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Old Oct 12, 2020, 12:25 pm
  #14  
Fritz
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Amsterdam and London
Programs: Mucci Platinum Hairbrush des Bonnes Nouvelles. BA LTG, Bonvoy LTP, AA LTS, KL LTPt, Easy Flight Club
Posts: 372
Originally Posted by konagirl2

With only 1 week (am I reading that correctly?), don't try and 'see' too much or you'll spend all of your time in airports. There are 'game reserves' in the Western Cape that stock African savanna animals, but if you want to see wildlife somewhere close to wild, you need to go to the Eastern Cape or further east. You can fly to Port Elizabeth or Durban (cheaply) and drive to places within a few hours. Assuming you want somewhere guided and don't want to lose time transferring, for expediency of you should be able to fly directly to the greater Kruger area - the airport you use depends on the private reserve lodge you choose to be guided in - usually either Skukuza, Hoedpsruit or KMIA/MQP. The Airlink flights are loaded and available to buy. Expect about £200-300 per person one way for those flights. It is perfectly possible to drive yourselves in the National Park much more affordably, the drive to the National Park takes 5-7 hours from JNB depending on which bit you go to. So most people with just one week would do 3 nights Cape Town, see table mountain, penguins, cape point and the wine lands, perhaps stay overnight in Stellenbosch or Franschhoek to enjoy dinner & wine then take the direct flight from CPT to the greater Kruger area which lands around midday, giving time for a ground transfer to the lodge for a ~3-4 pm afternoon game drive. I would recommend 3 nights on 'safari' to give you a good chance of seeing lots of variety (there can be quiet days even in the most expensive of lodges!). On your last day you do the morning game drive and breakfast then transfer to the airport for an early afternoon flight into JNB and then wait for your check in. If you choose not to change your outbound to the direct LHR-CPT flight and choose to transfer through JNB you'll lose the first half-day.
Good advice IMHO. Only thing to add is that Kruger area is considered malarial whereas the lodges in the Cape are considered malaria free. Although it is cold in June which generally reduces the risk. But you might want to factor that into your considerations if you don't want to take anti-malarials.

More generally I'm with the majority here that the safari experience in the Cape is a lot less authentic than you'll get further north (albeit certainly better in the Eastern Cape, using PLZ as a jumping off point). I always enjoy spending time in Addo NP and Mountain Zebra NP for example. And safari is indeed addictive lol

Have a great trip

Last edited by Fritz; Oct 12, 2020 at 12:28 pm Reason: grammar
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