Guides

For our time in Zimbabwe we stayed at the andBeyond Matetsi River Lodge.  Matetsi is set up with common outdoor dinning space and private villa-like rooms.  They are on an active and unrestricted game lodge, so animals can and do roam freely, which meant that at night we needed a security escort just in case and that we had to be diligent in keeping our sliding doors closed while we were out as baboons love to sneak into rooms looking for snacks.  We had a great team that served, supported and helped us while we were there.  This is the whole team.  Our tracker for our time was Bulgoni (next to Noah) and our guide/driver was Charlton (the other side of Bulgoni).  This was our first safari and get start to our animal exploring time.

We stayed at Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana.  Chobe Game Lodge is more of a traditional hotel within a national park.  Kaycee was our guide on land and water for our time in Chobe.  

In South Africa we stayed at Tintswalo Safari Lodge adjacent to Kruger National Park.   At Tintswalo they have  main building with many smaller villa-like rooms attached to the main facilities.   They also have a standalone property called, Manor House, which is where we stayed.  Because we were away from the main property, we had some of our own staff to help make the stay special.  Tintswalo was the perfect ending to our safari time - the facility was amazing and the staff were incredible.  Manor House is fenced in so that we could enjoy the outdoor space and the animal viewing at a nearby watering hole without worrying about safety.  This is the team that helped make our stay so special - the housekeeper and maintenance man were around, but we didn't often interact - we did get to know the rest of the team however.  Erick (holding Jonah) was our driver and guide and often our mealtime mate and the love between he and the kids was obvious.  He's a father of 6 and is very involved in his own children's lives and we could see what a great father he must be.  Tech (in red) was our chef and indulged Simon in his new love of malva pudding for dessert every night.  Forster was our tracker (tucked behind Noah) and worked really hard to help us find the rhino which was the last animal on our list.  Elvis (holding Julia) was the house manager and made sure that everything ran smoothly during our stay.  If you go on safari and can only go one place - go to Tintswalo!