travelmad478

Agree 100% on all of that. From 2000-2014, I traveled to SA once or twice a year for work and tacked on quite a bit of vacation on top; in 2015 I brought my mom and a friend to SA/Namibia for a monthlong trip including safari and a spell in Cape Town and Franschhoek.

It is almost impossible to believe how cheap it is there to get stupendously good meals and wine. I've posted in another thread in the Africa forum about this, and now that the exchange rate is even more favorable than the last time I traveled, it will be even better. You can also stay in very high-quality, great-service B&Bs for much less than what you think they should cost; I can recommend one in CT if you like. Hotels tend to be priced in USD/EUR equivalent, and they are not cheap. Safari lodges also have their prices linked to USD/EUR, and many are very expensive, although there is a pretty wide range of prices depending on how full-service and luxurious you want to get.

For safari, I would do it within/adjacent to Kruger rather than going to the more "canned" experiences you will find near Cape Town. Internal flights are very reasonably priced (and you can use BA miles to get them on BA's local affiliate), so it's not a big deal to zip over to that side of the country. I can also recommend a couple of lodges that I have stayed at over the years that are mid-range in price. If it's your first safari, do yourself a favor and go on game drives with guides vs. doing self-drive--you will see dramatically more wildlife and get great information on what you're seeing.

SEA is super interesting from a cultural/food perspective. It is also more crowded, more polluted/dirty, and very, very hot and humid. Personally, having been there (and enjoyed my trips, don't get me wrong), it would not be my choice for a honeymoon. You can certainly have a luxurious and "exclusive" experience lying on a beach there, but if you want to do city stuff, you're also going to be confronted with the realities of life in a low-income country.

Gardyloo

I didn't see where you mentioned the time of year this would happen. In places like South Africa it can make a big difference. Also, where are you starting from?

TBD

If you're referring to South Africa, you've heard wrong. With a few exceptions, I found ZA to be quite reasonable. I'm not sure I spent more than US$30 on a meal through the whole trip (at table-service restaurants).

lhrsfo

The food costs in South Africa are amazingly low. You can eat like royalty for next to nothing. Accommodation costs are somewhat higher but if you avoid the New Year, there should be plenty of choice at all price levels.

One issue is time of year. High summer is great for the Cape but not so good for safari - and vice versa, so do plan this carefully.

xmrbrightside89

guys, just so you know, we are shelving the idea to go to new zealand simply because we can't use the BA points and BA amex voucher to get there and we aren't willing to spend £5000 on business flights (this year, as our wedding is costing thousands). while we can do so to south africa or south asia and we will end up spending £800 in taxes
.
we aren't too bothered about spending in those places, as its our honeymoon we will make sure we do enjoy our time without being on a tight budget.

having said that, thanks everyone for the suggstions, i think I'm really getting into the SA mood, I'm very much convinced now.
we are getting married mid august, so we want to leave the week after or so. is that a good period?

will be good to see all the different places in SA, and really want to do a safari for a couple of days... like 100%

also good to hear that SA exchange rate is good... sounds comforting

Madone59

Completely agree!

A lot depends on what you want to get out of the trip but South Africa has so much to offer you'll have plenty to do.

Gardyloo

I would start in the north and work south, giving the weather time to improve in Cape Town. Late August is ideal for safaris in the Kruger Park area in northern SA. It's late winter, the dry and no-mosquito season, the leaves are off the trees making the game viewing easier, and the animals come to water, making for good viewing. It's pleasantly warm in the daytime and chilly at night.

Look for lodges in the Sabi Sand reserve, which come in all price points. Elephant Plains, for example, has a daily tariff of ZAR 2900 (around GBP180, USD 223) per adult (more the luxury or honeymoon accommodations) which includes accommodation, terrific dining, two game drives per day, etc. There are other lodges costing far more, but they all see pretty much the same animals. Two or three nights will guarantee you'll see the "big five" and much, much more.

My recommendation would be to fly into JNB, get a car and drive to the town of Graskop on the "panorama route" - around 3 1/2 hours from JNB airport. Graskop is a pleasant little town close to some of the scenic wonders along the panorama route - God's Window, Three Rondavels, Blyde Canyon etc. - stunning scenery.

Then the day you're to start the safari, drive to the reserve with an arrival time of around noon. (Most Sabi Sand lodges will be around 2 hours' drive from Graskop.) This way you're settled in well in advance of the evening game drive; trying to get from Joburg to the reserve the same day will almost guarantee you'll be too late for the evening drive, which of course you've paid for.

Three days safari, then return to JNB, and drop the car.

Now you've got some choices. You could fly to Port Elizabeth and get a car, visit Addo Elephant National Park, then drive to Cape Town along the beautiful Garden Route along the Indian Ocean.

Or you could fly to Cape Town and tour the Western Cape - winelands, whales in Hermanus, penguins... or head a couple of hours north from the city to West Coast National Park and the pretty fishing village of Paternoster. By September you'll probably start seeing the amazing wildflower displays in the national park - heart-stopping.

You'll start planning your return trip within hours of arriving.

airmotive

The end of August is the Reed festival in Swaziland!
Worth a google. The Ngwanya Glass village in Swazi is also an interesting place to spend a day.

xmrbrightside89

resurrecting this post... can anyone give any advice about doing a Safari? looking to do a short one as I know they are mega expensive, so was thinking of a 3 nights-4 days option...

we are considering also the option of going to Kenya, but I'm worried that it's too expensive and apart from Safari, there's not much else to do (other idea was retreating to the coast after that, or maybe fly to Zanzibar?). We can't afford doing a whole 2 week safari with the prices around. while South Africa, we can have that experience for a few days, and do other things, such as visit Cape Town etc etc

Any tips are much appreciated. I've seen online that loads of Safari bookings have flights included from London, so we are more looking for guide+entrance to game reserve+accomodation (we don't expect a 5 star, but something cool with a decent double bed, facilities etc would be lovely)

purch

I would suggest asking in the dedicated South Africa forum, as there are several knowledgeable people there who would be happy to give extensive details. I'm not sure if those same people monitor this forum... there are also a lot of older threads with similar questions, so you may be able to get some answers there too.

Myself, I have only ever done self drive safaris at Kruger so I can't directly answer your question based on my own experience. I do know that it is indeed possible to get somewhere in between the self-drive safari and super expensive luxury safari, if that's what you are after.

Btw I would expect that Kenya would be pound for pound more expensive than SA and in my opinion SA offers far more variety.

Ditto

One thing to consider is that August is winter in South Africa, so not the best time of the year to e.g. enjoy Cape Town, September gets a bit better as it is spring.

If you have 2 weeks, you can always visit both, e.g. KQ offer flights from LHR to NBO, and then from NBO to CPT & JNB, so you can book LHR-CPT with a stop over in NBO.

StartinSanDiego

Moderator Note: As this thread has settled on Africa as the destination, I'm going to move it to the Africa forum, for helpful input from our experts over there. Please follow the conversation.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/africa-459/

xmrbrightside89

Can't really do a stop over as I'm going to use a BA 2-4-1 voucher

so considering, are you suggesting that maybe visiting Kenya is better on those dates?

konagirl2

You can do an open-jaw with the BA Amex 2-4-1 as long as it is all on BA metal, and purchase regional flights separately. Also, it may be slightly easier now there is a CPT-LGW flight but don't underestimate how quickly the J redemptions go. If you settle on ZA a good strategy with the BA Amex 2-4-1: it will be less stressful to book flights to Cape Town outbound and JNB return, since you can book the outbound online as soon as the reward availability opens up.

The weather in Cape Town in August can be changeable (it rains on average every other day) but when fine it is nice t-shirt weather for most British. You will need to take warm clothes for early morning safari in open vehicles anyway. The plus points: the whale watching is at its best in August, the fynbos and daisies are flowering and very nice accommodation / apartments can be had for a very good price.

For Kruger area, find the websites for private concessions in the (unfenced) greater Kruger (e.g. Sabi Sand, Timbavati, Manyaleti, Balule, Klaserie each have a website) and have a look at the pricing. Many of the lodges are co-owned, so many do packages for 3-4 nights at 2 lodges. You could use a travel agent, but many lodges will deal with you directly. Once you have seen what you can get for your budget, compare with the guided drives into Kruger staying at the National Park facilities. For your honeymoon, you may prefer the former option, particularly a smaller lodge that only has 4-5 rooms.

Ditto

South African winter in the CPT area is indeed very far from a British/North-European winter, I would hardly call it a nice t-shirt weather though, while you might be able wear a t-shirt on a sunny day with no wind, the sunset is pretty early and temperatures drop to below 10 degrees at night

I think you need to decide what it is you want to do on your vacation, if you are looking for warm weather/beaches than a combination of Kenya & Zanzibar might be best, perhaps also adding a short visit to Victoria Falls.
If you are not worried about the weather, then by all means I would go for SA, much more options and with prices are often cheaper as well.