Jeff’s South Africa trip ’07-email discussion- #2
Reply—
Hi Jeffrey
I will answer the best I can, but South Africa being the huge place that it is, it is likely that you will come across places and see things that I will never get the chance to.
The real “soaking up” of Africa will occur not so much in the destinations, but on the routes you take to get there and your casual encounters along the way.
From the looks of your budget, you will not be going the backpacker route (which I am most familiar with) so I am not able to recommend much in the way of hotels, but take a look at the links below for previous salogue entries for the area. In Cape Town, try to stay as central as possible ie: Tamboerskloof, or Camps Bay ($)
https://www.southafricablog.com/tag/drakensberg
https://www.southafricablog.com/tag/lesotho
https://www.southafricablog.com/travel-tips/baz-blog-bazzing-to-swaziland.html
See here for map https://www.krugerpark.co.za/Maps_of_Kruger_Park-travel/jhb-kruger-route-map.html for routes from Jo-Burg to Kruger Park. (but you will certainly get a map when you arrive. Get it at CNA or Exclusive books at the airport, you don’t want to be driving to shops in Jo-Burg as it’s a network of highways and you will probably want to get out of there as soon as possible)
You will find the roads here to be far better than you expect, so don’t splash out to rent the 4×4 (Unless you want to) as petrol prices here are pretty high. Nearly $1 per liter.
With that in mind …18 day itinerary coming up..
Ideally you will want to fly into Johannesburg and fly out of Cape Town, You can do it the other way around, but in my experience it is better this way.
I couldn’t gather from your email, if you intend to drive to Cape Town, or fly, I would suggest to drive as you will see a lot on the way down.
1st day: drive to Kruger, stay overnight in Either Nelspruit or near the Numbi Gate (outside the park still)
2nd , 3rd,4th, Game drives within the Kruger (you can use your own car), Decide whether you want to sleep at the camps inside the park, or sleep outside and do daily excursions into the park.
5th day Leave Kruger and start the trek down to Durban. Via the Drakensberg. (Sodwana is also great 400km north of Durban, especially for scuba)
6th day Sights to see in the area, Mac-mac falls, Blyde river canyon, gods window, Lisbon falls, Sudwala caves
7th day either take a look at Durban and surrounds, or a day trip into Lesotho (I have never been there)
8th day Start making your way down/to the coast and overnight in Margate or nearby.
9th day head for Port Elizabeth, and consider the Addo Elephant Park, or carry on to >below
10th , 11th Definitely take a look at Jeffrys Bay and the Tsitsikamma National Park
11th day this is now the garden route, places to see are Plett, Knysna, George, now head inland to outshorrn
12th see the cango caves, now you can decide to head into the klein karoo, or a more diect route to the Cape, via the winelands, or Hermanus on the coast.
13th Relax in CT, from your drive
14th Waterfront, 2 oceans aquarium, Robben island tour
15th Table mountain, Long street/City tour?, Greenmarket Square, Company Gardens-Museums-galleries Lunch at Zucca (or anything up kloof street)
16th Stellenbosch and Franschoek, Wine tasting and try lunch at Moyo! (awesome)
17th Cape Point, Boulders, Fishoek/Simonstown Via Hout Bay
18th Camps bay, Clifton, Signal hill, treat yourself to Lunch in Camps Bay.
Phew, Obviously, there are tons and tons and tons, that I could put here to do in Cape Town etc, but those would be the top contenders. If you are interested in anything in particular, like horse riding or, scuba, surfing, animals, history, hiking etc let me know and I can perhaps help. Also you may find that you want to see more, or relax more in CT, if so leave more time, a week would be enough-ish.
Cheers
Philip
P.S. If you like, drop me a line when you are coming down and I can meet you for a beer