I am trying to plan a luxury trip for my husband and I ...both active seniors. Looking at many lodges and trying to judge the distances between camps. We do not wish to fly in a small plane longer than necessary,but wish to view game rides in different terrains. Hoping for two stops in Botswana, four days in Capetown , possibly a camp near Krueger and a night or two at Victoria Falls. I have not selected a company and would love any input. I am just getting my bearings for this continent. Thought we would fly into either Joburg or Capetown and leave from the other. It does not matter which end we do first. It seems to me that many days are lost travelling. We do not wish to take a preset tour like Tauck for the whole time. I think about 16 days for the trip.Thank you

Contact Timeless Africa, US (ask for Sharon) and UK (ask for Julian) based @ http://www.timelessafrica.com/index.cfm?L1=home

When are you looking to travel? Month? and Year? '08 or '09? Lots of space in Botswana, with small camps is full, so you need a safari planner to assist with this. CPT, VFA and Kruger should be easier in obtaining space.

most if not all flights first land in Joburg before continuing on to Capetown, so you'll have a stop there anyway and also you'll probably be back in Joburg airport from Capetown to get your connection to Bots/Kruger/Vic Falls. Have fun planning!

Not sure where the OP is coming from but actually there are several carriers that fly directly into Cape Town bypassing Johannesburg. KLM from Amsterdam, BA and Virgin from Heathrow, Lufthansa from Frankfurt, as well as a few Asian carriers, and possibly others. We really liked being able to fly directly into CPT rather than having to take another short hop after a long haul.

Check out this post at the link below. The trip was done through Timeless Africa (recommended by Sandi). Timeless Africa is located in England and Nebraska. I don’t think Timeless Africa provides you with the dental floss, though.
"How Dental Floss Saved Bruce and Marija's trip to Namibia, Botswana, Victoria Falls and Capetown"
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35038385
This trip even includes the places you want to visit (plus Namibia)

Other agents for Southern Africa that have been used with success by fodorites include

Go-2-Africa in South Africa

Fish Eagle in Houston—sends out a very helpful packet that would give you your bearings.

Eyes on Africa in Chicago (I used them, everything 100%)

Africa Adventure in Ft. Lauderdale (I used them, especially helpful when problems beyond their control occurred, they fixed everything, so trips turned out perfectly)

16 days for the trip means about 4 for international flights and about 12 in Africa.

For the 4 in Cape Town you can decide if you want to drive yourself or have a guide. Selwyn of I Love Cape Town is well liked by fodorites and he recently won a gold Wanderlust Paul Morrison Guide Award, with guides from all over the world in the running. There are quite a few other Cape Town companies too and any agent you choose can recommend some.

So 4 in Cape Town, leaves 8 for the rest of the trip.

If you wish to just see the falls when staying in Vic Falls and not do the many activities offered, from peaceful sunset cruises to bungee jumps, then 1 night is enough. I’d recommend Ilala Lodge, a very nice moderate place and a 10-minute safe walk from the falls. Or Victoria Falls Hotel—classic, colonial, fancier and more expensive and a 5-minute safe walk from the falls. Both are in Zimbabwe. I have not visited the falls from the Zambia side, but staying over there is an option too.

So that leaves a week for safari.

When you mention a camp near Kruger, are you thinking of the private reserves of the Sabi Sands and other nearby private concessions? I would think you’d want 3 nights there. Mala Mala in the Sabi Sands is a favorite for legendary game viewing. There are 3 levels of accommodations. I used the most economical and it was
extemely nice and the wildlife was great, especially leopards. Rattray’s is more luxurious (since you mentioned that).

Singita Boulders is about the most luxurious lodge in the Sabi Sands. Other Sabi Sands options that have gotten good reviews and are less expensive than Mala Mala include Elephant Plains and Djuma Bush Camp. Close to Sabi Sands is Kings Camp in Timbavati. Fodorites have been pleased with that and it is less expensive than Mala Mala. The first link, below, has something on Kings Camp.

If you wanted to stay in Kruger and self-drive, check out a couple of recent and active posts that mention Kruger.
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35083850

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35083126 (has pros and cons of self drive)


That leaves 4 nights for Botswana where you pretty much have to fly unless you are doing a longer mobile camping trip. You could do 2 nights at an Okavango Delta permanent luxury camp that offers water and land activities such as the 5-paw Little Vumbura or the more luxurious 6-paw Vumbura Plains. Then you could go to the drier region of Linyanti, further north, and stay at 5-paw Duma Tau permanent luxury camp or the 6-paw Kings Pool permanent luxury camp. A shorter plane ride than all the way up to Linyanti would be to Chitabe, which is one of the closest camps to Maun, where flights take off. Chitabe or Chitabe Trails are both 5-paws and are in a dry area of the delta with good game. I really like all these regions of Botswana and they would offer different terrain.

To answer your question--the distance between these places is far, requiring flights rather than driving.

Good luck with your trip

Thanks Patty for clarifying the flights to CPT! Wasn't aware of those options.

Patty, Do those carriers that do not stop in Cape Town get you from home to Cape Town in the same # of days?

For example with BA, I arrive Cape Town Day three, departing Chicago. Whereas on SAA, I think I can arrive Cape Town the night of Day 2, departing Chicago.

Thank you!

Hi Lynn,
We flew a combination of Delta and KLM and left LAX on day 1 and arrived Cape Town on the evening of day 2. It's pretty much the same as what we've done on our 3 past trips to East Africa, only a couple of hours longer. I haven't looked into the schedules of the other carriers that fly into CPT so don't know if it's possible to arrive by day 2 from the US.

I returned last week from a trip similar to one you describe. The trip was arranged by an agent in Capetown, Southern Destinations, who I recommend very highly. They were extrememly responsive to our needs and we had much communiction back and forth by e-mail and phone.

We flew into Capetown from JFK via Amsterdam, and flew home from Jbg, again via Amsterdam. We had three weeks and spent three nights in the Winelands.

www.southerndestinations.com

..sorry, I mentioned the Winelands because that was a section you could cut to trim your trip to 16 days...we also had 6 nights in Capetown which you could also trim if need be...

Near Victoria Falls we stayed at Islands of Siankaba which was lovely but you could also stay in Vic Falls itself, depending on the time of year you plan to go and the water levels in the Falls...

I would suggest the following:

Fly into Cape Town.
4 nights Cape.
Flight to MQP, ground transfer to Sabi Sands(you could also use a light aircraft in to save time).
3 nights Sabi Sands.
1 nights JNB, forced due to poor flight connections into Botswana/Zambia/Zimbabwe.
2 nights Zambia/Zimbabwe (time of year will dictate the side that end up at)
Light aircraft flight ex Livingstone or Victoria Falls.

3 nights Northern Botswana (Kwando/Selinda areas)
Light air to Okavango Delta.
3 nights at Chiefs/Moremi/Kwando.
Flight out to Maun and on to JNB and then home from there.

The above mimimises trtavel time with no sector being longer than two hours. The only wasted time is in JNB as this is a regular xity stop and offers nothing that compares to the safari experiences promised by the three safari destinations.

the flow of the itinerary is predicated on a ascending basis ensuring that each sector of travel is a highlight culminating with a climactic experience in the Delta.

If you are inclined to find the nightlife and city comforts to be the cherry then reverse the itinerary, by arriving into JNB, then on to Maun, to Vic Falls. Between Vic Falls and Sabi Sands you'll have a forced night in JNB, however you could avoid that by flying from Vfalls to cape town and finsihing up with the three nights in the Sabi sands.

This routing is also going to cause your first night to be in JNB. Unless you get in early by travelling through Europe.
What time of year would you like to travel and in what year? You should be cautioned that if you were aiming for July - September of 08, that Botswana is essentially sold out and any rooms that remain are being sold at extortionist prices.

Lynn,
Out of curiosity I checked and with the exception of KLM, the others (BA, Virgin, Lufthansa) are redeyes arriving CPT in the following morning, so coming from the US, you would get there on day 3. However, some of them would allow you to leave the US on the evening of day 1 making that a usable day at home. I guess it depends on whether you prefer to get there and rest or get there and go. The Asia routings looked longer.

On our next trip, we'll be arriving NBO in the morning for the first time. Not sure how I'll like that as opposed to getting there in the evening. We leave LAX at 9:15pm on day 1 and get to NBO at 6:00am on day 3 and I'm still debating whether to go straight out on safari.

Thanks Patty, that makes KLM look more attractive. I'm a get there and rest kind of gal.