3 weeks itinerary September-October

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Mymy77
Mymy77

Hello everyone,

Here is my idea of itinerary. We already booked the plane tickets, the car from Johannesburg to Cape Town and the 3 nights in the Kruger park. For the rest, we didn't book anything, and we won't because we like to stay free. We will take our tent, and try to do a mix of campings and b and b.

I know that the itinerary is quite dense for 20 days, and I would like to have some advice. What we prefer is the nature, more than the cities. We are not so interested in museums and also not so much in the wine tasting for example. We have a tight budget.

Day 1 Saturday, September 27, 14 Arrival at the airport at 10.25 am. Do shopping and drive to Dullstroom = 271 km, 3 hours 271
Night in Dullstrom
Day 2 Sunday, September 28, 14 Drive Dullstrom - Graskop - Gods window, wonder view, Lisbon falls, bourke's luck potholes, three rondavels= 197 km,3 hours 197
Night in Forever resort blyde canyon
Day 3 Monday, September 29, 14 Forever resort blyde canyon - Phalaborwa(do groceries before) Gate of Kruger (=139 km,2h) - Olifants rest camp(2-3 hours of game drive)=83 km 222
Night in Olifants
Day 4 Tuesday, September 30, 14 Day in Kruger Olifants to Satara(55km) 55

Night In Satara
Day 5 Wednesday, October 1, 14 Day in Kruger Satara to Berg and dal 164
Night in Berg and dal
Day 6 Thursday, October 2, 14 Leave Kruger Berg and dal and drive to Swaziland= Mlilwane wildlife sanctuary=184 km = 3h 184
Night in Swaziland
Day 7 Friday, October 3, 14 Drive Swaziland - St Lucia=325km, 4h45 325
Night in St lucia
Day 8 Saturday, October 4, 14 Visit St Lucia ( boat trip)

Night in St Lucia
Day 9 Sunday, October 5, 14 Drive St Lucia - Drakensberg=517 km, 6h40 Long day 517
Night in Drakensberg : thendele royal natal park
Day 10 Monday, October 6, 14 Day in Drakensberg, small hike, maybe gorge walk

Night in Drakensberg: Karma backpacker
Day 11 Tuesday, October 7, 14 Amphitheatre hike

Night in Drakensberg: Karma backpacker
Day 12 Wednesday, October 8, 14 Drive Drakensberg - Durban=344 km, 3h53 344
Night in Durban
Day 13 Thursday, October 9, 14 Drive Durban - Coffe bay=460 km,6h42 460
Night in Coffee bay
Day 14 Friday, October 10, 14 Drive Coffe bay - East London=295km, 4h14 295
Night in East london
Day 15 Saturday, October 11, 14 Drive East london - Port elizabeth = 301 km,3h44+ addo national park 301
Night in Port elizabeth
Day 16 Sunday, October 12, 14 Port elizabeth - George = 323 km = 4h 323
Night in George
Day 17 Monday, October 13, 14 George - Hermanus=354 km = 4h30, watch whales 354
Night in Hermanus
Day 18 Tuesday, October 14, 14 Hermanus - Stellenbosch - Cape town=150 km = 2h02 150
Night in Cape town
Day 19 Wednesday, October 15, 14 Visit pinguins cape of good hope etc....

Night in Cape town
Day 20 Thursday, October 16, 14 Visit Cape town

Night in Cape town
Day 21 Friday, October 17, 14 Leave for airport

I think the last part of the trip is gonna be the most challenging because a lot of kms.

I have an important question, I have heard that it is not safe to drive at night in South Africa. Do you know until what time we can drive without dark ? ( end of september and october)

Thanks

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nathalie2
nathalie2

it is indeed a dense itinerary (at least the last part of it). i you can change your car reservation, i would really consider returning the car in durban on day 12 and taking a flight from durban to port elizabeth. pick-up another car there and drive to cape town. otherwise you will spend almost 3 full days of driving only, without a lot of time to see and do anything on the way. and you could easily "use" to extra 3 days in the rest of your itinerary.

what you do with those exta 3 days depends on your interests. personally, i would spend more time (one night) in addo np. you could also stop for a night in tsitsikamma np btw port elizabeth and george. and it would be nice to have a "left over night", in case you really like a place and would like to spend more time there. i would probably use this "left over night" in the second part (in the pe to cpt part of your trip).

it is indeed not a good idea to drive after sunset. it sets between 18h45 and 19h00 in late september / october, and as soon as the sun is down, it gets dark very quickly, so you want to be at your destination for the night by that time.

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braaiseason
braaiseason

Stay overnight in Addo NP, PE is nothing special. You seem to be skipping by Storms River, Tsitsikamma, Knysna in a day to get to George, anyway from George look at Witsand or De Hoop NR, travel around the Overberg take the pont across the Breede River down to Agulhas then onto Hermanus. From Stellenbosch you could head to False Bay first overnight around here then move onto the city.

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outlander1
outlander1

I don't recommend driving after dark as some roads have poor or no road markings and other cars don't necessarily have full lights.

Itinerary: leave out half of it if you want to enjoy the hol or fly. You're trying to do too much but your holiday so your choice.

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Mymy77
Mymy77

Thanks for your advices. We are now trying to change our rental booking, so we can fly from Durban to Port Elizabeth.

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