jasullivan74

We are trying to find flights from New York City to Capetown, and it seems that all flights would get us there at about 9pm. We were planning on staying in Stellenbosch for the first few nights, but are concerned about trying to drive to find our B&B after a 20+ hour flight in the dark on strange roads. Is this even a safe idea? If not, any suggestions on what to do?

Roccco

Try flying into London, and then from London to Cape Town on either British Midland Airways, SAA, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Doing so, you should have no problem at all arriving in the morning, while possibly adding only a couple hours of travel time and minimal expense.

Judy_in_Calgary

Hello Jasullivan74,

>>>>>>Is this even a safe idea?<<<<<<

No, I don't think it is. As you say you will have just climbed off a 20+ hour flight, it'll be dark, you won't be familiar with your surroundings, AND you'll have to drive on the left hand side of the road.

I find the switch to driving on the left is fine outside of big cities, but with the additional factors I think it would be a nightmare.

I would try to implement Roccco's suggestion if possible.

Another thing you could consider is using Cape Town as your initial base. I think Cape Town is a more convenient spot from which to explore the Cape Point Nature Reserve (pretty much a full day trip from Cape Town), Table Mountain and the Atlantic Seaboard (western suburbs) of Cape Town, downtown and the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, and Robben Island. Also if your efforts to find a daytime landing fail and you fly into CT at night, it would be easier to get from the airport to a Cape Town address than it would be to get to a B&B in the winelands.

I think there would be merit in splitting your time between CT and the winelands, doing CT 1st and winelands 2nd.

Here is a thread in which Cape Town resident Selwyn Davidowitz recommended an airport shuttle service to another poster. In that case the poster had asked how to get from the airport to Camps Bay, which is on the Atlantic Seaboard. But I'm sure the airport shuttle service delivers passengers to any location in Cape Town:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34547822

uhoh_busted

The shuttle service is an option -- you may also want to write your B&B host -- ours picked us up as we came back to Capetown around 9PM on a Sunday night after a safari in Botswana, and really didn't want to negotiate our way in a right-hand drive car on the "wrong" side of the road. He then arranged for the rental car guy to come right to the B&B after breakfast the next AM.

Celia

Jasullivan, can you tell me what airlines you're looking at? Personally, I prefer to arrive in the late afternoon or early evening -- I do better overcoming jet lag that way. If there's a good flight that arrives in the evening, I'd take it next time.

(I realize I'm not speaking to the question you raised. I hope you'll excuse me for picking your brain instead.)