Safari advice sought?

R

r2d2

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Hi All,

I'm thinking of takin Mrs d2 away for her 40th Birthday present and she's always wanted to do a Safari. The main problem is that we can only go away for 5 days...or 5 nights max. I have been advised to look at South Africa as a destination because of its timezone and value etc.

I guess what I'd like is a short trip that would incorporate game reserve/beach/sightseeing....If anybody has done this can you tell me if it's possible within the timeframe I'm talking about. Also, any other advice or direction re; best time of year or good tour operators for this type of holiday would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

r2d2
 
I've done a safari in Kenya, it was 5 nights on safari (Masai Mara & Lake Nakuru) with additional 2 nights for travelling (there & back). You're trying to squeeze a bit much into 5 nights (IMO) if you also want to do beach trip too....but maybe SA would be better for that. I was living in England at the time, and used Exodus.co.uk and found them to be very good. I think you can book with them in Ireland but have to go through a travel agent. Have a look on their site, they have loads of trips that might suit you.
 
Can thoroughly recommend www.toescapeto.com, particularly if budget isn't too big an issue. UK based, but more than happy to arrange flights from Irish airports, often via European hubs rather than London.

Tell them your dates & what you're looking for, and they'll come back to you with options.
 
http://www.kariega.co.za (www.kariega.co.za)

Near to Grahamstown, which is well worth a look, and should be a bit less costly than Shamwari. Grahamstown is about halfway between Port Elizabeth and East London so it's a bit far for a drive but I'm fairly sure that you can get a flight to PE from Cape Town.
 
Hi

We are just back from SA and went on Safari here: http://www.kichaka.co.za/

It was fab...pure luxury. The reserve is about 2 hours drive from Port Elizabeth. We did 3 nights Safari but 2 would be plenty.

We flew BA via Heathrow to Capetown, and then on to Port Elizabeth with South African Airlines. We stayed one night in PE as we were exhausted. There is very little to see or do in PE though there is a beach.

Realistically with a 5 day timeframe you could do flights out and back and Safari....which IMO would be a waste of a trip to SA. The alternative is to fly to Capetown and do a day trip to a nearby safari park, although the ones near Capetown are supposed to be very zoo-like. Capetown is a good base for what you want ...sightseeing- Robben Island, Table Mountain and beaches in Camps Bay.

Depending on the time of year( I think late October to end of March) Slattery Travel offer direct flights to Capetown.
 
Hi all,

Thanks for your posts/advice...I have looked at the url's you've given and will also check out Slatterys further. I'd love to go for longer but it's just not possible. If I have to taper back my choices and just do Safari then so be it...

Thanks,

r2d2
 
The people on the fodors.com forum that deals with Africa are safari-crazy and you could get some great advice from them regarding an itinerary. Mention your budget though as many of them spend enormous amounts of cash on their trips. Also mention your anticipated month of travel as some places are better than others depending on the time of year.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=4

For five days total you will more than likely be looking at two days travel, leaving 3 nights for a safari.

With an overnight flight from London to Johannesberg followed by a short internal flight, you could be looking an elephant in the eye in a reserve such as Sabi Sands near Kruger NP by lunchtime the following day, which is great given the distance travelled. In fact there are lots of destinations within an hour or so flying time from Jo'berg.

The website CC africa also has info on a lot of reserves and their accommodation.

[broken link removed]

Unless you want to self-drive to somewhere like Kruger park, the private reserves are expensive, and the flight from Jo'berg directly to a reserve can be pricey too, but may well be worth it if you don't have too much time.
 
Could anyone offer advice on tipping in game parks in South Africa. Would be most grateful to hear any users experiences. Am going there in June on honeymoon
 
r2d2, it would be a waste of money to try and do this trip in 5 days, first your flight will be 13 hours each way only if going direct and it will cost you 900 a head for tickets alone, it will cost about 300 a piece on injections, if you want to see real wild animals then kuger park is the only one in SA, You will see the big 5 and others in smaller game reserves in a day, totally enjoyable this way and also you can do the feeding of elephants, petting cheetahs,etc in other small parks, Some one mentioned Robbin island, We tried this trip and there was a 5 day waiting list for it,It took us 5 days to get to top of table mountain, wind, cloud and fog were the culprits, but when we did there wasn't a breeze up there and dead clear just a small bit of table cloth at far end,
northsideboy; Tipping in all restaurants is a min of 10% and regards rest car parks guides etc its what ever you wish, A small tip in our money is a lot to them.100Rand or €10 is a big tip, you will get a full steak dinner for that there.
 
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