2 week Itinerary help

I also have a few questions about renting a car. Can we get by without a 4WD vehicle doing the things above? Is it worth renting a car in Cape Town as well? Admittedly, I have done much more reading on Kruger/safari/Swaziland than Cape Town, so apologies if a car is an obvious must-have. Thank you!

Your itinerary Is fine and totally doable. I think its good that with 2 weeks you dont try to include too much and that you concentrate on the major attractions (in my opinion): Krüger Np and Cape Town. I havent been to Mkhaya Game Reserve, so Im not sure on that, but for the rest of the journey you dont need a 4WD, a normal rental car is absolutely fine. I have stayed in the Imbali Concession (there are 3 lodges within that concession, and Hoyo Hoyo is one of them) in april and had amazing game drives, including 2 beautiful Cheetah sightings. But of course this is wildlife (and the climate and vegetation is different in december than april), so there are never any guarantees. The great thing about Imbali, is that its within Krüger, but on a private concession (so there tracks and no roads and the ranger is allowed to off-track for the Big Five, Cheetah and Wild Dog). So you will end up within meters of a herd of elefant, or lion etc. whilst sitting in an open vehicle, which is an amazing experience.

On day 4 you want to leave Blyde River Canyon in the early morning, to have plenty of time to drive to Hoyo Hoyo and having a safari on the way. From Orpen Gate its about 1,5 hours to Hoyo Hoyo (thrue Krüger), but you could and should make 3-4 hours out of it, as this is an excellent area for wildlife. On the way in, I saw a Sable Antelope (the first one after many safaris in South Africa) and 3 rhinos (and plenty of giraffe, antelopes, elefants and birds).

Cape Town is amazing and personally I would stay in Cape Town on day 13 and on day 14 fly Cape Town - Joburg - home. Im not saying that Joburg isnt worth spending a couple of days in, but Cape Town has so much more to offer.

You dont really need a car for Cape Town. Within most of the central area you can walk (and its safe to do so). There is also the very good MyCity bus system that gets you to many places, and you can reach places on the False Bay by Metrorail. The only main attractions (and musts see's in my opinion) you cant reach by public transport are Chapmans Peak Drive and the Cape of Good Hope. But you can visit those places on a day tour. If you like wine, I would also include a day tour to the Winelands (dont drive, so that you can both try some wine).

Have I mentionned that I love Cape Town ;-)?
So if you have further questions, dont hesitate to ask them.

Finally, you will want to book your Krüger and Swaziland accommodation ASAP! Hoyo Hoyo is pretty small (6 bungalows I believe) and before you get all excited about staying there, you want to sure they are not fully booked. And if you have a particular hotel in mind in Cape Town, I would also book soon.

Thanks for all of the great advice! I am definitely realizing I need to book things soon! Cape Town looks incredible and I'm very excited about Imbali!

Swaziland and Mkhaya are a bit of a drive, do you all think it's worth the trip down there or would going to another place/part of Kruger make more sense?

#4
Funny enough, thats what I thought after writing my first two responses yesterday :-).
No, I wouldnt drive all the way to Swaziland only for a day.

I would rather spend more time in Krüger:
- either first spend a night in a Restcamp https://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/tourism/accommodation.php
- or spend a third night at Hoyo Hoyo
- or add one night and spend 2 nights in another Game Reserve (I dont recommend going for only 1 night) / my favourite is Motswari in the Timbavati, but there are of course plenty of other / I would look for a place in the Timbavati or Sabi Sand.

So, first of all, I agree with everything nathalie2 said. Other than that I would skip one day at Blyde River Canyon, you won't need that much time, and then add it to the Kruger part of your trip. December is popular, so book as soon as you can.

Thanks so much for all the great responses and ideas here. I got off track in my planning for a bit, but now I am back at it and hopefully going to make the rest of our hotel reservations by next week. I've revised our itinerary a bit to cut out Swaziland and cut down on the time spent in Blyde River Canyon to maximize our time in Cape Town and Kruger. Does this look like a more better use of time?

Day 1: arrive 8:00am in Johannesburg; rent car at airport; rest from flights and see a bit of the city; stay overnight in Johannesburg

Day 2: depart early in the morning to drive to Kruger (lodge TBD)

Day 3: Kruger

Day 4: depart whichever lodge in Kruger to drive to Hoyo Hoyo (I already have reservations for this portion)

Day 5: Hoyo Hoyo

Day 6: Hoyo Hoyo

Day 7: Depart Hoyo Hoyo around 9:00am and drive to Blyde River Canyon; spend the night in BRC area

Day 8: Explore BRC area in the morning; then drive to JNB airport to catch a 6:00pm flight to Cape Town; overnight in Cape Town

Day 9: Cape Town

Day 10: Cape Town

Day 11: Cape Town

Day 12: Cape Town

Day 13: Cape Town

Day 14: flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg; 19:00h flight home from Johannesburg

The only things that give me pause in this latest version of our itinerary are:
1. Is that enough time to explore Blyde River Canyon? We both love hiking and I would like to fit in a hike in the afternoon of day 7 or possibly the morning of day 8 if possible.

1. It makes me a bit nervous to fly from Cape Town to JNB on the same day as our flight home since if it's delayed or canceled, we'll miss the much longer (and more expensive) flight back to the US. I am very likely being paranoid here, but what time would you suggest catching a flight out of Cape Town if our flight home from JNB is at 7:00pm?

2. Is driving at night wholly inadvisable near Joburg, Blyde River Canyon and Kruger?

Thanks again for all of your great advice! I really appreciate your time and effort!!

Welcome back :-).
I think your new itinerary makes sense and is not too rushed.

1. I assume you will have 2 seperate tickets (one Cape Town - Joburg and one Joburg - home) ? So you will have to get your luggage in Joburg and check it in again. For a 7pm departure, I would look at getting into Joburg at 3pm. This will allow for a delay (Having said that, i have flown many times within ZA and found the flights to be on time) and getting your luggage etc. without having to rush / and without having to be nervous about missing your longhaul flight. Joburg airport has good shopping and there is a big food court with plenty of restaurants (before you go thrue immigration - after immigration, much fewer restaurants).

2. You cant drive at night within Krüger - the gates close at 6:30pm in summer, and by that time you need to be inside the restcamp you are overnighting at, or must have left Krüger NP. Its okay to drive a short distance (for example Phabeni Gate to Hazyview) after sunset, but not more than that in my opinion. Driving around Joburg at night isnt a good idea either, its such a huge city and the boundries between safe and totally unsafe areas are cery fluid.

Generally, driving around Joburg is something I would avoid. I would drive to your hotel from the airport and park the car there. Then either go on a guided tour to Soweto, or take a taxi to the very interesting Apartheid museum, or discover different areas of Joburg with the hop-on/hop-off bus https://www.citysightseeing.co.za/johannesburg, or take the Gautrain to get from place to place. Driving around Joburg is not fun, and its easy to ger lost, or get into areas that are not safe.

Yep, we have a RT ticket to Joburg, then I am going to book a separate ticket from Joburg-Cape Town and back. Everything you said echoed everything I was thinking, so thank you for the validation! Thanks for all your help.