jdurham

I will be arriving in Cape Town late July 22 and staying in SA for 14 days (depart late Aug 5). We want to to Cape Town and then 2 PRIVATE safaris. Looking for moderates luxury if that makes sense. Not sure of my budget but I am open at this stage. Also open to Zimbabwe.
Looking for itinerary suggestions and game reserve recommendations. Its myself and my teenage daughter.
Thanks

christabir

Two different safari lodges or two nights of safari? If two different lodges, I prefer three nights minimum at each otherwise it feels like you are packing and rushing too often.

It might sound crazy, but availability this year is very tight at all budgets. I would contact Wild-Wings-Safaris, an excellent local agent, to find options for you. Since you want private, you will have to pay for a private safari vehicle for your game drives. Unless you rent a whole lodge, meals will be communal unless you make other arrangements (which I have no idea if available). Kruger is the best place for safari, but closer to Cape Town are the reserves near/in Addo Elephant Park. You'll need a very long road transfer or a flight/road transfer to any of them.

There are options in KwaZulu Natal that might work well. Rhino River Lidge has the Homestead - you get the whole house to yourselves, food on your own and private ranger and vehicle. Very affordable compared to the Kruger area or Zimbabwe lodges. Phinda, though MUCH more expensive has a similar option. The flight from Cape Town to Durban is easy, then a couple hours private road transfer to the lodge. You'll have to contact Rhino River Lodge or Phinda directly for availability.

Get in touch with Wild-Wings. They should be able to find the perfect options. There are no good options for safaris close to Cape Town. As I said, no matter what we suggest, availability will be hard.

jdurham

I will get in touch with wild wings.
Yes, I meant 2 different lodges-and I agree 3-4 night stay for each.
I would like a game reserve that includes meals, lodging, and 2 safaris/day. I think I am comfortable with $600CAD per person/night.

The reserves don't have to be near CT. I have looked at several around Kruger..byt you have to email the resort for availability and then wait for them to ere ply. A bit of a longer process..

Thanks again. Curious-how do you know so much about SA-?

christabir

I don't think you will be able to do what you want at a mid range lodge. The private vehicles are very expensive.

A lot of lodges have availability online. Here's a map of all of the lodges (a few are missing, like Senalala, which might be a good option for you) near Kruger. I only recommend the lodges in Timbavati, Klaserie and Sabi Sand.

http://skukuzaairport.com/wp-content...Kruger-Map.pdf

I love S Africa, help a lot of travelers and have decided to retire to the coast of KwaZulu Natal. I go as often as possible, including a trip next month that I just booked on Friday. I've been on ultra luxury and very basic safaris. Love it all. I want everyone who visits to love it too. You don't need to spend a fortune to have a wonderful experience.

To do what you want, I highly recommend Rhino River Lodge. They are so nice and will go above and beyond for anything you need. Then you could spend more of your budget on a higher end option like Phinda. Or stay at Tembe Elephant Park, also in KwaZulu Natal. Very fun, very affordable and has great elephants! It's a former national park that is now owned by the local community. I love it - they recently renovated and upgraded everything. For your specific needs, RRL and Tembe really might be perfect.

Check on Senalala. It's a smaller, newer lodge in Klaserie. Cheetah Plains in Sabi Sand might allow for a private vehicle in your budget if they can accommodate that. Hopefully Wild-Wings will be able to help - they do safaris in all price ranges and have local offices, so they know a wide variety of accommodations. Plus they have access to current availability everywhere.

Have fun. It's going to be great!

diannelovestravel

Hi there jdurham!

Great trip to do with your daughter! Nothing like experiencing the bush with family, especially your own kids!

I'm still finding availability but it is sparse. I recommend you work with an agent to target a swift search for you. I would focus on Sabi Sand, Manyeleti, Timbavati initially. Solid game viewing. Reserves around Cape Town will not give you the same experience at all and the game viewing is not comparable either. Phinda, about 3 hours or so from Durban, will give you good game viewing so that is an option.

Two lodges at 3 nights a piece works really well. It's great to switch lodges, get a change in lodging style/decor and different atmosphere. There are many options in your price range that offer nice accommodation, daily game drives, meals, drinks etc. Again, I would have a safari planner do a search for you. Most planners do not charge for their help. A lot of people do not know that.

Starting in Cape Town is a great idea. So many incredible things to do there: Table Mtn, Robben Island, Township Tour, Shark Cage Dive, Whale watching, Penguins/Cape of Good Hope etc etc.. The winelands are only one hour away. You could do a bike tour around the vineyards and picnic or enjoy the Wine Train Tour. Lots of different ways to enjoy the incredible vistas and countryside.

As for lodging options in Cape Town, options range from larger hotels to smaller more boutique style places and you could be on the waterfront or in one of the nearby neighborhoods for a smaller more local feel. Again, choices galore.

Happy to help!

Best
Dianne
Africa Direct USA

Gardyloo

Are you willing to rent a car for part of your visit? It would help significantly with logistics.

Picking lodges can be frustrating, partly because prices can be all over the map for lodges in the same area, and often seeing, basically, the same animals. For example, Elephant Plains, a popular "budget" lodge in the Sabi Sand reserve (but one that we enjoyed) offers stays for C$275 or so per night per person. Arathusa, adjacent, is around C$300, but Chitwa Chitwa (where we also enjoyed staying) - next to Arathusa - costs around C$900. Why? (Note these are prices from their websites; a travel agent may help you reduce these.)

Some lodges are easier to get to than others. I like to drive to the Sabi Sand lodges because one can easily combine those visits with a couple of days along the nearby Panorama Route - spectacular mountain and canyon scenery just to the west of the Kruger complex. However, there's an airstrip at Arathusa with scheduled service; any of the nearby lodges will happily pick you up and drop you off.

We also enjoyed a couple of visits to the Madikwe reserve over on the Botswana border, staying at the (community-owned) Buffalo Ridge lodge. Madikwe is an interesting and quite diverse reserve, resurrected from marginal farmland, with excellent game viewing. You can drive there in around three hours from Joburg, while driving to the Sabi Sand/Kruger area takes more like five hours.

While we've spent a fair amount of time in SA I will not count myself an expert. But unless you've stayed in the majority of reserves or lodges you'll need to take somebody's advice at some point, or (not a bad plan) put some trust in the South African (government sponsored) Tourism Grading Council - http://www.tourismgrading.co.za/ - who inspect and rank accommodations throughout the country. I once spent an evening talking with a hotelkeeper (with properties in Pretoria and Cape Town) about the inspection and ranking process, and he was trembling at the prospect of an unannounced visit; the gain or loss of a "star" in ranking was a very big deal. So in terms of quality of experience I'd have faith that this system is trustworthy, and that one game lodge next to another, both with the same or close "star" ranking, will deliver.

Sure, you might have differences in individual trackers, or some lodges might not have the same "traversing" rights (the ability to go onto other lodges' property) as their neighbors, or the wine list may be bigger... but honestly, as a first time visitor, it's unlikely you're going to know the differences; you'll be too knocked out by the experience as it is.

DebitNM

"Arathusa, adjacent, is around C$300"

If they have availability, I would grab it! We spend 3 nights there last September and it was excellent all around - accommodations, meals, safaris and guide/trackers.

uhoh_busted

Wild Wings put together our itinerary (or more to the point, worked with me to tailor the itinerary we wanted) for next month (May). We will be self-driving and not visiting Cape Town this trip but this will let us see parts of SA we've not been to before (Kruger, Swaziland, KwaZulu Natal, and the beautiful KZN coast, as well as historic battlefields). One of the things Wild Wings has built a reputation on, has been transfers (as well as being able to get you delightful lodgings). So I think they should be able to help you find what works best for you.

jdurham

Thanks everyone. A few points of clarification:
*no car-we will fly between reserves
*sorry-by private I meant game reserves-not the safari itself

I was going to contact Wild Wings-will I end up paying more because of their service?

Thanks so much again

jdurham

Sorry. Disregard. I just researched Wild Wing and got my answers. So much to learn...

christabir

Just beware - there is an agency also called wild wings, but they do hunting safaris. Don't use them. That's why I use the dash in their name as on their web address. Wild-Wings does a great job and are very fair. They will work with you whatever you decide.

You SHOUTED the PRIVATE safari, so I assumed you meant private. From another post, will it be ok for both of you to join a game vehicle with up to ten people? I would make your specific needs known before you book. I still love Rhino River Lodge (going again next month!!!) and Tembe. Senalala along with a Sabi Sand lodge might be a perfect combo, too.

uhoh_busted

You might also contact one of my favorite safari providers, zambezi.com. We worked with Chris Wordon in their Victoria Falls office. He may be able to put you in to a Zimbabwe itinerary with Vic Falls and Hwange locations. Or you also might enjoy a Namibia Itinerary.