HELP!!!
 

I want to travel to South Africa, but the more research I do, the more confused I get. You guys seem to be better than any of my research and any travel Agents. We are a party of 4 in our mid 40s (the average joes. With a budget of $4500 for 14 days. Staying in a moderate price range. 2nd and 3rd week of August OR 2nd and 3rd week of September. Out of EWR or JFK. Points of interest, VIC Falls, Safari, and Cape Town. How can I get from point to point? Fly or Drive? When driving, how long does it take to get from point to point? Thanks for helping my map out an itinerary. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Do you mean 4500 per person or for the group?

Word of advice - do not post "HELP" as a heading. Someone may thing you are kidnapped. Be more specific in your posting such as "Need advice for SA trip". You will get better results that way.

Good luck

Haven't been to SA yet, but did just recently put together my own trip for June/July. I'm assuming that the $4500 is per person and does not include intnl airfare, vaccinations, travel insurance, etc. It's just the land cost plus internal transport.

I would do the trip in August rather than September since September is high season and August is shoulder season.

CC Africa has a 4 nights for 3 promotion going on for some of its lodges. So, you could get Phinda for ZAR 11,400 for 4 nights. There may be similar deals at Exeter. Lots of lodges in SA to choose from. Internal transport can be via air or land - depends on how much time you have. For only 2 weeks, I would do air. Figure something like ZAR 3650 for roundtrip from JNB to Phinda.

So, for 4 nights at a high quality safari lodge you're looking at around ZAR 15000 including transport, which is about USD $2000.

For Victoria Falls, you're looking at USD $500 round trip per person JNB-LVI - Nationwide or SAA. There's a range of accommodations at Vic Falls, so your cost will vary. Lots of good recommendations for Ilala Lodge on the Zim side at USD $170 a night. So, figure on two nights at Vic Falls at USD $850 including transport, but not any tours/activities (Bungie Jumping, anyone?) you do when you get there.

So, I've already spent 2/3 of your budget.

JNB to CPT is pretty cheap at around $200 rt or less, and there's a wide array of accommodations to choose from, so hotel costs will vary. You'll also want to rent a car for a day or two, or perhaps hire a private guide.

Hmmm, so here's the itinerary:

Day 1: JFK - CPT
Day 2: JNB overnight - recover from flight.
Day 3: JNB - Phinda (or some other park/lodge)
Day 4: Phinda
Day 5: Phinda
Day 6: Phinda
Day 7: Phinda - JNB, o/n JNB
Day 8: JNB to LVI
Day 9: Victoria Falls
Day 10: LVI to JNB, JNB to CPT
Day 11: Cape Town
Day 12: Cape Town
Day 13: Cape Town
Day 14: Cape Town
Day 15: CPT - JNB - JFK
Day 16: Home

Hmm, so that's $3000 plus $1500 left over for 5 nights in Cape Town, and 2 nights in Johannesburg, which is easily do-able. An African Villa in Cape Town looks like a nice place, and is around USD $100 a night. You'll need to find a cheap hotel for a couple of nights in JNB. Add some money for a rental car or tours, and you're there.

So, this is a fairly high end trip, though not luxurious. You could get by on a cheaper safari (self-drive in Kruger, perhaps?) at different parks or with fewer nights.

Oops, Day 1 should be JFK - JNB. JNB is a much better hub for getting around in SA since most internal flights seem to route through there.

am doing a similar itinerary close to that price range excluding intl airfare. I say close because we subbed in a tour for a flight so I lost track on the spreadsheet. This is for mid October.

Day 1 JFK to JNB, JNB to Capetown
Day 2 Arrive CPT - David's Guest House (saving here to splurge later, owned by friends of friends)
Day 3 - CPT
Day 4 - CPT
Day 5 - CPT
Day 6 - CPT
Day 7 - fly CPT to JNB to Mala Mala
Day 8 - MM
Day 9 - MM
Day 10 - MM
Day 11 - panoramic tour from MM to JNB, overnight Southern Sun
Day 12 - Fly JNB to LVI, overnight Royal Livingstone
Day 13 - Royal Livingstone
Day 14 - fly to JNB for return flight to JFK

I worked with Premier Tours and they had suggestions to help keep the price down - I think they have a deal between Lion Sands and Cape Cadogan in CPT.

Hi gojosiego

To answer your initial question, you will need to fly between Vic Falls, Cape Town and safari. To get an idea of the flights, go to www.flysaa.com

A car in Cape Town is very useful to get around. Other than that, you can rely on transfers.

Your budget it perfectly adequate for a 4 star trip. But definitely travel in August to get the good deals.