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XP: Tell me about South Africa or Tanzania, please!

girlinchicagogirlinchicago member
Eighth Anniversary 100 Comments Combo Breaker
in Honeymoon Discussions
If you've been...

1. Where did you go?

2. When did you go? How long were you there?

3. What was your itinerary?

4. What did you do that you loved?

5. Anything you would change?

6. Did you plan on your own or use an agent/company?

7. Any good books, websites, etc. for research?


I'm starting to research this as our last 'big hurrah' trip before TTC. I had been thinking that we should visit South Africa, but we typically like to end with a few days at the beach. Zanzibar and Seychelles are both more easily accessible from Tanzania, so I'm starting to rethink SA. Most important to us will be a safari component and some time on beautiful beaches, though I'd love to see Cape Town and the winelands. We've been to Napa and Tuscany, so visiting vineyards isn't a must-do.

FWIW, we will have to travel in June/July and would probably be working with 10-12 days (not including travel time).

Also, if anyone feels comfortable throwing out a general idea of what they budgeted, that would certainly be helpful, but I know that can change based on lots of variables
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Re: XP: Tell me about South Africa or Tanzania, please!

  • ElleB87ElleB87 member
    1000 Comments
    If you've been...

    1. Where did you go?

    South Africa - Johannesburg, a wildlife sanctuary near Nelspruit and Kruger National Park

    2. When did you go? How long were you there?

    August 2007 and H and I are going again next July

    3. What was your itinerary?

    I spent a week in Johannesburg and visited Soweto, saw the sights etc..

    I spent 2 weeks on the wildlife sanctuary volunteering and a weekend at Kruger NP

    Spent a few more days in Johannesburg and visited Soweto a second time

    4. What did you do that you loved?

    Going to Soweto - both times were amazing but the second time I went to a shebeen and had a drink and chatted with the locals

    See the Top of Africa was cool too

    Kruger was definitely worth the trip. I camped out next to a fence that had hyenas on the other side that cackled all night.

    5. Anything you would change?

    I'd have stayed longer and gone to Durban and Cape Town

    6. Did you plan on your own or use an agent/company?

    Planned it myself (pretty last minute too) but since I was mainly going there to volunteer there wasn't a ton to plan. I just made a list of sights I wanted to see and the hostel I stayed at was great at organizing day trips

    7. Any good books, websites, etc. for research?

    I can't remember all the resources I used now :P I do like Lonely Planet travel guides. I find their reviews to be honest and they cater to budget travellers. I'm now in the process of planning next years trip so as I find good things I'll post them on here or PM you. We'll be going to Namibia for 2 weeks and western half of South Africa.
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  • Jells2dot0Jells2dot0 mod
    Moderator Ninth Anniversary 5000 Comments 500 Love Its
    How exciting! I didn't really spend any time in SA, but I know there are around 2 flight/week to the Seychelles from JNB. I do have to plug the Seychelles, though. We had a wonderful time there and hope to go back some day. The time we spent there didn't do it any justice and we feel like we missed out on a lot. June/July does happen to be their rainy season, but when we were there, they told us that it didn't rain much at all during that time. Of course, it rained throughout most of our stay during the dry season :)

     







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  • joklein7joklein7 member
    10 Comments
    Go to South Africa!! I went Jan-March 2009. I spent about 6 weeks in Johannesburg and on the weekends we visited the Apartheid Museaum, Pilanesburg for safari and the Drakensburg mountains to climb. We also visited Lesotho (a very tiny country located within South Africa. Very nice cultural experience, saw art work thousands of years old on the mountain, met a medicine woman, learned about their culture). We spent a week in Cape Town on the beach, climbing Table Mountain, going to visit Robben Island. There are wine tours and lots more to do as well. The beach is so beautiful.

    I didn't plan most of the trip- I was there teaching so most of the trip was planned for me, although I did plan all of the Cape Town trip.  The plane ride from Johannesburg to Cape Town was less than 2 hours. If you can, I'd suggest ending somewhere in Cape Town so you can relax and enjoy the beach and restaurants.

    **However, I went during their summer and if you are going June-July it is during their winter . Today it is only in the forty degree area so if you were looking forward to warm weather, you should go with your other choices.
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  • Krikin22Krikin22 member
    100 Comments
    edited July 2012
    I took a trip around the world in college through Semester at Sea and out of about 10 countires, SA was my favorite! Highly recommend it!


    1. Where did you go?

    Cape Town and flew to Durban for a safari, I can't remember the name of the lodge we stayed at.

    2. When did you go? How long were you there?

    February 2006, 6 days

    3. What was your itinerary?

    I helped build a house with habitat for humanity, went to the top of table mountain (wish I would have hiked it rather than take the gondola), went shark diving (got sea sick and didn't end up going in the cage), and my favorite was a 3 day safari.

    4. What did you do that you loved?

    I loved the safari, it was so exititing not knowing what you would come up on. We got to see a lion, which they said was somewhat rare so that was awesome! I also loved getting to interact with the locals on the habitat for humanity project, but I'm not sure how you would be able to do something like that. I didn't get to go to the beach with the penguins, but I really wish I did! It looked really cool. I also heard the wine tasting in stellenbosch was cool.

    5. Anything you would change?

    Wish I had more time there to see everything. Wouldn't go shark diving, or atleast take something for sea sickness first. 

    6. Did you plan on your own or use an agent/company?

    Was through a school study abroad program and I booked most of the excursions through them.

    7. Any good books, websites, etc. for research?

    Not really, but if you want to check out the blog i did when I was there here is the link. 


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  • megagliardimegagliardi member
    10 Comments
    We are doing TZ for our honeymoon in October! FI has been there before and speaks amazing things about it. Spending some time in Seregheti, Ngorogoro Crater and then off to Zanzibar for 5 days post safari!

    I'm happy to report back as I can't comment on what we would do differently. As far as budget - its pricey, esp when you include airfare. We are doing 10 days (5 safari/5 beach) and are just over $10K. granted, its our honeymoon, so we are staying in all luxury lodges along the way and have a private safari.
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  • shwillizshwilliz member
    First Comment
    Cape Town, Cape Town, Cape Town. I loved it so much, while I was there I told myself I wanted to live there someday. I only spent a few days there but while I was there I explored the Cape a bit. I didn't get to go swimming but saw the beaches and they were beautiful. I went to the winelands/Stellenbosch also and that was nice too. We did safari in Pilansberg National Park. Johannesburg was okay along with Soweto. That area was more city than relaxing/picturesque. The history in Soweto was good but I could have done without those 2 places especially if for a typical "honeymoon." Everyone I met there was pretty awesome. While I was in that part of the world I also went to Botswana and Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls. My trip was about 3 weeks long. I went in January a couple years ago and the weather was very nice. I think my itenerary was something like, Johannesburg 2 nights, flew to Cape Town 3 nights, Stellenbosch 2 nights, Pilanesburg 3 nights, another week for Bostwana/Zimababwe. If I could go again, I would definitely spend more time on the cape but there is so much to do and see in SA that I am glad I did as much as I could while there. The trip was a gift from my mother and we went on a group tour type of thing. I'm not a fan of those and would have loved to do it on my own time. Because of that, it was pretty much planned for us so can't help you on that or with how much it cost. If you have a chance to go definitely do it.
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  • msaputramsaputra member
    Fifth Anniversary 100 Comments
    1. Where did you go?
    We went to Cape Town, Kwandwe (safari), Franschhoek, and Johannesburg

    2. When did you go? How long were you there?
    late March/early April 2012, we were in South Africa for 11 days/10 nights

    3. What was your itinerary?
    I posted details on our blog: http://darcela.blogspot.com/2012/04/planning-our-south-africa-trip.html
    But here it is also :)
    1 night layover in Port Elizabeth (on the way to safari)
    2 nights safari at Kwandwe (AMAZING)
    4 nights in Cape Town
    2 nights in Franschhoek
    1 night in Johannesburg

    4. What did you do that you loved?
    The safari was definitely the highlight! I didn't think I would love it as much as I did, but I did and even more. My DH and I agreed that we would want to come back!

    5. Anything you would change?
    I probably would spend 1-2 more nights for the safari, as well as add another night in Franschhoek, and skip Johannesburg alltogether.

    6. Did you plan on your own or use an agent/company?
    I contacted a couple TA but ended up booking almost everything myself. The only thing I booked via a TA is the safari portion since the TA could get me a better rate.

    7. Any good books, websites, etc. for research?
    The usuals, Trip Advisor. I got inspired from this blog as well: http://haveshoeswilleatandtravel.blogspot.com/
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