14/09/2026
🧔🧔 Manager's Travel Blog
🦒🐘🦬 Safari in the Kruger National Park - South Africa
😍 At the beginning of this month my wife and I travelled with Newmarket Holidays to South Africa on a safari and it was INCREDIBLE!!!
✈️ We chose to travel down to Heathrow and do a direct flight to Johannesburg with Virgin Atlantic. We arrived in the morning into Johannesburg and met the rest of our small group (11 in total which was just right)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ We were transferred to the Hotel Sanctuary Mandela - this is a hotel which has been converted as it used to be Nelson Mandela's old residence in Johannesburg. It is a beautiful 4 star hotel set in lovely gardens with a swimming pool and restaurant. We were taken on a tour of the hotel and learned all about the history of the property. All the rooms were named after something to do with Mandela's life and we were shown the tree under which he used to sit reading his morning paper. A perfect start to the trip. The food was incredible there as well.
🚌 An early start the following morning for our journey to Kruger National Park. The journey from the city is 5 and a half hours but fortunately we stopped 3 times along the way. Once for lunch which was all paid for by Newmarket Holidays. Another stop was at a 'service station' with a local watering hole - we were able to get our first view of animals in a natural habitat.
⛺ We arrived at 4pm for our first look at Camp Bethell - our home for the week. It is a a small camp with only around 10 tents plus a dining area and bar. The camp administrator Thembi and chef Gibbs welcomed us and gave us a talk about the do's and dont's around camp and the options for that night's dinner. Then it was quick to unpack before meeting the rest of the group for a dinner of 'boboti' a traditional African mince dish - lovely. The tents were plenty big enough for 2 people and had a heater and a fan, a fridge, bathroom with shower plus full electrics and hot water. Outside there was decking to sit and watch for wildlife around camp - impalas which we saw and bush babys which unfortunately we didn't.
🐘 4am alarm for our next day - a visit to an elephant sanctuary where we were able to interact with the amazing elephants who weren't able to survive on their own in the wild. We all were able to adopt an elephant (mine was Somopani) and feed them lettuce and cabbage and hug their trunks. It was amazing!
🦏 Then on to an animal rehabilitation centre where leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs and birds are cared for after they have been found struggling in the wild.
🛥️ Lunch provided at a local restaurant then a river cruise on the Blyde Canyon River - the 3rd biggest canyon in the world - where we were able to see lizards, crocodiles and hippos in the wild. Back to camp for dinner prepared by chef Gibbs and an early night!!!
🦒 Up at 4am again for our first game drive- an open jeep for 6 of us with our guide Vusi. He knew exactly where to find the animals. We saw giraffes, elephants, hyenas (with babies) plus impalas, buffalo and zebras plus much much more....
Lunch at the park then out for more spotting in the afternoon.
Back at 5.30 for a quick sit down before more lovely food - ostrich steaks on the menu tonight.
🐘 4am for another game drive and this time a rare find. There are only 150 wild dogs in Africa and as an endangered species are very rare. We saw 10!! They were resting after a kill. Another highlight was elephants marching towards a watering hole!
Back to camp for lunch on the outskirts of camp - everything planned perfectly. An afternoon to relax or go on a night time game drive.
🏞️ A lie in the next day - up at 6.30!!! A day of sight seeing. Spoiled a little by the weather, pouring rain and then mist which really spoiled some of the views. A lovely little town for lunch and shopping then off to adventure park for zip lining, suspension bridges and forest walks. Back for dinner before a last day.
🦏 Early up again but this time to a private game reserve. Saw so much in a short time - rhinos (jeep had to torn as they were in our path and do not move if the dont want!!) and a lioness who walked within touching distance of our jeep. Magnificent.
💃 Then onto a local village where we were treated to local dancing and some even joined in!
🔥 Dinner at camp was a traditional 'braal' bbq and was a fitting last night.
👋 Travel the 5 and a half hours back to Johannesburg after saying our goodbyes to Thembi, Gibbs and Vusi. Plenty of stops on the way.
😍 Landed back at Heathrow and said goodbye to our fellow tourers with a heavy heart - tired but with a million memories.
❓❓ If you want to know anything about this tour/safari then pop in and see me. It is highly recommended and very popular!
Highlights were too many to mention but if I had to pick 3 -
1) The people - South Africans and fellow travellers plus the food 😋
2) An elephant stamping it's feet at our jeep then realising it wsn't moving so just wandering off! 🐘
3) The monkeys at our lunch stop going through bags to get our biscuits 🐒
Rich xx
