My wife and I are visiting SA late July to early August this year. We shall rent a car in Johannesburg, stay near the airport and then drive north to Kruger (Oliphants). We have one night free between Johannesburg and Oliphants and wanted to visit the Blyde River canyon. Is that doabale if we leave the airport area with our rental very early?

Where should we stay midway between Johannesburg and Oliphants if we do the Blyde River Canyon? What are the safety concerns? Is that a fairly safe area if we follow normal precautions (i.e. cell phone, no night driving)?

Hi,
My boyfriend and I did exactly that trip last year - arrived in Jo'burg at 8 am, picked up our rental car and drove to Blyde River Canyon. It took us around 5 hours. We stayed at the Blyde River Canyon Lodge (not in many guide books, but it's in an excellent location, right near the entrance to the Blyde Canyon nature reserve). It's a lovely, small lodge with gorgeous gardens and a stunning view of the Drakensberg. There's also a pool and a few resident zebra/wildebeest. The food is lovely. All in all, I can't recommend it highly enough! I contacted the lodge via their website, http://www.blyderivercanyonlodge.com/

We stayed two nights there, so we spent a full day driving round the area, along the scenic route that takes you to God's Window, Graskop and Pilgrims' Rest. No safety fears - just need to drive carefully due to occasional people and animals on the road.

We then drove from the lodge to Letaba camp, which is north of Olifants. It took about 5 hours as we chose to enter the park at Orpen gate (35 mins from the lodge) and drove slowly up to our rest camp, spotting lots of game on the way.