I would really hate to lose a night in Johannesburg in the middle of my itinerary for next year if I did not absolutely need to lose it. Instead, I would much rather either spend the very first night or the very last night in Johannesburg, but to lose a night in the middle of it would really be disruptive.

I would love to either start out in South Luangwa, down to Lower Zambezi, down to Victoria Falls and then make my way down to Kruger NP/Sabi Sand, without ever having to go through Joburg, except in the beginning or end.

Alternately, just as attractive would be a few nights in Botswana, onto Victoria Falls, and ending with Kruger NP/Sabi Sand, with either a night in Joburg at the beginning or end.

Either Livingstone or Victoria Falls Airport would do, although Livingstone would be preferred.

Any feedback will be appreciated.

When I was there 2 months ago, there was no way to get from either Vic Falls or Botswana to Singita in a single day via commercial flights.
To my knowledge, the only way to avoid an overnight in Johannesburg is to hire a charter flight. We met a couple at Singita who had done just that. They had a charter directly from Mombo and got into Singita around 6:00 pm. they met us halfway through the evening game drive.

The flights from Mpumalanga Airport to Victoria Falls or Livingstone are much debated. There is a rumour that this flight is going to start shortly - but as yet it has not been allocated to a particular carrier. We keep our fingers crossed - if it means avoiding a night in Johannesburg its going to be very popular.

Roccco - by the time you finalise your trip for next year - chances are it will be operational.

Hey Rocco
Hoe you doing

Rocco
Its virtually impossible to do it unless you charter a plane. The scheduled flights unfortuantelly do not co-incide

Roccco - It sure would be ideal, wouldn't it? But since you're crossing country borders, someone somewhere is going to have to handle immigration. Though one has to wonder how the "charter" handles this? Maybe they'll work out something by "next year"!

Guess there just aren't enough safari buffs out there yet that are looking for ways to connect the dots between South Africa/Zambia/Botswana/Zimbabwe.

It would probably be a very convenient two hour (or less) flight between Victoria Falls and Kruger NP/Sabi Sand.
Imagine being able to go on your morning game drive, having breakfast and still arriving in time for lunch at either Kruger/Sabi Sand or Victoria Falls???

There are just too many places to see and too little time to lose a day in Joburg in the middle!

Sandi,
crossing a border on a charter isn't a problem...in fact the whole thing feels rather convenient. The only problem is the cost. We travelled from Luangwa to Lilongwe, Malawi on a private charter and it was like being a VIP.

The pilot just brought us into the airport building where we had our passpots checked... all very easy and in the end it cost very little more than the Luangwa (Mfuwe)- Lusaka charter.

welltraveledbrit - thanks for the info. After posting earlier I figured that there must be some way for Charters to handle such transfers. But, as you mentioned, Charters are so much more costly. So like other decisions, one has to put a value on their time. Though an overnight in JNB isn't the worst snag in an itinerary. In fact, sometimes it's nice to have a break of some sort midway in a trip.

And while we didn't travel from Zambia to Kruger, when we returned from VFA, we took the late flight (believe 4pm), getting us in to JNB in time for cocktails and dinner with friends, then to bed and next morning were on a 10am flight to NLP, arriving at camp in time for lunch.

Sorry, but

>>And while we didn't travel from Zambia to Kruger<<

should have read "from Zambia via VFA, to Kruger"

I have also traveled on private charter from South Luangwa, Zambia to Lilongwe's airport, but the reason why that is allowed, is that Lilongwe is an international airport with customs officials. As far as I know, the airports in Kruger and the adjacent private reserves are not set up to receive international flights and don't have customs officials.

I agree that an overnight in Jo'burg seems much more disruptive than it actually is. We actually found it nice to have a one-night break where we got a real, high pressure shower and a fancy restaurant dinner.

thit cho,
That's a good point...I didn't think of the difference between Lilongwe and a less official regional/local airstrip in SA.