Our trip to South Africa - long
We're back from our trip to South Africa! I had high expectations, and they were exceeded!! We saw an amazing number of animals in their natural habitat in Kruger National Park: elephant, giraffe, hippo, lion, rhino, impala, leopard, gnu, zebra, klipspringer, kudu - the list goes on and on. Our South African friends visit Kruger often and they said we were very lucky to see so many different species on our trip.
We had a timeshare at Sanbonani. It was OK, but I don't think it's a gold crown level timeshare. They had a hippo roaming the grounds, so they said to be sure and call if we wanted to go to the restaurant, bar or pool after dark. But the phone in our unit didn't work, which was a known problem. The unit was spacious, well-stocked and had daily maid service. There was a nice covered eating area outside. Wifi was only available at the main complex, for a fee.
While visiting Kruger, we spent 2 nights in a rondavel at Skukuza Rest Camp. Nice! On our next trip I would book additional nights in a rest camp and skip the timeshare so as to spend more time in the park.
After we left Mupulanga we headed down towards the Cape for a week. We had an exchange at Wilderness Dunes. We were fortunate that our unit (31) was a level shot from the parking area. Most of the units have at least one flight of stairs to climb. The view of the ocean from our unit was spectacular! There is a flight of stairs down to the beach (over 100 steps), but we didn't make the journey. Each unit has a covered parking space. The unit was spotless and had daily maid service. The unit is right on a bluff overlooking the ocean but has no source of heat. You can put down a deposit and check out a small space heater (along with a coffee maker and blow dryer). There is a token-operated central laundry (3 washers, 3 dryers). Internet was available in the unit for a fee. During our week we visited Storm River Park, Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, Victoria, Mossel Bay, Prince Albert and drove the Swartberg Pass. Spectacular! We also visited the Elephant Sanctuary in Knysna. I was a little reluctant about visiting, as I have heard stories about how the elephants are treated in some tourist areas. This was amazing. The elephants are free to roam a large pasture. The humans are taken to the elephants. If an elephant gets tired ot the humans, it is free to walk away. The best part: you can purchase a small bucket of food and feed the elephants! That was a totally awesome experience. The "shuttle" (a trailer with seats behind a tractor) runs about every 30 minutes and you can spend as long as you like walking and touching the animals. Well worth it!!
We were plotting our next trip before we left! It's a brutal flight - over 26 hours of flight time from Seattle to Johannesburg, going thru Dubai - but worth it.
We had some flight issues. For a variety of reasons we were a day late leaving the US (the cost to rebook on Emirates was the equivalent of a new ticket). On the way home our plane was in the queue for take-off when a passenger had a heart attack. We had to return to the gate as the passenger and his luggage were taken off. We missed our connection in Dubai and ended up spending about 24 hours there, so we were a day late getting home.
Our only real conundrum was that in Johannesburg, in the duty-free, secure area of the airport, we purchased a 300ml bottle of Amarula Cream Liqueur (excellent!!). It was in a clear sealed bag with a receipt. It went through screening in JNB, it went through screening twice at DXB, but it was taken away by TSA in SEA. The TSA agent said that if it had been a clear liquid in a clear bottle in a clear bag with a receipt they would have allowed it. The options were to put it in our checked bag or drink it there. Our bags had been gone close to an hour by the time we made it through the line to TSA, so putting it in checked bag was out. My full plastic water bottle was allowed through with no question. Another passenger had purchased perfume in DXB in the secure, duty-free area and it was taken away as well. I don't understand their ruling.
Doesn't look like we will have time to visit Dikhololo though. 
