Africa - What to do with 4 extra days in Southern Africa?

I was just going over an upcoming itinerary that has me coming into Windhoek on the 15th and departing Joburg on the 19th (1:40PM flight, so not too early). In theory I could spend 4 nights in Windhoek, but that seems a bit excessive. I'll be through Joburg two other times earlier in the trip, and i've been before. I was thinking of trying to go WDH-JNB-CPT on the 17th to visit some friends, then back to JNB the morning of the 19th to catch my flight to DOH, but that feels like it would be a bit rushed and a lot of hassle for a small pay off. Any other ideas?

For the record...flights to VFA during my dates are outlandishly expensive, so that's out. I am not too keen to fly RJ's in Africa, so Lesotho and Swaziland are out and there's not enough time to go on even a quick safari, so just going to Gaborone doesn't seem worth the trip to Botswana.

Let's enlist the readers of our Destinations->Africa forum. I'll move this there. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Four nights on your own in Windhoek sounds a bit cabin-fever inducing.

I'm not sure your time is too short for a safari. You could fly up to Maun from Windhoek which would give you three days in the Okavango if you're able to fly from there to JNB on the morning of the 19th.

Alternatively, there's a lot to do in Namibia but everything is quite spread out. There are various lodges in the Kalahari although that would probably involve driving a fair bit which isn't much fun if you're alone. You could fly across to Walvis Bay/Swakopmund where there are lots of options for day trips e.g. head into the desert, bird watching, seal watching, kayaking.

If you want to see your friends, can you not fly with SAA or Air Namibia down to CPT?

Four days is way too long to spend in Windhoek.

My favourite part of my trip to Southern Africa was Namibia, Swapkomund and Sossusvlei deserve a visit. If you don't want to fly consider the Desert Express that travels from Windhoek to Swapkomund. You can fly from Walvis Bay to Cape Town on SAA, so you do not need to return to Windhoek to fly to South Africa.

If you are interested in Victoria Falls check flights to LVI instead of VFA. Four days is plenty in that region.

I am not too keen to fly RJ's in Africa, so Lesotho and Swaziland are out and there's not enough time to go on even a quick safariFlying RJs in southern Africa is no worse than anywhere else, perfectly doable if the flying time is under one hour, as is the case when flying to Swaziland and Lesotho.

A quick safari should not be a problem, you could drive to Etosha from WDH, or Pilanesberg from JNB, and spend a couple of nights in either.

Johan

Flying RJs in southern Africa is no worse than anywhere else, perfectly doable if the flying time is under one hour, as is the case when flying to Swaziland and Lesotho.


I agree. Flying around in RJs or smaller is pretty routine and a way of life for many areas in the region - much more so than anywhere else in my experience except maybe the US or Oz.

Most of my domestic flights in SA are on J41s. They are far from comfortable, but still OK for up to an hour or so. Other flights are on a variety of smaller twins and singles, with a self-service cooler box at best. I usually contrive to get the seat next to the pilot, which makes the time pass a bit faster.

Johan