Africa - Southern/Eastern Africa for a Solo Traveler for 1 Week

I am planning to use my *A miles for a trip to Africa (using US Airways miles - i.e. I can have a stopover at a *A hub - most likely JNB). I have about 7-8 nights total in Africa (depending on availability and flight schedules) and I will be in Africa between May 18-26 (plus minus a day or two).

I plan on splitting my trip into 2. Spend 3-5 days at a safari and then the remaining at a city (or rather, places where I can go close to a major city - I am thinking of Zanzibar). Also, I spent 5 days in Cape Town earlier this year so would prefer visiting a new city.

For the safari portion, I thinking of either in Tanzania, Namibia, Kruger, Chobe or Zimbabwe (Hwange or Mana Pools). Since I am going mid-end May, it limits the safaris I can visit (I've read that most safaris are only beginning to open at that time of the year and the vegetation is still pretty dense) and I would love to see the big 5.

Kruger self-drive is an option for me, but is it recommended for a solo traveler? I don't mind joining a tour once I am there, but it seems like I need to book these safaris a few weeks, if not, months in advance.

Also, flying to Victoria Falls, Livingston or Harare wouldn't be a problem as I can use my Avios points from JNB (if US Airways doesn't allow me to have my stopover at those places).

What would the best recommendation for a safari at that time of the year? I am also traveling on a budget (not planning to spend $1,000 a night, but I think around $200-ish a night is reasonable for me). I've read that Zimbabwe is a really nice and cheap country and the safaris there are much cheaper than Kruger.

And on the way back, I plan to stop by Zanzibar/DAR - I might spend a night or two at Zanzibar (may scuba dive there as well) - is Zanzibar worth going to or would you recommend another city in Eastern/Southern Africa (Cairo is an option too).

Thanks in advance!

Edited: South Luangwa NP in Zambia is also an option for me (and it seems pretty reasonable). Sorry for all the safaris I just named - there are way too many good safaris out there! :p

I'm doing somewhat of a similar thing as an extension to the SAA Vacations package I bought off of Groupon. Since I'm already going to be in South Africa, I've decided to stay an extra week to cram in some more sightseeing/countries. I'm looking at doing Victoria Falls myself during two of the days at leisure I have in Cape Town then spending the following week doing some combination of Windhoek, Gaborone, Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Addis Ababa, and Mauritius.

I'm not going until September but trying to plan things out now. Would be interested to hear what you decide to do. I'm doing all my flights using MileagePlus miles.

Just an update - I finally have a rough idea of what my trip entails.

I will fly my entire trip using US miles. My first stop will be Addis, where I will spend 28 hours there before continuing on to Lilongwe. From there, I will take a 4D/3N safari to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia (one of the cheaper safaris I found in Africa).

Based on my research, that's one of the better safaris to go to at that time of the year (mid/end May). After my safari trip, I will return to Lilongwe before heading out to Lake Malawi for 2 nights (any recommendations there? Is it a cool place to scuba dive?). After Lake Malawi, I will fly to Nairobi for about 22 hours layover before flying back to Europe!

So my trip in a nutshell:
1 night in Addis Ababa
1 night in Lilongwe
3 nights at South Luangwa NP
1-2 nights in Lake Malawi (Max 2 nights, don't know how I will split it up yet)
1 night in Nairobi

Any input are certainly welcome! :)

Sounds like a bit of a whirlwind tour!

I'd rather spend the time in Nairobi elsewhere if possible. A lot of the attractions are "safari-esque" and you will have been doing that anyway.

Sounds like a bit of a whirlwind tour!

I'd rather spend the time in Nairobi elsewhere if possible. A lot of the attractions are "safari-esque" and you will have been doing that anyway.

It is a whirlwind tour for me unfortunately. I only have that amount of time available to me. :(

As far as Nairobi goes, I am planning to take LX back to ZRH (one of the few carriers with full-flat bed). So I can either depart from NBO or DAR. I've read that DAR is not that safe (esp. when ET arrives around 2 AM). I could do Zanzibar for a day trip from DAR, but has anyone arrived DAR around 2 AM and done a day trip to Zanzibar and back? (The LX flight departs DAR around 9-ish).

Dar es Salaam sounds a much better plan.

The ferry from Dar to Zanzibar takes about two hours. You can also fly from DAR to ZNZ which only takes 20 minutes so that may be more appropriate for a day-trip. There's more or less one flight every hour.

As for arriving in the middle of the night I have no idea. :D

Would you be travelling via Addis to get from Lake Malawi to DAR? ET also serves ZNZ but I don't know how the timings would be for you.

If you're planning to scuba dive in Lake Malawi I guess you'd have to be careful about flying within 24 hours after your last dive.

My number 1 suggestion for Nairobi is The Giraffe Sanctuary. Every guidebook mentions it, and taxi drivers know roughly where it is, Karen. You get to see giraffes up close. They eat out of your hand, and you can even kiss them!

Here's (http://milevalue.com/about/) a picture of me kissing one. (too much tongue!)

Would you be travelling via Addis to get from Lake Malawi to DAR? ET also serves ZNZ but I don't know how the timings would be for you.

If you're planning to scuba dive in Lake Malawi I guess you'd have to be careful about flying within 24 hours after your last dive.

Thank you for your input! :) I can fly from ADD to ZNZ, but the problem is I can't get from ZNZ to connect to my ZRH flight at DAR (I know ET flies ZNZ-DAR, but I highly doubt the US Airways agent will be able to book that flight even though I am connecting to an international flight).

If I am going to DAR, my ADD-DAR arrives at 02:00 while my connecting DAR-ZRH flight departs at 21:00. That gives me either a day in DAR to explore the city or a quick trip to Zanzibar (flights are $140 RT).

I will have 24 hours after my dive, but I've read a lot of Schistosomiasis (why does it have to be that difficult to pronounce/spell!) in Lake Malawi. There are people who warn against touching water on that lake while some advice people to go in for a swim and just buy praziquantel from a local pharmacy in Lilongwe and take it 6 weeks after your last dip. :-/

My number 1 suggestion for Nairobi is The Giraffe Sanctuary. Every guidebook mentions it, and taxi drivers know roughly where it is, Karen. You get to see giraffes up close. They eat out of your hand, and you can even kiss them!

Here's (http://milevalue.com/about/) a picture of me kissing one. (too much tongue!)

Haha! Great pic and thank you for the tip! However, I will skip the tongue action with the giraffe for now! ;)

Have you looked at flying via JNB with SAA between Lilongwe and Dar? I'm not sure if that's possible without overnighting in JNB though.

Have you looked at flying via JNB with SAA between Lilongwe and Dar? I'm not sure if that's possible without overnighting in JNB though.

That would be my preferred option instead of flying 3 hours in a DH8 :(. But I need to overnight in JNB if I were to do that option. The intra-Africa flights on SAA are mainly timed for intercontinental connections (dep. JNB mid morning and arrive back in JNB late afternoon).

Thank you for your input! :) I can fly from ADD to ZNZ, but the problem is I can't get from ZNZ to connect to my ZRH flight at DAR (I know ET flies ZNZ-DAR, but I highly doubt the US Airways agent will be able to book that flight even though I am connecting to an international flight).

If I am going to DAR, my ADD-DAR arrives at 02:00 while my connecting DAR-ZRH flight departs at 21:00. That gives me either a day in DAR to explore the city or a quick trip to Zanzibar (flights are $140 RT).

I'm not sure if you're still looking for input on this? If so, then a couple of thoughts, in no particular order:

- For one day's exploration, I would take ZNZ over Dar in a heartbeat. (FWIW: I live in Dar, but travel frequently to ZNZ for work and also leisure)

- Arriving at 2 AM, you will need to kill time until the first flight to ZNZ which is at 0730. There is no hotel that I can recommend nearby the airport. However, at that hour, you could also just take a taxi into town and sleep for a few hours. Depending on your budget / preferences, there are a number of lodging options, and they should all be able to arrange airport transfers (which I would recommend at that hour).

As a guideline, we have just made arrangements of this sort for a visitor arriving on TK at 0245, and leaving for ZNZ. Peacock hotel (decent business range hotel) in Dar offered a "day rate" of $60 and airport transfer of $25. If you want to go cheaper (e.g. Safari Inn, Heritage etc) then you certainly can find other options.

- For the Dar-ZNZ travel, I strongly recommend you fly Coastal - ask to sit in the co-pilot's seat (which is sold as a passenger seat). The last flight back from ZNZ to Dar is at 1815 or so. With Coastal, you only need to be at the airport up to 30 minutes before the flight - so no need to spend the little time you have waiting in the airport. The roundtrip cost should be somewhere between $100 to $150. If you leave your hotel by 0600 or shortly after, you'll be at the airport in plenty of time for the Coastal flight at 0730.

Note that Coastal flies out of Terminal 1 (the old terminal, not where ET and other international carriers land). There's a decent place for coffee inside.

I hope this helps.

Safari njema

- michael

but I've read a lot of Schistosomiasis (why does it have to be that difficult to pronounce/spell!) in Lake Malawi.I've swum in that lake many times, on occasion for hours on end, without ever getting anything from any pharmacy afterwards. Nor did any of the people I was with run to the drugstore.

Johan

Are there any decent transportation between Lilongwe and Cape McClear? I arrive back in Lilongwe from South Luangwa late afternoon and would like to stay in Cape McClear for 2 nights prior to flying to DAR (my flight to DAR is at 3 PM). Thanks!! :)

I'm not sure if you're still looking for input on this? If so, then a couple of thoughts, in no particular order:

- For the Dar-ZNZ travel, I strongly recommend you fly Coastal - ask to sit in the co-pilot's seat (which is sold as a passenger seat). The last flight back from ZNZ to Dar is at 1815 or so. With Coastal, you only need to be at the airport up to 30 minutes before the flight - so no need to spend the little time you have waiting in the airport. The roundtrip cost should be somewhere between $100 to $150. If you leave your hotel by 0600 or shortly after, you'll be at the airport in plenty of time for the Coastal flight at 0730.

Note that Coastal flies out of Terminal 1 (the old terminal, not where ET and other international carriers land). There's a decent place for coffee inside.

I hope this helps.

Safari njema

- michael

Thank you! This helped a lot! However, I have decided to stick to DAR for now. My flight leaves around 9 PM at night and I would like to shower before my flight (I hate to be on a flight all sweaty from the humidity). I have booked a room at the Tanzanite Executive Suites and they offered a pickup for $20 (I guess it's worth it considering I arrive at 3 AM).

I might just do a day trip on the boat or explore DAR during the day :)

I've swum in that lake many times, on occasion for hours on end, without ever getting anything from any pharmacy afterwards. Nor did any of the people I was with run to the drugstore.

Johan

Cool. Thank you!!