Cape Town to Jo'berg: Getting around southern Africa for a month

If the title could be longer, it should read, "Starting in Cape Town, making our way around a bunch of places outside S. Africa, then ending in Jo'berg (or perhaps Lusaka)."

What would be a practical itinerary to start in Cape Town early January and fly out of Jo'berg (or potentially Lusaka) one month later? We want to do and see as much as makes sense in Southern Africa (we're usually aggressive with our movement between places). We'll hopefully be able to wake up and decide where to go each day, but travel in Africa can be slow, so we're looking for the faster routes, or activities that might begin and end in a key progression.

Would rather spend $$ on activities rather than flights/transport, and don't want to pre-book too many things so we're stuck with a theoretically well-planned itinerary. The key here is that we're looking for a common circuit people might follow, but want to stay as flexible as possible (a big reason we don't want to pre-book internal flights).

Budget is flexible, but would rather spend conservatively and splurge where appropriate (less on creature comforts, more on experiences).

My wife and I have backpacked through approx. 30 countries, so we're not newbies, but this will be our first trip to Africa. Also, we were planning to do Kili in Tanzania, but decided Tanzania deserves its own trip and for now we're calling this the "Southern Africa" trip.

ANY and ALL advice much appreciated.
.

i would hire a car for south africa should run around $800 for a month, so between two that is an economical way of travelling, and going where you like when you like etc. fuel is relatively inexpensive too, and it is a great way to travel having done this numerous times ourselves.
Capetown-winelands- garden route- durban- st lucia-drakensbergs- kruger park and wherever you like really! just have a great time :) also check out flights from joburg to livingstone to see vic falls well worth the expense and it isnt too much. Zimbabwe is also a fantastic country to visit well worth it in my opinion in fact.

bri

yes, definately hire a car and follow the route already suggested. some additions/alternatives would be after leaving St. Lucia, drive to Kosi Bay and maybe into Ponta Do Ouro in Mozambique..you can drive there in a fairly serious 4x4 then drive cross country to Maputo...not far (about 70 km) but hard work...OR leave your car in secure parking at Kosi Bay and get a lodge owner from Ponta Do Ouro to pick you up at the border..they all offer that service. OR after St. Lucia drive through Swaziland staying at one of the lovely small reserves such as Mlilwane or Mkhaya. the western route to the Jeppe's Reef border is a lovely journey, then once back in SA you could easily visit the Kruger via the Croc Bridge or Malalane gate and/or drive/take a bus to Maputo.

Does it have to be in January? high season, holiday time very busy, need to book places & no whales to see ! Oct/Nov is a great time to visit no pre booking necessary. You could drive to Namibia in 2 days.

You need to be more specific on what you like & want to see.

What are typical limitations on driving hired vehicles across South Africa border to other countries? From my experience this is usually prohibited in other regions, at least with larger rental companies.

Is there a good resource for renting 4x4s in SA, or other southern African countries?

Google maps estimates we can drive Cape Town to Windhoek in about 18 hours and Windhoek to Victoria Falls (straight shot) in about 16 hours. Then Vic Falls to J'berg in 16 hours. While we probably wouldn't do this, is the bus system sufficient to travel between major regions? If so, then we could rent a 4x4 in destinations perhaps?

Is there an especially great general route in southern Africa for a 2-3+ week self-guided 4x4 trip or safari? How safe would this be for two late-20s caucasian foreigners?

Note that I am clearly delineating between South Africa and southern Africa. We are attempting to put together a month-long southern Africa trip, not just South Africa.

We like breaking away from travel groups and getting off the beaten path every now and then. We like visiting major destinations, so I think something like Vic Falls would be great.

While I have been reading and researching over the last couple of months, I still don't know exactly what we want to do or see, probably because there are so many options. Ultimately, I would love to see a list of top ten experiences in southern Africa and understand any common challenges people might have getting between between those places. LP lists a few things like Okavanga Delta, but I just feel like we might get bored sitting in a boat powered by someone else for a few days.

Relaxing things are great, but I prefer a relaxing massage to a whole day or two sitting and watching while someone else drives me around to see stuff. Would be bored to tears at some luxurious beach, which is why we're canceling our flight and booking in Mauritius to get our hands dirty and experience southern Africa.

We're not dead-set on doing a safari, mainly because I don't want to just be a passenger on someone else's trip. However, sometimes that's a necessary concession when guides are compulsory. We would go for a safari if we knew it could be somewhat collaborative and we could be interactive in the process.

Perhaps someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe you need a 4x4 in South Africa nor most of Namibia & easily drive it in a standard vehicle with air con. I don't think there is a problem with some rental firms in CT but of course you need to check this out & there are plenty of rentals. There's not much of a bus service in Southern Africa & not always the safest means of transport so rather hire & drive yourselves as public transport will not take you to off the beaten track places ! Driving is easy, mostly long straight roads between places except when mountains get in the way & it won't take long to adjust to driving on the left.

One of the most popular routes in South Africa is the 'garden route' from Cape Town to PE, easy to self drive & plenty of places to stay especially in out of peak times, this route is full of quaint towns, historical places, forests, the whale route, wildlife, beaches, mountainous regions, wine regions, the klein karoo, plenty of outdoor activities. You can do your own private self drive safari around Addo NP.
2 weeks would be a good period on this route.

Alternatively from Cape Town you could head up the west coast to Namibia, not so much to see like the garden route, friends in CT travel to Namibia often generally stopping overnight nr Springbok, not far from the border at the famous Orange River, Namibia is strikingly different to South Africa, the south, central & north regions differ in attractions, desert & mountains, surf the dunes or climb up a mountain & see historic rock art, visit the coast for shipwrecks, seals & flamingo's, all can be done without a tourist guide, you will be perfectly safe providing you take usual precautions as you would in any city/home town/tourist spot.

Read in LP that January may not provide favorable weather in Namibia. It is described as the "long rainy season." Any input there? We do want to be cognizant of local climates, but would it be a drag to travel through Namibia that time of year? I realize my posts will start ending up in the Namibia forum when I start to get into too many specifics outside South Africa.

http://www.overlandingafrica.com/weather/

If you're used to backpacking book a one-way ticket from Cape Town to Joburg on the Baz Bus. You can take your time, stopping off at as many places as you want (the Baz Bus drops you off at backpackers), along the coastal route that the Baz Bus plies.

if you guys only have a month to do all of this and want to see so much why not try an overland truck?

After taking a close look, I think we will:
-skip our Jo'berg to Cape Town flight (booked Paris->London->JNB->CPT one way, so won't mess up itinerary later)

-rent an Avis car in JNB (will have to just pay 1000 ZAR fee to drive in Botswana/Namibia)
-make a B-line for decent hotel in Pretoria
-over to Kruger (or potentially skip this in lieu of Chobe, etc.)
-up to Vic Falls
-through Botswana w/ Okavanga Delta
-through Namibia
-down west coast to Cape Town
-garden route to end in Port Elizabeth
-fly out of Port Elizabeth to JNB, then up to our temp home in Paris

This will basically be the overland tour route from Table Rock to Johannesburg/Kruger:
http://www.overlandingafrica.com/table-mountain-to-kruger-CTJ26-13/

This is an approximation of our route, albeit backwards (took me a min to figure out that we could drop the JNB to CPT flight and end in Port Elizabeth instead).

Not sure if there are overlandingafrica fanboys nudging people in the direction of using organized tours, but it's just not for us. Can't deal with the same ppl for a month, combined with inflexible schedule. Don't want to spend the better part of 4 weeks looking out a big window in between naps. I figure we might spend about the same, since we'll be staying in backpacker-level accommodation and eating many meals in cheap restaurants. Thoughts?

Also, looks like cars are not allowed to enter Zimbabwe, so we'll have to sort out transport from nearby Kasane, Botswana to Victoria Falls.

Any feedback on our potential plans?

Updated Route

Would there be any significant challenges expected in driving this route?

Edited by: TripAddict

I just spent 2 months doing most of what you mentioned, seems like your really crammin in!
Firstly, 4x4 not necessary in SA or Bots, but would be desirable in Namibia.Anything off the main road up the middle of Namib is dirt ,and can sometimes get dodgy.
Otherwise the coach system is great and comfortable between cities (intercape were very good), and you can just hire a car when you get to main places (eg capetown/west cape, Windhoek for Namibia, Joburg for North SAKruger. I thought bazbus was overpriced. The earlier you book intercape the cheaper. greyhound also good.
Suggested itinery (or what i did):
5=6 days cape town and up to Karoo ( i thought the garden route was massively overrated, but the road from cape down to cape good hope and round to hermanus was amazingly beautiful. Also the road from Mossel Bay over the mountains into karoo, head back west and take another moutnain pass back to the N2 and back to Cape.) The climb up table mtn is great, and the Shark cage diving is a serious adrenaline buzz ( i did this in Mossel bay (great company, only one running the tour here rather than the 10 competing boats you have in Gansbai).
Bus from Cape to Windhoek bout 17 hrs, nothing there so pickup a vehicle for 8-9 days and head straight down to Sossusvlei in the Namib desert for a few days, up the skeleton coast through swakupmund and cape cross and inland to etosha NP for 3 days where you can self drive safari, then back to windhoek. From here you can Bus to the northeast to get through to the okavanga for 4 days, then across to Livingstone (Zambia) for vic falls (3 days both sides, try the Bungee and rapids or river canoe) then cross to zim side. Zim a great country, amazing people and totally safe. If you like trains, definately recommend train from vic falls to Bulawayo. From here you can do a day or overnight trip to Masvingu for the great zimbabwe ruins, or bus straight down to Pretoria. Not much here, maybe an overnight and bus straight to Nelspruit and pickup a hirecar for 4 days Kruger (great park, and cheap by african standards).
Felt safe everywhere except downtown Joburg which felt a bit dodgy, but easy to avoid. Overlanders are expesive anyway, you can do the parks cheaper in hirecars. Hostels everywhere, not always great value for money (or as cheap as Sth America or asia) but passable. Food not always cheap, but passable. Recommend the game restaurant in Windhoek (Joes bar i think) -zebra and Ostrich are the best!
Enjoy it, its an underrated and under-backpacked part of the world!

Advice taken, not going to attempt afore-mentioned route.

Instead, will be shooting for:
About a week driving garden route from CPT to Port Eizabeth
Either Mauritius or Vic Falls area for about a week
Fly into Dar es Salaam, then have two weeks to make it to Nairobi

Will probably spend a few days or up to a week around Zanzibar, then head to what looks like crossroads of Tanzania at Arusha for either a few days or up to 1.5 weeks on shorter trips before taking a bus up to Nairobi.

As a complete side note, and I'll remove this if it's seen as too off-topic:

American Airlines miles are really shining on this trip with deeply discounted number of miles needed between Europe/Africa and within Africa. Able to fly to our hostels in long-haul first class sleeper pods for a whopping $100 in per person (just taxes). There is a massive promo going on right now to get 100k or 75k american airlines miles for signing up for a credit card, might only be applicable to US citizens. (This was first time I've signed up for a cc to get miles) Whereas flights are really pricey in Africa, you can fly anywhere within Africa one-way with only 10k American Airlines miles. This is less than a one-way in the US. Europe to Africa one-way is 50k miles, in first freeking class. You could fly economy to Africa for, I think, 30k miles. So it's 30k AA miles for a $1k flight or 50k miles for a $7k flight..

One of my favorite travel writers wrote an article which is how I heard about the deals. He posted another write-up over a month ago, which is the one I actually used. Don't look at this as an endorsement for credit cards, as I think they can be awful, but over $20k worth of flights for $200 in total taxes.. I just wish someone accepted miles for safaris. :)

Edited by: TripAddict