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Hi,
Off to Johannesburg in July for 12 days on a virgin redemption, want to spend the vast majority of that doing nature/safari.
However, I don’t drive regularly and I’m told by my wife that she doesn’t want me to drive (whatever that means…).
As a result, thinking of booking a tour. Any recommendations? I’ve got good deals with Viator in the past (as it is easy to double dip) but there are only around 4/5 tours for the timeframe we want. I’m budgeting around 6-7k for the two of us so hoping for something good for that money.We’re doing very similar next month for 14 nights. We’re taking in Kruger, Vic Falls then ending up on the coast near Durban, using internal flights to get between them. We used a company called Audley Travel to arrange it all but plenty of options around eg Trailfinders. Ours was slightly (not much) more, exc. flights
Federal Airlines run shuttle flights between JNB and Kruger, they also serve some of the private game reserves.
We have stayed at Kapama Game Reserve at Buffalo Camp. Not within Kruger but near.
The game drives were excellent, we saw all of the big 5.
We booked direct and they collect and return you from/to Eastgate Airport also known as Hoedspruit Airport.
Airlink fly from JNB to Hoedspruit Airport.
Would definitely recommend Kapama. It is all inclusive and couldn’t fault anything.Thanks all. How many days would people recommend at Kruger?
We’ve been advised 4-5 nights is sufficient which will give 8+ drives, but I’ll defer to someone who has actually done it to confirm.
I did 3 nights at the Imbali Safari Lodge booked as part of a 3 country trip via Luxury Escapes. Can highly recomment the Imbali lodge but wouldn’t book it via LE. Bear in mind the distances from Hoedspruit are long – 1.5 hours to Kruger gate and then 2 hours or so if you’re going to Imbali.
If you have any inkling of back issues then don’t sit on the upper rear seat of the 10-12 seater land cruisers. It destroyed my back even though I’d never had any trouble before.
Here’s my trip report if you’re bored this weekend https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/trip-report-south-africa-zimbabwe-botswana-lesotho/
We did 3 nights, 2 game drives each day. Plus a mini game drive from the airport to the camp and the same back.
We could have done maybe another night, I guess depends how much you enjoy the game drives.
The entrance to the reserve is directly opposite the airport and it took about 30 minutes.We spent 5 nights at Ngala Safari Lodge which will give you 8 -10 game drives at different times of the day. We saw everything we were expecting and more. We flew direct to and from JNB to the Lodge.
It was back in 2008 and we only booked it as we had to reschedule our plans while we were in Cape Town and there happened to be a booking agent at the V&A Waterfront. I think we paid what locals would pay so it was nowhere near what they are charging now.
Great memories though. – enjoy!
This may not be that helpful to you, but I wrote a trip report a while back (2 and half year ago)and posted it in the destination forum.
We did 2 nights in Kruger itself before staying at a game reserve. I actually preferred the more authentic 2 nights with a car and staying in the park accommodation. Not sure if you could be persuaded, or your wife could, but I wouldn’t write it off. Driving is so so easy in the park.
Sorry I couldn’t be more help on the tour front.
Thanks all!
We did this in August last year 🙂 we chose not to self drive so that we could both fully enjoy it as it was our first safari.
We used Wild Planet Safari, a local company from Hoedspruit, for the week in Kruger which included 2 days on the Panorama route to break up the game viewing. It was delightful to have our own private safari truck and knowledgeable guide. We chose camping (they had excellent gear and did all the work) because that’s our style, but easy to choose the accommodation in Kruger as well. We spent our money on a private guide and staying inside KNP (so no long drives each AM & PM) plus the private lodges and reserves are all quite expensive.
We flew into JNB then Airlink to SZK. After Kruger we flew Airlink MQP to LVI and spent several days around Victoria Falls, both Zimbabwe and Zambia sides, with many fun activities like microlite and Devils Falls swim. And a day trip to Chobe in Botswana. Then flew South African VFA to JNB and home.
It was an amazing trip and we enjoyed every part of it. Happy to give more detail if you’re interested in anything.
We stayed at Pumba game reserve, we were collected and returned to/ from Port Elizabeth airport. We flew there from CapeTown airport (RIP comair)
I have used Biggest Leaf Travel for 2 safaris from JNB. They were very good and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.
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