06/12/2017
Dear Wayne, Callie, Goway Travel and Thompsons Travel-
My family and I just wanted to thank you all for the most fantastic trip of a lifetime to South Africa. From the moment we boarded the plane at JFK to the moment we re-boarded at Johanesburg for our trip back to JFK we had a magnificent time.
Gaston - our driver in the Capetown portion of our trip - was great. On time, professional, good suggestions on where to eat, etc. in Capetown. Aquarium, Waterfront, Table Mountain, Botanical Gardens, Boulder Beach, Cape of Good Hope, Seal Island - all well done. Gaston took great care to make sure we were comfortable in where we were going, when to meet back, etc.
Bryan Brenton of Brenton Blue Tours - our driver for the 4 day Garden Route journey - was beyond great. Personable, clean vehicle, always smiling and ready with suggestions on what to do to add to our already great trip! My husband and daughter ended up shark-cage diving with Great Whites in Mossel Bay, and my daughter bungee jumped at Bloukran's - an amazing experience for her. Bryan's pickups and dropoffs were exactly when he said they would be, and he translated (Afrikaans) when needed. He was a wealth of information about the Garden Route and the towns we stopped in. La Plume Ostrich Farm, Cango Caves, Knysna Elephant Park, Featherbed preserve - all wonderful.
And now about our accommodations: One place was nicer than another! Table Bay Hotel, with their magnificent breakfast buffet and beautiful rooms and service. Rosenhoff Country Inn, where our rooms were 3x larger than my daughter's NYC apartment! St. James of Knysna, where we had more gigantic rooms, with a fireplace in ours. We ate dinner at each place - good food, very reasonable prices, and every staff member - from front desk to dining room help - was outstanding!
And then on to Shamwari Game reserve. Words cannot fully describe the experiences we had there. Our rooms - actually cottages (1 and 2) were very, very large, with private infinity pools for both rooms. From wakeup calls from our Ranger Sihle each morning (5 a.m.) to delicious gourmet dinners, on top of the incredible game drives we went on 2x a day - this was truly a bucket-list experience.
We had not one "glitch" during our 11 day adventure. With all the moving pieces involved, it was unbelievable how it all came together to form a perfect vacation - a once in a lifetime vacation!
Thank you again for the time and effort put into making this experience unforgettable.
Sincerely,
Faye, Martin, Stefani and Jessica Egre