I've been to South Africa. We visited Cape Town, Sabi Sands (private reserve in Kruger National Park), and spent some time in the Seychelles. We went in July so I can't speak to the weather in November, but even in winter we had favorable weather. We did a day trip to the Cape Peninsula, a day in the Winelands, ate lots of great food (Test Kitchen is so good!), toured Cape Town. I loved where we stayed for the safari portion of our trip - Londolozi. We used Rhino Africa to plan our trip and would recommend them.
We're planning on a trip in December that will be about 3+ weeks. There will be a short layover (2 days) either to or from South Africa in Istanbul to see some friends, so figure out we've got some planning to do to fill the time. I know we have a 6 day safari, and everything will be planned around that. I'd love to spend some time on the Seychelles, but the prices I'm seeing is making me cringe!
It appears that it will be easiest to fly in and out of Joannesburg as there are a ton of flights available.
What safaris would you all recommend? Our friend is set on a particular tented safari called Ngala that is $672 per person per night. I'm trying to figure out if that's a typical price for a tented safari.
OK I just booked a safari, how do they keep the animals away from your tent?
I've done a few safaris.
One place in Botswana we were literally in the middle of nowhere in tents we and the guides set up, so there was no way that the animals were kept away from our tents. There was definitely a hippo that wandered through our camp ground in the middle of the night while we were sleeping. But I don't think there was any concern for any lions where we were. We did a walking safari and saw zebras, elephants, etc.
At the places in Namibia and South Africa I've been to there have been fences around the sleep quarters. Obviously that doesn't keep all animals away, but does keep the big and predatory animals away.
OK I just booked a safari, how do they keep the animals away from your tent?
I don't know about other places but Kruger has dedicated places where you are allowed to stay. All have high fences and the guards are armed.
We stayed at Satara when we were at Kruger, and we could still here lions outside the fence from inside our tent. It was very cool! (But I was very glad for the fence.)
I don't know about other places but Kruger has dedicated places where you are allowed to stay. All have high fences and the guards are armed.
We stayed at Satara when we were at Kruger, and we could still here lions outside the fence from inside our tent. It was very cool! (But I was very glad for the fence.)
Kruger does backpacking trips and they are awesome. After we had set up our tents for the first night I asked our guides what to do if I needed to use the restroom during the night. He told me to take my flashlight and scan the area. If I see any red or yellow eyes staring back at me to get back in the tent, if there were any green ones I should be okay. I choose to just wait until the morning. One night there was a leopard that was really close. They make a neat noise.
Everyone thanks for the advice, I am not a big nature person but the experience was amazing. We did a 2 day one night trip from Dar Es Salaam and stayed here : www.vumahills.com/ I can't say enough good things about it.