shehof

A "newbie" traveler to So Africa leaving Wash DC on Oct 31 2009 with a small tour group (8 of us) for 2 weeks. Arrive Johannesburg, stay overnight then board Blue Train to Pretoria. Spending 4 days in Camp Bays/Cape Town, visiting Robbens Island, Table Mountain, wine tour, Boulders Beach, etc. Then heading to Victoria Falls and Lesedi Village and final destination to Chobe Safari Lodge. Have thoroughly enjoyed all of the posts and kind people sharing their experiences. Any additional thoughts, comments, recommendations are extremely welcomed!

atravelynn

What kind of camera do you have? I think you'll want a 10x optical zoom or better for the safari part, plus it's nice for the penguins and other scenery.

See Goodbye Bafana, movie about one of the prison guards who guarded Mandela, and a the relationship between these men.

Do you have any reading you plan to do? You could list books you are considering for input or for other suggestions.

Are you a bungee jumper? You could arrange that at Vic Falls. Scares me to death, but that would be the place to do it if you ever wanted to.

If you meet up with everyone for the first time on 10/31 you could do something for Halloween, maybe a little party favor sort of thing to break the ice.

Have fun.

Safari_Craig

i am a little confused. you said you arrive in johannesburg and overnight then you board the blue train to pretoria? the blue train starts in pretoria and goes to cape town. it also starts in cape town and goes to pretoria. it is a fantastic experience. you should also consider rovos rail. i like that even better!

cape town - you have some fun things lined-up. i would consider staying in the wine country for a night or two.

more confusion: you said you are going leseda and victoria falls? lesedi is about 45 minutes from pretoria and would make natural sense to visit while you are in the pretoria/johannesburg area. BUT... I DO NOT RECOMMEND LESEDI.

Safari_Craig

OOPS - posted prematurely..

lesedi cultural village is awesful. I DO NOT RECOMMEND it. i went there two years ago and wanted to leave the entire time I was there. this is not a cultural experience. it is a classic example of a cultural demonstration. you can even see the white tennis shoes of the unenthusiastic performers under their "costumes". the tour guides are loud and obnoxious and literally in your face with spears and weapons.

chobe - if this is your first safari, i think you will find chobe in november a bit dissapointing. if you get there after the rains start then you will find it really dissapointing as the massive elephant herds will have dispersed inland.

i recommend a re-arrange as follows:

day 1 arrive johannesburg and overnight
day 2 fly to malamala or lions sands river lodge (both in the sabi sands adjacent to the kruger national park) on saa airlink for three nights. i have been here in november. the game viewing will be spectacular.
day 3/4 safari
day 5 fly to cape town directly from AAM (malamala air strip).
day 6 cape town
day 7 cape town
day 8 cape town
day 9 fly to johannesburg in morning. transfer to pretoria and board rovos rail to victoria falls.
day 10 on train.
day 11 arrive vic falls. tour the falls. stay at vic falls hotel.
day 12 fly home

i think you will enjoy a big five safari in the sabi sands much more than the chobe in november.

i am sure you realize you do not need to book any scheduled (a.k.a. brochure) tour to do this. any repectable safari tour operator could put this together for you privately for the same price as booking direct and for sure less than most brochure priced product.

craig beal

Safari_Craig

from bucks county, with an early morning drive to phili or right to JFK you could cath the 1130 am flight to johannesburg on SAA. it is the only true non-stop from the US and lasts on 14 hours! it lands in the morning so you can make it to the sabi sands without spending the night.

since you are from bucks county, you are likely a USAir mile customer. SAA is a partner with USAir in Star Alliance so you can earn USAir miles.

craig beal

Safari_Craig

I do realize that you mentioned IAD (Washington Dulles) in your question, but the SAA flight from IAD stops in West Africa so the travel time is more by four hours which will greatly outweigh the extra drive time to JFK from your home. You may even consider spending the night at JFK on the night before you leave to avoid a 5 am drive to JFK. Of course, this is only if you chose the JFK flight.

craig beal