SA on a short timespan??

Hello, everyone... I need some help. I am only going to have
approximately 2 weeks in South Africa. I fly into Jo'Burg on the
morning of October 8th, And will fly out of Cape Town on the evening
of the 24th. I have several questions...

Is that enough time to get from one city to another and see the
sights? I would like to visit Kruger Park if possible.

The Baz bus offers a "Flex Tour" which includes this route. Does
anyone know if it is worth the cost? It's almost $800 US. Does this
cover the cost of hostels each night? Or is that extra for me? Also,
is the "baz bus" much of a "party bus"? I've been on a few
"backpacker" trips where the bus was basically a "pub on wheels." I
don't drink, so this would'nt work for me.

Is there another company that offers a "Green Tortoise" type of trip
that I would be able to take for the 2 weeks?? I will be travelling
alone.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

"Fred"

My daughter took the Baz buss in October 2002 from Port Elizabeth to Cape
Town. She does not drink much either. The Baz bus travels from hostel to
hostel which made transportation easy and safe for her. She met many
interesting people along the way who helped her pick her route.

This is not really a tour since all they provide is transportation and you
can pick and choose where you want to stop along the route. The only
accommodation she booked in advance was a Jeffreys Bay which can be full at
times, but she wanted to stop and learn to surf. The rest of the places she
booked as she went based on her Rough Guide and recommendations of other
travelers.

She had a great time, but managed to catch the travel bug. Now she is off
backpacking around South America. Before that she hardly went anywhere on
her own.

The Baz bus is a little expensive by South African standards so you will
meet mostly young foreign tourists. (There is no age restriction on hostels
so you will meet people of all ages, but they are more popular with younger
people.) There are cheaper ways to make the trip from Jo'berg to Cape Town,
but my daughter enjoyed her trip. She joined us for the last week and a
half of our vacation and we drove around Kruger. Then she flew to Port
Elizabeth to take the Baz bus along the Garden Route.

You might want to check out how crowded hostels will be at the time you want
to travel. At some locations and times of the year it would be advisable to
book in advance. My main concern would be that 2 weeks would not be enough
time for all the things you would want to do along that route.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/

"Alan Anthony" wrote in message
m...
Hello, everyone... I need some help. I am only going to have
approximately 2 weeks in South Africa. I fly into Jo'Burg on the
morning of October 8th, And will fly out of Cape Town on the evening
of the 24th. I have several questions...

Is that enough time to get from one city to another and see the
sights? I would like to visit Kruger Park if possible.

The Baz bus offers a "Flex Tour" which includes this route. Does
anyone know if it is worth the cost? It's almost $800 US. Does this
cover the cost of hostels each night? Or is that extra for me? Also,
is the "baz bus" much of a "party bus"? I've been on a few
"backpacker" trips where the bus was basically a "pub on wheels." I
don't drink, so this would'nt work for me.

Is there another company that offers a "Green Tortoise" type of trip
that I would be able to take for the 2 weeks?? I will be travelling
alone.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

"Fred"

On 26 Jan 2004 20:41:09 -0800, (Alan Anthony)
wrote:

Is that enough time to get from one city to another and see the
sights? I would like to visit Kruger Park if possible.

Yep, but it's pretty quick, consider flying some of it, it's a long
way.

The Baz bus offers a "Flex Tour" which includes this route. Does
anyone know if it is worth the cost? It's almost $800 US. Does this
cover the cost of hostels each night? Or is that extra for me?

Nope, hostels extra, and no it's definately not worth it, the Baz Bus
is IMO an extremely inefficient way of travelling SA, I saw people get
up at 5am to get on the bus at the start of a leg, or have to wait
around for many hours in between, you'll lose lots of time travelling
on the baz-bus, and for that money, you could have a car for the 2
weeks giving you lots more freedom and lots more convenience.

Baz Bus only really works if you're there for many months and want to
stop at every single hostel and are too lazy to ever try to beg a
lift, which is very easy in SA, there basically being only E-W or W-E
routes along the coast for so many back-packers.

Also,is the "baz bus" much of a "party bus"?

I met some people who said they never talked to anyone on the bus -
most people aren't on there for long on any leg (the coaches are more
convenient, more comfortable and cheaper for long distances.)

I wouldn't recommend the baz-bus, is I guess what I'm saying - I only
met 1 person in the 3 months I was there who said they'd do the
baz-bus if they did it again.

Jim.

On 26 Jan 2004 20:41:09 -0800, (Alan Anthony)
wrote:

Hello, everyone... I need some help. I am only going to have
approximately 2 weeks in South Africa. I fly into Jo'Burg on the
morning of October 8th, And will fly out of Cape Town on the evening
of the 24th. I have several questions...

Is that enough time to get from one city to another and see the
sights? I would like to visit Kruger Park if possible.

Also on that time-table, I'd think about maybe dodging Kruger and just
doing some of the small parks/reserves somewhere else, not the same
number of animals, and you won't get to camp out etc. but it is in the
opposite direction from where you want to end up, and would take 4 or
5 days.

I'd fly to EL from Jo'burg, go to Hogsback, drive to grahamstown
through double-drift game reserve - I liked this it was empty, had
rhinos and zebra and stuff, no cats, but still an easy enough place to
drive through and worth a few hours in the middle of a drive, then on
to PE, maybe do Addo for lots of guaranteed elephants and then on
along the garden route and on to cape town stopping whereever you
fancy.

Jim.

Thanks, Jim and Scott, (And anyone else who wants to chime in here..)
Being that I'm travelling by myself, and that this is my first trip to
"Sudafrica", I am kind of leaning toward either a guided tour or a
"green tortoise" type. Thanks for the info on the Baz Bus. I was
unaware of it's downsides. I will definitely have a second long look
at that option. I have until October, so I have plenty of time to
plan.

Now, another question... There's a company out of England called
"Muir's Tours" which runs what seems to be a very reasonably priced 15
day tour from Jo'Burg to Cape Town. The itinerary includes...

Kruger, (2 days), Mlilwane Swaziland, Mkuze Zululand, (2 days), Golden
Gate Highlands Nat'l Park, Lesotho, Karoo, The Garden Route, (2 days),
Western Cape and Winelands, and 2 days in Cape Town.

Does this seem like a good overal tour for someone visiting the
country for the first time? Again, I've never been down there, so I'm
kind of flying blind here. I want to get the most that I can for my 2
weeks.

Thanks again, everyone, for *ALL* of your input.

Alan (AKA "Fred".)

(Jim Ley) wrote in message ...
On 26 Jan 2004 20:41:09 -0800, (Alan Anthony)
wrote:

Hello, everyone... I need some help. I am only going to have
approximately 2 weeks in South Africa. I fly into Jo'Burg on the
morning of October 8th, And will fly out of Cape Town on the evening
of the 24th. I have several questions...

Is that enough time to get from one city to another and see the
sights? I would like to visit Kruger Park if possible.

Also on that time-table, I'd think about maybe dodging Kruger and just
doing some of the small parks/reserves somewhere else, not the same
number of animals, and you won't get to camp out etc. but it is in the
opposite direction from where you want to end up, and would take 4 or
5 days.

I'd fly to EL from Jo'burg, go to Hogsback, drive to grahamstown
through double-drift game reserve - I liked this it was empty, had
rhinos and zebra and stuff, no cats, but still an easy enough place to
drive through and worth a few hours in the middle of a drive, then on
to PE, maybe do Addo for lots of guaranteed elephants and then on
along the garden route and on to cape town stopping whereever you
fancy.

Jim.

Now, another question... There's a company out of England called
"Muir's Tours" which runs what seems to be a very reasonably priced 15
day tour from Jo'Burg to Cape Town. The itinerary includes...

Kruger, (2 days), Mlilwane Swaziland, Mkuze Zululand, (2 days), Golden
Gate Highlands Nat'l Park, Lesotho, Karoo, The Garden Route, (2 days),
Western Cape and Winelands, and 2 days in Cape Town.

Does this seem like a good overal tour for someone visiting the
country for the first time? Again, I've never been down there, so I'm
kind of flying blind here. I want to get the most that I can for my 2
weeks.

Alan,

If you do a tour like that in 15 days then you'll spend a lot of time in the
bus. With a tour like that you'd probably have to travel at least 3000 miles
so that would mean about 200 miles per day. Besides the distances you'd have
to travel the tour looks fine, although it's a shame that you don't spend a
bit more time in Kwazulu-Natal.

Arnoud

--
http://www.wildlifephotography.nl

Thanks, Jim and Scott, (And anyone else who wants to chime in here..)
Being that I'm travelling by myself, and that this is my first trip to
"Sudafrica", I am kind of leaning toward either a guided tour or a
"green tortoise" type. Thanks for the info on the Baz Bus. I was
unaware of it's downsides. I will definitely have a second long look
at that option. I have until October, so I have plenty of time to
plan.

Now, another question... There's a company out of England called
"Muir's Tours" which runs what seems to be a very reasonably priced 15
day tour from Jo'Burg to Cape Town. The itinerary includes...

Kruger, (2 days), Mlilwane Swaziland, Mkuze Zululand, (2 days), Golden
Gate Highlands Nat'l Park, Lesotho, Karoo, The Garden Route, (2 days),
Western Cape and Winelands, and 2 days in Cape Town.

Does this seem like a good overal tour for someone visiting the
country for the first time? Again, I've never been down there, so I'm
kind of flying blind here. I want to get the most that I can for my 2
weeks.

Thanks again, everyone, for *ALL* of your input.

Alan (AKA "Fred".)


(Jim Ley) wrote in message ...
On 26 Jan 2004 20:41:09 -0800, (Alan Anthony)
wrote:

Hello, everyone... I need some help. I am only going to have
approximately 2 weeks in South Africa. I fly into Jo'Burg on the
morning of October 8th, And will fly out of Cape Town on the evening
of the 24th. I have several questions...

Is that enough time to get from one city to another and see the
sights? I would like to visit Kruger Park if possible.

Also on that time-table, I'd think about maybe dodging Kruger and just
doing some of the small parks/reserves somewhere else, not the same
number of animals, and you won't get to camp out etc. but it is in the
opposite direction from where you want to end up, and would take 4 or
5 days.

I'd fly to EL from Jo'burg, go to Hogsback, drive to grahamstown
through double-drift game reserve - I liked this it was empty, had
rhinos and zebra and stuff, no cats, but still an easy enough place to
drive through and worth a few hours in the middle of a drive, then on
to PE, maybe do Addo for lots of guaranteed elephants and then on
along the garden route and on to cape town stopping whereever you
fancy.

Jim.

On 28 Jan 2004 07:57:32 -0800, (Alan Anthony)
wrote:

Thanks, Jim and Scott, (And anyone else who wants to chime in here..)
Being that I'm travelling by myself, and that this is my first trip to
"Sudafrica",

If you're going the hostel route, then I wouldn't worry about being
alone, it's very easy to meet people.

Does this seem like a good overal tour for someone visiting the
country for the first time? Again, I've never been down there, so I'm
kind of flying blind here. I want to get the most that I can for my 2
weeks.

The most of what - what are you interested - why are you visiting?

Jim.

If you are not confident about travelling on your own, the tour you suggest
gives a good cross section of South Africa. Doing all that in 15 days is
only going to give you a sampling of the main tourist attractions though.
You are covering a lot of distance and so you are going to spend a lot of
your time in the bus or van.

My preference is to rent a car and travel on my own so I have more
flexibility and see more of the non-tourist type attractions. South Africa
has excellent roads and the people are mostly friendly and helpful so
driving on your own is easy (once you get used to the left side of the
road). The only problem with driving is that some of the drivers are fast
and aggressive, so you just pull over and get out of their way.

There is so much to see and do in South Africa it is hard to pick what you
want to see in only two weeks. There is a good chance you will become
addicted to Africa and want to keep going back so don't try to see
everything on one trip, but do a good job of seeing the parts you do visit.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/

Thanks, Scott and Jim... I appreciate it. I actually *like* the
guided tours, because as you said, it gives you a good look at the
country in a short timespan. And, I 've heard very good things about
"Muir's Tours." Thanks for all the info. Between what you have
said, and my research on the internet, I am getting lots of good info.

Alan


"Scott Elliot" wrote in message news:KuURb.23409$P51.17311@clgrps12...
If you are not confident about travelling on your own, the tour you suggest
gives a good cross section of South Africa. Doing all that in 15 days is
only going to give you a sampling of the main tourist attractions though.
You are covering a lot of distance and so you are going to spend a lot of
your time in the bus or van.

My preference is to rent a car and travel on my own so I have more
flexibility and see more of the non-tourist type attractions. South Africa
has excellent roads and the people are mostly friendly and helpful so
driving on your own is easy (once you get used to the left side of the
road). The only problem with driving is that some of the drivers are fast
and aggressive, so you just pull over and get out of their way.

There is so much to see and do in South Africa it is hard to pick what you
want to see in only two weeks. There is a good chance you will become
addicted to Africa and want to keep going back so don't try to see
everything on one trip, but do a good job of seeing the parts you do visit.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/