The jaws of our rather spoilt teenagers dropped when we finally arrived at Villa Blaaskans, Zandspruit, Hoedspruit. -It feels like being in a 007 movie, my 17-year old daughter said. The photos of the villa did not lie. But much of the text on Zandspruit did. We, a family of five, stayed there over Christmas and the New Year. High season, so we expected to have to share our adventure with others. During almost two weeks, we once saw and once heard other people enjoying the park. It turned out we had the whole place for ourselves. Arriving after dark, we saw nothing until breakfast when a beautyful wilderbeast greeted us welcome at the swimming pool. Thus encouraged we went into the bush with our van (possible but not always without difficulties in our VW two wheel drive) and found the giraffes and zebras only to name the obvious. Later we compared it with the Kruger Park and unanimously preferred our Zandspruit. The reason was freedom, being allowed to do what you want; driving, walking, posing in front of the game, night walks on your own, not to forget never being more than 15 minutes away from our Blaaskans home with its AC coolness and well stocked kitchen. This all made a nice change for visiting the local must do's for tourists, which all started with a substantial drive, no matter what direction we took being in the middle of the best. From the pool deck we watched Mariepskoop mountain. Driving up there took a few hours, but was nevertheless worthwile if just for the route. Walking and climbing about the top of it was a blessed experience of beauty we will never forget. Having said this, if you want to go on your own by car, order topographic maps 1:50.000 well in advance or buy them in Johannesburg. Our GPS could not match all the minor roads and there relocations, so either you are prepared for some trial and error, or you come with detailed maps which are not for sale (and I think not used) in Hoedspruit. Blyde River Canyon is another fantastic experience and if we should recommend just one entrance to it, that would be through the Forever Resort, since they have prepared rough walking paths through bush, jungle, cliffs and waterfalls we cannot recommend enough (well worth the entrance fee). A short drive away was Jessica, the hippo, another encounter we will never forget. Yes, I admit, we loved our stay.