south africa, cape town, durban vacation questions?
Posted by greenthumb in Gardening Questionshi guys,
details: february 2009, a couple, toronto to S. Africa, for 10-12 days. Doing cape town and attractions (simons town, cape point, cape good hope, V & A waterfront, camps bay, clifton, false bay, ), Durban beaches and area, Garden route..
Questions from you expert:
1. Anything else i a m missing and i should visit there?
2. Will I be able to drive in the right hand side of the roads or too dangerous and in accident for me? I dont know how to drive in right hand side …
3. How do I go around in cape town and other places? from durban and capetown ok, i will have to fligh..but what about inside..from one palce to another to attractions, to hotel, to beaches,…use the taxi? hotel shuttle? locla bus? hire a car?
4) What are the best beaches where i can swim? I know camps bay and clifton are hyped and good to go but cant swim right? durban beaches you can swim..
5) tours..to visit all these palces and guides..someoone told me to go there and arranged a guide and tour from the hotel…is that how it works/.?
6) What is the weather like in february? cold and windy? or sunny and warm?
7) Any place, guidewhere i can look for booking accomodations? Should i book flights and accoodations by myself online or through a local travel agent?
Last but not least: any decent and reasonable cost game safari places else than Kruger, as i cant go that north in 10-12 days…Malaria shot needed?
THank you
guys..about the car hire..i meant if they are driving differently there (like in london UK, or other parts of the world) comapred to Canada, will i be able to drive there without risk? Yes, i can take your suggestion of hiring a car to go to the different places…but what about driving,? would i be able to ? i want to drive on garden route for some time, not too long, but again the same issue..
ok guys, i checked some pics of cape town and around and i found it was very africa type, not glamour and not modern and comfortable enough..i am having doubt again…should i go? i dont even know if CT beaches are as nice as mexico or other islands? i want a combinaiton of both nice beaches and things to see and do..any other suggestions? (australia, hawai, carribeans…we dont do water activities)
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1. table mountain is a must see, i would also add franschhoek (http://www.franschhoek.org.za/). i would’nt go to durban; 10 tot 12 days sounds perfect if you want to do the garden route. on your way to port elisabeth you could stay in fransschoek, swellendam, oudtshoorn (take a tour through the meiringspoort and over the swartberg!), knysna or plettenberg bay on your way to port elisabeth and addo park (
2 & 3. you’ll get used to driving on the left side very easily – at least i did. mind you, when you get back to canada, you’ll have to get used to drving on the right side;-) so don’t hesitate and hire a car (compare avis, budget a.o. on internet), it’s by far the best and cheapest way to visit. roads are OK, not to much traffic (except for cape town)
4. don’t pick the atlantic beaches to swim – far too cold. however, southern beaches in february are OK, gordon’s bay, walker bay, and more to the east vlees bay, mossel bay
5. you could get tours from hotel, but that will be more expensive than doing it on yourself – hire a car
6. february can be very hot, but it will just be warm on the coast. sunny, blue skies, don’t forget your suntan
7. book yourself online. if you know where you want to stay, search for "accomodation" combined with the name of the city on yahoo. but you can even get your accomodation while you tour. you’ll easily find b&b or hotel in about every single city or village. this leaves you with the possibility to "go where you like". that’s how i always do it …
8. no doubt: addo park (about 80 km north of port elisabeth) (http://www.addopark.com/) if you want to stay in the park, make shure to book asap. no need for malaria pills in western cape – neither for eastern cape if you do go to durban
Good choice for a trip!
1. You only have 10-12 days and you have planned many things. You might consider skipping Durban, Garden route and focus on Western Cape. Plenty things to do in the area, you have listed some. Add Table mountain, Robben Island, Hout Bay, Paarl, Simonstown, and other cities in the wine district.
2. You better drive on the left hand side
3. Hire a car and you have the most flexibility
4. Too cold to swim in the ocean, as you mention. But hotels have nice pools.
5. Lots of tours offered, consider taking a wine tasting tour so that you don’t have to drive yourself
Ask the concierge or buy the trip when you visit V&A Waterfront. many tour companies have sales officies thers.
6. Summer. Nice and warm.
7. Look at tripadvisor.com and read reviews. Contact hotel directly. Buy flights on internet or through travel agent if you’re unsure.
8. Kruger is the best option but it is 2h flight from Cape Town.
Have a fantastic trip !!
Additional details:
About the car. If you have a drivers license then you can certainly drive safely in South Africa. I don’t know how they drive in Canada so I can’t compare.
My impression of South African traffic is that it’s a bit more aggressive and there are lot of bad drivers on the roads. But as long as you drive safely you’re ok. It takes a few hours to get used to the traffic but then it’s a breeze
Go for a car hire, you will enjoy the flexibility.
Additional details *****************
Well Cape Town is in Africa
No but seriously, CT is a modern western-style town with restaurants, shopping malls and luxury hotels. Beaches are good but if you are after a luxury hotel with a connecting nice sand beach, then CT isn’t the best choice. There are so much fun things to do on the peninsula: wine tasting, table mountain, robben island, cape point, botanic garden, excellent restaurants, hip pub and bars, cricket, Ostrich farms. Just cruising in a car and experience all those gorgeus small towns. Lunch at Hout Bay hotel.
I’m drooling now, but my flight for CT isn’t until Dec 25
1. Leave some time available to do things as they come up.
2.Driving on the right hand side would be suicide.
3.Hire a car, by far the cheapest and most practivcal.
4.The garden route has many good swimming beaches. YOu can swim at Clifton and Camps bay but the water is freezing. Durban has very warm water.
5. No, rather just visit the places on your own.
6. In Durban it will be very Humid, Cape Town is very dry and the hottest month of the year and there will be a fair amount of wind.
7. http://www.sa-venues.com
8. Addo Elephant National Park
You have great answers …I just want to add that in Durban there is uShaka! FANTASTIC ENTERTAINMENT! for the whole family!
http://www.ushakamarineworld.co.za/home.html
And no you don’t need a malaria shot if you are only going to visit South Africa. Other countries like Mozambique and Botswana yes…but not South Africa!
In the North West Province is an oasis in the bush called Sun City and Lost city. Don’t know why you don’t have it on your list! It has a Game area called Pilansberg with 5star accomodation!
http://www.gh-sa.com/safari-pictures/large/Sun-2520City-2520from-2520air.jpg
http://www.suninternational.com/Destinations/Resorts/SunCity/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.knet.co.za/pilansberg/index.html
Please see this links as it is my favourite places in my country!
http://www.elephantsanctuary.co.za/
http://www.lion-park.com/home2.htm
http://www.lion-park.com/activities2.htm
The rates are soooo ceap and the experiance once in a lifetime!
In the Western Cape there is a fossil park – very entertaining!
http://www.dst.gov.za/publications-policies/magazine/vol5_html/vol5_8
Kimberley is the oldest town in South Africa. It is where the big hole is – diamond mine.
http://www.thebighole.co.za/
http://www.jewishweb.co.za/weekends/the-big-hole-kimberley/the_big_hole_kimberely.JPG
2.) You will easily get used to driving on the left hand side. Our cars is also right hand drive so you’lll catch the feeling easily. You can hire a Sauveur if you don’t get along the first day.
3.) TAXI IS NOT AN OPTION! PLEASE! Just trust me. There is Hotel shuttles but I would recommend car hire. This is available at the airport.
4.) You can swim at Clifton and Camps bay…the water is just extremely cold! Durban’s water is warm.
5.)You can ask…but only a couple of hotels offers this service. Have a look at this site.
http://www.sa-venues.com/national_tour_guides.htm
6.) REAL HOT! Get loads of sun screen! It can reach a scorching 45 degrees celsuis! No rain in Cape Town but possibility in Durban and the North part of South Africa.
7.) Online shouldn’t be too difficult but to rest assured I’ll ay book a travel agent. Please do not keep valuebles in your suitcase but rather on you like in your handbag.
8.) No malaria shot needed. See top.
ENJOY your trip! Have fun!
Please email me if you need websites or town names or ANYTHING else! I would love to help!