SA tour operators are the best

My husband Enzo and I live in Italy – in a small town in the Dolomites. ( The most spectacular part of the Alps, in my opinion.) We fell in love with South Africa when we first visited 15 years ago, and we’ve been back again and again, extending our travels to Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. Many of our trips have been organised by our South African friends, or by South African tour operators. On all of them, we were the only Italians and the only strangers! But that didn’t last long. We quickly settled into that particular South African way of travelling: sharing long drives to remote places; pitching our tents at the foot of a dune in the Namib, on a riverbank or in the middle of the bush; sitting around a campfire, chatting until late; drinking wine and having a braai. (Not typical Italian things at all!) We felt at home with people we had only met for the first time, but who shared a mutual love for nature and adventure. We always felt safe, because of the solidarity, teamwork and ease with which any problem was confronted. When we wanted to visit Mongolia last summer, we decided to do it with a South African tour operator: Live the Journey. We’d experienced their competence on previous trips. A self-drive tour in a country with virtually no infrastructure can easily turn into a nightmare if the planning of the organiser is not accompanied by a positive attitude and flexibility to adapt to unpredictable circumstances. From Italy to Mongolia via South Africa – it was a perfect, unforgettable journey! SUSY LOMBARDI, Falcade, Italy