First Trip to Africa Advice
 

Hi all,

This is really open-ended but my wife and I are doing our first trip to Africa from the US and I wanted to pose a question before we book our trip. We have picked out the following trip with Gap:
http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/DACD

We are going to add 2-3 extra days in Cape Town on our own in addition to the group tour. We liked this trip because it combined different types of cities (Cape Town, Lambert's Bay, Windhoek), solitude and beautiful scenery (Namibia) and a Safari (Etosha). It sounded like a great taste of the many things Africa has to offer in one trip. We don't know if we'll ever get to go back, but hopefully we will! We're very excited about this trip and likely won't be changing our minds, but I still thought it would be fun to ask this question:

Do you think this is a good first trip to Africa (and possibly only trip) or do you think we are really missing out by not going somewhere else?

If this may be your only trip to Africa, I'd suggest East Africa... Kenya or Tanzania, not Namibia. You'll find more of the "classic Africa" there with the open, acacia-dotted plains and more wildlife. You can also have cultural experiences with the Maasai, Hadzabe and other tribes while you're there.

What time of year are you planning to go? If you're flexible, June to September would be better months for Namibia weather and game viewing wise. If you're thinking another time of year, I might be inclined to choose a different destination.

Hi bluesphee,

I've posted on your other thread regarding the Himba, but I thought I throw my two cents worth in here ... LOL!

Although Shaytay's got a very valid point, I honestly don't think that there's any trip that encompasses the widest diversity that Africa has to offer in as few days. DACD has everything, from the "fairest Cape", to the raw scenery of the western Cape coastal belt, the oldest desert in the world (NOTHING can really compare to the Namib), the adventure capital of Swakopmund, and the wildlife heaven (or hell) of Etosha. Namibia is also the most beautiful and friendly African country I've ever come across.

The Kenya/Tanzania route is definitely on my "Do before I die" list, but I think the Cape to Windhoek to Vic route is the best Africa has to offer - sorry, Shaytay - no offence :-)

GAP has got a useful travel forum and if you search DACD or DAFD, you find lots of fascinating comments. It'll give a lot of insight into what that trip offers.

Wherever you go, though, Africa will burrow into your soul. You'll be back. LOL!

Great comments already! I am looking forward to more comments :). We are planning to go in September on the Namibia trip but since we have not booked anything yet we aren't set on a date.

Agree with ShayTay. I've been on safari to Kenya, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa. Only Kenya (and Tanzania) have the "classic Africa" look. And also not sure about the abundance of "classic Africa" wildlife where and when in Namibia/Etosha you may be going. I'd be more inclined to instead go over to the Kruger area for safari at a private camp, e.g., MalaMala, in the Sabi Sand Reserve. And of course visit Kruger itself if you have the time.

regards - tom

My first impluse is the same as Shaytay's. September is perfect wildlife watching conditions for Kenya. In fact I'll be there myself.

But you must have picked Namibia with extra time in Cape Town for a reason. You won't see the desert dunes anywhere else in Africa and Cape Town is a city unique in all the world, not just Africa.

If you tacked on yet some more time in Kruger or the neighboring Sabi Sands, as Tom mentioned, I think your current itinerary would be improved--along with being more expensive. And I don't know how much time you have, so that second extension may not be possible.

That's the problem with the continent of Africa--so many wonderful and diverse experiences, it's hard to choose.

It's a great first trip to Africa.And you're wise to spend those extra few days in Cape Town.We did their similar tour a year ago.September is perfect as hopefully you'll see the Namarqualand bloom as you drive through.

http://wateringhole.gapadventures.com
GAP Adventures forum for your info

Mmmm, Tactile. I'd forgotten about Namaqualand at that time of year. Absolutely brilliant!

Need I remind you?

September isn't the best time for Cape Town but it is good for Namibia. I agree with Atravelynn that if you can afford to add on 2 or 3 nights to Kruger that would be a great trip.

My first Africa trip was actually to Namibia purely because I'd seen photographs of the scenery. The game viewing part wasn't our first priority when we booked but we got addicted after a few nights at Etosha.

While we're discussing Namibia, what are the temps like in the latter half of September? I may have an opportunity to go there for a week after my Bots safari.

Hey Shaytay,

You can expect max temps of up to around 30 to 32 degs. C, at that time of the year, with night times dropping to a min of about 10 or so (but possibly warmer).

You may have a couple of temp excursions (remembering it's change of season time), but it should be very dry (virtually no humidity). Actually a brilliant time of the year to go.

The coastal belt (Swakopmund) is a lot cooler generally, and there are some variances north to south (hotter in the north).

A month later you'll be up in the upper 30's, and in December/January, you could get up to mid-40's!

It's vastly different to Botswana. Bots is a wildlife paradise. Namibia is the "Land God made in Anger", with the starkest, harshest, most beautiful landscapes, and an ancient desert, to the wetland heavens up in the far northeast. And the nicest people in Africa. Addictive is the right word (to quote Lynneb)!

Enjoy if you can get there!

ShayTay,
We were only there until about the 3rd week of Sep and it also depends on where you go. It got up into the high 90's, maybe even 100 in the Sossusvlei/NamibRand areas when we were there. Nights cooled off significantly. We didn't travel any farther north than the Erongo Mountains and it was not as hot there than in the Namib desert. Swakopmund was much cooler than everywhere else and had coastal weather with fog, clouds. It was also very windy our whole trip but we were told that's more typical of August than September. Where in Namibia are you thinking of going?

Hi all,

Thank you so much for the thoughtful and useful responses! My wife and I really do appreciate all of them!

We are set on going with the Namibia trip and all of these responses helped us understand what we would prefer. We are really hoping we can go back to Africa to see more of the "classic" Africa in Kenya and Tanzania as suggested.

A few posts recommended adding on some days to see Kruger before the Gap trip. I'm particularly interested in doing this. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this in the most affordable way? We don't need fancy lodges, but would like clean, safe accommodations.

I was looking at adding on the Cape Town i-Style 4 day trip from Gap as a way to get to Kruger (though I don't know if that includes a flight...probably not) :
http://www.gapadventures.com/trips/i.../TDACY4C/2010/

Thanks as always.

Kruger - If you can budget $500 per person per day, go to a private camp in the Sabi Sand or Timbavati Reserve. Both reserves border Kruger. If $125 per person per day is better, then rent a car and drive yourself in Kruger. That is the way most people visit Kruger, drive yourself. You stay in the Kruger rest camps, typically nice double bed huts/bungalows. About $90 a night for two people. A rental car from Avis is rather expensive (compared to USA) and will run you about $80 per day. Add in meals and gasoline. We do both - drive Kruger and then go to a private camp, and love both.

Here is Kruger's web site, it is a SA National Park (SANP) -
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/


regards - tom

Thanks Tom. $500 per person per day is way out of our price range given our existing trip through Namibia. It's good to know that is a reasonable expectation on pricing though. $125 is definitely much more doable.

It sounds a bit intimidating to start out our trip driving ourselves to Kruger. I'm definitely not opposed to it, but I will look into a tour to help guide us through Kruger and weigh the pros/cons (cost vs. convenience etc...)

For any others that may read this thread and are trying to do a similar thing, I found a very useful post about going to Cape Town but also trying to get to Kruger for a bit. It covers a lot of flight information details that I have not gone through yet myself, but it appears to cover the info I need:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...onal_Park.html

I'm going to look into starting towards Kruger vs. originally flying into Cape Town. That might make more sense. I'll also post back what I find out about that Gap i-Style trip.

my pleasure BS
That tripadvisor topic gives the three closest airports. Driving in Kruger would be easy, max speed limit is 30mph. So gives you good slow adjustment to driving on the left side of road. Yes, there are guides who will take you into Kruger with their own vehicle. Also there are some lodges just outside Kruger that run tour vehicles into Kruger. But have not used any, but they are mentioned here occasionally. Poster here "jczinn" was in Kruger last Nov. with a hired guide, you might try a search and see if you can find her comments/report.

regards - tom

Bluesphee,

I've been following your trip planning with interest...I know you're going to enjoy Namibia. It's a beautiful place.

My first trip to Africa involved about 10 days in Kruger followed by 3 days in Etosha. I really liked each park for very different reasons. It's a lot easier to see animals in Etosha due to the openness of the landscape. Check to see if you will be staying at the Okaukuejo rest camp at Etosha; if you're staying inside Etosha proper, you most likely will spend at least one of your two nights there. You will see LOTS of animals there. We watched a lion kill from the viewing area over the waterhole near the camp!

I've done the Kruger self-drive twice and it is very easy to do, and I'm not the most confident driver in international environments. If you would feel comfortable driving in a US National Park, you can self-drive Kruger! If you are uncomfortable with the idea of driving and still would like to do it, I would highly recommend flying from Johannesburg to Phalaborwa airport and renting a car there. This airport is less than 5 miles from Kruger and is very quiet with no traffic. As Tom said, the speed limit in Kruger is around 30 mph and there is no traffic, so you get used to driving on the left very quickly. Do make sure you can either drive a manual transmission (most rental cars in SA are manuals) or pay extra for an automatic.

I've also rented a car from the Nelspruit airport (KMIA), which is fine, but it is about 1 hour away from the nearest park entrance and is in a more populated area. It was a little intimidating to immediately have to learn how to drive on the left, deal with occasional animals in the road, and dodge all of the erratic minibus taxis that drive like maniacs. However, I did it without any problems.

If you flew into Phalaborwa and entered the park from there, you could then stay at Kruger's Letaba rest camp (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours from the entrance), or better yet, stay at Olifants or Satara rest camps further south. I would recommend Satara over the others due to the high numbers of animals in that area. That area is also the closest you'll get to that "classic" Africa look others have talked about (although larger portions of Africa are desert, jungle, and miombo woodlands than open plains, but I digress).

Other ways to save a little money on a Kruger extension include staying in the smaller accomodation types and cooking dinner rather than eating at the camp restaurants. My favorite camp (Tamboti) combines these two cost-saving measures. The camp is made up of safari tents (which are HUGE, almost permanent structures) which cost around $35-$50 per night (for 2 people) and does not have a restaurant. Each tent has a grill available to do the biggest South African pastime of all--the braai (we call it barbeque). It's easy to pick up some meats and vegetables and grill it for dinner!

All of the accomodation types in Kruger are very nice, clean, and safe. It will be a lot nicer than the 2 nights of camping that you will be doing in Etosha. Hopefully they've updated the bathrooms and showers at the Etosha camping areas; I remember using one shower in Etosha with just a bare pipe sticking out of the wall. The shower head appeared to have disappeared long ago. Kruger's facilities are nicer than the ones in the US parks.

Hope this helps.

bluesphee,

I just thought of a couple of fun little pieces of Namibia research that you could do before your trip.

Are you familiar with Anthony Bourdain's travel show? I recently started watching old episodes of his show on Netflix. He traveled to Namibia and it was interesting to watch. He didn't really do the typical tourist thing, though.

Also, have you heard of the show "Man vs. Wild"? It's a guilty pleasure of mine on Netflix as well. The show's host does a "survival" episode in the Namibian desert. This show can be really hokey, but the landscapes shown are fascinating.

bluesphee,
I think that your trip will be wonderful! I have been to all East & Southern African countries,and although I love Tanzania & its my favourite, Nambia comes very close... not because of the wildlife, but because of the beauty & the people.

If you can manage a detour from Etosha,,?? I would definitely recommend a few nights in the Caprivi, it is completely different from the rest of Namibia and there you will definitely see 'WILD' there is 2 very nice parks there, Bwabwata National Park (only 3000 visitors a year) and Mahango National Park which borders botswana...

For SA Kruger is great, but honestly not my favourite because of all the tourists, cars, busses etc. so I think you will have a much better experience actually staying in one of the private lodges, as they have private concessions and your game viewing will definitely be better,..

If you cannot take that many days to fly all the way to Nelspruit or Phalaborwa for that leg of the trip. There is a (still very new) but wonderful park in the Cape area called ADDO ELEPHANT PARK and they claim to have the 'big 6' as a section of sea is marine protected. There is also allot of accommodation options there and really a very beautiful park.

Bluesphere,

We did our first trip to Africa in April '09. We flew to Johannesburg and rented a car(a small SUV from Hertz) and drove to Kruger. We spent one night at at Kirkmans Kamp because I couldn't get that night at the Kruger rest stop we wanted. We did two group drives which were wonderful. We then drove on into Kruger for three days and two nights before driving back to Johannesburg for our flight to Cape Town. The selfdrive safari was very easy and an absolutely wonderful experience. We loved the private camp but doing it ourselves was even better. The rest area accommadations were good and clean, a good value at $60US a night. The food was reasonable also. We saw many different animals and very close up on our drives. It was exciting and lots of fun.

After five days in Cape Town. we flew to Tanzania for a week long private safari which was also great, but still our favorite was the Kruger experience. The driving was not at all intimidating. There were good paved and gravel roads with many animals and no traffic. As far as the ease of driving is concerned, comparing it to driving in US National Parks is close with much less traffic in Kruger! Plus we met some wonderful South Africans in the picnic and viewing areas, by the way we are in our 60s.

If you want to read a daily report of our experiences and see pictures of our time in Kruger please visit our trip report at:

www.aroundtheworldin132days.blogspot.com

Click on April and scroll to down to March 29 for the beginning of the South Africa/Kruger part of the trip.

Your plans sound wonderful, but if you can work in Kruger you will love it.

I would cut down on your Namibia time. You could then go to Botswana for few days,then Victoria Falls. Fly out of Livingstone to Nelspruit on SAA. Then self drive to the Kruger, or go to Mala Mala.
Have fun!

Patty, I'm not sure, yet. Some of my friends on the Bots safari are going to Namibia afterwards. I may tag along, but it depends on if my roommate wants to go. I've got an extra week after the Bots portion of the trip in which to do something before I fly home. I haven't been to Namibia and my friends plan to be there during a full moon for photography over the dunes... sounds interesting!

Wow----I am just trying to figure out an itinerary here, and there is so much info. Sounds like one person's favorite is another's "not what I would do."
I'm thinking of going to South Africa solo. I like the idea of this western Capetown, Namibi thing. What makes one safari better than another? Kruger...these private reserves? And I don't understand the self-drive concept---can't you come across a lion or something? Isn't that dangerous?
I'd be traveling solo. My initial thoughts were 5 days in the Capetiwn area and 5 on safari

So often the case Stu, that Africa being such a huge place, with so many options and choices, in limited time,and we've all gone about it differently, that is exactly what happens.So when someone comes on with their idea of a tour, I'll never try and suggest something else.Doing that doesn't help, it only confuses the OP more.
Better to help the person get the most out of their choice.

For many people, going on a tour, is the best for them.No hassles in having to plan and arrange itineraries and accommodation and transport.And in such a scenic country, it is really great to be carted around,kick back, and keep your eyes out the window and watch adventures reel out past your windows.And on GAP tours, it is always possible to ask your guide to stop so you can get out and investigate something you've spotted.In fact our guide encouraged that.
Sure, it costs more.But well worth it.
We've also done self drive in Namibia.And that didn't work out so cheap because you don't get the same deals on accom. as the tour guys get.Sure you can camp, but there's some really great lodges to be enjoyed.
Self drive is hiring a rental vehicle(you don't always need a 4wd,depends where you are going and if you'll be mainly on sealed roads or not)and taking off .You'll probably have prebooked your accom, have a preplanned itinerary, as in such a short time, you need to maximise your touring with no stuffing around.You'll count yourself lucky if you do come across a lion...
Personally we enjoy a mix of group tour, which gives us less hassles, a chance to meet self minded other travellers,and then a week or two of independant self drive.
Best of both worlds.
My best advice-10 days just ain't long enough.
But if that's what you've got, try for 2-3 in Cape Town, the rest then exploring places close in the Western Cape area.Or fly across to Kruger.Or take in Addo.

StuQ-

You're back!! Have you decided anything yet? Spring or summer? 10 days or longer? I thought we lost you.

What makes one safari location better than another is the quantity and quality of wildlife viewing. That's why so many of us love the Sabi Sands area outside Kruger. A self-drive could be dangerous if you get out of your vehicle. Not allowed (and would be quite dumb). Eles are a whole other subject. You would really be better at a private game reserve where all of your needs would be taken care of since you are solo. I still think 3-4 days Cape Town and 5-100 days safari around Kruger would be perfect for you - if you get a driver (not that expensive) for Joburg to Kruger area it is a pretty drive. Let us know what you decide.

StuQ

<i> What makes one safari better than another? </i>
You answered it: <b>Sounds like one person's favorite is another's "not what I would do."</b>

That's why you just need to focus on what would make a good trip for you, which is more difficult when you have not been to that destination. But Africa does have something for just about everyone's tastes if you plan well up front.

"Quantity and quality of wildlife viewing" is certainly one way to judge a safari destination, as Christabir notes. You can also factor in certain species of animals or birds, the level of guiding, remoteness of location, type of habitat, ability to stay out all day, usinging an open vehicle, opportunities to walk or canoe, intimacy of lodging with natural surroudings, or (the opposite) sturdiness of solid walls, animals in camp, or lack thereof, camp management, types of guests the place attracts, and for some people the variety and quality of spirits at the bar.

If you do Western Cape & Namibia, you probably couldn't do the Kruger/Sabi Sands area too, unless you just flew into Namibia for about 3-4 nights to see the massive sand dunes.

I wholly agree with Christabir's response to your self drive questions and concerns.

Give a couple of companies a call and post what they provide for some more direction. There are many options for a fantastic solo first trip to South or Southern Africa.

Hi StuQ,

I don't think there is such thing as "one safari that is better than another." Everyone is unique and their interests and experiences are unique. So, as atravelynn has said, you really have to look at what would make a good trip for you.

As you can see from above, I really like driving myself around in Kruger. It's really quite safe if you stay in your car. Elephants are the scariest animal to deal with, so I always give them their space. I really don't think safety concerns should rule out a Kruger self-drive.

However, I always travel with my wife and not alone. I would imagine a solo traveler would want to travel with a tour group.

I tend to advocate the self-drive option in Kruger when people are concerned about costs, as the original poster of this thread did when they asked about a Kruger extension to their trip. I was a young, inexperienced traveler when I made the decision to follow up on my childhood dream of going to Africa. I almost didn't go after I saw the prices of some of the tours and lodges. It was so frustrating. I know others who have been turned off to the idea of a safari trip because they feel they are too expensive. Economical, personal options like the Kruger self-drive are not as easy to find.

"Economical, personal options like the Kruger self-drive are not as easy to find."
Agree Gritty, and with your/that whole posting. Except for that killer flight(s)over to South Africa, it is really very easy to see what you have seen all your life on the National Geographic Channel - live, up close and personal!!!

regards - tom

We plan to self drive in Kruger for our first trip to South Africa in July, August and September 2010. In addition to the many useful comments on this Forum, I also stumbled across a wonderful self drive resource called Guide Your Own Safari, a 248 page e-book which can be easily downloaded, written by Bruce Whittaker.

The Guide features practical advice, routes and helpful information about Kruger as well as other African Parks. And as an added bonus, Bruce and his wife Wilma offer personal consultations on any questions you might have via email. To make this even easier, Wilma is happy to do your Kruger bookings for you as they are licensed to provide that service. It's really quite amazing. Wilma saved me countless days of research and made my trip planning so much easier than I had expected.

The Guide and Whittakers can be found at

http://african-safari-journals.com

Their site also has lots of trip reports from a variety of people in different countries so it's fun to read as well.

I encourage anyone even thinking about a self drive to at least go to their web site.

boudecca

Hi all,

I wanted to report back what we finally decided. We are doing a longer trip than originally planned through GAP in September. We are now starting in Zambia at Victoria Falls, then go through Botswana, Namibia and end in Cape Town. It is their Dunes Delta and Falls Discoverer trip. Here's a link:
http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/DZDD

We managed to work out the amount of vacation time to do this longer trip and felt it was worth our extra money than just doing Namibia and South Africa. We're really excited to do more Safari-style travel in Botswana including the Okavango Delta. It's also going to be incredible to see Victoria Falls.

Of course I'll report back on our trip sometime after it's done!

Oh and one more point. We did the reverse tour that ends in Cape Town since that will put us in Cape Town at the end of September instead of the beginning of September. We should hopefully get better weather that way. Hopefully Namarqualand will still be in full bloom.

Hi Bluesphee,

I think your choice of trip is an excellent one. This route is still what I consider the best that Africa has to offer (and September is probably the best time to do it). I normally recommend the route in the other direction, but there are good and valid reasons for your choice.

It also allows you to make the most of Vic Falls, because the flow will be decreasing quite quickly at that time, and the three weeks will make a difference.

Remember to arrive some days before the GAP trip to enjoy Vic. The trip leaves Livingstone on the first morning, so you won't have time to do anything. Vic Falls is one of the big adventure capitals of Southern Africa. Worth spending a day or two there.

And leave some days in Cape Town at the end. Also worth at least three or four days.

Enjoy and have an awesome time.

This is a great thread and sounds like a fun trip to a beautiful place!

My first ever trip to Africa was to Namibia and we loved it and it just made us want to return. Perhaps you might want to compare another couple of Namibia tours to see if there are other options too? Explore/Exodus/Adventure Company or similar offer group tours covering all the usual highlights.

Hi Bushkid0,

You said:
I normally recommend the route in the other direction, but there are good and valid reasons for your choice.

It does seem like the reverse route of what I am doing is the more popular way of doing this trip. Is there any reason for this? I can't think of a single trip I've been on where it would have made a significant difference if I reversed it. I've already booked it and am not looking to change it but just thought I would ask for other people reading this thread wondering the same thing. Thanks again for everyone's input!

I've been many times to Africa and while I have perhaps said "Namibia is fantastic yada yada yada but maybe not your first trip to Africa" I've sort of re-thought that and said "Why Not?" The fact is it remains one of my favorite trips to Africa...we saw loads of wildlife from rhinos to elephants to giraffes to oryx and on and on...all in osme of the most spectacular scenery you can imagine...it is a magical place...we were in Serra Cafema, Palmwag Rhino Camp, Skeleton Coast, Etosha and Sossusvlei...AMAZING! And Cape Town is own of the great, most beautiful cities on the planet with so much to do....I say, go for it.

I always find discussions about when and where to go in Africa mind-boggling. I've been once to South Africa, Botswana and
Victoria Falls. Chosen because friends had gone to Botswana and it has great animal viewing. I have yet to find anyone who has gone anywhere in Africa, even on business with no safari or tourism involved and not have enjoyed the experience.
I think no matter where you go you will come back having had a completely new view of the world. Some of the things you were really looking forward to won't be all you'd thought they would be and others that you weren't expecting will be wonderful. So talk to people and go on the forums and then realize no matter where you go,you will most likely want to come back. We went in 2008 and were there when President Obama was elected, the excitement everywhere we went was infectious. Next year we're going back to Namibia with OAT.

Hi all,

We are heading out on our trip tomorrow and I just wanted to say thanks again to anyone whose helped me on this forum! The advice we have received has been invaluable. After a lot of thinking about it we are finally leaving and are super excited!

I will report back how our trip went of course.