A 50th Birthday in South Africa

Dear Jonas, Joy & the Team at Gonana South African Travel!

A big thank you for a well-planned trip for my 50th birthday. We are more than satisfied and are already talking about coming back to SA, then you will be the obvious choice for us again to "fixa biffen" as we say in Swedish. For me, it was fantastic to come back to South Africa after many years of absence, loved every second! For David (and me) the final sentence is “the best trip I have ever done”! and next year it´s David´s time to turn 50.

Your recommendations such as the lovely Harper House (a wonderful Guesthouse) along with the penguins and Cape Peninsula tour with fantastic Karen and her driver ensured the very best holiday.

A highlight for David was riding the elevator at Zeitz MOCCA (just a note that David is in the elevator business), captivated by the elevators and the Silo building. We also took the hop-on-hop-off bus which was a very good tour, and we tried a Mobile Spa that came to Harpers and gave us a very good massage and facial.

In Stellenbosch we met the lovely, happy guide Angelo who took us around in the rain, great day! Ate meat at the Fat Butcher so our bellies were about to explode, and of course, drank lots of South African wines.

A stop in Babylonstoren was a highlight and much worth a visit. From there we moved on to beautiful Paternoster and the wonderful Gonana Guesthouse. Dinner at Noisy Oyster and a bike ride on an e-bike (the first time for me) was very successful and a memory for life. Also, David was able to try out his fishing gear in the national park and managed to take a veeery quick dip in the sea at the Gonana Guesthouse beach - Bekbaai.

After that we made our way to Madikwe with the incredible Jaci's Tree Lodge was our highlight. Fantastic environment, lovely and caring staff and with our ranger Peter in the front seat, this was a great success.

We also made some new Norwegian and South African friends along the way. Finally got to see a Leopard that was missing from my Big Five collection and a wonderful celebration of my 50th birthday ended the trip with the flag flying high.

A final thank you for the bookings of all the nice restaurants we got to visit and enjoy. Joy quickly suggested lunch at Codfather in Camps Bay which was a hit, and next time we come we will try to be extra hungry when we visit The Pot Luck Club. All the restaurants have been wonderful!

A few mishaps, well - David hit his forehead and got a bump from a tree which he missed ducking for when he didn't think a flashlight was needed in the evening in Madikwe. Also he turned on the windshield wipers when he was about to change lanes when driving the car, and finally, my suitcase got stuck in Addis for 1 day, that's about it! A BIG THANK YOU and much love to you from both of us - Gonana South African Travel you've created memories for life!