South Africa safari?

[wez]

I'm really thinking about this, and would prefer to organise it myself rather than go through a travel agent. Has anyone got any experiences to share of places to stay, safari tour operators, flights etc? Thanks!

[penguin19]

We went to Krugar for 6 days in August (cape town for 8) and we loved it and booked everything seperatly.


We stayed in 2 guest houses, just outside the gates. One was on the doorstep to Crocodile Bridge (it's called Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge) it was wonderful, we stayed in Luxary Tents.

We then moved up to Hazyview for a few nights and stayed at a place called Dreamfields Guest house. Again a wonderful place to stay.

We paid about £40per night at these places, but the exchange was R22 at the time, now its R16.

We then self drove a few times and also booked a safari with Elephant Herd Safaris who were excellent.

My recommendation would be to book yourself, you can find amazing places to stay at not much cost. Tripadvisor is great for this

[Omega1]

We're in South Africa at the moment doing a four week road trip. It's a long time since we've been to the Kruger so others might be able to give up to date info. More recently we've visited private game reserves on the Eastern Cape (Amakala and Shamwari) which were great but not cheap. You can visit the Kruger for much less.
We always book our trips independently (flights, car hire, B&Bs) and never had a problem. On this trip we are currently staying near Cape Town and then taking a sedate drive as far as Knysna staying in Hermanus on the way out and Oudtshoorn and Franschhoek on the way back.
We booked the trip when it was R23 to the £ but now R16 so it's costing more but still excellent vfm.

[wez]

Thanks both. When booking yourself did you book online? And did you drive to get from place to place?

[Omega1]

Yes we booked flights on line - this time we flew with Qatar who were excellent, a slightly longer routing but loads of leg room, good food and great ife - and they were the cheapest!
Car hire booked through auto europe and accommodation booked direct or through booking.com.
It is very easy - no jet lag, drive on the left and the roads are quiet. Here in the western cape the restaurants are superb, also the wines. Last night, we had fresh sardines to start, dw then had calamari and I had steak (no dessert) inc beer and wine - £23. You can't go wrong, poor quality restaurants simply don't survive.

[The Muppets]

Had a fantastic stay at Tuningi Lodge in the Madikwe Game reserve and would highly recommend it. We initially pick it as it was in the malaria free zone. We booked flights to Johannesburg and rented a car and drove to the reserve but you can also take a short flight and land on the mud airstrip.
As it was for a special birthday we also went to Mauritius and finished in Cape Town which I would recommend, lots to see and do and very reasonable. I can't remember the cost but we had a driver for the day to visit some wineries and I was surprised how cheap it was. We also hired a car in Cape Town for a day (Think it was only £25) and went to Simons Town to see the penguins and then on Hermanus for whale spotting. Great trip.

[SimonB]

Originally Posted by Omega1

We're in South Africa at the moment doing a four week road trip. It's a long time since we've been to the Kruger so others might be able to give up to date info. More recently we've visited private game reserves on the Eastern Cape (Amakala and Shamwari) which were great but not cheap. You can visit the Kruger for much less.
We always book our trips independently (flights, car hire, B&Bs) and never had a problem. On this trip we are currently staying near Cape Town and then taking a sedate drive as far as Knysna staying in Hermanus on the way out and Oudtshoorn and Franschhoek on the way back.
We booked the trip when it was R23 to the £ but now R16 so it's costing more but still excellent vfm.

See more...

Isnt Shamwari fantastic? We went a few years ago and educationally it's one of the best experiences we have had as a family

[ali-s]

We are going to South Africa in July. We are spending 6 nights in Kruger ( not in a reserve bordering it ) staying in sanparks accommodation and self driving. This was the most budget friendly option for us . We are then driving through Swaziland and staying 2 nights in a lodge in KwaZulu-Natal, same set up as the lodges nr Kruger but less expensive.
Everything booked independently, (San Parks accommodation can only be booked through sanparks).
Have a look on TripAdvisors South Africa forum. There is a 'sticky' on how to do Kruger that explains all the options in detail.

[penguin19]

We flew via Frankfurt with Luthensa. We've done Emirates in the past via DUbai but we preferred this route as you only have 1 long flight and just an hour between here and Germany.

Car hire we got through auto Europe. Super easy to drive

I booked everywhere direct with the places, but found them via trip advisor

[Travellingbhoy]

We are just back after our fourth visit to SA, this time flying with Lufthansa from Edinburgh via Frankfurt. We pushed the boat out this time for business class as it was my 60th birthday, and the experience was superb. In the past we have flown from Glasgow in economy class and used KLM who were good, Emirates who were very good, and BA who were poor.
Car hire has always been through Hertz, and I'd advise you to take the extra insurance on offer, as third party insurance isn't compulsory in SA, and it's reckoned that 35% of vehicles on the road have no insurance at all!
We finished off our trip at Casart Lodge on the Greitjie Nature Reserve next to Kruger, and we had a great time there.
If you decide to drive from Kruger back to Jo'burg airport, just remember it's about 480 km mostly on R type roads, our A class, before you reach an N class or motorway which have tolls on them.
Like most folk we researched and booked everything online for this trip, we stayed in Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Greyton, Paternoster, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Cathedral Peak, Nxala Ranch for the battlefields, and Casart Lodge.
Planning has started for 2018!