luggage and packing for SA
 

We are scheduled to leave on Dec 20th for 2 weeks in South Africa. We will fly into Johanessburg, and spend the night in the airport hotel. We fly to Kruger the next day for 3 days at Djuma, and then fly to Capetown for 5 nights, and spend the last few nights in Knysna. The international flight allows 50 pounds per person, but the flight to Kruger only allows 33 pounds per person. DOes that mean we can only bring 33 pounds per person with us- or should we plan to send a 2nd bag somehow to Capetown? I assume our carry on bags will need to include everything we need for safari in the event our luggage is lost. How do people handle this? What is the lightest, sturdiest brand of luggage you have found? Joy

For many destinations to Africa, weight limit is 33- or 40-lbs for internal flights. Surprisingly, 33/lbs allows for quite a bit of clothing and other stuff for a 2 (or 3) week visit.

Soft-sided, duffle-type bags are best over hard-sided "luggage." Then your carryon for personal items, meds, documents, change of clothing + your camera bag.

Since you really don't need more changes of clothing than for the place you'll be longest, i.e., 5/days CPT, that should suffice. It's unlikely you'll be meeting up with the same people during your visit. Besides, they'll be in the same situation.

South Africa is a casual clothing country, so you don't need fancy dinner changes, nor need to change outfits 3x daily (i.e., on a cruise). What you put on in the morning can work thru the entire day, whether while on safari or in cities and certainly if driving the Garden Route.

There are lots of threads re "what clothing to pack" which should give you an idea of what to take with.

Are you flying with Federal Air from Johannesburg to Djuma? If you are, they (Fedair) have storage facilities at their airport at the lounge, where your access luggage can be stored for the duration of your safari - ofcourse this will only be a practical solution if you're going to Cape Town via Johannesburg again!

Please clarify the itinerary.

Is it :

JNB to Kruger
Kruger to JNB
JNB to CPT
CPT to Knysna
Knysna to CPT or JNB? ((*))

we are flying SA Air from Washington DC to Jberg. THen we fly SA Air from Jberg to Hoedspriut, and spend 3 days on safari.(This is the flight which we have been told has a luggage limit of 33 pounds per person). Then we fly from Nelspruit to capetown on a flight operated by SA Airlink, and spend 5 nights in Capetown. We fly CT to George on SA Airlink. We fly from George to Jberg on SA Express, and then we fly home exhauted to the US of A!

I wondered if we should send an additional bag on to Capetown, as the only flight which we've been told has a weight limit is the one from Jberg to Meilspruit

I have a related question; we are flying Federal Air to Sabi Sands from JoBerg and back en route to Cape Town and have the same concerns. Is the storage facility at Federal Air the same one as for the whole airport (which I have read on here as being theft-prone, etc) or is it a separate one, and is luggage safe there?
Maybe we can pack light for both weeks (but we need professional clothes for Cape Town), but it would be good to know if the storage option is reliable. Thanks!

Numbat,

The Federal Air terminal is about a mile or two away from the main airport terminals. They keep the luggage there. I did not leave luggage when I flew from there, but I have never read where anyone has had any problems.

It's a comfortable small terminal and I think you should not worry about leaving any luggage there.

Of course, the same rules apply--don't check anything of value to you either on a regular flight or into storage.

Thanks CW, this is reassuring. Now we can pack without worrying so much. I love this site and community of generous people..

hi,

you might want to check out rick steves' website. he has a terrific line of affordable, durable, lightweight travel bags. i purchased a few for my first safari this past september and thought they were great - will use them for all my travel.

www.ricksteves.com

go to "travel store" and have fun. the bags are currently on sale! hope this helps.

I bought an Eddie Bauer rolling duffle at Target. Cheap ($50) and good.

"Eddie Bauer Westlake 27" Rolling Duffle"

http://tinyurl.com/6nwmbt ((*))