LAX_Esq

This is probably because the highlight of sub-saharan Africa for most people -- and what draws them there -- is the wildlife/nature. And scurrying from lodges to camps is often the best way to see the wildlife. So it's non-optimal to travel independently if your raison d'etre for coming to Africa is to see the wildlife.

iahphx

Honestly, I think most Westerners are intimidated by Africa. A not completely unjustified concern. That said, in South Africa and Namibia, it is ridiculously easy -- and far less expensive -- to see nature and wildlife while travelling independently. In South Africa, you don't even really need anything other than a compact rental car (although you'll feel like more of an adventurer in an expensive SUV). SanParks does a decent job and provides plenty of accomodations and restaurants (if you don't want to braii your own dinner), particularly in Kruger where first time travellers should go. You can even pick up inexpensive safari drives in their camps if you don't want to just drive around by yourself. It is frankly unimaginable to me why I would pay someone a lot of money to see South African wildlife. But most Westerners don't know this, and are obviously a bit fearful and ill-informed. Africa is not that much like where they're from.

EDIT: I would note that, from the JNB airport, it is about 4 hours -- mostly by highway -- to the Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp in Kruger. If you can't independently navigate that, you either can't drive or have never left your own village.

LAX_Esq

I'd agree you get plenty of Westerners traveling to Africa who are intimidated by Africa. I also think there are plenty of Westerners who are comfortable with independent travel in other third-world regions who would opt to spend a lot of money to see African wildlife not because they're scared of Africa -- but because they think it's money well spent. To each his own, but there are major advantages to splurging on an African safari, such as exclusivity / privacy (fewer cars around) and ability to off-road (closer to the animals), and having someone else behind the wheel and who can move the car when necessary (essential if you're a photog or a wannabe photog). Some of the people spending a lot on African safaris don't realize they could DIY for much cheaper, but some realize they can and have decided that it's worth it to splurge -- or they have enough money such that it's not a particular splurge.

Swanhunter

SA, Namibia and Botswana are well set up for independent travel, and a fair few Europeans do just that. Outside of those three it does become harder - you are more into overland territory as sensibly priced accommodation of a good standard, supermarkets become infrequent and hassles increase thought are pockets like Zanzibar where you can still go it alone.

It's also a relatively expensive destination. SE Asia is cheaper - increasingly flights and certainly on the ground.

eng3

Many Americas are afraid to travel to Western Europe let alone Africa. I remember hearing someone canceling a trip to Paris when the Ukraine conflict began. I visited Saudi Arabia last month and my coworkers were questioning if it was safe with the Israel conflict. Same thing when I visited the Balkans two years ago or an upcoming planned trip to Algeria. If they do go, it's a "once in a lifetime" trip.
South Africa is on my list but my intl vacations are tied to being able to find upgrade availability on UA.

iahphx

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about trying to find biz class seats. Having recently flown back to the US from South Africa in biz class through Europe, I'm going to fly the coach nonstops on UA next time (I figure there's no chance of me finding a UA nonstop biz class ticket to South Africa I'd be willing to pay for). I find that I feel equally crummy after flying ultra long haul in business as I do flying ultra long haul in coach. Those nonstops from North America are like time machines, even in coach.

jsnydcsa

I'm long spoiled from a long ago Delta-SAA codeshare where SAA flew ATL to CPT. I think sometimes it stopped in JNB and flew onward to CPT. Other times, direct ATL-CPT. I did it in Business and Coach many times. IMO you cannot beat that direct flight! Even skipping Accra, Sal island (and the chance to smoke) are big things to me. Get on, fly, get off. For USA to CPT, I'll take any class of service and thought its a slog, can "handle" it even now.

iahphx

Yeah, it's a shame SAA has discontinued their USA flights, at least for now. They're starting to rebuild again from basically nothing. I just flew them from JNB to CPT with (of all things) a discounted ticket I found through a UK wholesaler on Skyscanner, and the experience was good. They even have a very nice Star Gold domestic lounge.

DL is offering some ATL flights, but I'm unfamiliar with their current schedule. UA is flying daily nonstops (I believe) from EWR and is offering at least a few weekly IAD-CPT nonstops. I do wish there was an updated source for this flight info, as it is a bit obscure and confusing.

eng3

By upgrade ability, I mean free upgrade availability. I've seen it available once one-way. I'm sure someday it'll show up. I do agree, if you find them to be equal, there is no point looking for biz. I've flown many ultra longhaul flights in biz and coach, I do not find them to be equal in terms of how I feel after the flight.

iahphx

Yeah, if you can actually get materially more sleep in biz class than coach on an ultra long haul, there's obviously some value there. I don't get much more sleep, so while I much prefer the in-flight biz class experience while on board, it's not worth a lot of money to me. Also, because I tend to eat and drink more in biz class than I do in coach, I actually sometimes feel worse after a biz class flight than a coach flight (although that's really only happened to me on 6 hour transatlantic flight on a European airline where the wine is good ).

notquiteaff

We visited SA about 25 years ago. After a week in the Cape Town area with friends we flew to JNB, rented a fine Dodge Neon, and drove to Kruger, where we spent nearly a week driving all over the place from rest camp to rest camp. What a glorious vacation. Was it as efficient as a fancy safari in a luxurious private camp somewhere? No. But it was so liberating to be able to go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and find our own elephants (etc.).

One mistake was probably to leave the highway before getting to the park and head to some park entrance half way up the middle of the park. That lead us through some somewhat “sketchy” looking villages and towns outside the park (not sure how it is today; back then car jacking was a problem…. not that this doesn’t happen in, say, Washington, DC, too). To my amazement, we had cellphone coverage everywhere (I had bought a SIM card in Cape Town), but of course this was long before iPhones or Android phones were available, so navigation was, I think, with paper maps. Or maybe I brought a Garmin; don’t quite recall.

We have not really been back to South Africa, but I would do the same trip again. My wife would probably want to fly to Skukuza and skip the drive from JNB.

We also did a self driving trip all over Namibia about ten years ago. What a wonderful country to visit. And Etosha National Park was a very similar experience as Kruger. Another trip I would do again. And maybe add on Botswana and Victoria Falls.

Thanks for bringing back the memories from those trips.

notquiteaff

We flew on SAA’s 747 from ATL to CPT. On the way back we flew JNB-CPT-(refuel, not allowed to get off)-FLL-(refuel, not allowed to get off)-ATL. That was when SA was partnering with Delta - I think I may still have some Delta miles from that trip

And then we still had go fly back to SFO from ATL. Back in those days I hadn’t discovered FT yet, so flying anything but coach was really just a dream. I bought a new Atlanta Braves t-shirt at ATL because… well… I needed a new t-shirt at that point in time.

Our next trip to Southern Africa, we stopped in Europe for a night and paid for BA Premium Economy.

Then, for our third trip, to Uganda, we flew Q-Suites

I would do the Premium Economy trip again, either non stop or via Europe. I don’t think I would do coach from the west coast anymore. Fortunately I don’t have to.

iahphx

Honestly, not much has changed. I don't find any of the Kruger park entrances "sketchy" (except maybe it the extreme north). I did once fly my wife back from one of the Kruger airports because the rest of us were continuing our trip and she had to get back to work, but otherwise I wouldn't bother with the extra expense. As I've noted, it's 4 easy hours from JNB to the Berg-en-Dal rest camp. Flying isn't going to really save you any time, and it's going to be relatively expensive. It's also not a bad thing to see a little more of South Africa. I like stopping at one of the fruit stands along the way and getting some very good fresh OJ for about a US dollar.

konagirl2

I disagree with the first statement. Most of the Kruger NP entrances are very safe, and especially in the far north. Pafuri gate is lovely and quiet and the neighbouring village a real insight to local life, the Nthakeni camp / self catering has local women cook meals that are amazing. However, Numbi gate really should be avoided at all costs - the R538 between White River and Hazyview has always had a reputation for decades but in the last 3 years there have been 4 shootings targeting tourists resulting in injury and one fatality. We do drive the N4 to Kruger NP and through the villages but there is poor driving and poorly maintained trucks leading to fatal collisions and there are scammers in some rest stations who will approach you with a clup board trying to extract money for some 'permit' or other. I too think SA is an amazing place to visit. But I would encourage everyone to read up on the scams, corruption, and areas to avoid, and know those areas to tell your satnav which routes to take. To me that's simple precaution but I can appreciate for some people they don't like that perceived risk. In which case going to Namibia and Botswana first is a good idea for safe and easy travels.

Swanhunter

Agree - Numbi gate is very sketchy and I would avoid, Phabeni a little less so but still worth avoiding. Malelane is a great gateway to the park, the drive along the N4 once past Nelspruit is pretty scenic and, once in, there is a pack of wild dogs and a resident leopard to look for.