Friday, June 13, 2008

(Africa trip) final thoughts


Here's my final thoughts about some of the major players involved in the wonderful Africa trip I just experienced.


Journeys By Design (UK) - this is the travel agency that set up our trip for us and picked the designations we enjoyed. Gord, our travel agent, and his staff (Julie in particular) were wonderful to deal with. Gord, knowing that none of us had traveled in east Africa before, picked a variety of different experiences for us to try and was at all times responsive with information. The tour packets we received were very professional and thorough, and the transfers between locations that Gord worked out were seemless. If I'm ever lucky enough to get to travel to Africa again, I would not hesitate to use their services again and I would enthusiastically recommend them to others.


Nomad Tanzania - this is the operation that ran the camp in the Serengeti National Park. This was the part of our stay that was probably the most true to an "authentic" old-fashioned rustic safari experience. The guiding we received from Festo was supreme, the food and service was fantastic, and we were perfectly positioned to enjoy everything the park had to offer.


Singita - this is the operation that operates both Faru Faru and the Sabora tented camp. Both facilities were utterly different in character from each other, but both provided an intense level of service and food quality. The facilities at both locations were stunning and luxurious, especially our individual suites at Faru Faru. Of particular note was a magical dinner we had during our last night of the safari at Sabora tented camp where we ate outdoors on our own personal deck. The staff hung lanterns from the trees, prepared this stunning meal, and layed out a beautiful table. The picture I've uploaded is from that dinner.


Finally, my experience in Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic was everything I was hoping it would be. It's going to be tough going back to ordinary coach flights after that!


So, that's a wrap - on to the next adventure!

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