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Lion Sands vs. Sabi Sabi
We are on this tour in 2024. They have eliminated 2 days in Sabi Sabi and have 4 days in Lion Sands (instead of 2 days). Is this a big deal?
Thanks
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We are on this tour in 2024. They have eliminated 2 days in Sabi Sabi and have 4 days in Lion Sands (instead of 2 days). Is this a big deal?
Thanks
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PF606590: I took this tour in 2020, and our group was divided into two with half of us staying at Lion Sands and half of us staying at Sabi Sabi. One night our group from Lion Sands went to Sabi Sabi for dinner, and the next night the Sabi Sabi contingent came to Lion Sands for dinner. Both properties are great. You will love this trip!
Much better to stay in ome place, they are similar!
Hi, PF606590!
Are they making that change for all tours in 2024 or just certain dates? We just took this tour last fall. Personally, I really liked mixing it up a bit - the landscape was a bit different between the two since Sabi Sabi is a private concession and there was more open space, whereas Lion Sands is part of Kruger National Park so there are more restrictions on maintaining the landscape (no cutting down trees), etc. Also I liked the lodge area at Sabi Sabi - we enjoyed just hanging out during our down time and watching the variety of animals come and go from the large watering hole. However, that said, we really loved Lion Sands - the service was fabulous and so personalized, and the rooms were enormous. The rooms also have their own plunge pool. We had monkeys roaming about on our balcony - good entertainment! 😄 We did have a small river running right behind the lodge, so we saw an African Buffalo there - and our friends saw a herd of rhino pass through right behind our room (naturally we missed it - probably enjoying the food too much - LOL!). One night we all came out from dinner to see a herd of elephants walking by! Our fellow Tauckers at the other Lion Sands lodge (it is split in two locations) saw a mommy and baby hippo grazing on land by the river the first day. We thought the food was better at Lion Sands - it was excellent - likely because it was a smaller facility, so there’s focus on quality over quantity. Although we did have a nice meal at the Boma at Sabi Sabi. Now, I believe there were only 9 or 10 “bungalows” at each Lion Sands location so our group was divided in two - half of us were at Narina and the other half at Tinga. But both lodges were part of Lion Sands. Our guide told us that the only difference between Narina & Tinga was the different view of the African Bush. We all switched off having dinner at Tinga one night and then Narina for the other - we joked around about each group “hosting” the other for dinner. I did like that Lion Sands had a more personal feel to it. There is no fence between Lion Sands & Sabi Sabi so the animals can roam freely between the two. It’s a spectacular tour - you will love it!!
Just remembered something else. Lion Sands has the nicest Safari vehicles! 🛻🦓🐘🦒🦏🦛🦬🐆
I didn't do this trip with Tauck but with another provider and stayed 3 nights at Lion Sands. I never wanted to leave. It was fabulous. As much as I enjoyed the Four Seasons Serengeti on K&T, I liked Lion Sands more because it was smaller and felt much more personal. I drink decaf coffee and the second morning my person knew. He also told steered me in the right direction on lunch choices. He was never wrong. I'd go back there in a heartbeat.
And it goes without saying that the game drives were terrific. Outstanding! Fabulous!
We stayed three nights at Narina when we travelled with Wilderness Safari on a private tour of Southern Africa. It was just wonderful and very luxurious. We are thinking of taking this tour in 2025 as well as Namibia. We like back-to-back tours as it saves on airfare and insurance.
Following. We are on this tour in September 2024.
JanP - You’re in for a treat! I definitely recommend arriving early and visiting the Winelands and Stellenbosch. The scenery is breathtaking! It’s also very worthwhile to go to Robben Island if you have the time. Have a wonderful trip - I know you will! 😁
Going in September, does that mean the vines will only just be sprouting?
Did this tour with by ourselves along with a former guide and now a tour operator. Lion Sands is awesome. I promise that you will not be disappointed.
We definitely want to have some time in Cape Town and have already planned one pre-tour day. We may decide to add one more dependent on when our air itinerary has us arriving, which we won’t know for a few months.
Yay! I figured out how to post a photo! 😁 I was trying to show a photo of the grapevines 🍇 - this was taken at the very beginning of October.
I did this trip quite a while back 2012, I booked a tour of the vinelands with Viator on early arrival and it was worth every penny, this is a wonderful tour and a very well planned introduction to Africa. I stayed at Sabi Sabi and loved the place.
We are on this in Sept. 2024 & have not been advised of any hotel changes. Did Tauck notify you by emIl of this change?
The change was indicated on the financial page of our confirmation from Tauck. We are on the Sept. 6 2024 trip. I don't know if this change is for other trips. The general feedback from others on this chain seems to be that both places are excellent, and the change is not a big deal
We are on the Sept 13, 2024 tour, and I checked the reservation and up to date itinerary and financials - both lodges are on it. It must be a change that is specific to certain dates. They are both classic tours. Maybe we will change our date to Sept 6- less hotel changes! 😂
Enjoy it, you'll have a great time. Each facility had areas where they ranked first to me and both were fun The key is the animals. If you get to see the animals all the other stuff fades away. That's the part of the trip that is magical. Oh and when they shut off the jeep lights at night and you can see the milky way. Mind-blowing!!
MSvagera - “ When you see the Southern Cross for the first time,,,”🎶
We also are on the September 13, 2024 tour and saw no mention of a change in hotel arrangements.
I called Tauck - there is definitely no change in hotels ( at this point anyway) for the Sept 13 , 2024 tour. 🙂 . I have the identical photo with the koala ( he was smiling as he peed on me…)…we will undoubtedly be fast friends. 😂
MotherofPoodles, I look forward to meeting you in person next year.
We just returned and can't say enough about the entire experience, will try to attach a YouTube video of some of my photos
https://youtu.be/pDlBahhtgfY enjoy.
Thank-you for sharing
Amazing pictures - thanks for sharing!
thetipster - Great pictures. I haven't been to South Africa, but I was amazed at that the wildlife in your photos is almost 100% the same as what we saw on the Kenya&Tanzania Classic Safari.
Except the wild dogs, you won’t see those in K and T. Great photos!
Great video of superb photos. We do this tour next September and your post created more excitement for me. Thanks. Sandman
Thank you for the great photos. We leave three weeks from today...looking forward to this "Elegant Adventure"!!
We recently did this trip. I wish we would have had 4 days in Lion Sands. Though the bush is a little different in Sabi Sabi, we saw the same animals. We saw the Big 5 every day there, even black rhino, wild dogs, etc. We LOVED our room (lodge) at Lion Sands and the food was awesome. We also preferred our guide/tracker at Lion Sands.