leaving for South Africa and Botswana in 3 weeks
 

I have been reading this site since I discovered it. Unfortunately it was after I had booked our trip. It is absolutely the BEST information that I have seen. Now that our trip is approaching,I guess that I am getting nervous and want to make sure that I have covered everything. Please advise.
1. Any specific recommendations for bug spray as mosquitos love my daughter.
2. Safari clothes? 2 teenagers are going to wear shorts or sweats. footwear? are flip flops okay?
3. Are light weight rain windbreakers enough? Do we need long sleeves in December
4. Any other useful suggestions?
5. We have a car for 3 of the 4 days in Capetown. Do we need one? Any advise on a city tour? We opted not to use a private guide and be adventurous ourselves,but are open to your experiences.
6. Am bringing the panasonic FX7 and just a new panasonic fx07 for backup. Any thoughts?
7. Am planning to bring the luggage that we own. Soft with wheels, as the limit just raised to 20kgs.Sound okay?Thank you so much.
This is going to be a hectic trip. 5 days capetown,3 days kruger, 1 johannesberg airport and 4 days Botswana, 2 days Vic.Falls. Oh and is there any way to experience a feeling of how the people live in either Capetown or Livingston? exceptional Cultural tour?

Very fortunate teens! I responded to only 2 & 6.

2. If you have zip-off pants, those are the best. Shorts under sweats may be fine. By midday sweats will be too heavy and hot. The sweats can be removed for shorts.

If you are concerned about misquitos, I would not wear flip flops on drives. Shoes are most commonly worn. Flip flops in the lodge/tent are a good idea.

6. A backup camera is a wonderful idea.

We did a similar trip last year with the kids. I took the following from someone else's post on Capetown. This is in regards to a cultural experience:

We've just returned back from Capetown. Because of the wonderful advice from you Fodorites, I contacted Selwyn Davidowitz to show us Capetown. We highly recommend him! Reliable, knowledgable, willing to adjust to our requests, and went the extra mile to make sure we left Capetown with the wonderful memories we now have.
www.ILOVECAPETOWN.com.

I would use Selwyn to show you Capetown and to also bring you into the home of someone who lives in a shantytown. He knows many families and they respect him. It is a wonderful experience that will show your children all sides of African city life.

As far as mosquito protection, we used Ultrathon. It has 25% to 50% Deet and was great. You will need it in Kruger. Also, used Repel Permanone. It is a product that you use to spray on your clothes and gear before you leave to repel ticks and mosquitoes.

And also, you can tell your agent that you want a cultural experience/village vist while on safari. We did and it truly added to our trip.

Have a great time.

Lolazahra

Have a great trip....where in Botswana do your travels take you?

Hari

Thanks for your responses. Shorts under sweats a great idea! Selwyn is not doing tours while we are there Any other suggestions? How about when we are in Victoria falls? Is it possible there? We are going to Little Vumbura and Duma Tau in Botswana. We are so excited!!! One more question? What is the difference between Mama Africa and Africa Cafe in capetown?
Thank you so much. Any other tips are definitely welcome!

2 nice camps in Botswana.

just returned from month in botswana and SA. Would skip the sweats. very easy to have laundry done. get the kids zip off pants.

bugs for us were not as worrisome as sun. bring good hat and sunscreen.

for the luggage, we flew on a lot of little cessnas. they were not so worried about the weight, which I was worried about, but the shape as they need to scruntch the luggage under the belly or in the back of the plane. it is better if it squishes. If you are not using any little planes, no problem. good idea to ask about the shape of the bag necessary. we bought "gym" bags at EMS, the mid size and it fit all that we needed. Southern africa is VERY casual.

Bring flip flops for sure. You could wear them on the game drives and even at night.

You will have a great time.

Oh, and for photos, storage is the KEY. You need to bring a number of cards or an Epson, we got the latter and it was great fun and very useful. But people did both. Most folk seemed to take pixs in the 1,000 to 2,000 range so don't fall short.

You will enjoy the car in Capetown. We also enjoyed walking and make sure to reserve trip to Robbin Island as soon as you arrive in the city. The view from the ferry is spectacular and the tour is very moving.

We also enjoyed walking around Capetown. I think Frommer's may have walking tour.

Try some Cape Malay food while there which was very good.

Finally, go up Table Mountain on the first clear day. Sunset is especially nice. often it is covered by the "table cloth", aka clouds.

have fun,

Bonnie