help needed desperately with South Africa itineray
 

Help me, please. I had posted a few days ago. We are planning to travel to South Africa during school winter vacation. My family (husband and 2 teenaged daughters) think that 5 nights of safari is too much. So, we can either do 4 nights or 3 nights (which would include 8 game drives) at djuma vuyatela. We will then do 4 nights in Capetown, and 2 nights in Krysna. The big question is whether to do 3 nights safari and 3 nights Krysna, or 4 nights safari and 3 nights Krysna. Do you think that 8 game drives is sufficient? My husband and older daughter don't seem interested in more then this, but they may feel differently once they are there. Thoughts??? Joy

oops, I made an error. The big question is whether to do 4 nights safari, 2 nights Krysna, or 3 nights safari and 3 nights at Krysna, staying at the Phantom Forest. THanks for your thoughts. Joy

hi joy,
it's all about interests.
one cannot state which one might serve you better!
if you are keen on animals....4 nts safari would be the choice.....

So it's 2 against 2 if I am counting family members correctly?

What are your plans in Krysna? I found the big activities there to be angling, canoeing, diving, camping, swimming and boating. If they or you would really enjoy these things, then another day in Krysna makes sense.

Though my bias is toward safari activities, I'd ask if you can easily do the Krysna activities elsewhere and if you can easily do the safari activities elsewhere. You may find you want to take advantage of the unique opportunties that South Africa offers. The most unique is the ability to view wildlife.

You could investigate if your family could split up for a safari activity or two and some of the members do an escorted walk or animal tracking on foot instead of a drive. Then a fourth night on safari may be more palatable. It will likely be more expensive, if that's a factor.

But 6 game drives will produce a lot of cool sightings.

If you can get the accommodations that you want for the nights you want, this shift of one day here or there is not a major item. With the risk of sounding too cavalier about the considerable expenses involved, it doesn't matter because you'll be back anyway.

Well, instead of Djuma, you could go someplace like Phinda which has a variety of activities beyond game drives. I haven't been myself, but the website lists canoeing, a boat ride, bush walks, and rhino tracking. And, there are a number of other things you can do at extra cost - like scenic flights, horseback riding, and visits to the beach, etc.

I've booked a 4 night stay myself for June/July.

There are a bunch of trip reports about this lodge on the forum.

And, it's near Durban and Richard's Bay, so you can avoid tiny planes.

Where is Krysna, do you mean Knysna?
Depending on the time of year you could go whale watching there, or even look for the Knysna Elephants good luck on that one.

Sniktawk's rather ungraciously worded reply prompted me to try and figure out once and for all how to pronounce Knysna (which, in my own mind, I've been pronouncing KRIZ-na).

According to Wikipedia, it's pronounced either NIZE-nuh or NACE-nuh. I'm interpreting this as a long-I sound with a South African accent. (Sniktawk, please feel free to provide us with the correct pronunciation if this is wrong).

I'm sure I'll never remember the correct pronunciation, unless Atravelynn comes up with a handy mnemonic device. I can't think or speak of "Phinda" without reminding myself "where the 'h' is silent but the rhino flatulence isn't."

Sniktawk, seriously, thanks for the correction. You probably get sick of hoards of tourists talking about KRIZ-na, the same way that Southern Californians are irked by people who call Port Hueneme HOO-nuh-may instead of the locally accepted (but still linguistically inaccurate) why-NEE-mee.

No mnemonic devices, but I have thought that I'd like a pronunciation guide for all those South Africa places.

I nominate Snitawk as the fodor's linguist and speech therapist when it comes to South Africa.

From my neck of the woods, give some of these a try
Oconomowoc
Weyauwega
Kinnikinnick
Chequamegon
Ashwaubenon?

I do not speak Afrikaans nor any other African language, but I can apparently ungracefully correct spelling mistakes.
I have no idea how anyone could pronounce a word with an R in it when there is no R.
But then there is no E in the middle of Etosha, but certain people pronounce it "Etoesha". What is it that was said about seperated by a common language?

"a common language separated by a body of water"

England and America are two countries separated by a common language.
George Bernard Shaw
Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)

Knysna = "NIZE-nuh" in S.A. English.