3-Month Southern Africa Itinerary - too ambitious?

Hey All,

It will be my first time in the African continent and I'm planning on being there for roughly 3 months, flying into Jo-burg in South Africa. I thought it would be amazing to do the following:

SCUBA dive in Mozambique
Visit Madagascar (is the diving better there? Could I just scrap Mozambique?)
Visit Namibia - this is where I planned to go on Safari
Climb Kilimanjaro
Finish with some beach time in Zanzibar

Looking at the map, they're all pretty close to each other but I want to give South Africa a good explore as well, without spending a ton of money. I am also a solo female traveler (From the US) so have safety to bear in mind as well. Happy to do a lot of this overland but it looks like flights are pretty reasonable as well. If anyone has experience would love thoughts (and links, if you have written or read some great blog posts on the subject) on how doable this is.

Thanks so much!

Hi,

Tanzania is not in Southern Africa.
On a map, every places are close to each other but when you are there and need to reach them, it will be more time consuming than expected.
It's possible to visit nearly most of them (but not properly) in three months but I hope that you like to be in the rush.
Why don't you want reduce the loop ?
To be fully realistic try to arrive by Jo'burg and leave by Dar.
Try to visit the more you can could be frustrating but it's up to you.
Africa is not USA and travel there is time consuming.

Michel

I'm thinking I might want to cut one of those out for the reasons you're speaking of. Maybe it should be Mozambique if the diving is just as good in Madagascar. If anyone has some insight into where the diving is best, that's all I really care about

Madagascar, while being lovely so I hear, is not easy or cheap to get to - you will have to fly from either JNB or DAR. There's plenty to do in Southern Africa for 3m but a loop flying in to JNB (or CPT even) and leaving from DAR makes sense if you want to include East Africa as well.

I'm expert in Tanzania forum , so what i can advise you hear are major hints for your plan.

1. If you what to do any safari or trek just do it in sharing group , as you're solo so it will save a lot of money during your trip and allowed you to share unnecessary costs with others .

2. For Kilimanjaro trekking ( i have done it by myself with group ) this depends on how much days you have on hand to spend there , so the days will allow you to choose the route there are Marngu route for 5 days , Machame route for 6-7 days and Lemosho route . And for this i recommend you to do with joining group as i will send you the information on how you may find the group easily for safari & Kilimanjaro trek .

3. If you will select the agency for your trek make sure he is paying good wages to his porters , otherwise it will base on your shoulders as these porters will depend more tips from your pocket .

4. Zanzibar has everything my friend and its one o f the place for the best diving . So i don't see any sense for you to go to Mozambique for Diving while you will go to Zanzibar after Kilimanjaro trek , so for Zanzibar there is nicer placefor diving which call Matemwe or Nungwi its near to the beautiful island of Mnemba ( this its popular for snorkelling as well , most of people from the world does snorkelling around this island ) .

5.And accommodation in Zanzibar just you have to stay 2 - 3 days in stone town then shift to beach side for recharging after Kilimanjaro trek . You can find different hotels for Zanzibar here www.zanzibarhotels.webs.com .

See more details on the message i sent you in your inbox !!! . Hope my information will help you .

Cheers ,

Sarah

adding to the great advice already given above: i would choose either madagaskar or mozambique, and not attempt to include both. 3 months for south africa, namibia and tanzania would already be "enough", to add 2 more countries (and enjoy your 3 months) is too much imo. i'm not a diver, so this is not from personal experience. but i'm a travel agent and checked with the diving specialist we use (if you read german, you can find a lot of good info on their website www.diveand.travel/d/l32/tauchen_mozambique.html. for diving mozambique is the "best" place on your list, followed by mafia island in tanzania. i'm sure you can dive in madagaskar as well, but it doesnt seem to be that "special". as madagaskar is also "out of the way" (compared to the other destinations you are looking at), and flights to madagaskar are not cheap, if your main reason to go there is to dive, i would reconsider.

namibia is absolutely beautiful and quite unique. the emptiness of the place, the landscapes, the sanddunes and desert that is never boring and never looks the same, the clear stary skies at night etc. you should definitely include a fews days in etosha np to go on a safari. but you shouldnt limit your safari experience to namibia. whilst etosha is great, krüger np in south africa or tanzania are much "better" for a classical safari (you are likely to see more animals, both in numbers and variety). having said that, if you dont self-drive, getting around namibia without joining a tour (if you mean that by a safari) is not really possible, unless you just want to go from a to b.

Glad to know that the diving is so good in Zanzibar. Perhaps I'll cut out Mozambique then. Madagascar still calls to me - it just seems like there is so much to do there in the outdoors and I'm an avid trekker as well and really love nature.

A friend and I were thinking of getting a car and taking ourselves around Namibia. I think based on what all of you are saying (which has been very helpful! Thank you!) I'll make sure to give South Africa, Namibia, and Tanzania a lot of time and keep Mozambique and Madagascar on the maybe list. If anyone has some Madagascar insight that would be much appreciated.

my parents have just come back from a 3.5 week trip to madagascar. they partly went to visit my uncle who lives there with his malgashi wife, but of course also to visit the country. they enjoyed their trip. but they also said that compared to other trips they did (for example to india, indonesia, cambodia, laos and thailand) - madagascar is great for nature, but other than that, very limited. in india, indonesia etc. there is so much culture and history, old temples, historical buildings etc., which is missing in madagascar.

having said that, if madagascar still calls you, you should go for it.

my parents have just come back from a 3.5 week trip to madagascar. they partly went to visit my uncle who lives there with his malgashi wife, but of course also to visit the country. they enjoyed their trip. but they also said that compared to other trips they did (for example to india, indonesia, cambodia, laos and thailand) - madagascar is great for nature, but other than that, very limited. in india, indonesia etc. there is so much culture and history, old temples, historical buildings etc., which is missing in madagascar.

having said that, if madagascar still calls you, you should go for it.

Great for nature. That's all I needed to know :) Thanks so much!

It's always very difficult to compare two different continent...
You can't compare them.

Michel