Deciding best place to go in August - would love help!

[mary-j]

Jashermud, good to see someone from the UK who has been on a safari. It really was all the travelling that was putting me off. I had been thinking of Sun City (Palace) but lots of people really don't recommend it. What is your opinion on it. I have been considering a safari for a while but not really decided on which area. I had seen Singita and really liked the look of it but was very expensive, although not that much more than Sabi Sabi Earth lodge. I had been asking around aboutlodges near Sun City and Madikwe had been mentioned. Madikwe Hills was recommended too. What is your opinion on these? I also like Ulusaba but not sure how easy that would be to get to from Jo'burg.Are all the game reserves easily accessed from Jo'burg? How long was the flight from Jo'burg to the game reserves. If I did do the safari first can you give me details e.g flight times to Winelands, Cape Town etc from the game reserves? I really just want what ever is the least hastle. Can I ask who you normally fly with and which Tour operator do you usually use? Is it a specialist operator or when of the major ones? Thank you for your help and look forward to getting some tips/info on me selecting a suitable holiday. Cheers.

[claassenam]

Thanks to everyone for all of these excellent suggestions - a safari is topping my list and I guess I'm really hoping that something can be culled together through Luxury Link. It sounds like a start in South Africa and a visit to the cities plus one or safari stops might be good there plus a trip to Botswana or Tanzania for a little variety. As I've had excellent experience with Orient Express in the past, I'm on the hunt for a Luxury-Link priced tour through them (I saw a couple 5 or 6 night packages recently but they're not currenty available).

On the other hand, Southeast Asia is another dream of mine and I'd love to get to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and/or Laos. Also loving the difference in price, as the luxury safari camps can be very expensive. Cruisinred, your information is excellent and you seem to really know your stuff. Even though you addressed weather a bit, I'm still concerned about unbearable, humid heat in those areas in August - do you think it would be bearable assuming we avoid Phuket and nearby beaches?

[cruisinred]

claassenam -



Southeast Asia is a fascinating part of the world....so I do hope you make it there at some point.

I don't think the heat in August would be that horrendous. We were there in May, which is supposed to be the 2nd hottest month, after April. We were fine in Bangkok and Vietnam (hot, but not insane). The only place where we were really dripping was while walking around the temples at Angkor Wat.



As with travel in any tropical client, dressing appropriately in cool natural fabrics, drinking lots of water, staying out of the sun during the middle of the day and lots of pool time make the heat bearable.

[jashermd]

Hi Mary-J,

It's funny that you mention the travelling -- all of my US-based friends are terribly jealous because they have to take two long flights for their safaris (usually with a long layover in Europe). So they think we have it easy over here!

Personally I'm not a big fan of Sun City -- it reminds me of an African version of Vegas (which is never a good thing). Lots of glitz and the constant ching ching ching of casinos. The only safari option near there is Pilanesberg which is very tame - not really the bush at all.

Madikwe is close to Sun City, but IMO does not offer the best safari option. I've been there and the game-viewing is very uneven -- you can get lucky and see a lot, or get unlucky and spend four days seeing not much of anything. Madikwe is also still in the process of being converted from farmland back to the bush, so you'll see fences and telephone poles which I find very jarring when I'm on safari. If you're only visiting one game reserve, I definitely wouldn't pick Madikwe. On the other hand, if you're also visiting the Sabi Sands, you could visit Madikwe for the different environment and to see conservation in action.

Singita is very expensive but IMO offers much better value for money than Sabi Sabi -- you're getting a lot more for your money. The Rand is very weak against the pound now (almost R14 to the pound) so now is the time to go if you want to take advantage of it. I'm headed back to South Africa in May and I've been paying in advance to take advantage of the exchange rate.

The Sabi Sands, Phinda, and Madikwe are all easily accessible from Joburg. The flight from Joburg to Phinda or the Sabi Sands is about 2 hours and the flight to Madikwe is about 1.5 hrs. There are direct flights from the Sabi Sands to Cape Town but for Phinda and Madikwe you'd need to route through Joburg, so from a logistical standpoint the Sabi Sands is the most convenient. The flight from the Sabi Sands to Cape Town is about 4 hours (SA is a big country).

I always fly with Virgin though I have heard that SAA is also good.

Cheers,
Julian

[jashermd]

claassenam wrote:
It sounds like a start in South Africa and a visit to the cities plus one or safari stops might be good there plus a trip to Botswana or Tanzania for a little variety.

If you want to see South Africa, I'd recommend combining it with Botswana rather than Tanzania for a number of reasons. Connecting Eastern and Southern Africa is logistically complex and rather expensive because not many airlines fly those routes, and those that do usually only have one flight per day -- this will use up a day of your trip with flights and layovers. August is also not a great time to go to Tanzania - the Great Migration has buggered off to Kenya. This doesn't meant that you won't see anything (there are resident animals that stay around when the migration leaves) but you won't see the huge herds from all the documentaries.

On the other hand, game-viewing in Botswana will be superb, and Botswana is easily reached from Joburg by way of a short flight to Maun. There are two or three flghts a day.

I've seen some of the Orient Express packaged on LL, and I'd advise you to read them carefully. The ones with only two days per camp aren't great value, as you really need more than two days in each camp to really experience the area. CCAfrica sometimes has some good Botswana packages on offer here, though.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Julian

[mary-j]

Thanks again Jashermud for all the great info. I have another question though, ifI did choose to stay at Suncity, can we get to the Game Reserves from there andI realise that Madikwe would be the closest, but what about the others? Would we have to drive to them or are there any flights from Sun City or would we need to go back to Jo'burg to fly out to the reserves? My husband is definately not keen on driving. Thank you.

[jashermd]

Hi Mary-J,

If you decided that you did want to go to Sun City, you can fly there and back from Joburg. There aren't flights from Sun City onwards to other destinations, so you'd need to go back to Joburg to conect with a flight out to the Sabi Sands or KwaZuluNatal (for Phinda or Rocktail Bay). The flight to Sun City is pretty short - about 45 minutes (I think).

Cheers,
Julian

[lhbrown]

Hi jashermd,
You have put some excellent info on South Africa and Safaris out there. What monetary value would you put on such a trip you say is "very expensive"? I have never set foot into Africa but am intrigued by it. Since LL packages usually are only 3 or 4 nights, do you usually combine LL packages, let's say 4 nights in Cape Town and 4 nights on Safari? How much do airfares run from London/Paris to Joburg and internal flights from Joburg to Botswana, etc. Can you get away with say $6K for two?

[jashermd]

Hi Lhbrown,

I've started a new thread on safaris to make it a bit easier to find for people who aren't aware of the turn this thread has taken. It's called 'Going on safari'

Cheers,
Julian

[lhbrown]

Hi jashermd,
Thanks for telling me about the new thread. I found it - also thanks for the info.