bp888

In preparation for our early-March trip to South Africa for 2 weeks, I've done extensive research on the various threads here at FT (as well as Google ). I think I've read ALL the threads in the various forums! Found the following thread extremely helpful:

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...ML/000028.html

So I think I have a pretty good idea on how to divide our two weeks and have come up with the following schedule. My remaining questions are mostly logistical in nature (e.g. where to book reservations).

Day 1: Arrive JNB ex HKG on CX. Our flight arrives ~8am. Plan to catch a flight onward to Cape Town.

Q1: On which airline should I book my JNB-CPT flight and where (online) should I book? Approximate cost?

Day 2-5: Stay in Cape Town for 4 days

For this part of our trip, I'm depending on the 2004 edition of “Frommer's South Africa” by Pippa de Bruyn for guidance in and around Cape Town. I picked Frommer’s because I like the way it’s organized.

We'll be staying at the new ArabellaSheraton. There’s a timely and useful thread on this hotel in the Starwood forum.

Q2. Any other suggestion for reading materials? Please share your favorite restaurants, bars, clubs and specially nightlife venues.

Day 6-7: Rent a car and drive to Hermanus along the Garden Route and maybe visit a couple of wineries along the way. Staying at Sheraton Western Cape.

Q3. Rental car company suggestion? Should I book it with a major rental companies in the U.S. like Hertz or Avis prior to arrival or wait until I get to Cape Town. Approximate cost? What additional insurance coverage required for a U.S. driver with auto insurance? Do the car rental insurance coverage included with Amex Platinum and Diners Club cards help?

Day 8: Drive back to Cape Town. Stay 1 more night at ArabellaSheraton.

Day 9: Fly CPT-JNB. Stay 1 night in/around JNB.

Q4. Suggestion on where to stay (noting that I’m SPG Plat and HHonors Diamond, so naturally I’m inclined to stay at one of their hotels). What to see?

Day 10-12: Kruger National Park for a Big 5 safari.

Q5. Should I pre-book our Safari or book it when we arrive in Cape Town? Approximate cost for a combination 2-day KNP tour + 1-day private game lodge. The tour company I contacted by email is quoting ZAR 5,000 per person sharing or ZAR10,000 for the two of us. Is this about right?

I’m sure I will have more questions as hopefully this thread gets responses. Thanks in advance for helping make our South Africa trip a memorable one.

travelmad478

SAA or BA (operated by Comair) are fine. No idea on cost, but any booking engine should be able to tell you that.

Avis has a South African operation. Another good bet is a local company called Imperial. In my experience, Imperial has better rates. However, there are plenty of other lesser-known companies to rent from too. Check out http://www.carhire.co.za/car-hire-so...rica/index.htm for an idea of pricing. I've always found that booking online ahead of time gets you a better rate, no matter what country you're in. Insurance is included--you will not need to take out extra. I assume your Amex will also provide more collision coverage (can't recall SA being on the excluded countries list).

As for the Hermanus plan, well, you could do better. Staying somewhere in wine country (which is not really on the way to Hermanus, by the way) would probably be a lot more fun. Hermanus is a pretty generic beach town, whereas the Western Cape wine country in Stellenbosch/Franschhoek/Paarl is really something special.

That sounds astonishingly expensive for a one-night stay. You are likely to find better rates from local travel agents. It shouldn't be hard to book this when you get there, as long as you're not going during SA's peak holiday season.



[This message has been edited by travelmad478 (edited Jan 22, 2004).]

YYZC2

Comair, which is owned by British Airways, has recently launched a low-fare domestic carrier called Kulula.

Tickets can be booked only through their direct call center or via kulula.com.

Right now, Jo'burg to Cape Town is on sale for 299 South African Rand each way (about 375 Rand or $52 USD tax-inclusive). Availablity of this fare in March is still very good.

Service is strictly no-frills, but very friendly. It's only two hours, after all.

[This message has been edited by YYZC2 (edited Jan 22, 2004).]

SanDiego1K

The OneWorld partners have an air travel pass within Africa available to those who fly in on a OneWorld carrier. You have to buy a minimum of two segments; since you are flying RT JNB-CPT, you qualify. Get a quote on this. We saved considerable money on our two flights within South Africa in December.

Be sure to book your car rental from outside South Africa. We rented from Avis; when we picked up our car in Capetown, we were told they only see such good rates when booked outside South Africa. The 5 day, 6 day, and 7 day rates were within a dollar or two of each other. Rent from the city office, as this saves about 10% in tax. Do rent a car for at least part of your time in Capetown. I highly recommend a drive around the Cape. This is a great excursion, and will take the best part of a day with stops.

We have stayed at both the Intercontinental in JNB and the Sheraton in Pretoria. We were very happy with the Sheraton; however, it is cheaper to book a tour to Soweto and the Apartheid Museum from a JNB hotel. The Intercontinental is attached to a shopping mall, a safer alternative to being out and about in JNB at night.

An alternative to your expensive game park is to stay at the Intercontinental at Melelane Gate, Kruger Park, and take game rides given by the National Park. (There are also accomodations within the park owned by the government.) You are also able to drive your own car into the park. We drove our car, as well as booking early morning and evening game rides. We were well content with the amount of game we saw.


[This message has been edited by SanDiego1K (edited Jan 22, 2004).]

bp888

Thank you so much for your responses.

travelmad478 and YYZC2, thanks to your suggestion I will have the flight and car rental arrangements all squared away before embarking on the trip.

travelmad478, thanks for pointing out that the wine country is not on the way to Hermanus. Is the wine country accessible from Hermanus or Cape Town for a day trip? Any specific winery to visit?

On the safari, let me clarify that the ZAR10,000 figure I was quoted is for a 3-day/2-night guided tour which includes 2 days at the Mpumalanga province of KNP plus a day (the 3rd day) at a private game reserve/lodge. All accommodations (2 nights) and meals included for 2 persons sharing. The same 3D/2N tour without the private game reserve/lodge is slightly cheaper at ZAR8,500. The tour company is called Southern Eagle. I found them online.

SanDiego1K, I searched for Intercontinental at Melelane Gate on the IC website but didn’t see it listed. I found online a Melelane Sun Resort ( www.hotel.co.za/malelane-sun-resort_hotel-location.html ) with a daily rate of ZAR1,680. So it looks like this would indeed be a cheaper alternative. How do I travel to Melelane from JNB airport? (I’m not planning on renting a car at this point.) Can you also tell me more about the game rides given by KNP? What kind of prices are we looking at? (Just trying to factor in all the costs if I do the safari logistics myself versus an all-inclusive package like the one Southern Eagle offers.


[This message has been edited by bp888 (edited Jan 23, 2004).]

travelmad478

You can do wine country from Cape Town fairly easily as a day trip, if you're up for the driving. It's maybe 1.5 hours to Stellenbosch, another half-hour to Franschhoek. If I were you, I'd just do 2-3 days there and skip Hermanus. You can go to the beach in Cape Town, and there's so much to do around the Cape peninsula that you'll easily fill up your time in CT anyway. I have some info at http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/2690a/21f560/ and excellent basic information on the wineries can be found at http://www.winemag.co.za/content/onl...ries/index.asp

Don't miss every opportunity to eat at the restaurants run by some of the wineries! I had one of my top 5 meals ever at the cellar restaurant at Haute Cabriere in Franschhoek. Lanzerac (Stellenbosch) and Le Quartier Francais (Franschhoek) also get excellent reviews.

Without knowing what that tour entails, or where you'd be staying, it's hard to know whether the price is fair. There is always the option of staying right in the park itself, at the lodges run by the park, and doing the game drives. This is likely to be the cheapest. You can drive up from Johannesburg. See http://www.krugerpark.co.za/

Jac747

We stayed two nights at the Lanzerac Hotel outside Stellenbosch last August and it was lovely! We could've spent a week roaming around Franschoek and exploring the wineries but thoroughly enjoyed our two nights!

Tim2008

In Cape Town you should have a sundowner at La Med and go to either Rhodes House or The Fez. Rhodes House is bigger and very nice but no Vip area. But you can get a table inckuding a bottle of Vodka for about USD 50 whhich is a very good deal. Or just ask for Amanda who is handling the guestlist and Pr stuff...
Fez is small but stylish and has got a vip area above the dance floor with very comfy seats.
Just search the web for these bsars/clubs or have a look at some pics on www.thunda.com

j379pa

Consider reading Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. It gives both the recent history of South Africa and tells Mandela's story in an engaging way.

Also--Dark Star Safari, by Paul Theroux. It traces his journey from Cairo to Cape Town, following a less conventional route than you'll take. The last chapters deal with South Africa; the entire book is worth a read for it's view of Africa today from the eyes of one who lived and taught there 20-30 years ago.

Semi-fiction--The Power of One (can't come up with the author)--about a white boy growing up in apartheid-split South Africa. Was also made into a move.

JP

Kurwah

Bryce Courtenay is the author.
http://www.brycecourtenay.com.au/

SOMA1K

One of the best suggestions is to look at the Thunda website (assuming you are not gay.) Even if you are, a visit to Rhodes is terrific, Fez is also fun, and the restaraunt (Strega) is good for lunch in CBD.

Also, one of my favorite things to do for lunch or tea is to drive to Rhodes Memorial. Very nice view and peaceful place to relax.

SOMA1K

My gosh, I am ashamed I didn't think of this first. By all means, have the Sheraton help you find a tour of the Cape Flats, District Six, and be sure to go to Robben Island. It would be a real shame to go to South Africa and come away with no sense of the history of the struggle, and how it is currently playing out. Please, please do this. It is a day well worth spending.

Also, as to reading, almost anything by Nadine Gordimer (JULY'S PEOPLE or HOUSE GUN)or J.M. Coetzee (especially DISGRACE) would be good airplane reading.

JHL

I have stayed at Grootbos several times and it is a fine location for seeing the Western Cape.

http://lodges.safari.co.za/grootbos-nature-reserve.html

http://www.grootbos.com/

bp888

Thank you all so very much for your kind responses.

worldtraveler19

Stellensbosch is not far from CPT... and it is a nice drive. Good wineries, too. I visited a few, one I really liked was Hartenberg. And their wine is very reasonably priced. And you are going in March, which is the harvest season (season in so hemissphere are reversed)

Drive south from CPT down the peninsula, is a beautiful drive,too.

I know you have a short time...but the town of Knysna on the garden route is beautiful. Go there if you have a chance... sounds to me like your time is limited,though.

Go to Table Mountain, there is this air tram that takes you there...but walking it is also great, the views are incredible, not a bad hike, maybe 2 hrs up, and then quicker on the way down.