Capetown and safari ?

H

holidayqueen

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Hi
We are planning to go to South Africa in April this year. WE want to see capetown and the winerys go to table mountain and robben island. We also want to do safari for 3-4 days . There is a safari near port elizabeth does anyone have experience of this ? or do you think you have to go to kruger to get the best safari. Also we are not the best drivers as we are not used to city driving and we would prefer not to drive so we will have to do some escorted tour but we dont want to be part of a big group. We have looked at trailfinders and the travel dept here and also got a quote from a crowd in SA called born free safari and they do small groups. I have been told that the best way to do safari is to do a private tour where the game park provides you with your own driver has anyone done this and would it be very expensive. As we feel this will be our 1 trip to Sa we would like to cover as much as possible and we could go for 16 nights what would be possible in this time frame. I would like to here some personal experiences. Thanks
 
Lots of information here
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=2542

Been to South Africa twice and loved it. We drove to Kruger and stopped off in different places along the way to break the journey but you can also fly if you arent keen on driving.

The winelands were superb and we spend 2-3 days here cos its a very scenic part of SA. Didnt do any of the organised safaris as they are quite expensive but I hear they are really good as you have a much better chance of seeing the animals. In Kruger, you drive around and hope for the best tho you can also take guided safari trips with the keepers.

You will have a ball whatever you choose to do. Im so jealous...enjoy!
 
The Kruger is a longway from the Cape - 1600 km +. You should check out http://www.kariega.co.za (www.kariega.co.za) for info on the Kariega game farmKariega which is a game farm near Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. It's a Big Five park and although not cheap is well worth the money.

I have to say that nobody I know has ever settled for just one trip to SA so would be suprised if that's all you do.

Have a great time.
 
I can also recommend Kariega for safari, I spent 2 nights there in 2005 and it was fantastic. It wasnt cheap but it also wasnt the most expensive safari either. Think it cost about €600 for 2 nights with 4 game drives. That also included food.

Absolutely loved Capetown, just in relation to the driving, we didnt do any driving in Capetown itself, hired a driver through our hotel to bring us to the winelands etc. But we hired a car and drove up the garden route to Port Elizabeth and I can say the roads are great, its all small towns basically connected by a motorway so it wasnt like driving in a city centre.

Enjoy your trip, you will have a great time - I am very jealous!
 
Hi, We went on safari in Shamwari, near Port Elizabeth - would highly recommend it, can't wait to go back.
 
holidayqueen said:
Hi
We are planning to go to South Africa in April this year. WE want to see capetown and the winerys go to table mountain and robben island. We also want to do safari for 3-4 days . There is a safari near port elizabeth does anyone have experience of this ? or do you think you have to go to kruger to get the best safari. Also we are not the best drivers as we are not used to city driving and we would prefer not to drive so we will have to do some escorted tour but we dont want to be part of a big group. We have looked at trailfinders and the travel dept here and also got a quote from a crowd in SA called born free safari and they do small groups. I have been told that the best way to do safari is to do a private tour where the game park provides you with your own driver has anyone done this and would it be very expensive. As we feel this will be our 1 trip to Sa we would like to cover as much as possible and we could go for 16 nights what would be possible in this time frame. I would like to here some personal experiences. Thanks
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Hi HQ, spent 3 weeks there recently starting and finishing in Cape Town. great holiday but did the driving myself (although let the car in PE and flew back to Cape Town at the end). Spent a few days in the winelands - Stellenbosch & Franschoek and then onto the garden root - Hermanus, Wilderness, Knysna, Jeffreys Bay and then onto Addo (elephant park and safari). If you want any details feel free to PM me.

Roy
 
We spent 10 days in cape town and 12 on garden route last year, I'm sorry to say but you will need a car as taxi's are useless and some are dangerous, Its not a hard city to get around and a sat nav would help, Table mountain is only suited some days due to wind, cloud etc, Robbin Island had a 4 day waiting list for tour,Waterfront will take another day or 2, The cape will be more than a good days outing with Chapman's peak and Boulders beach on route, We loved Knysna and wilderness, there are some nice parks to visit along garden route, You will see all the animals in private reserves, We spent a day in outshore with cheetaland and another reserve nearby, we were in addo elephant park and loved birds of eden near Jefferys bay.There was a reserve further north near port Elizabeth where we saw all the big 5 and loads more, cant remember its name,We went to a cat reserve near mossell bay and host was brilliant with the lions and tigers, Cheetahs ate on our picnic table. There was a nice bit of driving though.We thought wine lands(stelenbosch)a bit boring but some great estates and scenery, Dont forget the sharks if your up to it.
 
For sharks / Whales / Dolphins go to Ghansbaii (near Hermanus)....... bskinti, that reserve - would it have been Schotia?
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I have got lots of ideas . I am now looking at 5 nights in Capetown and then doing the garden route with a tour with 1 over night in Port Elizabeth. Then 3 nights on safari with either of these Lalibela game reserve , Kariega game reserve.I look at Shamwari game reserve but this seems to be very pricey when compared with the other reserves. We can then fly back from Port Elizabeth for a few more nights in Capetown. How does this sound. I have got prices here from travel Focus ,trailfinders and slatterys travel. Has any one used any of these to travel with. Any other thoughts
 
We used a company called We flew out there and they organised everything else. Set out what I wanted to see and our dates and what our budget was - and they sent me a detailed itinary with options each day for us to choose before booking. All very unusual places to stay ( eg an ostrich farm and a lodge in a monkey sacntuary) and all transfers organised. Would recommend them highly.
 
myself and my girlfriend spent fifteen nights in capetown last march, spent five nights in capetown before driving down the garden route. absolutely loved capetown, i agree with other posters a car is a must, driving is very easy as they drive on the same side and the city traffic is not very heavy. i cannot speak highly enough about kariega it was something special, it has the big five and i was amazed at how close the animals can get, food and accomadation are first class, the ranger looks after a group of 10-12 on a game drive. my tip is to buy tickets for robben island before you go to avoid dissapointment, its a must. we booked as a package with slatterys, found them very good, everything was well planned just a matter of showing up. the winelands were class, we based ourselfs in stellenbosch and loved it.
no afiliation with slatterys by the way!
 
You can fly frm Capetown to Krugar . As far as parks go Krugar is a natural park about the same size as Wales. All other parks are like zoo's in that they feed the animals , in Krugar its every animal for themselves.
So go to Dublin zoo and save your money if not going to Krugar.
You will need a car in capetown to get around to spots like capepoint and the winelands and generally for getting around capetown, it is the same side of the road as ireland so its all easy ! Enjoy
 
Hi need some help. I've been reading some of these threads trying to get ideas but the more i read the more confused i'm getting. I'm going on honeymoon there in Jan next year. We want to stay in cape town for 4 days 3 in Krugar island. Can people please recomend any place where to stay in cape town. What is the best area to stay and why? Or how about krugar Park. Where is a good lodge to stay to see the animals.
What are the beaches like in cape town?
 
Portfolio collection for accommdation; contact or Freephone 00 800 2566 5555 from Ireland.

Muizenberg Bay or Camps Bay or Boulders Beach (where you can also visit the Jackass Penguin Colony)

I stayed at Pretoriuskop in the Kruger and had a great time, butthat was in 1992.

You will need a car to get around the Cape and I would suggest you book it from home rather than in SA as they rarely include unlimited mileage if booked locally.

You should also check out the Keyposts on S.Africa.

Good luck.

BillK
 
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