Who has been to South Africa?

invisible999

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Long story short - have been invited to a wedding in South Africa, wedding will be held at Kruger NP.

We decided to add several more days - arrive a week earlier and do tour either at and around Cape Town, or do Panorama Route - my understanding that we can't do both.

We arrive on 22nd of Feb and have till March 1st to do sightseeing. If you have be been in SA (better - if multiple times) how would you spend that time?
 

delceer

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safe or not ?
Tiagong so many terrorist such as Boko Haram with gun one leh.
 

delceer

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normally people here don't have friends in Africa. nobody can answer your questions.
 

jarvis

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If you've never done a safari, then it'll be a good chance to try one out - if that's not already on your menu since you will be at Kruger. Go with one of the private game reserves (not those sit in bus with wire mess around you - i'm talking open land rover with your own tracker and driver). In South Africa, it is nice and luxurious. And if you had to pick only one thing to do in SA, that's what I would recommend.

Cape Town itself is ok, but it's a town and not that big. You can do day tours out to the Cape of Good hope where it's quite scenic and you see where the two oceans meet. But really, just a couple of days is about it.
 

starfish.starfish

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Kruger NP is big can rent car drive inside for few nights. Stay at different camp sites.
But I agree private reserve more shiok. Did both and I feel private reserve closer to big 5.
Cape Town ok lah, can go table mountain very nice.
Or horse riding in vineyard or shark cage diving.
See u adventurous type or not loh.
 

belgarathc

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Just returned from an almost 2 weeks trip in South Africa. It's our first safari (Kruger) and we didn't expect it to be that easy to spot animals. Some came really close to the road sides. Probably our expectations were low but we were quite happy to spot four of the big five and other animals both on the organised sunrise/sunset drives and self-drives. Other places we visited in South Africa were interesting too.

Here's our brief itinerary:

Cape Town (Simon Town, Penguin Colony, Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, Lion's Head hike, Table Mountain, Robben Island) - Garden Route (Cape Agulhas) - Plettenberg Bay (Robberg Nature Reserve Hike, Giraffe View Safari, Ocean Safari was cancelled due to weather) - Overnight Train from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg - Johannesburg (Day tour to Soweto, Apartheid Museum, Roof of Africa) - Panorama Route (Graskop, Pilgrim's Rest, Mac Mac, Lisbon and Berlin Waterfalls, Blyde River Canyon Viewpoints) - Kruger National Park (Safaris) - Cullinan Diamond Mine - Johannesburg

Notes:
- We stayed in Simon Town instead of Cape Town
- Rented a vehicle from Cape Town airport on arrival and returned the vehicle at Port Elizabeth
- Due to safety concerns, we didn't self drive inside Johannesburg city. We joined a guided day tour to see Johannesburg and spent two nights at a safe part of the city. We then rented a vehicle from Johannesburg airport and self-drive to Panorama Route and Kruger before returning to the airport and fly home.

Suggestions:
- Read up on South Africa before the trip to have better appreciation of the country (e.g. read Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela or watch movies like Goodbye Bafana, Invictus)
- If I have only one week, I would choose to visit Cape Town and around before flying to Skukuza for Kruger. I feel this gives a good balance of outdoor activities, animals, mountains and oceans.
- For Kruger, above posters have given good tips. Bring a good zoom camera if you are into photography. Binoculars are helpful.
 

jarvis

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Now that you've done Kruger, if you enjoyed it, you can consider other parts of Africa - like Kenya / Tanzania for the migration, Botswana is also up and coming, Uganda for the gorillas, etc.

Comparing the two, South Africa is more luxurious in terms of accommodation and food, but it is only the appetiser when it comes to the animals. At Kruger, when we spotted a lion, it was like "wah".... in Tanzania, we went out looking for the cheetahs and leopards and when we couldn't find them, the lion was the consolation because I think we saw lions almost every day (as compared to the leopard which we only saw twice on one day - they are a lot more elusive). We had a pride of 15-20 lions lazing around in a circle one day.

So yeah, if you enjoyed the teaser, consider the other parts of Africa.
 

Ekspakk

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We are also planning to go Africa, sorry to hijack the thread a bit, what airline cheapest to SA? Also, do you fly open jaw? Ex: Arrive in CT, Depart at JB.

Our planning still messy, my friend also want to go Kenya besides South Africa, not sure 3 weeks enough.
 

WadsUpDoc

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Etihad should be good if you want cheap. You may check via skyscanner for more realtime prices depending on ur travel dates.

I've been to South Africa but mainly Port Elizabeth and Johanneburg area only. My take is Cape town can spend 3-5 days (depending on how tight you want to be), and Joh'burg probably 2-3 days depending on where u want to visit. Private game reserves are probably the best for luxurious safaris, but Kruger being the largest national park, has the best widlife (so you need not spend too much time in safaris at Cape town or Johburg). You can either self drive or join a tour in Kruger. Be careful though, Kruger is a malaria zone, so you should take preventive shots beforehand!

Also, I have about SGD300+ worth of South African Rand, if you guys plan to visit, you can change with me (i'll keep the rate slightly better than money changers here)

Anymore questions feel fee to ask or PM me!
 

jarvis

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We are also planning to go Africa, sorry to hijack the thread a bit, what airline cheapest to SA? Also, do you fly open jaw? Ex: Arrive in CT, Depart at JB.

Our planning still messy, my friend also want to go Kenya besides South Africa, not sure 3 weeks enough.

Kenya you need to check as I think you need yellow fever vaccination.

The only airlines that fly Sin to JB / CT direct is SQ. The others all transit so SQ charges a premium. If you're also going Kenya, why not exit from Mombasa?

The only thing is to ask if you will be all safaried out if you go safari in both SA and Kenya? Safari is very expensive if you're doing the luxurious style (no other way if you ask me) and about a week is good - more than that, unless you absolutely love animals can get a bit too much. Of course if you want, you can always go trekking to Victoria Falls or take a beach holiday on Zanzibar... but I'd say break the trip into smaller ones
 

invisible999

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Thanks for replies here.

I, my wife and our family friend were invited at the wedding of our friend. Wedding will be at private game reserve (read - damn expensive) next to Kruger. Fortunately we will stay at the private game reserve only for two nights for the event.

We decided to add our own vacation and fly to Cape Town while flying back from Johannesburg on non-stop/direct flights via SQ. Booked Business class via miles - one of the best redemption of miles, but fees/taxes were $600 per ticket.

So we will be 6 days at Cape Town (rented a two bedroom house via AirBnB) and after that - three nights at Hazyview next to Panorama Route to explore such.

For cape town I think we will spend four days exploring the city and for two days venture around to places like cape of good hope.

If anybody has tips/suggestions - please share.
 

Upzzzz

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I just back fm cape town mid dec. Self drive holiday is common there. People are friendly but beware of those groups that stand wandering at road

Go read tripadvisor, fairly good read for planning. Food is never a problem if you do not mind driving around. Just get phone card and use google map.

Just exercise basic self awareness and dont do stupid things.
 
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