Indescribable.

I could leave it at that, because it was truly indescribable.  But I won't!
I'll share anyway.

We slept 7.5 hours on the flight over (flat folding seats!) and so arrived
with no jet lag.  Went to dinner at Baiea the first night there and had
great food and an amazing waiter (only a taste of the type of service we
would find virtually everywhere). 

The Cape Grace is a beautiful hotel and the service there was phenomenal.
Our room was beautiful - large, pretty, double doors that opened to make it
feel like we were sitting outside. Views of the water and table mountain.

Our tour guide from Hylton Ross was the best we've ever encountered.  He
knew everything ... And everyone.  I actually used him as an example of all
the qualities of professionalism in my keynote speech I gave in Sandton (the
reason we were there).  We've been in contact with him and I think we've
made a friend we will visit with in the future. 

The Cape Malay Cooking Safari was better than we could have imagined.  A
great tour.  We got to go into the oldest Mosque in South Africa and meet
the Imam.  The woman who cooked for us was a stitch.  And the food was to
die for.  It was wonderful to visit a real person's home. 

That same afternoon, we did Table Mountain (oh, did I mention that we
arrived in Cape Town to perfect weather?  It had been cold until we got
there and rained the day we left.  We arrived in Joburg to beautiful
weather, it had been cold until we got there.  And we arrived at Singita to
perfect weather.  We had perfect weather every day we were in SA.).  From
Table Mountain, we noted Sea Point ... Shades of things to come :)  Home to
the hotel and then out to Bukara (yum).

The next day we did the Winelands (I realize you booked all this for us and
know what we did, but I'm telling you the whole story).  Dion showed us two
fabulous wineries.  Warwick was some of the best wine we've ever tasted and
the young man running the tasting was really well informed and shared some
great info with us.  We liked every Warwick wine we tasted. Then we did
Anura (we had avoided it earlier in the day because we heard there were 32
Irishmen there drinking.  When we got there we found out it had been 23
Welshman ... But anyways.)  We actually met an American couple there who
lived nearby but were returning to the US.  The husband was a pastor and
they had been running an orphanage.  I can't remember why they were leaving
(hmmm ... Second wine tasting, not surprising, eh?). But they were really
interesting and we dragged ourselves away to go to lunch.  Le Quartier was
very good. Probably oversold a bit at "the best in the ??we heard several
different versions.  But very good nonetheless.

After lunch (which we didn't start until 2:00 or so) we were tired and went
back to the hotel.  Spent the evening in the whiskey bar (managed to drink
all the rye they had in the three evenings we spent there).  Watched two
well behaved hookers proposition a very proper looking man. He left shortly
thereafter but not after sitting at the bar looking a little shell shocked
and casting glances to the two women (second thoughts?).  We skipped dinner
that night, unless rye counts as dinner, as we'd had such a large, late
lunch. And the staff at the Whiskey bar added to our data points about how
amazing the service is in SA.

The next day ... And I'll pause here and say how wonderful it is to have a
personal tour guide.  We could set whatever schedule we wanted, show up late
or early and not even have to think about other people.  The Cape Point tour
was another amazing day.  We hoofed it so we could make lunch at Harbor
House, although we still got there late (although for both that lunch and Le
Quartier, Dion was in constant contact with the restaurant making sure it
was okay to arrive when we were going to arrive).  Drove through Sea Point
(Dave and I both reacted with a "wow, what's this place? We like this.").
Loved the entire drive and all the stops along the way.  Beautiful, loved
the stop at the lighthouse and the Cape of Good Hope and all the stories
Dion told us along the way.  Saw lots of baboons and the ostrich farm. Loved
the penguins at Boulders.  Oh, which reminds me. Dion, after much begging on
my part, taught me to cuss in Afrikaans and then had me show it off to a few
of his friends along the wsy.  Very, very funny.

Lunch at the Harbor House ranks way up there.  The setting is gorgeous.  The
restaurant is very beachy and very casual and the setting is beautiful.  A
pod (?) of seals floated in the water outside the window the entire time we
ate.  Our service was really exceptional, as we were coming to expect. And
the food was beautiful.  We really had a great time there and noted, just as
an aside, how similar that area is to northern California.

That night we didn't think we'd have dinner so we went back to the whiskey
bar ... Hey, we had a mission to accomplish ... And sat outside.  It was
glorious out.  We ended up ordering a light dinner there and further bonding
with our friends the waiters, waitresses and bartenders.

We were not happy about leaving Cape Town and the Cape Grace!  I had a minor
temper tantrum the next morning :)  Dion took us to the airport and made
sure we were all checked in.  (By the way, our flight had been cancelled and
we'd been booked on a later flight but hadn't received a call about the
change.)

The next 46 hours or so didn't really match up to the rest of the trip, as
you might have imagined.  We also had a minor breakdown in the system, which
I'll share with you just for your own future use.  But I really don't want
to make a big issue about any of it because the trip was so grand, I don't
want any negative energy around any of it.  First of all, I'm sure I knew we
were flying coach, but the flight to Joburg in coach was horrible.  And it
was unclear on the itinerary how we were to get to the flight to Singita.  I
wasn’t sure what "Federal air lounge" was and, as it turned out, no one else
knew either (the concierge, the front desk, the cab driver).  When we
arrived in Joburg, we asked the driver who picked us up if he was coming to
get us to take us to the flight to Singita and he said yes.  However, he
didn't and we found out later that no pick up was booked, but, of course, we
waited for one because the driver had told us yes.  We managed to reach CC
Africa who directed us to the Federal air lounge ... Except that they sent
us to the wrong place.  We took a cab, arrived at the car rental area and
the Federal Air ticket office and Porche arranged for the Federal Air people
to come get us.  They were very gracious.  That is a first class
organization.  We enjoyed the flight to Singita on the little plane.  As an
aside, our stay in Sandton was a bit like being Paris Hilton ... The Garden
Court hotel wasn't going to harm us, but it certainly wasn't what we were
used to :)  However, we did find ourselves in several settings (noteably the
bar and the café down the street) where we received that amazing South
African service.

And then, oh my goodness. Singita Ebony Lodge ... There aren't words.  The
lodge, the room, the setting and the people.  I know we must, but I can
hardly imagine ever going anywhere else in Africa. We almost felt this way
everywhere we went in SA, but we truly felt this way at Singita - we felt
like someone had mistakenly identified us as the editors of Conde Nast
magazine and we were being treated as such.  Were there other guests at
Singita?  We saw them, but it's unclear who was serving them because
everything at Singita was about us!  We arrived a bit late due to our Joburg
snafu. But our one jeep-mate was napping and missing the first game drive
(she was an agent with an African travel agency ... I can't remember her
company, but Dave has her card so he will chime in).  So it was just Dave
and I, and we saw two leopards, a hyena, and my top wish - elephants.  It
was late so we skipped our sundowner.  When we got back to the lodge, we
were told to be ready for dinner at 7:30 and our porter came and got us and
took us to the outdoor room (I don't remember the name of that room , but it
was beyond beautiful with the lighting).  We had a wonderful meal (I'm
recycling my superlatives, I realize, but I ran out of new ones a long time
ago). And then we had a surprise!  A local choir came and sang and danced
for us.  Some of the rangers joined them.  It was so amazing.  And Dave
thought to turn on the video on our camera and captured the entire thing on
video.  After dinner, we returned to our room and sat on the deck having a
nightcap.  It was chilly but beautiful out.  Oh, and along with our amazing
weather ... We had a full moon.  So our evening game drives were fully lit,
as was our sit out on the deck.

The morning drive was quiet animal-wise, but beautiful (and cold!).  After
we returned, we did the trading post ... And bought a tribal necklace that
was used as currency.  This is a really important piece for us as we are
financial planners and the concept of alternative currency fascinates us.
We also bought lots of souvenirs and gifts.  And then we got a tour of
Boulders Lodge. The woman in the trading post called over there to tell them
we were coming (I'm pretty sure she said, "the Conde Nast editors are coming
over, give them a great tour") and we were met by a woman whose name I'm
really sorry I've forgotten and given an entire tour of the lodge, wine
cellar, rooms, etc.  It's beautiful, especially the pond that surrounds the
lobby.  The two lodges are so different they don't even warrant comparing.
They are both spectacular.  Then we returned to the lodge and had a glass of
wine before lunch.  As we sat in the lodge, we watched the area across the
river and saw baboons, all sorts of springboks or some such thing, a
wildebeast and all sorts of wildlife wandering around.  It was like watching
a wildlife TV show. Lunch was wonderful.   I then went and had a massage and
Dave did an outdoor shower and a plunge in the plunge pool with a sun/air
dry after. 

Then it was time for our evening game drive.  This drive ended up surprising
even Kimbhini and Douglas, our ranger and tracker.  Jill, our jeep mate, was
with us.  We had spent much of our morning drive looking for the leopard(s)
that Dave and  I had seen the night before, but to no avail in the morning.
We set off and I can't even remember what order we saw everything in.  But I
really wanted to see giraffes.  We saw elephants and cape water buffalo and
rhinocerous and zebra and as we drove along, Jill spotted some giraffes,
which were as amazing as I thought they would be. And then we drove on for a
while, until Kimbhini spotted something across the field ... It was a lion.
The dominant male lion of the pride who had a brother who hung with him. We
got so close that Jill actually got nervous.  The lion was waking up from
sleeping for the day.  As he started to move around, I turned my video on
and all of a sudden his brother roared from some distance away .. And our
lion answered him.  I got the entire thing on video.  Him roaring and only
6-8 feet away from us.  We sat there with him for ages.  All the way through
sunset!  So we did our sundowner in the dark.  And it was really wonderful.
Another example of amazing SA service.  But nothing topped what came next
w/r/t service.  But before I go there ... On our way back, as we crossed the
airstrip, we saw three hippos ... Out of the water!  And then as we were
approaching the lodge, Douglas our amazing tracker was shining the
high-power flashlight in every direction and suddently he told Kim to stop.
We backed up and Kim said, "oh my God" ... And there was the momma leopard
we had been looking for all morning.  It was what Jill most wanted to see.
And at that point, we had seen the Big 5 in ONE 3-hour game drive, plus
zebras, giraffes and hippos (out of the water).

And then we got back to the lodge.  Alexis (not sure what her title is, but
she is an intern with a personality to beat the band, she made our stay even
more special) told us she would call us in 10 minutes or so and ask us what
time we wanted dinner.  Our porter took us to our room, and there were
candles on the walkway leading to the door, which we didn't think much about
... It was pretty.  Then there were candles inside the room. Then we noticed
the bathroom door was closed, so we opened it, to a display on the floor of
leaves in the shape of a heart, filled in with bouganvillea petals and
candles, and a chilled bottle of champagne.  And as we walked back into the
room, we realized a dinner table had been set up in our living room and the
fire was going.  And then we realized there was a hot bath drawn for us.
Alexis called and we said we'd talk to her in a while to order dinner ...
Leave us alone :)  After our bath and champagne, we had a beautiful dinner
in front of the fire at our dining table.  Robert served us our dinner, as
he had served us every meal we had ... Having the same people with you the
entire time is really special.  I have no idea what we did to get that
treatment, but I'm sure the Conde Nast editors have never been treated
better.

South Africa is a realy special place  I know I'm preaching to the choir.
But it really is.  The people are so, rightfully, proud of what they have
accomplished in the last 13 years.  The natural resources are spectacular.
We thoroughly enjoyed the Apartheid Museum and could have spent DAYS there.
We heard lots of stories and know there is a long way to go, but I think SA
is an inspiration.  I'll leave it at that ... At least until I decide I need
to send my 4th response!

Stephen - the trip you designed was more than we could ever have imagined.
We can't wait to go back.  And we loved Cape Town so much that we are
actually pursuing buying an apartment there.  It will be a rental for a
while as we won't get back there for a while. But we plan to do so, and to
build our friendships in the financial planning community, which is very
robust over there.  And to maintain our friendship with Dion.  We're looking
at places in Sea Point and we know that even if we don't end up living there
part time, we won't have made a mistake from an investment standpoint.

On the bus to or from the plane, we were talking with some South Africans
and after describing what we were going to be doing they said, "well, you're
certainly hitting the high points" and every time we uttered the words "Sabe
Sands" everyone went, "ooh ... It's nice there!"

So, THANK YOU. It was indescribable (despite my 2500 word essay <g>).

I look forward to contacting you again for our next trip!!!!  And I've
already given your info to some clients and will continue to do so as we
describe our amazing trip to others.