17-day campervan trip with the whole family, 11 people, during the Christmas holidays, from Cape Town to Addo and back (Garden Route).
Hello Leony,
We are now back from our trip to ZA. I wanted to thank you enormously for the well-planned trip and for arranging all the connections and reservations. Everything, and I mean everything, went well. Even with the flights and baggage handling, we didn't encounter any more problems than the bookings that were a bit mixed up, but we knew that in advance. Below are a few points that might be helpful for new bookings:
Almost all the campsites were well laid out and had good pitches; even considering how busy it was, we were almost always next to each other. Only the TsiTsikamma Sunrise campsite was of poorer quality. The owner, Dennis, does his best, but isn't a real campsite manager. Various rules (noise after 10 p.m. and dogs fouling everywhere) are broken and there's no enforcement. The toilet block is also of mediocre quality and the hot water supply isn't properly maintained. That was the only downside. Otherwise, nothing but praise.
One small drawback regarding the trip was the distance between Oudtshoorn and Addo and the distance between Addo and Tsitsikamma Sunrise. It was, of course, difficult to book campsites and we were really very happy to have been able to visit Addo (saw elephants, lions, and water buffalo), but it would have been nicer to have had a stopover on both stretches. 250 km is more than enough for 1 day of travelling if you also want to get out now and then.
The quality of the campers was average. These are just small points, but perhaps you can do something with them in relation to this organisation for the future. We had one camper where the window kept opening (the button seemed to get stuck). When we called the rental company, we were only told that someone would call us back, but that never happened. We fixed it ourselves with strong tape. In a second camper, the fridge was alternately too cold and too warm.
The drawer closures were sometimes broken, causing them to open and close while driving, and the fastening of the tables to the floor was truly sad in one camper. The Toyota car with roof tents was no longer available, and we were given a Ford in its place. It was a good car, but they wanted to charge an extra ZAR 8000 for it.
I still have to wait and see if they'll charge that to the credit card, but I expect they won't. I must say though, that Mohammed did everything he could to help us out.
Also useful to know is that the campervans we had are not allowed over Chapman's Peak. They are too tall for it. Also good to know for a future trip.
One last question regarding the travel insurance we took out for this. Can I cancel it with you, or do I need to do that directly with Allianz?
All in all, a trip certainly worth repeating. I will most certainly keep AfricaOnline in my address book.
Greetings,
Frank
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