atravelynn

MDK,

So no hyena poop patrol for your parents, I presume.

ArthurSA

Robin, I didn't know the CT locals referred to any "secret season", unless it was after the tourism marketing people coined it. But I think the latter used it for June/July/August. Following their earlier campaign where it was called the "green season".

canadian_robin

I love "green season" - a euphemism for "you're going to get wet!"
Robin

ArthurSA

That's it! Isn't PR wonderful?! That's the more obvious one of the two, but which helped the cynic in me (who is pretty huge I know) to also scoff at "secret season".

MyDogKyle

Well, maybe we can figure out when the "Secret Green" season is, and the whole trip will be half price!

Seriously, though, here's a (rather naive, I guess) question about those school and government holidays: is the general advice to just avoid Kruger/Sabi Sands during those holiday periods? Or is that a crummy time to be traveling anywhere (Cape Town, Victoria Falls, etc.)?

It's starting to shape up that April 2011 might be the best time for all of us to travel, but from the link above it looks like that's the month for school holidays (beginning of April) and also Easter (end of the month). So I wonder if we should wait until May and risk having whatever winter weather occurs in Cape Town next year. (We can't travel in July 2011 because of other commitments to family and friends, and June would probably be too expensive for us in Botswana.)

canadian_robin

The school holidays affect the national parks and, in particular, Kruger. Kruger seems to be the destination of choice for families with young children. I assume this is because it is so reasonably priced and there is a wide variety of accommodation types, including self-catering, which works well for families with children. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park can also be busy, but the park is smaller, with far less accommodation, so it doesn't seem quite so crowded even when full. Sabi Sands might also be a good option because some of the camps will not take children under 12 years, so would not be as affected by the school holidays.

Cape Town would be fine during the holidays - you could book things like your Robben Island tour in advance (although you want a good day for this so that you can enjoy the lovely view of CT from the catamaran), and go to the cable car as soon as it opens in the morning.

As for the weather in May....April and May are both (theoretically) rainy months in CT, with May slightly wetter (3.5" vs 2" in April). The weather is so unpredictable in CT that you could get anything in either of those months. According to my book (I'm looking in my new 2010 Frommer's ) both months are "fair" for game viewing. June is "good". If it were me, I would choose my month (to visit) according to when the game viewing will be best, not when the weather will be best in CT. You mention that your parents want to see lots of animals, so I would keep that priority in mind when choosing dates.
Robin

Gritty

I've been to Kruger at the end of April (during some of SA's holidays) and stayed at Skukuza during the height of the holidays--that area was pretty full. I was still able to see wild dogs, however. We shared that sighting with 2 other cars and a safari tour truck. Everyone kept their distance.

We also stopped by the Afsaal picnic spot later that day; I think we got the last parking spot. However, if you avoid the peak morning skottelbraai period you'd have the place practically to yourself.