<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
It may be wiser to hire a car and driver unless you are skilled. Driving in the US is not adequate preparation for extensive driving in SA. Personally I would never attempt to drive from CPT to JNB (one of the safest routes in the country) as it is far too dangerous. Other routes (e.g. parts of the east cape) can be 100x more dangerous. I have rented cars in SA (and enjoyed driving around JNB and PRT) but I would not recommend it to someone who is unfamiliar with the area prior to renting. If you do rent a car, don't do it at the airport upon arrival in SA, spend a couple of days getting familiar with conditions (and overcoming jet lag), then you can be better prepared for driving.</font>
By the time we pickup our rental car in George (near Knysna and Plett Bay), we'll have been in Southern Africa (Namibia) for a week. We're staying in Knysna two nights (seeing Oudtshoorn and Plett Bay area) then we'll drive to Cape Town. Hopefully, that should get us acclimated to left-side driving (in a small community) prior to hitting the Mother City.
Our driving in and around Cape Town will be to get to places like the V&A (to catch ferries to Robben Island), to the Table Mtn. cable car, to Stellenbosh and the wine country, Kirstenbosch, the Cape of Good Hope loop, and finally from Sea Point to the airport. We might even go back out to Hermanus to watch the whales, time permitting. So that's the extent of our driving. We're not planning to go to (or through) the less desireable areas.
Any more specific thoughts about those areas. And, thanks again for all the great tips - very helpful and much appreciated!