South Africa and Namibia for Feb. 2016

Air Land and Sea

Level 2 Member
I think you will enjoy Elephant Plains. The guides were excellent. Our trip was in October & we had multiple sightings of the Big Five.
We really didn't eat at the Mugg and Bean. If you are renting a cottage outside is a braai (BBQ grill) that we used for dinners every night. What we did was to buy our groceries at the large grocery store on our way from Nelspruit to the Paul Kruger gate. My daughter-in-law's parents bought their groceries at the market after they left Hoedspruit. I'm sure there are vegetarian options but my daughter-in-law, who is South African, said that they are a meat loving country.

My suggestion to you is to buy the little animal booklet when you enter the park. We have one and checked off all the animals we saw. It was helpful for animal/bird identification.

When you check in at one of the rest camps, you'll be paying a conservation fee. Save that paper because you need to show it on your way out - no paper, no exit.

Enjoy your visit
 

Suzie

Level 2 Member
I got the 12/25 fare to Joburg also. I am trying to use Avios (which I just got with the BA card) to fly JNB to HDS. When I check BA site - it tells me that neither BA nor its partners fly that route. What am I doing wrong?

Thank you for any help!
 

bayguy

Level 2 Member
BA(ComAir) doesn't fly that route. You need United miles as SAA(Airlink) flies to HDS /Skukuza/Nelspruit/Phalabora(all close airports to Kruger NP).

SAA has 2 seats on most of the flights as award seats and they tend to fill up quickly.
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
I am starting to assemble a list of what we want to do/see in southern Africa. Given the season, we don't plan to do Kruger. This is my very early thinking and I am happy for any advice on how to change/tweak it:

Option 1:

JNB Jo-burg >> WDH Windhoek >> CPT Cape Town >> Victoria Falls >> ?? >> JNB Jo-burg

Feb. 1 - Leave JFK
Feb. 3 - Arrive Jo-burg 4:10PM
Feb. 3-5: Jo-burg; H wants to see Apartheid Museum and perhaps Soweto
Evening of Feb. 5: JNB >> WDH (Windhoek)
Feb. 5-11 - Etosha and other places reachable from Windhoek
Feb. 11-18 - Cape Town and other places reachable from Cape Town
Feb. 19: CPT >> Victoria Falls
???
Feb. 27 - Leave JNB 8:30PM

Option 2:

JNB Jo-burg >> CPT Cape Town >> WDH Windhoek >> ??? and Victoria Falls >> JNB Jo-burg

Feb. 1 - Leave JFK
Feb. 3 - Arrive Jo-burg 4:10PM
Feb. 3-5: Jo-burg: Recover from jetlag at a Carlson hotel with second night free; H wants to see Apartheid Museum and perhaps Soweto
Feb. 5: JNB >> CPT (Cape Town)
Feb. 5-13 - Cape Town and other places reachable from Cape Town
Feb. 13: CPT >> WDH (Windhoek)
Feb. 13-20: Etosha and other places reachable from Windhoek
Feb. 20:
??? and Victoria Falls
Feb. 27 - Leave JNB 8:30PM

In both options 1 and 2, we will adjust a day here and there, for example perhaps we'll want more time in Etosha. At this point, I would like to just get a skeleton place-to-place itinerary and I can adjust the length of time in each place later based on how long we want in each place and the flight options we find.

While it would be nice to use points/miles for the intra-southern Africa travel, and I have a ton of Avios, I am not tied to doing so to get around. There are a few budget airlines as well as the major country airlines. If we need to book paid tickets to make the itinerary work well, I will do so. But I would like to set it up so that we don't include a leg with only super-expensive fares or a minimum number of departures a day/week.

We are inclined to not drive from place to place. I think we prefer to fly the longer distances and then rent a car while in a particular place if that seems the best strategy to get around in that particular section of southern Africa.

We are open to bus or train travel but not for distances longer than 4-5 hours. Which I think limits us to flying....

The Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park in Botswana may be likely destinations between Victoria Falls and and our return to JNB to fly home. But I haven't researched Botswana yet so I am not quite sure of the best way go from Victoria Falls to Maun (?) which seems to be the jumping of point for the delta and Chobe.

I'm also wondering what other locations might I consider adding to the itinerary instead?

Thanks for any ideas/critiques/advice/comments. All are welcome!
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
Yes, I agree! I thought the following (from the wiki article) was great:

In November of 2013, Lee Berger led a joint expedition of the University of the Witwatersrand and National Geographic Society to the Rising Star Cave System near Swartkrans. In just three weeks of excavation, the six-woman international team of advance speleological scientists (K. Lindsay Eaves, Marina Elliott, Elen Feuerriegel, Alia Gurtov, Hannah Morris, and Becca Peixotto, chosen for their paleoanthropological and caving skills, as well as their small size, recovered over 1,200 specimens of a presently unidentified fossil hominin species.


And this, from http://www.maropeng.co.za/ :

The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site is an easy drive of about an hour from Johannesburg or Pretoria. Our ancestors have lived in this area for more than 3-million years. By coming here, you are coming to the birthplace of humanity. Welcome home!
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
Reading on FT tells me that we can actually do a day trip from Victoria Falls/Livingston to Chobe. Also that the falls area is lots more expensive than SA. Hmm....

So is it better to stay in Livingston/VF and go into Botswana from there on day or overnight trips, or to fly to Maun and explore Botswana from there?
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
In Namibia, the Walvis Bay/Swakopmund area is really interesting and I cannot recommend enough seeing the Namib desert and sand sea area (UNESCO site).
 

Brennan

Level 2 Member
If you're in Durban/kwazulu natal area, the Drakensberg Mountains are incredible. Lots of great camping spots, lodges, etc. Also check out the Mandela capture site if you're in the area. Well worth the trip out there.
 

Air Land and Sea

Level 2 Member
I am starting to assemble a list of what we want to do/see in southern Africa. Given the season, we don't plan to do Kruger. This is my very early thinking and I am happy for any advice on how to change/tweak it:

Option 1:

JNB Jo-burg >> WDH Windhoek >> CPT Cape Town >> Victoria Falls >> ?? >> JNB Jo-burg

Feb. 1 - Leave JFK
Feb. 3 - Arrive Jo-burg 4:10PM
Feb. 3-5: Jo-burg; H wants to see Apartheid Museum and perhaps Soweto
Evening of Feb. 5: JNB >> WDH (Windhoek)
Feb. 5-11 - Etosha and other places reachable from Windhoek
Feb. 11-18 - Cape Town and other places reachable from Cape Town
Feb. 19: CPT >> Victoria Falls
???
Feb. 27 - Leave JNB 8:30PM

Option 2:

JNB Jo-burg >> CPT Cape Town >> WDH Windhoek >> ??? and Victoria Falls >> JNB Jo-burg

Feb. 1 - Leave JFK
Feb. 3 - Arrive Jo-burg 4:10PM
Feb. 3-5: Jo-burg: Recover from jetlag at a Carlson hotel with second night free; H wants to see Apartheid Museum and perhaps Soweto
Feb. 5: JNB >> CPT (Cape Town)
Feb. 5-13 - Cape Town and other places reachable from Cape Town
Feb. 13: CPT >> WDH (Windhoek)
Feb. 13-20: Etosha and other places reachable from Windhoek
Feb. 20:
??? and Victoria Falls
Feb. 27 - Leave JNB 8:30PM

In both options 1 and 2, we will adjust a day here and there, for example perhaps we'll want more time in Etosha. At this point, I would like to just get a skeleton place-to-place itinerary and I can adjust the length of time in each place later based on how long we want in each place and the flight options we find.

While it would be nice to use points/miles for the intra-southern Africa travel, and I have a ton of Avios, I am not tied to doing so to get around. There are a few budget airlines as well as the major country airlines. If we need to book paid tickets to make the itinerary work well, I will do so. But I would like to set it up so that we don't include a leg with only super-expensive fares or a minimum number of departures a day/week.

We are inclined to not drive from place to place. I think we prefer to fly the longer distances and then rent a car while in a particular place if that seems the best strategy to get around in that particular section of southern Africa.

We are open to bus or train travel but not for distances longer than 4-5 hours. Which I think limits us to flying....

The Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park in Botswana may be likely destinations between Victoria Falls and and our return to JNB to fly home. But I haven't researched Botswana yet so I am not quite sure of the best way go from Victoria Falls to Maun (?) which seems to be the jumping of point for the delta and Chobe.

I'm also wondering what other locations might I consider adding to the itinerary instead?

Thanks for any ideas/critiques/advice/comments. All are welcome!
 

Air Land and Sea

Level 2 Member
Elaine
While in Jo'burg, I did a tour of Soweto and the Apartheid Museum. Enjoyed both of them. My husband did the HOHO bus tour of Jo'burg but didn't go to the Apartheid Museum and he really enjoyed that. One place that I visited while on my tour was the Hector Pieterson Museum - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Pieterson We met his sister who was in the infamous photograph of him being carried while dying.

If you want some great gifts to bring home (skins, jewelery, horns, etc) let me know and I'll give you the name of the wholesaler where we bought ours from. Our son and his wife bought home a zebra skin, nicer than the ones we had seen for about 1/2 price

While in Cape Town, please make time for Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. Have a meal, by reservation only, at La Mott. You'll thank me.
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
I have been busily researching lots of options for our Feb. 2016 trip, as well as trying to decide how much we are willing to leave to arrange on the ground upon arrival. Also trying to figure out where to safari, considering Feb. is not necessarily the optimum month to do so. It is complicated by the fact that my husband will have some as yet to be arranged professional meetings at various universities.

With previous month-long sabbatical trips (March in Costa Rica, December in China) we have booked hotels for the first 3-7 days as well as the last 2, and then filled in the middle after we arrived, In both cases we got help from local travel agents who we found through friends and/or the local tourist board. And it worked quite well.

So we have decided to proceed as follows, at least for now. We can always decide to change our approach as we learn more, H formalizes the university pieces, and the trip gets closer. But for now:

Feb. 1 - Leave JFK
Feb. 3 - Arrive Jo-burg 4:10PM
Feb. 3-5 - Jo-burg staying at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Sandton
Feb. 5 - JNB >> CPT
Feb. 5-7 - Radisson Blu Le Vendome, Cape Town
Feb. 7-11 - Cape Town, at a guesthouse or using points
Feb. 12-14 - Radisson Blu Le Vendome, Cape Town
Feb. 14-25 - planned on the ground
Feb. 25-27 - Jo-burg staying at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Sandton
Feb. 27 - Leave JNB 8:30PM

I was eager to use up some of my Carlson points, and picked hotels based on their price and location (vs. the best upscale property). I'd planned to book a series of 2 night stays in Cape Town using 2 personal and one business account, but there is a 3 night minimum between Feb. 7-11 at all the CPT properties. (According to the phone reservations people, there is something going on and all the Carlson hotels invoked a 3 night rule.) But staying at a guest house/B&B will have advantages since we often get great recommendations for guides/tours/etc. at more intimate properties.

If we stick to the plan of arranging the safaris on the ground, we will:

1) go equipped with a list of handlers/agents/recommendations (thanks again for those already included up thread and offered via DM)
2) reach out to local guides/agents/handlers both in Jo-burg and Cape Town, and
3) book what we need to during the first week we are there.

I also plan to email/skype with some of the recommended handlers/agents from here, to establish a relationship and learn about their offerings.

SmittyTab suggested a guesthouse in Cape Town which indeed looks lovely, but their non-refundable 25% deposit makes it a no-go for us, at least this far out. If anyone has any recs of guesthouses/B&Bs in Cape Town, I'd love to get the contact info.

Not booking ahead, we may find we can't use Avios/other points to get around, but we also may find that the agent(s) who help us include travel on a charter. I am willing to take that chance.

One complication is we will need winter jackets, etc. since we will be leaving PDX >> JFK in Feb. Given the strict weight limitations for some air travel in Africa, shlepping around coats/hats/gloves/etc. will be problematic. I am hoping we can leave them in a box at the Jo-burg property, since we will be there to both start and finish the trip, allowing H to visit the Apartheid Museum/Soweto and me to visit the Cradle of Humankind site. Layers are another option but given the potential for bad weather in NY and my plan to get to NY a few days before we actually depart from JFK for JNB, we may want real winter clothes.

If you've read this far, thanks. And if you can share recs for local agents, handlers, guesthouses, and the like, I would love to hear them!

Happy Weekend!
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
I continue to research and plan as I try to decide what to book ahead and what to leave for booking on our arrival.

A friend who doesn't post here and who did an extensive self- drive recommended we consider staying at the Protea Kruger Gate:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mqpkg-protea-hotel-kruger-gate/

I am wondering about using that as a base to explore Kruger, perhaps arranging to do a tour or two such that a guide will pick us up at the hotel and deliver us back in the evening. We could perhaps do 1-2 days on tour that way and then a self drive or two once we've gone out with someone knowledgeable.

Does anyone have experience with either the hotel or the options for arranging day tours from there?

Thanks!
 

Air Land and Sea

Level 2 Member
We went in through the Paul Kruger Gate last August and stayed inside the Park. I believe you are outside the park. Staying inside at the Rest Camps we could go to the Reception Desk and make arrangements with a ranger for a ranger led walk/tour. I am not sure if it is available to those who do not stay at the rest camp. But honestly, you do not need it. At the Gate pick up the Kruger National Park Map, which is really a booklet, that has the map inside, all the animals (we used this as a check-list). I can try and scan mine and send it to you if you want. Don't forget your really good camera and binoculars.

Another suggestion is to see if there are any accommodations at the Orpen Gate - the road leads directly to Satara area which is known for the big cats.
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Sounds great. My thinking is leave the winter coats at home. Some gloves, one warm sweater as a jacket, layers. I do this all the time when I travel to the southern hemisphere in our winter going to their summer.
 

Air Land and Sea

Level 2 Member
Sounds great. My thinking is leave the winter coats at home. Some gloves, one warm sweater as a jacket, layers. I do this all the time when I travel to the southern hemisphere in our winter going to their summer.
Your post went through 8 times. We did not need the ll bean barn jackets we brought except for one night in Cape Town. We wore a wind breaker and short sleeve shirt. Wore it until we stopped for breakfast around 9-9:30. We even went in the pool at Satara one afternoon. Bring a really strong flashlight to look for nocturnal animals - we would look at the perimeter fence every night Many places do not have heat in the buildings so you might warmer clothes during the night
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Your post went through 8 times. We did not need the ll bean barn jackets we brought except for one night in Cape Town. We wore a wind breaker and short sleeve shirt. Wore it until we stopped for breakfast around 9-9:30. We even went in the pool at Satara one afternoon. Bring a really strong flashlight to look for nocturnal animals - we would look at the perimeter fence every night Many places do not have heat in the buildings so you might warmer clothes during the night
iPad issues. Fixed on the forum.
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
Thanks @niehlin2 ! I am trying to decide on where to stay at Sabi Sands and this is helpful. I also need to reread the thread and my growing folder of info since after making a few inquiries with agents I took a pause in the planning process to devote time to planning trips we will take before the South Africa one in Feb.

Your report makes me happy we are doing a full week in Cape Town. I remain undecided about Vic Falls. Looking back, how might you do that differently, besides skipping the boat tour? Would you still include it?
 

niehlin2

Level 2 Member
I still would include it since it's logical to visit VF then go to Chobe. It's a short ride. But VF is not as spectacular or as grand as Iguazu Falls IMO.

We also shopped at the green Square market and got some decent souveniers in Cape Town. You can haggle there.
 

niehlin2

Level 2 Member
Hmm, not sure but I might still go. It's a very personal preference. I just don's know if it's worth it to go all the way there just to see the falls. It's still pretty though.
 

merice107

Level 2 Member
Just stayed at Makanyane in the Madikwe game reserve inSA and it was amazing! I could not recommend it more! It is part of the sanctuary retreats group.
 
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