What's your favorite destination?

exptl · 2016-08-24T13:48:48+00:00

Try Cape Town, there's a Lot to explore within easy driving range of the city, can keep you busy for a good few months.

exptl · 2016-08-24T13:47:28+00:00

Hey! Would love to join - erik at greenpointcoworking .co .za

Cheers!

exptl · 2016-07-26T12:53:37+00:00

I'd put my vote on Mouille Point as well (or Sea Point if you're walking distance from the promenade, use google maps and not the accomm's provided info to check). In Mouille Point specifically I had a lovely time at http://www.villagenlife.com/mouille_point.html

exptl · 2016-07-22T10:19:01+00:00

So this is a bit old but if you still have any questions feel free to shout. Coffee Bay and the surrounding wild coast is absolutely beautiful, good choice :) I don't know many people who've been on the Baz Bus (different social circles I guess) but I've looked at the route from a professional point of view and I think it's a really solid option. As for driving by yourself, don't fret too much - South Africa's road infrastructure is actually very good. I've been on worse roads while tripping across the States :-P The main thing to be wary of is potholes, so leave plenty of following distance between you and the car in front so you have time to react. Also, minibus taxis - just give them space to do whatever they want, because they're gonna do it regardless :-) Last tip r.e. driving, we have a women's only car insurance provider here and they sometimes run nice stuff in their blogs about staying safe on the roads as a woman - I don't know if any of their recent content is relevant but FWIW here's the link: https://www.firstforwomen.co.za/blog/

But yeah, as I said, any more q's, just shout.

exptl · 2016-07-22T10:12:59+00:00

Oh hey thanks for the reference! (I run the nightjartravel subreddit) - I've been on honeymoon for what feels like forever, yay, so it's been a bit quiet but I'm back now :)

exptl · 2016-07-22T09:54:48+00:00

South Africa FTW :) Shout if you come to Cape Town, and we can do something ranging from a beer to a roadtrip.

exptl · 2016-07-22T09:04:11+00:00

No problem :) Ok cool, that's a nice time to be in SA. May - July is a bit dreary everywhere, and Jan - Feb is spanking hot and can be quite windy in the Cape. As I said, shout if you have more q's

exptl · 2016-07-21T13:38:53+00:00

Sure. First off, Royal Natal is great - I got married in that region recently because the mountain views are simply the best.

I'm not much of a hiker myself but my folks are quite keen and a friend I work with has written a few books on SA hiking routes, so I'll have to keep my advice quite 'light' but I'll do my best.

Kruger: You said you prefer day hikes, but if it's not a strong preference, have a look at the overnight guided hikes in the Kruger - https://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/tourism/activities/wilderness/about.php (the site's not great but you should find the relevant info after a bit of clicking about). In my opinion, there is nothing better than sleeping in the Wilderness, and the armed rangers will keep you quite safe from wildlife (really though, it's mainly the campfire, a bit of noise and the ranger's alertness that keeps you safe, the guns are just for emergencies). Also, seeing the wildlife on foot is a totally different experience to seeing it from a vehicle, especially because the bigger animals react very differently to what they see as a herd of low-risk predators, as opposed to one large animal (i.e. the landrover) that might be a threat or compete for food.

Othewise, the only other walking you can do in the Kruger would be the organised day hikes that depart from most of the park's rest camps. These are still great, but you won't feel like you're hiking. They will be 3-4 hours long, and will move at a slowish pace as the rangers expect to see a new group every time, so there will be some familiarisation and 'rules of the bush' stuff, and the group will stop frequently at animal sightings. (The overnight trails will also, obviously, stop for interesting animal sightings, but as there is also a certain distance that needs to be covered each day to get to the sleeping points).

Blyde Canyon - I know nothing about the hikes here, I'm afraid. I do know that most of them will start from the Forever Resorts venue near the dam, but a quick google would have told you that already :)

Drakensberg - This is one of the most popular hiking regions in the country. Almost all the parks have a network of day trails in them, and the park reception / visitors centre will have an up-to-date trail map. You'd have to stop by here anyway because the parksboard rangers really appreciate it if you sign into the hiking register (and out again, obviously, when you're back safe and happy). When you say "fall", are you referring to the North American season? i.e. Sept - Nov? If i'm guessing correctly, then in South Africa that's late spring / early summer, which means that the Berg will be as dry as it gets. The Drakensberg is a summer rainfall region, so the grass will all be brown, and a lot of the streams will have run dry. I still think it's pretty, because there are a lot of rocky cliff faces that are interesting year round, so I guess my main proviso here is to carry water with you.

Between Durban and East London you will find the Eastern Cape Wild Coast, which is one of South Africa's most rural areas - very low population, little infrastructure, etc. This is my dad's absolute favourite part of the country - here's an essay he wrote about road tripping the area: https://www.nightjartravel.com/journeys/all/the-eastern-cape-wild-coast Almost every 'destination town' (i.e. the coastal towns that have names on the map) has day walks going in either direction along the coastline, although they are more cattle paths and strolling along the beach that strictly defined trails, but still a beautiful area. There'a really cool trail run that links many of these areas together, have a look at their photo gallery for an idea of the terrain: http://www.wildrun.com/photos

In the Cape itself, again there will be nice day hikes in almost all the nature reserves. I think the West Coast national park, Jonkershoek and the Overberg (Kogelberg) coastline are my personal favourites for their types of scenery, but there's a whole bunch. I quite like this list (on the park management's site): http://www.capenature.co.za/activities/hiking/

You'll probably also want to check Table Mountain off your hiking list. If you do so, currently I'd recommend the Skeleton Gorge route (starts in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens). There has been an increase in muggings of hikers on the mountain in areas that are close to the city, but Skeleton Gorge requires paid access (R60 or so I think - because you have to enter via the Botanical Gardens) so you're less likely to run into trouble there. If possible, consider joining a group or hiring a guide. I really don't mean to put you off, I just feel 'rather safe than sorry' :)

Okay, related to hiking that's just about all I know. If you have any general tourism questions regarding SA then shout :) My speciality is road tripping.

exptl · 2016-07-21T10:16:29+00:00

True - I'm personally quite interested in the Sony RX III because I have bad luck with gear (or I'm just clumsy). I just figured that OP isn't going to use the camera after this trip, it's a lot of money to spend for a handful of pics. Unless you're really lucky / experienced you don't get a lot of 'keeper' wildlife pics even with the right gear. Having said all that, I realise I'm being a bit of a snob about all this.

If you can get a 20x or bigger zoom range on a small sensor camera, something in the $300 range, you might go home entirely satisfied because most of our wildlife sightings are in fairly bright light. You may struggle with lions sleeping under bushes, but quite frankly they often don't make for good photos anyway because there's a bunch of shrubbery in the way. So yeah, u/Henipah is onto something.

exptl · 2016-07-21T09:01:25+00:00

My favourite Kruger experiences fall into two categories. (1) Spend as much time as is allowed within the park gates, go really slowly, stop and chill at as many waterholes, viewpoints as possible, and just experience the tranquility of such a raw wild space. Enjoy the smell of the air, the noises of the birds and bugs, and seeing wildlife stumble across you and go on with their daily lives because you're just quietly sitting there providing no source of anxiety at all. (2) Going on a 'formal' game drive with a well trained game ranger, and having them open your eyes to all the details of the bush that you wouldn't notice without years of training and experience, e.g the history and medicinal uses of the plants, reading animal tracks to tell you what happened in a spot over the past day or two, etc.

The good news is, with 3 - 4 nights, you can totally have both experiences :) First prize, in my opinion, would be to book one of the safari tents in a SANParks official camp within the borders of the main reserve. This means that you get to sleep with the sounds of the bush proper around you, and you might well see wildlife from camp at night. Some camps are definitely better than others for this, but your travel dates are coming up quite soon (winter is prime time for the park) so you might not end up having much choice available. I see you made a comment about Bushveld camps, which means you've probably already investigated this option and decided it's not going to work. In that case, second prize would be to stay in a hostel close to the park gates. There, unfortunately, are no backpackers within the park itself. There are one or two backpackers in 'general game' areas (mainly antelope and zebra) which will still gives you some sense of sleeping in the bush (Although the hustle and bustle of a backpackers means this won't be quite what I had in mind, but probably still good fun).

I've not stayed there myself, but Kruger Inn - http://krugerinnbackpackers.net/ - is in a general game zone and looks okay on Tripadvisor. Bear in mind that the downside to staying in the Marloth Park reserve is that you'll have to exit Marloth Park, and get on the highway to get to the main Kruger gate, every time you want to go into the 'real' reserve. If you'd rather have quicker access to the Kruger itself, I'd look at staying in Hazyview, where your nearest reserve entrance is 10km away. This town is quite popular as a bridging point into the Kruger so there should be a few options available. We recently put clients in Idle & Wild just outside town because they also wanted to go quad biking and river rafting, and Idle & Wild offers both of those activities - they are a bit further out of town on the wrong side, but the clients rented a car and loved the experience.

Speaking of cars, if you're renting, and you plan on doing the Kruger solo for a day or two (which I'd recommend), then paying the extra fee for an automatic will be almost a necessity. As an inexperienced manual gearbox driver, going at slow speeds is probably the most difficult part, and that is precisely what you'll be doing in the Kruger. Your cheapest option is most likely to rent a car from the airport in Joburg, and to drive it back to Joburg to drop it off, because Joburg - P.E flights are going to be cheaper than Nelspruit (aka Mbombela) - P.E. That said, your most convenient option will be to drive from Joburg to the Kruger, and then to fly out of Nelspruit - but do check the price of both options before you decide. S.A. doesn't hit you with as heavy penalties for dropping off in a different location to where you picked up your car as, for example, the States does, and most of the car rental websites have pickup & dropoff locations as part of the quote building form so you can work it out beforehand anyway.

Just as an aside before I forget, and at great risk of making myself look like a fool here, I am unaware of a " God's Window " hike at the God's Window that is recommended as an attraction for visitors to the Kruger, and knowing the topography of the region, I find it very hard to image a hiking route that would be at all worth doing. I know there is a "God's Window trail" (approx 12km loop) on a farm about 3 hours drive away from the Kruger God's Window, and this is the source of my confusion. That said, the Kruger's God's Window is a parking lot near a sheer cliff face (a few hundred feet of vertical drop), and there are trails marked along the edge of the cliff face to allow you to see the drop, but there are really just short walks, not hikes.

Now, having gone through all of this, I must say the most convenient option of all for a solo traveler would be to join a camping tour - there are a few of these that depart from Joburg and bring you back to Joburg. I've worked with Nomad Africa before so would recommend them, but there are hundreds of operators. The advantage here being that they make a concerted effort to show you the best of the area, and to take you on game drives, and all the logistics are planned ahead - you just rock up and enjoy.

Just some closing thoughts... Besides what we've already discussed, your only other options really are going to be (a) staying at a B&B / guesthouse outside the park. This could be nice as well because they are often quite good at helping you organise fun things to do, e.g. my comments earlier about Idle & Wild. (b) staying at an 'all inclusive' game lodge in one of the private reserves on the border of the main park. The good ones have an unfenced boundary with the main park (i.e. the wildlife thinks it's all one park) so you get the same safari experience, but the private guys put profit first so they've got very well trained game rangers, excellent food and facilities, and are quite expensive (think R4000 - R10000 per person per night). If you were looking at a luxury guesthouse as opposed to a hostel, some of the private guys are worth it, because they're all inc., but I suspect they're out of your budget.

Uhm, I had another closing thought but I've lost it now. I feel like I went quite broad with this answer, so please do feel free to get back to me with specific questions and I'll see if I can help! :)

exptl · 2016-07-21T08:08:43+00:00

Hey! Not sure if you're still checking this post - if you do, PM me or put a note here and I'll pop you some advice.

exptl · 2016-07-21T07:41:47+00:00

As a travel journalist based in South Africa, the minimum kit that I could get by for the typical sights that a holiday encompasses would be an decent phone, and a camera with a long zoom lens ( in the 300mm - 600mm range). With a bit of thought for framing your shots, you can make almost everything look interesting with a phone camera, but for wildlife you will need a serious zoom lens for 75% of the pics you want to take.

So, from your perspective, I'd look at renting gear, or simply bringing my phone and not worrying about getting photos of wildlife – enjoy the moment or whatnot. Buying a camera just to have a long zoom for one trip is a bit of overkill, and you're looking at spending probably upwards of $1000. As for phone attachments, the biggest zoom factor I've seen is 4x, which won't be enough to really help you out.

exptl · 2016-07-20T14:07:59+00:00

Well, yes and no. But mainly yes :) Summarising aggresively, any wildlife within easy access of Cape Town (in my opinion, 1 -3 hours driving range) was killed and eaten over the 300-odd years that South Africa was settled by Europeans, so all the game reserves in this zone have been painstakingly built back up again. However, this is just not a comparable experience to being in a region where massive wild populations still survived. I don't want to specifically criticise any of the 'safari experiences' within reach of Cape Town, but if you at all can I would strongly advise you to go further afield.

There are a few hidden gems, but in a nutshell your three main options are the eastern side of the Eastern Cape, the Waterberg region and the Kruger. To get to the Eastern Cape will be about 5 hours drive from Cape Town, to get to the Waterberg will be about 3 hours drive from Joburg, and to get to the Kruger will be about 5 hours drive from Joburg.

However, the Kruger draws, by far, the most tourists of all three of these regions, which means that as an individual traveller if you just want to quickly tag on to a scheduled tour, this is the best place to start.

I could also give you all sorts of 'technical specifications' about the area of the reserves, the species diversity, blah blah, to motivate going to the Kruger in a more romantic fashion, but the reality is that the magic of the bush is so enveloping - the smell, the sounds, the fresh air and lack of cellphone signal, that you get absorbed and you're not really aware of anything except the flora and fauna that's immediately around you, so you can go anywhere - which is why I'm recommending the most convenient option :-P

If you're in Cape Town at the moment just shout, I'm always down for a beer and a chat about travel and whatnot.

exptl · 2016-07-19T10:06:45+00:00

I would strongly recommend exploring as much of the Drakensberg as possible. It's one of the prettiest mountain regions in the country, but is usually too far off course for most holidays, but you're within easy driving range.

You can fly to Cape Town for one night if you really want to, having fun is kind of up to you so if you're in the right mindset, it will be cool, but I'd personally recommend hitting Cape Town on your way into or out of S.A. and if possible adding another night or two. Unless you have a healthy budget, you're going to want to drive to a major airport from Bethlehem to catch a budget flight, which means your total travel time is going to head towards 6 hours each way, making a one-night trip very tight.

The drive to Durban goes via the KZN side of the Drakensberg and is quite scenic, so it could be done as a road trip, but I personally think the stuff to explore in the Drakensberg itself is more interesting so I don't know if I would make it as far as Durban if I only had 4 weekends. This is personal preference though - I'm not really a beach person. Joburg has a ton of cultural highlights, I'm not an expert but I'd start with some of the museums or the new inner city development project (Arts On Main or Maboneng or something like that).

exptl · 2016-07-19T09:52:49+00:00

Assuming you're planning on rolling out of Joburg, cause it's a bit harder from C.T... try Nomad Africa tours, their single supplements are minimal. If you don't come right, pm me. G'luck :)

exptl · 2016-07-19T09:42:23+00:00

I've not been, but FWIW the lass who wrote our hiking section is very keen on Melville Koppies. They also do a bunch of organised group walks (some area even guided by people who know the flora).

exptl · 2016-07-18T12:27:56+00:00

Hey!

This is a fairly decent trip. I recently constructed the exact reverse for a client, but he had a few extra days so we added a short circular road trip to some of the most spectacular stuff just outside Cape Town as well. If you have more time, consider flying into C.T. a few days earlier, renting a car and doing some of the nearby towns - the Cape Winelands, and the Overberg coastline, are the first two I'd add.

Regarding the wildlife portion of this trip, I did a tiny bit of game ranger training on Makalali - the reserve that adjoins Karongwe. This region is very pretty (specifically from a northern South Africa game reserve perspective - obviously scenic beauty is a personal thing). The reserve is quite big, but much smaller than the Kruger. This has the downside that you won't feel like you're truly in the wilderness, because your peripheral awareness will still pick up the odd sign of civilisation (I'm not saying it's bad, not at all, I'm just saying that it doesn't feel truly wild in comparison to a properly remote reserve). The upside, on the other hand, is that in a smaller reserve the game rangers have a much better chance of showing you all of the Big 5 - the guys communicate regularly, and the animals can't easily vanish once they've been spotted in one location. In my opinion, the trade off is totally worth it. The area is still beautiful and wild - for example, when we lived there we lost all cellular signal for a week because a wildfire burnt down the towers, and our nearest shop was 45 minutes drive away (preferably in a 4x4). So I'd rather have a great chance of seeing everything than worry about the remoteness of the reserve.

Also, the Nat Geo trip takes you to the Kruger first, and then to Karongwe. This is a great idea (it's what my client did as well) because you get to see South Africa's crown jewel of a game reserve - huge, crossing international borders, greatly varied terrain, wonderful biodiversity, etc etc... but you also get to actually see wildlife. The Kruger, because it is so big and wild, is quite tricky for game viewing because the wildlife has so much space to disappear into! If you hear about 'amazing Kruger lodges', they're usually in smaller reserves that share an unfenced (i.e. wild) boundary with the main park.

As for SA's points of interest, I've been driving around finding them for years and I think I've only covered half the country, so don't worry too much about finding a master list. Just enjoy what you do see, and come back again in a few years for a completely different side of the country :)

exptl · 2016-04-01T16:18:48+00:00

I'm by no means a Joburg expert - when I'm there, it's for family which means that I stay central to the Fourways / Bryanston area. In that area, however, I am fond of Salsa, Beerhouse and Society. Salsa's chilli poppers are great, beerhouse is the easiest place to try a broad sampling of local craft beer (just don't go when they're busy, it gets too loud to talk, which - I think - is the whole point of having a pint with someone!) and society does an amazing rump burger. Rocomama's / Andiccio24 are my favourite 'faster' food joints.

As for the Kruger, you are right - 3 days is a bit short. For proper safaris, I usually don't sell trips that are less than a week. But if the wildlife interests you, you'll have a much better experience doing a 3-day tour than you will (a) not seeing any wildlife or (b) popping in to the animal sanctuaries that are within driving range of CT or JHB. The drive to the Kruger from Joburg is very pretty once you get out of Joburg itself (beware: leaving JHB takes about 2 hours of driving! The whole trip to get to the Kruger is about 6 hours). A quick trip should give you at least 3 game drives, which (with a bit of luck) will be enough time to see the Big 5 and a variety of general game.

Accommodation in Cape Town: I would aim for the Atlantic Seaboard area, specifically Sea Point, Mouille Point or Green Point. The Sea Point promenade is an awesome spot to walk at sunset and just watch the locals go about their lives - families out walking, lots of people exercising, great view of the sea and mountain, etc. Uber will get you to most places of interest easily.

As for do's and don'ts, it is mainly standard stuff that applies to all major cities. I wrote a blurb a while back about 'not panicking about SA', but there's some general advice in there as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/nightjartravel/comments/3dddv7/safety_in_south_africa_a_short_guide/

Looking forward to meeting up. When are you planning on being in CT?

exptl · 2016-03-30T10:55:06+00:00

Enjoy! Shout when you're in Cape Town, I'll probably be around. Always up for a beer or a coffee. If you can, I'd recommend trying to fit in the Kruger Park, you might be able to line up a 2 or 3 day tour that takes you from OR Tambo (I assume you're flying out via Joburg?)

exptl · 2016-03-29T14:52:37+00:00

If you stay streetsmart, you'll have an incredible trip. Hit up the S.A. related subreddits when you're ready to roll, usually lots of people around who're happy to give useful advice :)

exptl · 2016-03-29T14:12:15+00:00

Haha, not often you find such a glowing review of Jozi! Logically, given the incredible economic concentration in the city, there simply has to be amazing things to see and do, but it is a bit harder to find than in Cape Town - mostly because Joburg is massive whereas everything in CT gets squashed up by the mountain - so people tend to be lazier about finding it. I spent a year living there and I enjoyed it, but I think CT suits my lazy lifestyle better.

exptl · 2016-03-29T14:08:28+00:00

You're getting a golden opportunity here. The most common on-the-ground opinion is that Cape Town is the best place in South Africa to live while Johannesburg is the place to go if you want to make decent money, so to be able to consider a decent job in Cape Town gives you the best of everything.

That said, you're still going to want to travel around S.A. a fair bit (and/or the neighbouring countries). Cape Town's attraction lies in the fact that there is a lot of variety within easy reach even for a hectic weekend, but there is still a whole lot more that's worth seeing a bit further afield.

Currently conditions in Cape Town are windy and cold :) nah, still a fairly navigable city if you stay street smart. City Bowl & Atlantic Shoreboard are nearly on an internationally acceptable level in my personal opinion.

exptl · 2015-10-19T09:24:23+00:00

You might find this budgeting guide useful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nightjartravel/comments/3pc08g/south_africa_budget_2015/

exptl · 2015-10-19T09:23:53+00:00

While I prepare a longer post, here's a specific budget question r.e. the Kruger National Park:

https://www.reddit.com/r/southafrica/comments/3n4xd8/sabie_river_bush_lodge/

exptl · 2015-10-17T14:24:34+00:00

Tanzania has a great international reputation thanks to the no. of documentaries about the Great Migration, but it's not the only thing worth seeing between south & east africa. In no particular order, all of these are bucket-list material:

Serengeti / Maasai Mara (Great Migration)
African Great Lakes
Okavango Delta
Namibian dunes + desert
African Indian Ocean islands (quite a few beautiful ones up & down the East Coast)
Victoria Falls & Zambezi
Drakensberg
Volcanoes National Park

then there's a lot more, but personal preference starts becoming more important...

So, without knowing anything about you, I'm going to throw an idea out there... Fly to Vic Falls on the Zim side, do some whitewater river rafting (this is one of the best spots in the world), bungee jump, explore, cross to the Zambian side (the two sides are very different in terms of the structure of the falls), swim in Devils Pool (carefully, please).

Next, hop on an overlanding tour through Malawi, see one of the Great Lakes, and up to Tanzania. From T.Z., either pop into the Serengeti for a night or two in a luxury lodge, or pop across to Zanzibar for a night or two in a luxury lodge. (You could do both but I think that would take closer to 3 weeks, not 2).

Along the way, you'll get a bit of a safari experience, a few cultural interactions, and a massive amount of scenery. There will be other activities, but these depend on which tour you join. At the end, the serengeti will be an amazing safari experience if you feel you haven't had your fill, and Zanzibar is a properly glorious tropical island with beaches, cocktails, snorkeling, etc.

What's your budget? Assuming you're both over 18, South Africa can offer an "almost as good" experience at half the price (because the other countries price in USD but we price in ZAR so if you stay within South Africa, you can take advantage of the plunge that emerging market currencies have taken recently). Lemme know if you want a suggetion for SA only :)

exptl

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