Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs M from Surrey

"The De Hoop Reserve is remote with a 50km drive on gravel roads to reach the nearest tarmac road both west and north.

The Vlei cottage we had was well equipped for self catering and only 5 minutes walk to the restaurant, where we had breakfast each day and dinner on one of our 3 evenings. WiFi was only available in the restaurant area. The restaurant staff were OK but did not seem as invested as the staff at smaller bases.

The reception and the guides for the optional trips were excellent but they needed to be as there was little else with which to entertain yourselves. There was a short marked walk of just over 2 miles and another of about 10 miles but the start of the two walks was the same."

"Our room was a reasonable size and it had a rear door out on to a shared garden area with the more than Fair View.

We were able to have breakfast on the terrace on all but one of the days and both the view and the breakfast were fantastic. Each morning we were shown the three course menu for dinner and asked if we wanted to have dinner that evening. We were able to have pre and post dinner drinks in the lounge bar. It was so good and varied that we ate in every night.

It was about 12kms from Plett so you needed a car to get around. But with a car you were easily able to drive to Robberg, Tsitsikamma and Nature's Valley, which were all tremendous. In addition, Knysna and George were within 40 and 80 minutes respectively."

"The Quatermains Camp is one of 9 camps on the Amakhala reserve and all 9 camps access all of the reserve. On the reserve, we did see small numbers of elephant and lions and large numbers of giraffe, zebras, white rhinos, oryx, various antelope and warthogs. But we could not locate the rare hippos, black rhinos or cheetahs that are on the reserve. Although it covered quite an area, it is not even the biggest reserve in the eastern cape and, with morning and afternoon drives each day, a two night stay is plenty - unless you wish to go on the walking safari , which we did.

The Quatermains Camp comprises 3 double occupancy tents along with the main Boma area where we ate. As we were on the holiday to celebrate my wife's 70th birthday, they even produced a cake at the first evening's dinner. The accommodation was OK as long as you were were aware in advance of its limitations - it has an outdoor shower, no WiFi on the camp and the only electricity available for charging devices was in the Boma. The meals we had were great but offered no choices. With only 6 guests max, the whole affair was very personal and guests were asked which animals they wished to track down before each drive commenced.

The walking safari is only available at the Quatermains Camp, although the same guides do offer short walking trips for guests on other camps. If you book a 3 night stay at Quatermains, you are offered the walking safari on the second afternoon and third morning, with an overnight stay in a cave 30 metres down a rock face. You are accompanied by two armed guides and we were able to get really close to hers of white rhino. The approach and return were not straightfoward, especially as we are aged 67 and 70. But we were given a trial run to the cave on the first afternoon so that we could change plans if we were uncomfortable. The access was awkward and would not have been allowed in the UK on Health & Safety grounds. But we were well assisted and took our time and the experience was well worth the effort. Our guides created a braii on which to cook dinner and after an early morning coffee, we were back on the walk by 6am checking out tracks and poo undisturbed by the game drives. A totally unforgettable experience."

"Camp Fig Tree is located about 30 minutes drive from the Addo Elephant Park, about 10kms up a gravel road. On our only full day, we went on a full day guided drive, on which we saw lots of elephants but also two lionesses hunting warthog, buffalo, jackal, goshawk and a distant view of a black rhino. This was a fantastic day with plenty to eat and drink at lunchtime. The half day would have been more of a rush as the site is very expansive.

Our accommodation was really good with a fantastic view from our boardwalk balcony.
The restaurant was excellent, which is a relief as there is no other restaurant easily accessible."

"Mooiplaas is about 7kms outside Oudtshoorn, so a car is necessary.
Some guests stayed around the pool area all day but we visited George on one day and the Cango Caves, Swartberg Pass and Meiringspoort on the other day - try to find a clear weather day for this one as the pass takes you to over 1500m above sea level.

We were staying in a double room with separate lounge/kitchen and bedroom on the main site that had a portable oven and hob so that we could self cater if we wished. The room was a good size, with good views from the shared rear terrace.
We ate in on two nights and there was a menu with choice although the menu changed very little between days.

As Mooiplaas is an Ostrich Farm the farm tour is a must do. As there were only two of us (normally around 10), we were taken on a full tour of Mooiplaas and a neighbouring farm."

"Galenia is located about 3kms outside Montagu so a car is essential.

We were only there for an overnight stop but the room, the views, the restaurant and the staff were all fantastic, and reasonably good value even for a Yorkshireman despite not being cheap.

We took advantage of the marked walks and the swimming pool area on our afternoon onsite."