Sandy

27 June 2011

Thanks for an amazing stay! The cottage is beautiful - loved the log fire which was kept buring furiously in the freezing weather we had over the weekend!  Didn't stop us from walking, exploring the river and of course fishing!

The outside shower was a paradox with the hot water and the zero degree temperatures - what a great experience!!

Hope to be back to recatch the fish that got away!!

Thanks again

Just wanted to let you know that we enjoyed the weekend very much. Especially waking up with the springboks, blesboks and zebra’s right outside! We also loved Dexter’s visits. He is really a great dog, I miss him already J The fishing was quite challenging but my husband enjoyed it very much.

Thank you again. We will definitely be back soon!

Kind regards,

27 April 2010

We had an awesome weekend! (despite the weather). Please let me know if the maid was included in the rate, or if we had to pay her separately? We left her a tip, and paid for the firewood each time they refilled. Fishing was tough, but had a great time. Will be back for sure-really missed the "giants".

Will be in touch soon.

Rgds

02 March 2010

19 October 2009

I only fished the Lock Heron dam and had great success (from the float tube). The fish was very strong and I landed about 13 Fish. Most were in the 1kg bracket, with the exception of 1 x 1.3kg, 1 x 1.4 kg and 1 x 1.6kg. All fish were successfully released.

One of your other visitors also caught a couple of good fish from the side, so the fish was not to shy at all!

The dam is best suited for float tubing as you cannot reach all the good spots from the side.

Hope to see you soon again!

23 April 2009

Some pics of our last stay at Highlands for your gallery. My son was born on the 26th of April 2007, a week after our stay!!!

 Even pregnant ladies can catch fish!!

6 May 2009

I’m an avid birdwatcher and I am participating in the 2^nd South African Bird Atlassing Project (SABAP2) (http://sabap2.adu.org.za/index.php). Your Bald Ibis cottage falls into the 2510_3015 Pentad (Pentad = a ninth of a quarter of a degree square :-> )

I have included a file with the birds that I saw in your Pentad and also those that I recorded over the whole weekend in your area. Birds that I found that were Lifers for others included the Cuckoo Finch, Golden Weaver, Red-capped Lark, Long-crested Eagle, African Olive Pigeon, Southern Bald Ibis, Gurney’s Sugarbird, Buff-streaked Chat, Red-winged Francolin and Grey Crowned Crane.

During our previous visit to you (in early Feb (this year)) I found a Broad-tailed Warbler which was a Lifer for me.

If you’re a birder that all might be of interest. If you’re not, file it and give it to anyone who asks about birding in your area :-D

To view the information please click on one of the following.

8-10 May 2009

Thanking you for another great weekend.

As you are aware the weather was rather testy with hail on Friday and heavy rain on Saturday. Thus the fishing was also the toughest I've experienced at Highland Giants. 

I caught 3 nice trout in Dam 10 on Saturday morning:

• 1 x 1,5 kg's,

• 1 x 1,1 kg,s

• 1 x 700 grams

• 3 fish on 4 casts, on an orange wooly.

After that the fishing was quite taxing with not much action in any dam or even on the weirs. Spoke to the other fishermen and they didn't have too much luck either. Must have been the weather and the moon...

On the interesting side, I noticed a trout behaving weird in weir 2, and on investigation it became evident that he bit off more than he could chew in the form of a bullfrog.

He had him by the leg and wouldn't let go of the frog, which just mellowly went through the ordeal.

The trout could not dive down as the frog would inflate from time to time, so after about 30 minutes of this the trout let go of the frog which then just floated around for a while blinking it's eyes, and then swam away.

I tried without luck to find a frog-looking fly...

Thanks once again for a memorable get away,

I just want to thank you for once again, an AMAZING stay at your little piece of heaven.Bald Ibis is rated as a 3 star but we found it to be much more.It’s little things that makes it so much more, like the divine smelling soap in the bathroom.  I can just imagine that is what heaven must smell like.We “found” the waterfalls, it is so beautiful, can’t believe that there is such a beautiful piece of nature just a few kilometers away from home.We stayed at Dunkeld Country Estate a while back & thought WOW, but then we came across Highland Giants Estate and we don’t want to go anywhere else ever again, it’s really like a piece of heaven, between Dullstroom and Lydenburg.

We will come again, and again, and tell our friends about your wonderful place.

Glen & Marinda Badenhorst

Duncan and I would like to complement you and your team for the wonderful stay we had at highland giant estate, we had such a peaceful and wonderful stay there for 8 days, just chilling and enjoying the environment around us, it was awesome and we have come back home ready to fight the world. (Duncan is the owner of Coolrunnings restaurant pub in Benoni) so really needed the break.

... we will be there again soon.  Once again we solute you and your staff for the wonderful and rememerable time we spent there. Duncan also caught quite a few trout much to his delight, average of 3 per day,  except the last day where he just chilled and we had 2 for dinner (yum yum) the biggest one he caught was about 2kgs estimated, I caught nothing but it was fun and we had a ball. The friends that joined us for the weekend also said how stunning everything was. (They will also be back).

We would like to thank you for a fantastic weekend your facilities are superb and it was enjoyed by all of us. The fishing was great and my son Jarryd caught nine fish over the two days, all of them in the weirs in front of the cottage. I unfortunately did not get a photo of them but we did get a photo of the bottom weir which I have attached. Thank you once again and we will definitely be coming back.

I caught 9 – all on ‘Mpumalanga speedcops’(black woolies with blue flash) except 1 at last light on a white death at Kenmere. 2 on Mampuru dam, 1 on the 1st dam by the road, 2 in the 3rd weir, 2 at dexters water1 at kenmere,1 on the big dam opposite the reception/office. The biggest on was 700grams-(3rd weir) the rest were between 400 and 600grams.

The one I foul-hooked and killed was just over 500g. I think Martin caught 2 and his wife 1-all released. (1 at Kenmere on a black woolie, one on a black zonker at the last weir off the bridge, one at dexters water on a pancora orange and yellow).

Weather was sunny and no wind for all except the ones at last light - weather was cold at last light. All were caught at all times of the day.

Formally thanking you both for a superb effort in organizing and hosting our wedding. It was truly a memorable day for us and our guests. Please also thank all the suppliers for their excellent input – the florist, photographer, cake maker & caterer. The flowers & bouquets were especially beautiful! The blue roses were magnificent!

Thank you to Ronald for the lamb on the spit – it was a brilliant effort and the best lamb tasted by all! And thank you Rebecca for all your organizational and hosting skills. You guys are the best!