Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs H from Abu Dhabi

"Gregory was a most helpful host on our first night in Africa. We arrived late but dinner was available and he couldn't have been more attentive.

He was also great when the car was late picking us up the following morning (due to a minor accident) reminding us that we were on 'African time' and arriving at the airstrip 5 minutes before our plane was due to take off was acceptable!"

"The first of our wonderful 'singing welcomes'. The staff couldn't have made us feel more welcome and special with a birthday card and champagne in our room. Cheby, who had met us at Lake Manyara airstrip with welcome coffee and cookies, proved to be a knowledgeable guide, ensuring that we enjoyed the Masai Massage of the bumpy drive ! During a game drive he positioned the truck perfectly for us to see the meeting up of two male lions with a third - the tension was apparent as one of the pair looked over the plain at the distantly approaching third, who he finally recognised and welcomed right next to our truck. Cheby thought all three were litter mates.

Cheby ensured we saw the sunrise over the crater and later provided a wonderful breakfast picnic at the hippo pond. After 8 hours of the rattling Masai Massage and a visit to a Masai village, we lunched and we returned to our room to find a steaming hot bath, surrounded by rose petals, fluffy towels and a chilled bottle of champagne - another opportunity to celebrate our birthdays and soak away the aches and pains of a long dusty day.

The evening drinks in the lounge were definitely the most sociable and friendly of all the three lodges we stayed in. Staff and guests sat together in a family style living room, chatting about the day, almost as if we had gone round to a friend's home for a dinner party. The roaring log fire was very welcome when we returned to our room. Excellent food."

"Being in our room was like living in the jungle - surrounded by thick undergrowth and tall trees, filled with monkeys and bush babies. There were quite a few exciting moments here!

We met a large bull elephant on the path as we were going for breakfast the first morning so we backtracked up to steps to safety and they monkeys obviously thought Lawrence needed to diet since one stole his breakfast right off his plate!!

The same day Patrice, our wonderful butler set up our lunch at the poolside, next to the wallow hole. He later warned us that an elephant was on its way to the hole and was using the footpath, advising us to put the swimming pool between us and the elephant. This did happen and after studying us for what seemed like an age, it progressed to the water hole. A second less friendly elephant arrived later and was less pleased to see us. After a lot of ear flapping, trumpeting and mock charges, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and gave our dessert a miss, leaving him in peace ! The staff did keep a careful watch on how things were going so we didn't feel as if we had been abandoned ! It was a reminder though that these are wild animals and not peaceful and benevolent giants. We saw many family groups of elephants during safaris in Manyara and it was a treat to see how carefully they guarded their young and how sociable they are.

Another treat here were the enormous troops of baboons, who held evening meetings on the road !!

Sundowners at the beautiful shore of Lake Manyara. Malley our guide was always very keen to ensure we saw everything, always trying to put in the extra effort to ensure we had a holiday of a lifetime.

On the final day, we were a little late arriving at the airstrip and were just handed a packed up breakfast as we left the car to go to the plane, when a cup of coffee would have been very welcome indeed, especially as it had been a cold drive. We felt very jealous of the new arrivals who had time for a leisurely coffee before beginning the next leg of their trip."

"The trip to Kleins began so well, with the sighting of a family of cheetah (mother and 5 youngsters)) who were sunning themselves on a rock not too far from the track we were driving along. We were accompanied by two men from the &Beyond foundation, who gave us a lot of interesting information about the good work done with the locals.

Wonderful views from our new room, over the 'concession' lands - in some ways it looks similar to Scotland but with giraffe and zebra visible !!

Erasta, our guide is an enthusiastic photographer and was able to help us set our new camera for night photography when we found a leopard with its kill up a tree. We sat under that tree for ages - an experience we had never dreamed of having! Also found a pair of lionesses with a kill from the previous night, just lying next to a partly consumed carcass, waiting til they felt hungry ! This was the only place we also had a spotter sitting in the jump seat on the bonnet of the truck - his sharp eyes ensured we didn't miss a thing.

Lawrence left his ebook at Manyara - it had already been found and a call made to Kleins before he had even missed it. It arrived with the next plane the following day.

After spotting a lioness strolling across the plain nearby, Erasta found we had a flat tyre and no tools to replace it - thank heaven for the radio. While we waited for reinforcements, it was an interesting experience to have seats set up with a prime view and a breakfast feast cooked for us when there were obviously big cats nearby. Help arrived by motorbike, which then had to be pushed to help it start so the rescuer could go back !! It all added to the wonderful experience that was &Beyond."

"We were met at the airport and escorted to the hotel. It was after midnight when we arrived after a long day of travelling and we were checked in quickly.

They already knew when we were being collected the next day and arranged for us to keep our room til then."

"We expected 5 star treatment and we certainly got it and more !! The reception we received was outstanding. Our luggage was efficiently labelled and whisked away, special dietary requirements recorded and champagne handed out. A buffet lunch was laid on for us at their station with time to get talking to the other passengers who would be our travelling companions. People were called by name along with their country of residence, as they went off to their carriages - a good start in learning who was who in our group of 69 passengers.

We were in a first class suite, which meant that there was room to 'swing a cat' ! Wonderful polished wood and a very attentive butler (who unfortunately had a stinking cold but had been persuaded to work - may have been better to let her stay home since we both had colds by the time we left the train)

It was a mystery to us how the chefs managed to produce such high quality food in such cramped conditions, but they did, meal after delicious meal.

A list of all the passengers' names and where they came from was given to each of us and this was invaluable.

The stops at Kimberley and Matjiesfontain were interesting and it felt good to get our feet onto ground which wasn't vibrating!

Our bed was large very comfortable but it was a common complaint with passengers after the first night that they hadn't slept well - Not really a complaint since adjusting to the constant swaying and clickety-clack of the train took us all a little while and most people slept much better the second night.

Rattling by train through the 1000 mile journey from Pretoria to Cape Town enabled us to see so much of the countryside, from the shanty towns of Johannesburg to the Karoo and the vineyards as we approached Cape Town.

A real experience and one we will definitely repeat elsewhere."

"The Cape Grace hotel was the third part of our holiday, it was intended to provide some down time but there was so much to see that we kept ourselves busy seeing all the sights Cape Town has to offer.

More birthday cards, champagne and chocolates - I could get to like being 60 !!

A car was waiting for us as we unloaded from the Rovos Rail train and we were in the hotel within 10 minutes. The staff were very good, friendly and helpful, except during breakfast the first morning, when the waitress was less than welcoming.

Table Mountain, Cape Point, Kirstenbosch gardens, the Waterfront, museums and the castle were all well worth visiting. You have to go up Table Mountain on the first clear day - thank goodness we did that on our first day, since it was cloudy the following days.

Cape Grace offers free chauffeur service within a 10km radius and we made use of this along with the Red buses to get around."