Hello, we are planning a 2 week stay in South Africa in April 2017. We will travel with 2 teenage children (11 and 12) and budget is limited. How to make the most out of it? Plan 2 weeks around either Capetown or Johannesburg, or can these be combined? We cannot afford the very exclusive safaris' but perhaps the best ones are a bit off the beaten track and still affordable? Any advice welcome!
Marc
bw396
1
lidia_s77
Hi bw396,
You can really do a great safari in Kruger National Park for very cheap. The expensive safari lodges usually just mean that the accommodation and food are luxurious. The Kruger National Park has rest camps inside the park which is managed by the park as opposed to a private lodge or reserve. These rest camps have different types of accommodation that are more than adequate and of course much much cheaper. You would need to self-cater (there are restaurants at some of the camps too) and self-drive or organize a game drive with the park, but you would have the opportunity to see the same animals as you would when staying at a private reserve in Kruger. This is also what a lot of locals do when visiting Kruger, I think the really expensive private lodges are marketed to overseas visitors and then it might appear that this is the only option to visit Kruger, which is not true. You can find more information about the rest camps here.
My suggestion would be flying to Johannesburg, hiring a car and driving along the beautiful Panorama Route to your rest camp in Kruger. Spend a few days there driving around looking for animals or going on organized game drives. You can then drive back to Johannesburg or drop the car off at Nelspruit and fly to Cape Town to spend a few days there, exploring the beautiful city and surrounds, perhaps visiting wine farms, driving part of the Garden Route etc. There are a few airlines in South Africa which are all safe and reliable and sometimes very cheap such as kulula.com, FlySafair, Mango, SAA, British Airways etc. You can compare prices and times on TravelStart.
These are some of the most popular things to do and see in South Africa and I think a holiday like this will not be very expensive and very enjoyable. I hope this helps! :-)
2
nathalie2
Lidia has said it all :-). I can only second her excellent advice, the itinerary she suggest is great and varied and possible for all budgets.
4
lidia_s77
You're welcome Marc and I hope you will have a really great holiday! Thanks nathalie2, you always give excellent advice as well :-)
5
Thorn Tree
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