First Attempt South Africa Itinerary - Advice Please

Old Nov 1st, 2015, 02:38 PM
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First Attempt South Africa Itinerary - Advice Please

Hello everyone

We are in the initial planning stages for a September 2017 safari to South Africa. Our first trip to Africa was in 2006 to Kenya and Tanzania. With the generous help of the Fodor's posters we booked an amazing custom safari.

This time around there will be four adults, two will be travelling to Africa for the first time. The main purpose is to go on safari (interested in night drives, game walks) with a few days in Cape Town and a few days at a beach location to round off our 18 day SA holiday.

At this point we are trying to pull together the ‘skeleton’ and flow of the itinerary. One major issue is that all our flight connections fly into Johannesburg and in order to cut down on travel time, it looks like we will have to do the safari portion first. While we would prefer to save the safari until the end of the trip we don’t want to spend more time travelling then we have to.

This is what the itinerary looks like so far:

Day 1-2 Travel to JBG
Day 3-10 Safari 7 nights (Combination of Kruger or Sabi-Sand or Mala Mala)
Day 11- 15 Cape Town 4 nights
Day 15-18 Beach location 3 nights
Day 18 -19 Travel home

We would appreciate advice on the above itinerary. We are also looking for suggestion for beach locations.

Thanks so much.
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Old Nov 1st, 2015, 10:48 PM
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You don't give a budget, so it's harder to give recommendations. For fantastic beach time, the area north of Durban on the east coast is great. It's a warmer location than Cape Town and the Indian Ocean is always warmer than the Atlantic of Cape Town beaches. For exclusivity, Thonga and Rocktail are fantastic. St Lucia for the most fun town I've ever been with gorgeous beaches and every water activity available possible.

I would do Cape Town, then fly to the Kruger area (no need to fly through JNB), then Durban or Richards Bay for beach, fly home. Yes, lots of connections through JNB - but that's pretty typical of S Africa.

For safari, with 7 nights, I'd split between two lodges near Kruger. Mala Mala has possibly the best wildlife viewing in S Africa. Unfortunately they quote in U.S. Dollars and the Rand has collapsed against the USD. Much better values at Kings, Kirkmans and other lodges that quote in Rand. There is also Djuma that can be rented as a whole unit at a very reasonable rate - and if has high end amenities. Check it out - food is not included (but a chef is) - but you can arrange for food to be provided. It's a great value for what you get. With four of you, it's fantastic.

You could do four nights near Kruger and add three nights near the beach at Phinda or Zululand Rhino Reserve. Great wildlife viewing at both. Might be a consideration since you want to be in the neighborhood.

Sounds like a great trip. Planning is part of the fun!
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Old Nov 1st, 2015, 10:55 PM
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For beach time, Simons Town has a small beach that is suitable for swimming as well as nearby Fishhoek. Otherwise swimming around Cape Town is difficult if not impossible as it is so cold.

Although the water is warm around Durban, it is also difficult to swim in the sea if that is what you are interested in. The water is rough. There are various tidal pools that make it easier eg Shaka's Rock, Thompsons Bay.
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Old Nov 2nd, 2015, 03:25 AM
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Hello Cocco1,
Coming through Johannesburg is a standard for South Africa travel, but what you could possibly do is head to Cape Town first, then do a warmer beach sojourn in (sub-tropical) KwaZulu Natal (KZN), before heading off for your safari in the Kruger Park area, and then back to Johannesburg to fly home ... so a bit of a circle.
Cape Town is fabulous any time of the year, but speaking from life-long experience, very sadly, swimming here in September (which is the tail-end of our winter), is not, hence my recommendation to head to KZN for the beach portion of your trip.
I am not sure your budget or your exact beach requisites, but you could even head up to Rocktail Bay in the North of KZN (in the Maputuland area), where diving is absolutely superb, and Whale sharks are resident all year round.
Rocktail has got to be one of my all-time favourite destinations in the world, it offers an almost 'sea safari' experience, I simply cannot get enough
If you don't want to head that far North, there are however other decidedly beautiful beach options closer to Durban.
From KZN I would, as you suggested, split the remainder of your stay between two lodges, it is always good to experience a bit of diversity.
For leopard spotting, the Sabi Sands area is a must, and I would highly recommend a lodge/reserve here being one of your two choices.
Once again, I am not sure your budget, but there are lodges to suit all pockets and all tastes.

I hope this info helps.
Happy Planning,
Deborah - Travel Guru, Southern Destinations
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Old Nov 2nd, 2015, 08:01 AM
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Hi Cocco1!

Another idea would be to do Cape Town then Sabi Sand/Timbavati for your safari then head to a beach destination last.

You can fly direct from Cape Town to any of the reserve airports serving Sabi Sand/Timbavati/Kruger without having to travel thru JNB. The game viewing is exceptional without a doubt, especially Sabi Sand.

I would also agree that splitting your stay at 2 lodges is a great idea. It gives you the opportunity to "mix" it up and experience different styles of lodging, staff and guides, as well as kitchen/dining styles. It's fun to blend tented with suite-style accommodations for the other part of one's overall safari experience.

One option may be to capitalize on long stay discounts at lodges such as Kirkmans, Ngala and Ngala Tented, etc. When pairing lodges that are part of a portfolio, this makes for a nice way to stretch your budget.

Logistically, for the most part, moving from the Kruger area to a beach destination does involve going thru JNB. One option to ease logistics would be to consider pairing a stay at one of the lodges above with a lodge in Phinda Private Game Reserve located near the coastline in KwaZulu-Natal. Phinda is also part of the same portfolio of lodges as above so a long stay discount could work there very well for you. You can fly direct between the Kruger area and Phinda and, although the fare is more expensive, it would save you from having to back track thru JNB.

The advantage to Phinda is now you are much closer to a beach destination such as Thonga Beach Resort or Rocktail Camp. So getting to the last portion of your trip would be much easier. I would recommend either of these places without hesitation. Both are lovely and clients have really enjoyed their stays.

Please keep in mind though that you would need to be in this area of the coastline or even further north along the coastline to get beach weather in September. September can even be a bit "iffy" even here, especially in the first half of September when you may have some days with highs around 60-68F. The weather is never easy to predict and everyone's definition of "beach weather" is different but I just thought I'd point this out. It seems like you will be towards the latter half/end of September anyway for this ending of your trip.

When planning a "Bush and Beach" trip, most people like to end at a beach stay and the idea above is one way to accomplish that as easy as possible. Perhaps it's the idea of "decompressing" on the beach after the intensity and thrill of the safari experience... Having said that, you could certainly change the order of your destinations. Regardless, I would assess your budget, your preference for the order of your itinerary, your style of travel and plan accordingly.

Best
Dianne
Africa Direct USA
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Old Nov 3rd, 2015, 12:00 PM
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I would also say that Durban is your best beach option unless you decide to go to Mozambique. You could do:
Cape Town
Kruger
Mozambique , there are direct flights from Nelspruit but would have to confirm the days.
Sandy - Love Africa Travel
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Old Nov 3rd, 2015, 06:45 PM
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Thank you for your replies and great advice. Lots of options and lots to think about. Back to the research and the planning. And I look forward to sharing our itinerary as it takes shape!

Cocco
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Old Nov 6th, 2015, 06:15 AM
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Hi Cocco
It really depends what time of the year, but for a fabulous beach location as well as a bucket list item - Cape Agulhas - the tip of Africa, you might consider visiting nearby Arniston and staying at the hotel there right on the beach. And of course no trip to the Cape is complete without a visit to the Winelands.
Cheers
Melissa
Vindigo Travel
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Old Nov 11th, 2015, 08:43 AM
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Hi Cocco1, thanks for posting your trip plans for 2017. It seems as though you’ve received some great advice so far particularly for Cape Town and the Beach portion of your trip. In your original post you made a mention for night drives and walking safaris. I personally love walking safaris and have put in hundreds of miles on walks in the bush. There’s nothing quite like seeing wildlife on foot – different perspective and void of rumbling engines/exhaust fumes. If you’ve never been on a proper walking safari before, you will really enjoy it!

I wanted to elaborate on this topic further by offering 2 suggestions for safari which weren’t mentioned by previous posters.

First, I want to introduce the idea of doing a Lion Sands (Sabi Sands, just south of MalaMala) in combination with Marataba in the Waterberg Mountains. The two areas can be combined via a light aircraft transfer through UniqueAir. Marataba just launched Marataba Trails Camp (http://www.marataba.co.za/our-lodges...-trails-lodge/). I was there as the lodge was being completed in November of 2014 – it really is a stunning location and ideal for walking/exploring on foot. Combining this experience with the big game viewing of Lion Sands is a great combo. Marataba remains one of my favorite safari destinations in South Africa and Lion Sands offers great “sleep-out” options in their tree houses which sounds like potentially a good option for active/adventurous travelers such as yourselves. Check out a sample of their tree houses here: http://www.lionsands.com/our-treehouses/chalkleys/ - it may not be quite the “night drive” experience, but it affords a pretty amazing “night time” experience.

My second recommendation is taking your idea of MalaMala and combining it with Mashatu Game Reserve in southern Botswana’s Tuli region. Mashatu has a lodge and tented camp option. I personally think that the tented camp option is one of the best values in southern Africa. Activities at Mashatu are abundant including great walking, mountain biking and photography workshops for keen photographers. If you aren’t so sure about doing a dedicated walking lodge/camp experience of Marataba Trails, Mashatu may be a better with walking/biking etc. as an option. MalaMala and Mashatu can easily be combined via the Malatu Express (operates on Wednesday and Sundays).

Southern Africa has no shortages of amazing safari opportunities. Another consideration is perhaps conducting your safari in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park (home to the walking safaris) and combining this with a bit of R&R on the shores of Lake Malawi. Lake Malawi is not your traditional “beach” destination, but it is a unique area with stunning natural beauty. You may wish to check out Kaya Mawa: http://www.kayamawa.com/ or Nkwichi on the Mozambican side: http://www.nkwichi.com/. The great thing about Lake Malawi is that for active people such as yourselves, there remains options to be active while on R&R.

I hope this helps in your safari planning process.

Sincerely yours,
Kota Tabuchi – Managing Director: Africa – Travel Beyond
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Old Jan 16th, 2016, 02:13 PM
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Hello Everyone

Thanks for your advice and options. We have narrowed down our itinerary based on your advice and our limited time, and decided against a beach option.

Here is what we have so far:

Day 1- 2 Fly direct from JBG to Cape Town
Day 2- 6 Cape Town / Winelands
Day 6- 8 (3 nights)
Fly to Timbavati (options: Ngala tented Camp, Simbavati River Lodge, Motswari Geiger's Camp or Ngala Safari Lodge)
Day 9 -10 (2 nights)
Transfer to Kruger (options: Hamilton's tented camp or Rhino Plains Camp)
Day 11 - 13 (3 nights)
Transfer to Sabi Sands (options Arathusa Safari lodge, Simbambili Game Lodge, Dulini Lodge)
Day 14 - transfer back to JBG

Additional questions:

How does the pacing and order of the itinerary look?

What are the options for transferring between camps? We don't want to spend to much time in transit from camp to camp, but a few hours in vehicle would be fine.

We are looking for a 'classic safari' feel and tented camps are preferred. We would like to end on a mid to high end camp.

Anything else we should consider?

Thank you in advance.
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Old Jan 16th, 2016, 02:59 PM
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Hi cocco1!

Great trip in the making! Nice amount of time in CPT and nice amount of time on safari..

Just from a glance at your locations and without sorting thru and commenting on the lodges listed, I'm wondering if you should perhaps think about 3-4 nights at 2 locations rather than doing a 3/2/3.

My guess is that you want to hit Timbavati, Kruger AND Sabi Sand. From a terrain/ecosystem perspective, you aren't going to see a tremendous difference. Animals too will not be really different either. I'd be inclined to recommend that you consider a 3-4 nights at 2 locations instead. While transferring isn't a huge deal (could be done within 2 hours or so), I think you will find that settling in and fully enjoying the atmosphere of a particular lodge, its staff, hosting style, your ranger etc may be of more value than moving one more time to hit a 3rd spot.

Fortunately, safari-goers have the luxury of a number of airports to service their varied itineraries. As a result, regardless of where you start in the Greater Kruger area (Timbavati vs Sabi Sand vs KNP), there is an airport that you can fly out of and back to JNB via an easy road transfer.

Best
Dianne
Africa Direct USA
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Old Jan 16th, 2016, 03:17 PM
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We stayed at Arathusa Safari Lodge in September and loved it!

We much preferred private reserve to National park for the ability to go off road and follow the animals.

I would do only 2 places; I know the urge to see more places but you lose so much time in SA transferring.

Savor the time, don't rush around to just have "been there"
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Old Jan 16th, 2016, 05:37 PM
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Lots to think about with this one, cocco. Since you want to do the winelands, maybe add a day in CT - that gives you a day for winelands, 2 days for the HopOn HopOff bus to see everything in town and get out to enjoy interesting places, a day for the Cape of Good Hope and a day for Robben Island, Table Mtn and Kirstenbosch Gardens (they can't all be in one day, but don't miss them!).

Arathusa and Ngala Tented would be my choices but are in entirely different luxury levels. At Ngala, you will have higher end everything and generally a max of 6 in your game drive vehicle. For the price and location, Arathusa is excellent but good (not great) food and amenities. You will also have the chance of up to 10 in your vehicle - 3 across in three rows and 1 in the seat next to the driver. We had that experience on most of our game drives there. It was fine for us, but if you have rude or unfriendly guests, it could be awful. If any of you are hobby photographers, it could be a big issue. You can arrange for a private game vehicle for the four of you. Arathusa has a waterhole in camp which we loved - watching the animals stop by for a drink between game drives was great.

But if you do Ngala Tented (I don't recommend Ngala Lodge), it makes sense to consider Kirkmans in Sabi Sand for the long stay discount. Much nicer than Arathusa. Only 6 max/vehicle, but no waterhole.

Instead of a lodge at a private concession in Kruger, you could stay in Kruger. Wild-Wings-Safaris will take you into the park, take you on game drives, provide your food and you stay in Kruger accommodations. You can also hire a personal ranger through some agents. We self drive, but if we didn't, we would definitely do that! Kruger is amazing - they let people drive around with lions and elephants. It's a much better value than the Kruger concessions - and you basically see and do the same roads and animals at a much lower price. We love it. Stay in the view tented accommodations in Lower Sabie (yes, there's a flushing bathroom attached)and you get a view over the Sabie River and get serenaded by hippos all night. Spectacular. And really inexpensive. There are many places to stay, but those are our favorite so far, followed by Satara, but no tents. And you have a full time ranger to take you around and cook breakfast out in the bush - they do breakfast (sometimes) on a grill at the picnic areas. It's fun. Dinner can be at the pretty good restaurants or grilled at your tent. Fun!

If you choose not to do a Kruger lodge, I agree with the above. Timbavati and Sabi Sand. The transfer is easy - any lodge can arrange a private driver to get you to wherever you need to go. None are far from each other so you leave after a late breakfast at one and get to the next before the afternoon game drive.
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Old Jan 16th, 2016, 06:23 PM
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Here's a map of greater Kruger. It has the locations of all of the lodges. Notice Kirkmans has a perennial river through the property, so wildlife are always nearby in the dry season, including September.

http://assets.sunsafaris.com/Map-of-Kruger-Camps.pdf

It's a good map and includes all camps, including the affordable ones. My bucket list includes nDzuti and Africa on Foot.

Have fun planning. Try to remember no matter what you do you will love it. It will be great.
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Old Jan 17th, 2016, 06:55 AM
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Hi cocco!

Are you still planning on Sept 2017?

If you were to go with 2 places rather than 3, a really nice choice would be Kirkmans and Ngala Tented. Kirkmans is a lovely lodge and you will be well taken care of. It's a very classic lodge and is decorated with a nod to Harry Kirkman and his history. The lodge has access to the Sabi River so this would be a nice bonus given your travel time of September (still winter there). From Cape Town, there are a number of flights into Skukuza and then the lodge is a short transfer.

Since you indicated both an interest in ending on a luxury note as well as an interest in staying in tented accommodations, I'd recommend Ngala Luxury Tented Camp. Absolutely beautiful and luxurious on all fronts: tent, food, service etc. Ngala's Tented camp is a nice contrast to Kirkmans in both its tented vs suite accommodation but it also has a more eclectic decor. The balance of the 2 is quite nice. Staying at these 2 lodges will also entitle you to a nice long stay discount which is great! From Ngala Tented, you can transfer to Hoedspruit and fly back to JNB from there.

I just thought I'd mention that Ngala Safari Lodge, their main camp, is undergoing a renovation and is closed until June. It will be more luxurious than before. It has in the past tended to to be their more family friendly lodge option than their Tented 'sister" camp which has an age restriction.

There are certainly many options...

Best
Dianne
Africa Direct USA
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 02:26 AM
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Great information for a future trip! I'm considering a trip for 2017, too....
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 08:08 AM
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coco1, have you read some of this excellent advice?
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Old Feb 7th, 2016, 07:04 PM
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Hello

Thanks for all your wonderful advice. After looking at all our options we have finalized our itinerary.

September 2017

Cape town – Five nights
Sabi Sand North: Simbavati Game Lodge 3 nights
Kruger South: Rhino Plains Camp 2 nights (walking safari)
Kruger Central: Hamilton’s Tented Camp 3 nights
We will then fly to Botswana for a three night cruise on the Chobe River on the Zambezi Queen.

We are really looking forward to this trip and can't wait.
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Old Feb 11th, 2016, 12:22 PM
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That looks like a terrific itinerary! You will enjoy it tremendously.
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