Holiday Help Request - Long Term - Safari

Next year is a significant birthday for me and I am thinking about a final family fling before I slip into my dotage and before we hear the sound of wedding bells from off offspring and are compelled to include their partners in our plans.

At the moment South Africa and safari is high on the list of possibilities, and I'd like to seek advice on this from the community. (I did try putting 'safari' into the search box, but this returns many, many messages about the Apple Browser.) I realise that South Africa isn't the only place we could do a safari, but there's a family connection to the country (Mrs PJH was born there) and we would like to pay a collective homage.

So, a bunch of questions if I may;

- how long would we need to take in a few days on a reserve and then perhaps a tour of the wine country? (assuming that is even possible)
- which specific parks / reserves are recommended (preferably not including ones that serve the community that thinks that slaughtering animals with high powered rifles for 'sport' is fun)
- I want to do this in some style, so J class flights and higher end accommodation and travel options. Are there TA's people have used? To be upfront I'd like to do the whole VS thing from a flight point of view, but if that isn't possible what experiences have others had on other carriers ?
- what time of year is recommended for this?

Thanks for any and all initial guidance...

Paul

We had a great two weeks in SA in Jan -Feb this year. flying UC from LHR to Cape Town both ways. we headed East, past Port Elizabeth to Lalibela Game Reserve. Two nights is absolutely enough to enable you to have at least 3 game drives. Getting up at 5am for the morning ones was a struggle for me and so 2 morning drives and one afternoon were perfect. WE loved Lalibela, a small private reserve but great staff and Guide and fantastic food. but it was mid range so not luxury accommodation - but saying that we stayed in rigid tented lodges with everything you could need for a short stay.

I can highly recommend stays in Hermanus, Knysna (Amanzi Island Lodge) en route and we managed a stay at the Augusta De Mist Guest house in Swellendam which was a highlight and Franschoek - all in two weeks. Franschoek is a much better option for the wineries than Stellanbosch IMHO and a very pretty town with great restaurants. We didn't do Cape Town as we have visited there before. SA seems to have superb B&Bs generally and the coastline easily compares with Highway 1 California, and the R62 is one of the most wonderful drives. Making a great loop route back to the airport.

in Jan and Feb we had missed the main 'flowers' but it hit the 30's C most days so was great to escape the UK cold. I would love to go back in September for their Spring.

The flights were great as they are overnight - sadly Virgin have decided to stop the LHR to Cape Town route direct so in future flyers have to change at Jo'burg.

[honey lamb]

When asking about South Africa, most people seem to gravitate towards recommending Cape Town (and why not as it's a beautiful area and the winelands are superb) but may I make a suggestion that rarely comes up and that is Kwa-Zulu-Natal. I have visited it several times as my brother lives in the province.

Here are some suggestions:

Fly into Durban - an hour's connecting flight from JNB or else fly direct into DUR on Emirates via Dubai. Don't stay in Durban but consider some Indian Ocean resorts such as Umlanga (pronounced Unshlanga) or Umhloti (pronounced Umshlowti) north of Durban and near the airport, or places like Amanzimtoti or Scottsburgh south of Durban.

Pietermaritzburg is about an hour's drive north of Durban and the last time I visited, was redolent of British colonialism. From there you can do the Midland Meander which is a route along which there are craft shops, artisan food places all with quirky names. We went there several years ago and we were fascinated by a place called Granny Mouse. It's still there! There's also a place called Piggly Wiggly with restaurants, craft shops etc. Nearby is a monument to Nelson Mandela which is stunning. It is near to the place where he was captured. There is a rail track nearby and the authorities, getting a tip-off that he was on board a train, stopped it and arrested him. The monument is a group of vertical rods sited near the road. The mistake that people make is that they stop on the road and view it from there but if one goes to the Centre where a museum is under construction. From there you take a path (free) which is the exact length of the Long Walk to Freedom and as you approach it, the rods start taking a shape which, when you arrive at a certain point, shows a profile of Nelson Mandela.

North of Pietermaritzburg are the Drakensberg Mountains where there are various places you can stay. I've been there twice and loved it, although basically they are resorts but not "in your face" places like a resort hotel. The last time I was in SA (a month ago) we stayed at the Mount Champagne Resort in an excellently appointed cottage (yes, I know the TR is outstanding but we have been exceedingly busy for the last four weeks - it's a work in progress) and next to it was the Drakensberg Choir School - South Africa's answer to the Vienna Boys' Choir. They do public performances on Wednesday but, alas we weren't there on that day!

And now to safaris. I really cannot recommend Nambiti Game Reserve enough. OK, people will talk about the Kruger or, In KZN, Hluhluwe (Pronounce Shushloowee!!) I have done game drives in both but really it is the luck of the draw what you get to see in them. Nambiti has a selection of lodges in the reserve, each holding a limited number of guests. We went to Umzolozola Lodge which doesn't cater for children. We had four game drives - two at dawn and two just before sundown. The rangers really know the area well and they all communicate with each other from the various lodges as to where animals can be found. On one occasion, at nightfall we stalked three young male lions who were hunting an eland. The eland got away and we managed to get near to them and I was able to take this photo which I enlarged and is currently on the wall in my house.

So, no mention of winelands. The flight time between Durban and Cape Town is about 2 hours so why not make it a two place place destination?

Snora and HL, thanks to both of you for the suggestions. I definitely need to invest in an atlas

HL - Durban is a particularly interesting idea, as it is MrsPJH's ancestral seat and will carry many resonances for her.

Though I'd like to the trip with VS, it may have to be EK. That said, at least we'll get the A380 ex LHR and there will be four of us so the pairing on the 777 will be ok.

Why not take the BA 380 to Jo'burg. If you're in economy, it is 2-4-2 on the upper deck so you could have two pairs by a window. Very nice and quiet in that cabin too...

Why not take the BA 380 to Jo'burg. If you're in economy, it is 2-4-2 on the upper deck so you could have two pairs by a window. Very nice and quiet in that cabin too...

A thought, and thanks for that. Would be J. I'd have to check the prices. I know there's a benefit in the direct flight (though presumably if we took the Durban option we'd be transiting there to another flight), but there's also a benefit to the bells and whistles of EK J class...

Comair, the BA franchise and painted in BA colours, has many flights to Durban from JNB and therefore make connections very easy.

[honey lamb]

The downside of EK is that the DXB-DUR leg leaves DXB at 10.25 am and arrives around 5pm. This would mean you'd be getting a flight from LHR that arrives in DXB in the middle of the night ][|)

Comair, the BA franchise and painted in BA colours, has many flights to Durban from JNB and therefore make connections very easy.

On my recent SA trip on BA (yes, I know there's a TR outstanding. It's a work in progress but the last three weeks have been hectic and this week doesn't look much better!) We arrived at something like 7am and the onward connection was at 9am so that by 10am I was in Durban. With VS, which arrives much later, it is about 1pm before you arrive in Durban.

The downside of EK is that the DXB-DUR leg leaves DXB at 10.25 am and arrives around 5pm. This would mean you'd be getting a flight from LHR that arrives in DXB in the middle of the night ][|)

The upside of EK is that for a sample of dates it is £1000 cheaper per passenger in J than either BA or VS. That said, there are a lot of moving parts to the plan so things will change.

On my recent SA trip on BA (yes, I know there's a TR outstanding. It's a work in progress but the last three weeks have been hectic and this week doesn't look much better!) We arrived at something like 7am and the onward connection was at 9am so that by 10am I was in Durban. With VS, which arrives much later, it is about 1pm before you arrive in Durban.

Did you do BA in J? If so, any highlight comments?

[honey lamb]

Did you do BA in J? If so, any highlight comments?

I did F out and J home. From Cork it was cheaper than ex-LON and F+J was less than VS UC for the dates I needed.

Oh and the fare was cheaper than EK ex-DUB

Did you do BA in J? If so, any highlight comments?

I did F out and J home. From Cork it was cheaper than ex-LON and F+J was less than VS UC for the dates I needed.

Oh and the fare was cheaper than EK ex-DUB

Don't tease...what was BA J like ?

[honey lamb]

Did you do BA in J? If so, any highlight comments?

I did F out and J home. From Cork it was cheaper than ex-LON and F+J was less than VS UC for the dates I needed.

Oh and the fare was cheaper than EK ex-DUB

Don't tease...what was BA J like ?

Wait for the TR!

Actually it was good - the best I've done on BA, but given my experience in CW that doesn't say much!