This trip can be said as one of the best holidays that I ever had. It was not that the countries were the most beautiful places that I have ever visited, it was just that the tour members were so much fun and sporting, the weather was great and the food awesome.
We flew via Air Mauritius (my first time) and I was quite happy with the service. Their planes were new and comfortable. The inflight meals from Kuala Lumpur to Mauritius and from Mauritius to Johannesburg were quite delicious. Unfortunately the return journey meals (Cape Town - Mauritius - Kuala Lumpur) were not so impressive.
I love that we have a stopover at Mauritius en route to South Africa and back (courtesy of Air Mauritius). It made the holidays more enjoyable and the journey less tedious. Not to mentioned that Mauritius offers one of the best Indian meals that I have ever tasted. The curry and masala were so hot that I can feel smoke coming out of my ears. It didn't stop me from eating though ;p
Personally I wouldn't make a trip to Mauritius by itself (all the more reason I appreciate the opportunity offered by Air Mauritius). Yes their beaches were beautiful, their clear clean water was a delight and their food great but I can have that nearer to home (and a lot cheaper too!) at Redang Island and Bali. In fact when I was there it felt like I was in Bali, even the souvenirs seemed alike!
One of the main reasons why I want to visit South Africa is because I want to experience the wilderness of safari and the exciting game drive. Unfortunately this tour brought us to a private park with very limited numbers of animals. To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. Maybe this is an excuse for me to go and visit Kenya or Tanzania next ;) The accommodation at the game lodge was very nice and cosy though.
Our visit of merely one night to Johannesburg was too short. Not enough time was allotted for us to enjoy the attractions offered by the Gold Reef City. No city tour and not even a visit to the World Cup 2010 Soccer City stadium! If only the tour extend the stay at Johannesburg for another night and includes a day tour to the capital city of South Africa, Pretoria then the tour will be more value for money and satisfying.
We stayed at Cape Town for three nights. It is a nice clean city with modern buildings. Nothing particularly exciting except for the unique Table Mountain. We were lucky when we visited the mountain the weather was quite good. The clouds were underneath instead of surrounding the top of the mountain, so we get to see a nice view of Cape Town.
The Malay Quarters were colourful. Again, nothing particularly exciting there. We ate a few meals at a Malay restaurant there. There was a South African version of roti canai (quite nice) but overall the food was uninspiring.
What I like at Cape Town was the visits to Seals Island and Boulders Beach to view the seals and penguins respectively. It was worth the visits cause there were so many seals and penguins around! At a town close to Cape Town, you can even see whales if you sit at their beach. No need to chase them like in Australia!
Seafood meals at Cape Town were also very nice. Love the simple lobster lunch that we had at Fish Hoek Galley. I was also impressed with the buffet breakfast at our Cape Town hotel. They offer waffle on demand, fresh juice counter and the muffins were awesome! A great incentive to wake up early ;)
This tour (16-25 October 2014) was organised by Poto Travel and Tours at RM8488 per person on a twin sharing basis (full board). There were ten of us in the group who started as strangers and ended up as friends. Even though I didn't find the tour as terribly exciting, I wouldn't miss it for the great happy memories we had as a group :)
Our itinerary was as follows:
16 October 2014 Kuala Lumpur - Mauritius
17 October 2014 Mauritius - Johannesburg
18 October 2014 Johannesburg - George - Oudtshoorn
19 October 2014 Oudtshoorn - Garden Route Game Lodge
20 October 2014 Garden Route Game Lodge - Cape Town
21 October 2014 Cape Town
22 October 2014 Cape Town
23 October 2014 Cape Town - Mauritius
24 October 2014 Mauritius - Kuala Lumpur
25 October 2014 Kuala Lumpur
You can view the pictures of my holiday here. I've uploaded 633 photos for your viewing pleasure. You can access them at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkhasha.n.travels/. Go to the photo albums.
Njoy!!
