Schotia Safaris Review

by Abigail Lax
(UK)

Experiencing great South African food and hospitality was truly amazing! Highly recommended – for us, this was a once in a lifetime trip!

Safari Agent Performance

I found African Safari Journals through a search engine.

Fantastic service - quick and informative email responses from Wilma.

The Safari Itself

We were picked up at 9am from our guest house in Port Elizabeth by our Schotia Safaris ranger, Peter.

After about an hour's drive we stopped off at the restaurant where we were going to have lunch to place our food order.

We then went straight on to Addo elephant park. As soon as we went through the gates, we spotted our first elephant having its breakfast.

The elephants can get up very close to the vehicle so we were able to get some great pictures and video footage.

We then went back to the restaurant and sat down to lunch for about an hour before leaving for Schotia.

Everyone was separated into different groups and designated a ranger. Once sitting comfortably on the land rover we were driven to the game reserve which was only 5 min's away.

It didn't take long to spot our first lion who was taking an afternoon nap in the shadows of a tree.

At nightfall we went to the braai area where we had drinks round the camp fires. We were then shown to our tables where we had a gorgeous meal and more drinks!

When everyone had finished we headed back out in the dark to find the lions. To our excitement we came across a lion and 2 lionesses having a good feed!

All in all we saw lions, giraffe, zebra, hippo, rhino, crocs, kudu, elephants, springbok, impala, wildebeest, warthog, meerkat and a jackal.

There were many highlights of the day but we will always remember seeing the lion and 2 lionesses eating their kill.

We were also lucky enough to experience the lion roar which gave me goose pimples!

What an amazing day to remember!

Food

Schotia made a great choice for lunch in a restaurant near Addo. Great surroundings.

We were allowed as many drinks as we wanted before and during dinner.

The food was amazing; we were served a choice of kudu meat, chicken, potatoes, rice and veg. It was so good that we had seconds!

For dessert we had a treacle/sticky toffee pudding with cream, which was delicious.

Couldn't fault the food at all.

Other Activities

We went great white shark cage diving which was awesome! I still cannot believe I was in the water with one of the most feared predators!

Tips and Advice

Make sure you take everything in and take lots of pictures as it'll be over before you know it.

The most useful item in my luggage was binoculars.


Abi's Safari Details:

Rating: 10+/10

Safari agent used: African Safari Journals (make an enquiry)

Parks visited: Addo Elephant National Park, Schotia private game reserve - South Africa

Date of safari: 17th June for one day

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    • Comments for Schotia Safaris Review

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    Dec 13, 2010
    		 Unbelievable service
    by: Ollie Newick

    I did a 1-night/2-day safari with Schotia which I booked via this website, 11-12 July 2010.

    The safari experience was unbelievable and I couldn't get over the service given, it was outstanding from absolutely everyone. The whole set-up was great and made me feel so a part of it, especially the dinners and camp fires together.

    The owners were so kind they catered for me to stay on for another night and see more safari and Edward the park ranger then suggested that I do a road trip with him and the other park rangers Nick and Ettien the next day rather than travel on the arduous Baz Bus for the entire of the 13th!!! By car we went on to Storms River where I did a bungee jump for the 2nd time before heading to Cape Town for my flight home.

    So much to say such as the beauty of the lodge that I stayed in - couldn't believe my eyes at the end of the day when I walked into my lodge it was just so perfect. Great viewings extended by park ranger Edward striving to get us the best action, food was so filling and tasty and loved the camp fires.

    Thank you so much for the best recommendation ever, I am so grateful for the experience and would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to South Africa.

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