April in Southern Africa
Jul 31st, 2006, 10:02 AM
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April in Southern Africa
I need some help with the first steps of a safari plan. Assume I arrive in Johannesburg on April 2nd and leave on April 14th - 12 nights. Because this is my wife's trip we may as well call it a cheetah safari - although I am probably allowed three nights somewhere there are may not be cheetahs! My wife has started me with the following itinerary:
3 nights Okonjima Lodge (Africat) Namibia
4 nights Okonjima Bush Camp
3 nights Etosha
1 night Sossusvlei
Getting the three nights at Etosha took a little time, too ;-) And we got the 3 nights at Okinjima Lodge because I put my foot down and said there is no way we were going to stay 7 days in one place :-0
Now you may think I am joking, but I assure you she is completely serious - she will insist on this unless I can come up with a better "cheetah safari" in Southern Africa. The recent thread about where to see cheetahs was excellent but I can't quite put anything together from it.
We are flying more or less for free, but we will have a limited budget since we only return from Kenya in December. We are starting with a budget of $250 pppn, including transport between parks (but not to e.g. Windhoek) although that is not a cut-off point and there's always a way to save more!
It doesn't have to be Namibia that we visit and indeed it seems to me that the ideal trip for us would be the Central Kalahari, Africat-Botswana and a few nights for me alone to choose... but of course there is no Africat - Botswana and even if there was it would probably be outside our budget this time round
Any ideas people? Is Namibia the right place? The cheetahs are mostly on farms, right, and there is no Kalahari reserve area? So that makes spotting them difficult and they are likely to be very skittish, no? Is there anywhere that might replace Africat in my wife's heart if we go elsewhere?
Thanks..... Paul
3 nights Okonjima Lodge (Africat) Namibia
4 nights Okonjima Bush Camp
3 nights Etosha
1 night Sossusvlei
Getting the three nights at Etosha took a little time, too ;-) And we got the 3 nights at Okinjima Lodge because I put my foot down and said there is no way we were going to stay 7 days in one place :-0
Now you may think I am joking, but I assure you she is completely serious - she will insist on this unless I can come up with a better "cheetah safari" in Southern Africa. The recent thread about where to see cheetahs was excellent but I can't quite put anything together from it.
We are flying more or less for free, but we will have a limited budget since we only return from Kenya in December. We are starting with a budget of $250 pppn, including transport between parks (but not to e.g. Windhoek) although that is not a cut-off point and there's always a way to save more!
It doesn't have to be Namibia that we visit and indeed it seems to me that the ideal trip for us would be the Central Kalahari, Africat-Botswana and a few nights for me alone to choose... but of course there is no Africat - Botswana and even if there was it would probably be outside our budget this time round
Any ideas people? Is Namibia the right place? The cheetahs are mostly on farms, right, and there is no Kalahari reserve area? So that makes spotting them difficult and they are likely to be very skittish, no? Is there anywhere that might replace Africat in my wife's heart if we go elsewhere?
Thanks..... Paul
Jul 31st, 2006, 11:43 AM
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Cheetah are notoriosly difficult, but I did have success in Etosha (albeit only one cheetah). I just returned from Kgalagadi, an excellent park that overlaps the SA/Botswana border, and I did see two cheetahs in that park, and watched them hunt and kill two springbok (I posted a trip report that you can find if you search for Kgalagadi).
Kgalagadi is a very affordable park, and is within three hours of Upington. If you decide to visit Kgalagadi, you could then take a bus from Upington to Windhoek (it runs several days per week).
Assuming your free flights are into southern Africa, you could fly into Upington and back from Windhoek (SAA flies to both places). Then rent a car in Upington and visit Kgalagadi for a few days (lodging is $100 per night or so), then take bus to Windhoek and rent car to visit Okonjima and Etosha (adding one night to visit Sossosvlei will be expensive).
Kgalagadi is a very affordable park, and is within three hours of Upington. If you decide to visit Kgalagadi, you could then take a bus from Upington to Windhoek (it runs several days per week).
Assuming your free flights are into southern Africa, you could fly into Upington and back from Windhoek (SAA flies to both places). Then rent a car in Upington and visit Kgalagadi for a few days (lodging is $100 per night or so), then take bus to Windhoek and rent car to visit Okonjima and Etosha (adding one night to visit Sossosvlei will be expensive).
Jul 31st, 2006, 06:55 PM
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Thanks...
I understand that cheetahs are going to be difficult - this is why I guess my wife is actually right from her perspective to be so insistent on Okonjima.
Unfortunately our "free" tickets will take us only to Johannesburg or Cape Town (with Lufthansa). We can fly 10% standby on SAA but we don't really have enough time to risk being stranded so we'd have to do some pretty careful research to check flights were not busy/ didn't coincide with public holidays etc. to take advantage of that little bonus.
Anyway, your idea is really, really interesting. It makes great sense. I'm off to get my first travel guide this evening and that'll be first on my list of things to check out! Do you happen to know if there would be issues renting a car in Upington and driving ourselves to Windhoek? Did you hire your vehicle in Upington?
Also, do you know if Cardboard Box (previously recommended) or anyone else can help us out with the whole cross-border trip... including Botswana preferably, since we are really at such a "tentative" stage and don't want to write it off at all.
When I get the number of nights at Okonjima down, I can add more to Sossusvlei ... in reality we may have another day or two. It's all really tentative at the moment.
I understand that cheetahs are going to be difficult - this is why I guess my wife is actually right from her perspective to be so insistent on Okonjima.
Unfortunately our "free" tickets will take us only to Johannesburg or Cape Town (with Lufthansa). We can fly 10% standby on SAA but we don't really have enough time to risk being stranded so we'd have to do some pretty careful research to check flights were not busy/ didn't coincide with public holidays etc. to take advantage of that little bonus.
Anyway, your idea is really, really interesting. It makes great sense. I'm off to get my first travel guide this evening and that'll be first on my list of things to check out! Do you happen to know if there would be issues renting a car in Upington and driving ourselves to Windhoek? Did you hire your vehicle in Upington?
Also, do you know if Cardboard Box (previously recommended) or anyone else can help us out with the whole cross-border trip... including Botswana preferably, since we are really at such a "tentative" stage and don't want to write it off at all.
When I get the number of nights at Okonjima down, I can add more to Sossusvlei ... in reality we may have another day or two. It's all really tentative at the moment.
Aug 1st, 2006, 04:04 AM
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In Upington, I rented from Avis (I prefer an established rental agency, which is generally more expensive than a local agent, but with rental cars, my main concern is service, quality and liability). I have also rented from Avis in Windhoek, so I expect that they would allow you to rent in Upington and drop off in Windhoek, likely though with a hefty one-way drop off fee. If it were me, I'd take the bus from Upington to Windhoek and let someone else do the long drive through the desert (unless you are planning interim stops, the bus, to me, would be more relaxing -- its a long drive).
I worked with Cardboard Box in 2002 for my trip to Namibia, but my itinerary was exclusively within Namibia -- I don't know if they can help with Botswana. But, self-driving in Botswana is much more difficult than Namibia, and takes real planning. For Botswana, you would need a 4WD vehicle and provisions, including carrying fuel (and many often travel in a convoy with another vehicle or two).
I worked with Cardboard Box in 2002 for my trip to Namibia, but my itinerary was exclusively within Namibia -- I don't know if they can help with Botswana. But, self-driving in Botswana is much more difficult than Namibia, and takes real planning. For Botswana, you would need a 4WD vehicle and provisions, including carrying fuel (and many often travel in a convoy with another vehicle or two).
Aug 1st, 2006, 07:07 AM
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Lufthansa has just handed over Windhoek to SAA - so unless this is just a summer change we're out of luck. We might have been able to fly open jaw otherwise. Thanks for the info about Botswana; I thought that might be how it was - and although it sounds worth working towards, we're definitely not experienced enough drivers to take that on at the moment.... in fact we are even going to look into getting a driver for part of the trip - I don't drive much as a matter of course and I'm pretty useless in anything but an automatic - which I know is an extravagance in Namibia.
Bus sounds the right thing - my wife asked exactly the question you answered!
I am going to start reading up tomorrow but I could only get a 2003 Lonely Planet Southern Africa locally - would you recommend particular guide books for reading up with planning this kind of trip in mind? It seems pretty clear at the moment that this is going to be South Africa and Namibia or South Africa and Botswana given that three destinations is too much travel time if driving through the Kalahari is over-ambitious.
However, I'm still open to any suggestions... and everybody please don't take the budget too seriously if you have any other ideas - it's amazing how good we are at saving when it's for something like this.
Bus sounds the right thing - my wife asked exactly the question you answered!
I am going to start reading up tomorrow but I could only get a 2003 Lonely Planet Southern Africa locally - would you recommend particular guide books for reading up with planning this kind of trip in mind? It seems pretty clear at the moment that this is going to be South Africa and Namibia or South Africa and Botswana given that three destinations is too much travel time if driving through the Kalahari is over-ambitious.
However, I'm still open to any suggestions... and everybody please don't take the budget too seriously if you have any other ideas - it's amazing how good we are at saving when it's for something like this.
Aug 1st, 2006, 08:00 AM
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While I am a very big fan of Lonely Planet (and have used them in over 100 countries), they are not nearly as good as the Bradt Guides (which are much more detailed than LP). The Bradt Guide to Botswana is the best travel guide I have ever seen -- its amazingly detailed and all-encompassing. Unlike LP, where the authors are not usually country experts, Bradt Guides are written by experts.
While I can drive a manual car, I rented automatic cars in Namibia and South Africa b/c I thought it would, to me, be unnatural shifting with my left hand. Avis has very nice automatic cars in its southern African fleet (I rented a Mercedes C180 in Namibia and an Audi A4 in Namibia -- since I drive a BMW at home, it was nice to compare the other two German lines).
Michael
While I can drive a manual car, I rented automatic cars in Namibia and South Africa b/c I thought it would, to me, be unnatural shifting with my left hand. Avis has very nice automatic cars in its southern African fleet (I rented a Mercedes C180 in Namibia and an Audi A4 in Namibia -- since I drive a BMW at home, it was nice to compare the other two German lines).
Michael
Aug 1st, 2006, 09:01 AM
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LP will have a new book "Botswana and Namibia" out in Feb, 2007 which can be pre-ordered on Amazon. It will be too late for my trip--but I have the Bradt guides for both countries, as well as for SA. I just got my tickets yesterday (AA FF) and will fly in to JNB on Jan 15 and leave from Victoria Falls on Feb 26. I'm very interested in your planning ideas!
Jane
Jane
Aug 1st, 2006, 10:30 AM
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Thank you both for the book tips.
I will post whatever planning I can Jane - I really like to see other people work out their plans here and learn a lot from it, so I will try to keep posting planning updates until I book. Even if nobody has any input by then I always think it might be useful to someone, someday. I think the trip Michael has indirectly suggested to me (Johannesburg-Uppington/ 3-4 nights in Kgalgadi/-o'night in Windhoek/ 2-3 nights Okonjima/ 3-4 nights Etosha + a couple of nights in one of Wolwendans or Sossusvlei somewhere in there, driving most of the time but flying to Uppington, and taking the bus from there to Windhoek) sounds really good, and relatively inexpensive. If that's what we actually end up doing I really wouldn't mind. Still I'll have to think of those cheetahs and keep working.
I will post whatever planning I can Jane - I really like to see other people work out their plans here and learn a lot from it, so I will try to keep posting planning updates until I book. Even if nobody has any input by then I always think it might be useful to someone, someday. I think the trip Michael has indirectly suggested to me (Johannesburg-Uppington/ 3-4 nights in Kgalgadi/-o'night in Windhoek/ 2-3 nights Okonjima/ 3-4 nights Etosha + a couple of nights in one of Wolwendans or Sossusvlei somewhere in there, driving most of the time but flying to Uppington, and taking the bus from there to Windhoek) sounds really good, and relatively inexpensive. If that's what we actually end up doing I really wouldn't mind. Still I'll have to think of those cheetahs and keep working.
Aug 20th, 2006, 02:08 AM
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This is just to update Jane on my planning - as promised. However, any comments are very welcome. For a start I'm having some doubts about Namibia in April. Actually, I think it looks to be a fantastic time to go for the scenery, but of course we are supposed to be going for the wildlife -especially cheetahs (it's my wife's trip) and there are two issues. Firstly, our trip will probably coincide with the Easter school holidays in Namibia, meaning that Etosha will likely be busy and a bit noisy. Secondly, in April it seems there is unlikely to be an awful lot of action around the lodges in Etosha since the rainy season might just have ended -or even be ending if it is a wet year. It seems to be a slightly "risky" month with animal movement dificult to predict in advance.
We decided that doing two countries was going to be impractical because of time constraints - although we have 14 nights there is just so much to see in Namibia that I don't know how we could fit another country in! This is not a once-in-a-lifetime trip and with lots of flights to JBO from Bangkok nowadays, we will be back. Keeping in mind that our focus is seeing wildlife (and particulalry cheetahs) but with all the pressure to see so many other fantastic things in Namibia, here is our current itinerary. It comes in at around $2100 per person excluding flights and car hire, which is $100 or so per day for an automatic (self-drive seems to be the best way to go unless you are willing to part with $400-500 per day for nothing particularly special, join a group (we're not antisocial but after 15/20 years of travelling independently it's difficult for us to change habits), or are willing to pay an awful amount for flights (certainly practical if you have a very large budget or want to spend a good number of days in a single location, but too much for us this time around).
Day 1 - On the road - see how far we can get from Windhoek
Days 2-3 Sossusvlei (probably Kulala Desert Lodge for early access to the dunes - looked at the Sossusvlei Lodge but once activities are factored in - it's no cheaper now)
Day 4 Cape Cross (need to see those seals and no time for Swakopmund)
Days 5-7 Hobartere (Mowani is my preference but Hobatere is on the edge of Etosha and appears to have a wider range of wildlife - plus the owner/manager is very knowledgable about that wildlife and there are two hides on the property - one of which you can sleep at - in a tree).
Days 8-10 Etosha - don't know where to stay but I see no advantage to being outside the park since our focus is on wildlife and we have a pretty comfortable trip)
Days 11- 13 Okinjima Bush Camp - which is nearly $400 pppn for 2007 (thanks a bunch Brangelina!) but it's in a very, very good cause.
Day 14 Outside Windhoek somewhere
The difficult days are the drive from Sossusvlei to Cape Cross, which could take 7 or so hours for us (without punctures) and then Cape Cross to Hobatere, which should be a comfortable 6 hours, but is difficult because we have to drive through Damaraland without stopping
However, having said all that I am thinking hard about whether we might think about other destinations for this trip and save Namibia for 2008 - when I am not forced to go in April (we have 4 days of public holiday in April and I only have 8 days vacation time going into April 2007 - I can't go after that because I have go to Galicia in Spain to see family for a few days in mid-August). Up to my wife, so we'll see... but this looks like a fantastic destination and for those who like trip planning the permutations are endless! The ONLY negative for us is the strong German influence on mid-range accommodation choices (safe, solid, clean and friendly guest farms or small hotels; perfect for self-drivers). Some of our best friends are German (really - my wife works for Lufhansa ;-) ) but I wish Namibia had more places like the Wilderness Camps - not necessarily in style and location, but in terms of offering something more than places to rest your head and have a meal and a beer before the next day's driving - some people love the driving, but for us nowadays (are we getting old? Surely not!) it is a necessary evil between being at our destination.
Paul
We decided that doing two countries was going to be impractical because of time constraints - although we have 14 nights there is just so much to see in Namibia that I don't know how we could fit another country in! This is not a once-in-a-lifetime trip and with lots of flights to JBO from Bangkok nowadays, we will be back. Keeping in mind that our focus is seeing wildlife (and particulalry cheetahs) but with all the pressure to see so many other fantastic things in Namibia, here is our current itinerary. It comes in at around $2100 per person excluding flights and car hire, which is $100 or so per day for an automatic (self-drive seems to be the best way to go unless you are willing to part with $400-500 per day for nothing particularly special, join a group (we're not antisocial but after 15/20 years of travelling independently it's difficult for us to change habits), or are willing to pay an awful amount for flights (certainly practical if you have a very large budget or want to spend a good number of days in a single location, but too much for us this time around).
Day 1 - On the road - see how far we can get from Windhoek
Days 2-3 Sossusvlei (probably Kulala Desert Lodge for early access to the dunes - looked at the Sossusvlei Lodge but once activities are factored in - it's no cheaper now)
Day 4 Cape Cross (need to see those seals and no time for Swakopmund)
Days 5-7 Hobartere (Mowani is my preference but Hobatere is on the edge of Etosha and appears to have a wider range of wildlife - plus the owner/manager is very knowledgable about that wildlife and there are two hides on the property - one of which you can sleep at - in a tree).
Days 8-10 Etosha - don't know where to stay but I see no advantage to being outside the park since our focus is on wildlife and we have a pretty comfortable trip)
Days 11- 13 Okinjima Bush Camp - which is nearly $400 pppn for 2007 (thanks a bunch Brangelina!) but it's in a very, very good cause.
Day 14 Outside Windhoek somewhere
The difficult days are the drive from Sossusvlei to Cape Cross, which could take 7 or so hours for us (without punctures) and then Cape Cross to Hobatere, which should be a comfortable 6 hours, but is difficult because we have to drive through Damaraland without stopping
However, having said all that I am thinking hard about whether we might think about other destinations for this trip and save Namibia for 2008 - when I am not forced to go in April (we have 4 days of public holiday in April and I only have 8 days vacation time going into April 2007 - I can't go after that because I have go to Galicia in Spain to see family for a few days in mid-August). Up to my wife, so we'll see... but this looks like a fantastic destination and for those who like trip planning the permutations are endless! The ONLY negative for us is the strong German influence on mid-range accommodation choices (safe, solid, clean and friendly guest farms or small hotels; perfect for self-drivers). Some of our best friends are German (really - my wife works for Lufhansa ;-) ) but I wish Namibia had more places like the Wilderness Camps - not necessarily in style and location, but in terms of offering something more than places to rest your head and have a meal and a beer before the next day's driving - some people love the driving, but for us nowadays (are we getting old? Surely not!) it is a necessary evil between being at our destination.
Paul
Aug 22nd, 2006, 03:34 PM
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Hello Paul,
I'm sure you know this since you are staying at Kulala Desert Lodge, but just in case...there are plenty of Wilderness Safaris camps in Namibia. They have some great camps in Sossusvlei, Damaraland, the Skeleton Coast, and Etosha.
http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/ca...sp?map_id=2379
Cheers,
Julian
I'm sure you know this since you are staying at Kulala Desert Lodge, but just in case...there are plenty of Wilderness Safaris camps in Namibia. They have some great camps in Sossusvlei, Damaraland, the Skeleton Coast, and Etosha.
http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/ca...sp?map_id=2379
Cheers,
Julian
Aug 22nd, 2006, 06:00 PM
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Thanks Julian. Yes I was aware, and I want to visit them all! Unfortunately it doesn't fit in with the trip concept this time - including the need to keep the budget reasonable given that we have only 14 weeks between coming back from Kenya and this trip. Having said that, I'm still looking for more information about Hobatere and if it doesn't look right the Palmwag concession would come back into the reckoning - and somehow I feel certain Johann is going to make the rhino camp sound mightily attractive again in his latest trip report.
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