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.