endangered wild dog, as well as gemsbok, springbok, zebra and giraffe, and over 340 species of birds. Madikwe Hills is set on a hill amongst huge boulders and age old tamboti trees, overlooking the endless bushveld of the reserve.

You will be accommodated in ultra-luxurious glass fronted suites designed for complete relaxation and comfort.

Click here to read more about this Special Offer and to book with Travel Butlers !

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 !

We have just added this lovely guest house to our online property portfolio.

Dreamfields Guest House is a warm, friendly guest house, situated in a quiet residential area of Hazyview less than 2 km away from the centre of town.

The large house has a thatched roof and African style furnishings, and fits in perfectly with the atmosphere of the region.

The guest house has 5 en-suite bedrooms, plus main guest areas including a comfortable lounge, African theme bar, and sparkling pool. The sub-tropical garden with its indigenous trees is a bird watcher’s paradise.

In order to help fans plan their trips to South Africa during next year’s World Cup, we have added a full match schedule to our World Cup Travel Guide.

There is a detailed match schedule for each host city, as well as a breakdown of the matches for each of the groups and the schedule of matches in the final knockout stages.

At the moment the teams are all represented by codes (“A1”, “B3”, etc), however once the draw has been made on 4th December these will be replaced with the correct team names.

For football fans visiting South Africa during the FIFA World Cup in 2010, and staying in and around Durban and Port Elizabeth to follow their teams, they can have the opportunity to stay somewhere completely unique – on a luxury cruise ship !

Durban Harbour will be host to the MS Noordam, which is one of the world’s biggest and most luxurious cruise ship and has over 950 cabins. Port Elizabeth Harbour will host the equally luxurious and large MS Westerdam for part of the tournament, also with over 950 cabins. Both cruise ships will give fans the opportunity to live aboard during the World Cup period and experience the unbeatable combination of a luxury cruise and soccer !

The MS Noordam will be moored at Durban Harbour for the majority of the tournament, but will also cruise around the coastline to dock at PE Harbour for the quarter-final and for the playoff for the 3rd and 4th place.

The MS Westerdam will be moored at PE Harbour for the first 14 days of the tournament, and then will cruise between PE and Cape Town for the rest of the time.

Day and half-day tours will also be offered to fans on board, which they can take advantage of inbetween games to explore the host cities.

Fpr guests recently staying at the Inyati Private Game Reserve, in the Sabi Sands Reserve which forms part of the Greater Kruger Park, they have been treated to some wonderful elephant sightings.

The lodge itself is situated right on the banks of the Sand River, and their particular stretch of the river has become a firm favourite with the eles, providing guests with some awesome game viewing from the lodge deck !

In particular, the elephants seem to congregate together for a midday drink, so what better background for lunch than a herd of elephants – although guests do have to be careful that they remember to eat their delicious lunches inbetween snapping photographs !

As well as the elephants, leopards have visited the lodge too – and one even wandered through camp during dinner one night !

But lets not forget the ‘smaller’ sightings in and around the lodge that have also generated a lot of excitement – such as a small spotted genet, a white tailed mongoose with a black tail, a serval and her cub, and even a Cape clawless otter.

Generally, otters are very rarely seen, but it is thought that the low water level in the Sand River had encouraged this particular otter out of the thick reeds in search of food.

Ant’s Reserve is located in the magnificent, malaria-free Waterberg region.

Home to both Ant’s Nest and Ant’s Hill lodges, both lodges are owned and run by Ant and Tessa Baber. The Baber family have a long history in the area, dating back to 1886, and indeed were one of the earliest pioneers to the region.

In the mid 1990’s, Ant and Tessa renovated their old ranch house, which became Ant’s Nest, and in 2003, they built a second lodge, Ant’s Hill, above a spectacular gorge, offering superb views of the surrounding bushveld.

Their aim is very simple – to provide all guests with a unique safari experience, whatever their age.

Guests staying at either lodge have a wide range of game viewing activities to choose from.

They can opt to go on a game drive in an open Land Rover with an experienced ranger, or they can get to know the African bush in greater detail by participating in a guided game walks (anything from a gentle stroll across the open plains to a full days hike over the rugged hills that dominate the terrain).

However, probably the most exciting game viewing activity is on horseback. The lodges own 60 well-schooled horses in total, which can cater for any riding ability – from the complete novice to the experienced rider.

However you want to tailor your stay at Ant’s Reserve, it is up to you. Your guide will sit down with you when you arrive, and you can together work out a plan for your stay, which may also include a massage, or a trip to a nearby elephant sanctuary for a 90 minute elephant back safari experience through a Big 5 reserve, or even mountain-biking … or just pure relaxation time if you need to regenerate your batteries !

Both lodges can be booked on an exclusive basis, so this is ideal if you are travelling with a large group or family, or you can book just one room if you are a couple or family travelling on your own.

Many people also enjoy combining a stay at Ant’s Reserve with a stay at the Big 5 Madikwe Game Reserve, which is also malaria-free, and a short stay at Sun City either at the start or end of your holiday, you can also see our suggestions for a 7 night itinerary including all 3 of these areas by clicking here.

Finally, for guests really wanting to get ‘back to nature’, why not consider adding a couple of nights at their 3rd lodge, Ant’s Bush Camp, which is situated in the nearby Lapalala Reserve and only a 40 minutes drive away.

Bush Camp has only 3 safari tents, and no electricity, so a stay here really is very authentic. The camp is also only booked on an exclusive basis, so you can be assured of a truly personal service and intimate experience.

Spring has begun early at AmaKhosi, and temperatures are climbing each day, leaving behind the chilly days of Winter.

The bush is waking up again, with Red Ivory trees now sprouting new shoots with bright green leaves, following on the early rains that the reserve was grateful to see !

The migrant birds are now beginning to return, including yellow billed kites and Walhberg’s eagles, and it is hoped that soon the brightly coloured European Rollers will soon reappear.

One of the pride of lions on the reserve had 4 cubs last year, and all 4 have now grown to be young and healthy ‘teenagers’ – still playful and mischevious, but now learning how to hunt by copying mum’s every move. And because they were born on the reserve, they are not afraid of the Land Rovers, so the rangers can get very close to the pride for some unbelievable wildlife photography opportunities for the lucky guests !

Also, one of the breeding herds of elephants has a new member, always being protected by mum, aunts and cousins ! Elephant herds are renowned for being overly protective of their young until these ‘little’ bundles (well, small compared to mum anyway) are able to fend for themselves.

AmaKhosi is looking forward to welcoming guests so that they too can enjoy the beauty of the African bush !

You can book a safari here through Travel Butlers – until the end of September 2009, our rates start from R2,135 per person per night, including brunch, high tea (late lunch), dinner, all local beverages and 2 game activities per day with qualified guides are included, as well as bush walks.

From the 1st October, which is the start of the safari High Season, rates go up to R3,200 per person.

Guests at Singita in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve have been priviledges to witness some great lion sightings recently, including battles with large herds of buffalo.

One pride of lions surpassed themselves on one hunt, and took down 6 buffalo in one go – enough to feed on for quite a few days !

We hope that guests weren’t too ‘squeamish’ about the additional fact that August was a record month for ‘kills’ – nearly 30 in as many days, including the buffalo and wildebeest.

For some, seeing this may NOT be the highlight of their safari game drives … but it is just nature !