I've booked us for most of our nights in South Africa in early-mid September, but could use some advice on routes and stopovers for a few nights here and there.

The itinerary thus far -

Day 1 - arrive JNB from Prague-London-Madrid; get car; overnight at Lombardy near Pretoria - http://www.lombardy.co.za/

Day 2 - travel to Buffalo Ridge lodge in Madikwe reserve.- http://buffaloridgesafari.com/ - 3 nights

Day 5 - back to Lombardy or other Pretoria area lodging, or maybe somewhere over by Kruger depending on driving time from Madikwe.

Day 6 - to Nkorho Lodge in Sabi Sands, 3 nights. - http://www.nkorho.com/menu.htm

Day 9 - to Pondoro Lodge in the Balule reserve, rendezvous with some friends staying at Ezulwini - 3 nights. http://www.pondoro.co.za, http://www.ezulwini.com

Day 12 - 14 - Here's where we need help. The aim is to get to Addo by the night of Day 15, so we have three nights.

Day 15 - Addo park, Protea Addo (formerly Zuurberg Country Inn) - http://www.proteahotels.com, two nights.

Day 17 - 19 - Garden route - stops and accommodation suggestions welcome. Probably spend evening of Day 19 in Stellenbosch or Franschoek

Day 20 - Leave CPT around 2 PM - to JNB and then Zurich and Prague.

* * *

Balule is up north of Hoedspruit, and I was thinking of heading to Swaziland for one night, then shooting for Giant's Castle the next, then somewhere on the N2 the next, and then Addo the next.

However, I'm not having much luck finding decent-sounding accommodations in Swaziland, and it looks (on a map) like driving from Manzini or Mbabane to the N11 and then down to the Drakensberg might take quite awhile, reducing the chances of seeing much at Giant's Castle when we get there. Or maybe I should pass on the Drakensberg in September?

So other choices -

(1) Transit Swaziland on Day 12 - do some crafts shopping, end up somewhere out by Hluhuwe or Richards Bay that night, then two more nights along the coast en route to Port Elizabeth/Addo. This eliminates the Drakensberg detour.

(2) Skip Swaziland and Giant's Castle/Drakensberg, take N2 around the bottom of Swaziland, stay somewhere around Durban, then two relatively long but easy driving days to Addo;

(3) Skip Swaziland and motor straight to Giant's Castle from Balule, via Blyde River Canyon - a long day but would allow a second night in the Drakensberg.

(4) Skip Swaziland, Drakensberg and the coast, aim for Addo with one overnight stop somewhere - Bloemfontein?

So any suggestions? Recommendations for places to overnight along the N2 south of Durban? Analysis paralysis is setting in. Thanks for any ideas.

A comment or two:

Comparing Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, I found the former to be a considerably bigger town with both touristy and university influences, while Franschhoek is smaller, a bit more laid back and upscale, and more artsy. If visiting the area 10 times, I'd likely stay in Franschhoek 7 times and Stellenbosch 3; others would surely do it differently.

I've never been to Swaziland, but I regularly read one of its newspapers (http://www.times.co.sz/002.html). Based on what I read in the paper, I'd be tempted to give Swaziland a miss at this point: the infrastructure is awful (roads, water supply, and especially health care), and the risks of something bad happening (auto accident, etc.) seem high even for Africa.

A couple of comments and suggestions for what they are worth:
It is probably short of a 4-hour drive from Madikwe to Pretoria. And a little more from Pretoria to Sabi Sands. You will not want to leave Madikwe until mid-morning (possibly after a morning gane-drive and breakfast?). It could result in a long day. I would consider travelling on past Pretoria and possibly overnight at somewhere like Dullstroom and then spend the next day (Day 6)crossing the Long Tom Pass between Lydenberg and Sabie,having a look at some of the wonderful scenery between Sabie and the Blyde River Canyon, and then descending the escarpment to end up at Sabi Sands in the late afternoon.
Ezulwini is near Mbabane in Swaziland. If you are meeting up with friends staying there then I do not understand the problem regarding accommodation in that country (night 12). In the Ezulwini valley there are at least 3 good hotels. Another place you might cosider in Swaziland is Phophunyane lodge, some 3 kilometres from the Piggs Peak Hotel and Casino. The lodge used to be (and probably still is)a lovely place to stay.
Getting to your main question - how to get to Addo. You have plenty of time to get from either Balule reserve (night 11) or Swaziland (night 12) to Addo (night 15). After having been to Madikwe and to Sabi sands and to Balule I think you will find Addo a bit of a disappointment and I would limit my stay to one night only. Which route you take to get there really depends on your likes and dislikes and what you are accustomed to in your own country. Either the mountains, or the coast. Not both. The coastal route needs no real explanation - northern Natal (Zululand) with its game reserves, to Durban, thence south through the Transkei to East London and on via Grahamstown to Addo. Straightforward with plenty of interest along the way.
Or the mountain route. I would not go as far as Giants Castle, but would head for the northern Berg i.e. via Ladysmith and Bergville to Royal Natal National Park (Mont-aux-Sources)for the first night (night 13). I would then return to Harrismith (next day) and skirt the Sterkfontein Dam to Phuthaditjhaba and on top of the mountain. Then through Golden Gate and around (or through, if you prefer) Lesotho (possibly spend night 14 in Maseru) to Ladybrand, then via Queenstown, across to Cradock (and the Mountain Zebra Park - where I would consider spending night 15)and on to Addo for night 16.
Whatever you decide. I wish you a wonderful trip.

Thanks for comments.

Rizzuto, that was our impression exactly based on only a few nights in the area previously. I'm more inclined to Stellenbosch in that there's more choice of accommodations and we're not that deep into foodie madness; however I do like the intimacy of Franschoek too. Will decide closer to the date, probably will factor road fatigue and weather into the mix too.

RKR, I'm still digesting your thoughts and very much appreciate your suggestions. Will the time of year make any difference as to mountains v. coast?

To resolve a recurring source of minor confusion, the Ezulwini I'm referring to is a lodge in the Balule reserve that we stayed at last year (and where our friends are staying this year) not Ezulwini Valley in Swaziland.

Sorry I had not known of Ezulwini Lodge.
I think September would be nice either at the sea or inland, although, if our winter lasts longer than usual it could still be a bit chilly inland.
Dont forget the threat of Malaria in the lowveld all the way up north of Durban.

Hey Gardyloo!

Firstly, we did enjoy our two nights in Addo BUT we knew we had several weeks of safari still to come so it wasn't as imperative for us to see a huge range of animals. We did get good elephant sightings as well as animals such as kudu, warthog, jackals and some others but the area which one can self drive is relatively small which means quite a high number of fellow visitors and more of a (zoo-like) safari park than a truly wild and remote safari experience. If your time is limited, you might well find one night sufficient. It's also worth being aware that the fee for your overnight in the park (presumably incorporated into the hotel cost but if not, it's not that high) allows you free access to the park for the entire day of arrival AND the entire day of departure.

Unless there are particular destinations of interest to you along the wild coast have you considered a cheap internal flight from Durban to Port Elizabeth - this would cut out a couple of long driving days, I believe and free up time for other more interesting locations.

We stayed three nights in Franschhoek and visited Stellenbosch during that time. Stellenbosch advantages include it's larger size (and resulting extra choice in accommodation and restaurants) but if you're there on a Friday or Saturday night in term time the drunken student vibe can be quite offputting. Franschhoek is unquestionably more geared towards the visitor but it doesn't suffer from that - it's genteel, pretty and offers a good number of excellent restaurants as well as gift shops and art galleries.

For self-drive safari parks which might be slotted into your itinerary, we really loved Ithala (mostly for it's spectacular landscape rather than game viewing which was sparse, though good on white rhinos out in the open and near the car) and we enjoyed Imfolozi-Hluhluwe - the latter also being excellent for white rhino viewing. There are also black rhinos there but much more illusive and judging from some of the claimed sighting points by other visitors (on the information boards provided) I suspect an awful lot of visitors simply don't know how to identify black from white!

If I can help any further, please let me know. My trip report is on this site too - I can point you to it if you're interested.

Kavey

I just looked over your trip, you have taken on a great road trip that should a teriffic journey of discovery.

1) Madikwe to Balule: Figure at least an eight hour drive and that I would say is being conservative.
Suggest that you break your journey after 5/6 hours of travel, which could put you in a variety of places depending on your route. Since you'll have driven from Pretoria area I would recommend that you drive up to Elisras and seek accommodation in the Lapalala wilderness. If this is to easy a drive, continue on to the waterberg and perhaps look at staying at one of Entabenis lodges.
The next morning will get you to the Balule in around 4 hours.

2) Travel from Balule to Addo.
This is a long haul. The toughest sections of the drive will be passing through Swaziland and the former transkei, in both instances the roads will be challenging, maintenance issues as well as frequent livestock obstacles. Give yourself three hours to get from Balule to Bulembu border, two hours from Piggs peak to Piet Retief. if you leave B/lule after morning drive, you'll be nearing sunset, so head down from Piet Retief to Pongola and spend the night at the tented camp at Mkuze falls, you might make an evening drive.

next day five hour drive to durban & two hours to ports shepstone. Over night at port shepstone.

next day, long drive 8 hours (road conditions) to Addo.

If the lodges above are out of budget, then seek out a b&b, not too familiar with those.

OPTION.

you could also drive from Balule to JErmelo onward to volksrust. Overnight somewhere here and you'll be in the battlefields area and this puts you in a good place to see the berg going down to addo.

Next day travel midlands meander to durban and onward to port shepston.

Garden route.....what a choice, i'd make my first stop Cape St Francis. spend morning on the beach.
Day two would find a spot in Knysna. using the balance of the evening to explore and most of the following morning for the same.

from there you could do the outeniqua pass to take you through the Karoo, rte 62 to montagu, then N1 to Franschoek.

Or you could stay on the N2 and get to Stellenbosch via somerset west.

Is this board great or what?

Mkhonzo, we're going from Madikwe to Sabi Sands, not Balule. The logical clockwise loop around Kruger doesn't work because our friends staying at Balule don't arrive in SA until the day before, whilst we will have been in the country a week or so by then. So with our general south-bound itinerary, we're forced into a bit of a zigzag. To follow on RKR's thoughts, though, I'm thinking about heading from Madikwe to Graskop, spend most of the next morning/day driving along the Panoramic Route (have been through the tunnel but haven't seen God's Window or the 3 Rondavels) before heading into Sabi Sands.

It sounds like the Swazi/KZN coastal route is fascinating but maybe more of a hassle (roads, etc.) than it's worth at this point. Need to ponder this one.

As far as the Garden Route is concerned, I take the point re Addo being over-budgeted and may alter the itinerary in order to spend more time either in the Drakensberg or the KZN coast (not both.) Our only &quot;must see&quot; on the Garden Route is J Bay, stemming from the fact that I was at the original public screening of <i>Endless Summer</i> 40-odd years ago in Hermosa Beach, California, and my old (now healed) surfer's knobs give me twinges every time I see it on a map. I don't know what language &quot;kowabonga&quot; is, but I plan on shouting it at least once this September.

LOL

Kowabonga comes from the wooden tongue of Howdy Doody, or at least from his tv show.

A datum known mostly to those of a certain age who spent their pre-teen years in the US.

Yes, uttered by Chief Thunderdud. Rather un-PC these days. Does that make it Doodysprache?