South Africa in March
 

Hello, starting a new thread as our itinerary is mostly planned. Thanks for all the earlier replies. Now we are looking for suggestions on things to do. We'd like to do some hiking, but not longer that 2 hours.

Days 1-4, Cape Town, the Victoria and Alfred Hotel, seemed like the best deal at the waterfront.
Days 5-6, Mossel Bay, The Protea, we wanted to explore the area but not change hotels every day.
Day 7, Hog Hollow, there seems to be a lot to do here, but we could only book for one night.
Day 8, Oudtshoorn, Rosenhof Country House, we wanted to take the inland road back.
Day 9-10, Stellenbosch, Asara Wine Estate, recommended by a friend.

Then we fly to Hoedspruit, I think the airport is close, but should we return the car the day before?
Day 11-12, Safari, &Beyond Ngala
Day 13-15, Safari, &Beyond Kirkman's
Day 16-18, Johannesburg, Hilton Sandton

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Carl

There are numerous hiking options on Table Mountain that vary in length and intensity. You could hike up and down the mountain, but it would take more than 2 hours. Riding the cable car up, you could hike on the tabletop; it's easy to get away from the crowds once you get away from the shopping and dining area near the cable car station.

Look at Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. There is a lovely trail that connects the two points. The trail offers breaktaking ocean and coastline views if the weather is cooperative.

From Stellenbosch, you could head to neighboring Franschhoek. There's some good hiking there.

On a separate note, we visited Kirkman's in 2016 and absolutely loved it. Hoping your time there will be as memorable as ours.

Storms River, in my view, is not to be missed. Short or long gorgeous hikes and the Park is excellent. Lots to do. I’d probably stay 3 nights in Storms River or Wilderness for three nights and explore from there instead of moving often. My nephew just got back from his honeymoon and, besides their safari, swimming with seals was their highlight. You can ride horses in a few of the small reserves and wineries. There’s a great kayak and LILO tour in Storms River - you go under the famous (infamous?) Bridge. Do a google search - there are lots of adventure companies that offer all kinds of fun stuff to do in the area.

Return the car the day before what? Are you getting transfers from HDS to Ngala to Kirkmans to Skukuza? It’s all very easy to drive yourself and usually less expensive than private transfers - even leaving the car in the parking lot. Just rent with Avis and you can pick it up at hds and return to Skukuza. The drives are easy but I would rent a small 2x4 suv for the ground clearance for the access roads. Doable usually in a sedan but not if there’s been recent heavy rain. Though the location of Ngala on the reserve drives me crazy, the lodge is newly renovated and is beautiful. Kirkmans is a classic. You’ll love it all.

You can drive back to Johannesburg via the Panorama Route. Spend a night in Hazyview - it’s pretty and lots of good hiking and the fun Potholes. Especially since you have 3 nights in Johannesburg - I’d take one of those for the PR.

In Johannesburg, the Cradle of Humankind and caves is fun. We stayed at the Maropeng Boutique hotel adjacent so we could access it easily. You need a car to get between venues. The Apartheid Museum is very well done. We could have spent all day there but 3 hours is likely ok for most. The HopOn HopOff bus with Soweto is a good overview of the historic city. It times out perfectly before evening flights home on your last day.

Thank you. Glad to know the reply problem got fixed.

We only have one day around Storm's River/Wilderness, so we will have to choose carefully what do do that day. It didn't work out to spend three days there unfortunately.

We fly from Cape Town to HDS, but at 9:30 in the morning. I was wondering if it would be better to return the rental car to the airport the night before?

Thanks again.