South Africa

Hi all, I am a lurker on this site and this is my first post!! I posted a bit on LI Weddings when I was planning my wedding a couple of years ago, and I found this site through LI Weddings.

I was wondering if anyone has ever been to South Africa? My husband and I are planning a trip to Johannesburg, Kruger National Park (for safari), and Cape Town. Any advice, suggestions, etc., would be greatly appreciated. I am particularly concerned about travel safety and health in this region. While I am extremely excited about this vacation, I'm also a bit nervous and want to make sure we are safe, etc.

Thanks!!

Re: South Africa

OMG! South Africa is the best. Here was my review:

What an amazing trip!!!! My husband and I have been many fabulous places and stayed at truly top notch hotels before. But South Africa was by far the best vacation ever! Here is my review!!! This review includes Cape Town's The Commodore Hotel, the Winelands' Spier Hotel, and Royal Malewane. We also spent two nights in Amsterdam, but I will not be reviewing it since its the Africa board.

Travel Agent: Tricia Townsend of Protravel in NYC
This is the second trip Tricia has planned for us. I found her in Conde Nast Traveler when she was listed as the top agent for honeymoons. The magazine does not lie. She is excellent. Everything she plans is flawless and she gives excellent advice. She is very accurate in her description of places and hotels. She always tells the negative and the positive. I find her to be right on the money each time. She is extremely well traveled even for a TA. She knows all of the places well and the hotels treat you extra specially because you are her client. She charges a small fee, but it is well worth it. Our local tour operator was Good Taste. We used Emilene as our private tour guide for the days we were in Cape Town and the Winelands. She is beyond superb. She is so knowledgeable about the history and culture of South AFrica. She shares what is was like to live through the transition. I would highly highly recommend her. She made all of our reservations and each restaurant was top notch (Pigalle, Bukara, Black Marlin, and Baia, etc. We never thought about a thing.

Cape Town: Commodore Hotel
I love amazing hotels, but I decided to save money in Cape Town. I figured that we would be gone sightseeing most of the time, so it would be a waste to splurge on this part of the trip. The Commodore has a great location (across the street from the V&A Waterfront). This was perfect for us. I felt safe walking to the waterfront by myself when my husband was sleeping. The service was really good...all of the employees were very friendly. Our rate included breakfast which was also very good. So for location, service, and breakfast, I was pretty impressed. However, I did not like the nautical decor of the hotel. The hotel was clean and updated, and we had a suite with a balcony. But I really wasn't crazy about the decor. In the end, it was worth staying there for the location and the price. So no regrets.

Winelands: Spier
Tricia recommended that I stay someplace else in the winelands. But I picked Spier because I had seen pictures of the Cheetah Reserve and wanted to visit from another LIWers post. Tricia explained that it was unnecessary to stay at the hotel, but I ended up doing it anyway. My feelings on Spier were mixed. We had an ENORMOUS and beautiful suite. It was HUGE. However, other than that, I was unimpressed with the hotel. Spier is very expansive and a large hotel. It has a touristy feel to it. I prefer smaller hotels. The service was also terrible. Maybe terrible is the wrong word....it was more absent. No one showed us to the room, it took two phone calls to receive our luggage in the room, complimentary wine was brought to our room at 11pm at night and without a corkscrew. We ate at Moyo at night. It was definitely an experience, but not really our thing. Too many people for us. I don't regret it, but I wouldn't do it again. The cheetah reserve is basically a fenced in area with a bunch of cheetahs. There really is no educational component as far as I could see. But we did pay to pet the cheetah cubs which was very neat. It was a little scary because you know that this place would never exist in America because of the liability. But I was happy to get my picture petting the cheetahs. But Tricia was right...no need to spend the night at Spier.


We then were off to Royal Malewane. We flew Nelair to the lodge on a 4 seat (two passengers, two pilots) Cessna. I sat in the co-pilot seat and was actually allowed to fly the plane (another thing that would never occur in America). I felt a little bit like a celeb given that it was just my husband and me! Once we arrived at the Royal Malewane, it was the Royal treatment all of the way! Excellent food, service, and accomodations!!! The staff is really excellent. They are friendly and not obsequious. They go above and beyond. Each night there seemed to be a surprise...(a bubble bath with a hundred candles and champagne and chocolates when we walked in after a game drive, a special boma performance, a surprise dinner in the bush, etc.). The room was gorgeous. We had room number 3 which was the room featured in their brochures and the only one that overlooks the watering hole. We were told that we must know someone who knows somebody to get that suite (thanks tricia!). The suite had its own private deck, outdoor shower, and plunge pool. The bed was also extra comfy. The hotel was worth every penny and the private pool for each suite was an added treat.

In terms of game viewing, it is harder for me to review. This is our first safari so I am not sure how it compares. I was told by a couple we were with that had traveled the world many times over, that the game drive was slower moving than others they had been on. We stayed on the dirt path the entire time. The ranger explained that it was because it had rained, and driving off the path on wet ground destroys the bush. I definitely like their eco-friendly philosophy, but a more rough drive might have been fun as well! We saw a ton of animals....leopard, lions, elephants, porcupine, zebras, impala, nyala, two poisonous snakes, rhino, hippo, buffalo, stork, wildebeast, warthogs, giraffe, etc. The best thing for me was how many baby animals we saw. It was great!! We definitely got very close to the animals.

I am not sure what else to share. I would definitely recommend going to the District 6 Museum in Cape Town. It was very moving. Bring an extra piece of luggage for things to buy. We had to stop purchasing things, because we had no room left. I bought a ton of stuff at Kraal Gallery which I loved. I would also recommend going to the beach one afternoon. We spent an afternoon there and it was wonderful.





Royal Malewane

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Message edited 8/19/2006 4:10:23 PM.

Re: South Africa

Wow - thank you so much for this review!!! Such helpful information - I really appreciate it!! I'm especially excited to see your review of the Commodore Hotel in Cape Town - we've actually booked that hotel so it is good to hear about your experiences there. I am relieved to hear that you felt safe walking around by that hotel in Cape Town, because I had heard mixed things about the safety of that area.

It sounds from your review that the food in South Africa was fine, and that I shouldn't be worried about this aspect of the trip. That is a relief to hear as well!

The Royal Malewane looks amazing!! We are working with a travel agent who is a friend of the family, and she also recommended a private game reserve near Kruger. She mentioned Mala Mala (www.malamala.com) and Lion Sands (www.lionsands.com) but Royal Malewane looks absolutely stunning too!!!!

Did you take malaria meds while you were there? Did you need any vaccinations? We called the travel health clinic in Manhattan where we went to get some vaccinations last year for a trip to Brazil, and they said that malaria pills are recommended for South Africa and that polio and hep a vaccinations are also recommended. I'm just wondering what most people do - if they get the recommended shots or if they don't...

In any case, THANK YOU again for your detailed review - it was extremely helpful!!!!!!

Re: South Africa

Worried about the food? Honey, some of the best food you will ever eat will be in south africa!!! Every restaurant in Cape Town was amazing! We never ate more seafood! It was delicious. But, our guide picked the restaurants. I would definitely check out the websites of the restaurants I mentioned.

The area by the waterfront is VERY safe. It is loaded with tourists. You definitely do not have to worry.

My husband and I were prescribed different malaria meds. My husband had no problems with his. I felt dizzy from mine (like the room was spinning), so I stopped taking them. Royal Malewane is located in a low malaria zone, so I was not concerned. In fact, I don't think I got bit once. We did get vaccinations. Hepatitis, TB, etc. The idea is to just be up to date on all of them.

I would also recommend that you get the private guide/driver. It will really enhance your trip. Royal Malewane is amazing and its benefit over the other private game resorts is that they have the private pools, small occupancy (maybe 16 at most in resort), and very personalized service.

My husband and I are going to India in January for a tiger safari. But we are hoping to return to Africa on the next trip. We had been to Mauritius, an island off the eastern coast of africa, on our honeymoon. The african people are simply the warmest. They are so happy to have you visit.

Oh...the only thing I would recommend is to make sure that you leave enough space in your luggage for things to buy. Since we had a private plane, we had to be careful with the weight requirement (which we actually doubled). There were more things that I wanted to buy, but I simply ran out of room.

Message edited 8/20/2006 6:29:09 PM.

Re: South Africa

THANK YOU so much for this information!! Soo helpful! I just did some internet searches on the restaurants you mentioned, and they all look great!! I will be certain to bring the list of these restaurants with us when we go. I really appreciate you taking the time to provide us with all of this detail. THANKS!!!

Edited to add:
The Tiger Safari in India sounds truly unbelievable - I bet that will be amazing!!! Enjoy!!!

Message edited 8/20/2006 7:00:05 PM.

Re: South Africa

You have FM

Re: South Africa

I spent some time in Johannesburg and Cape Town on business so I didn't get to do much touristy stuff. But Cape Town was beautiful, great food and people. I don't even remember the name of our hotel but it was very trendy and lots of fun.

Have a great trip!

Re: South Africa

Thank you, thank you everyone!

This site is so helpful!

Re: South Africa

have been to SA 2 times. my ex was south african...

anyway i went in 2000 for 2 weeks. i landed in johannesburg (jo'burg) and stayed with my ex in pretoria, which is the next city over. jo'burg is a bit dangerous so i didnt really see that. we went to sun city for a day then we drove 12 hours across south africa to go to cape town. it was a really great drive and so nice to see africa like that. we stayed overnite in some town (bloemfontein) b/c the drive was long. we then got to cape town and stayed in the city area. then 2 days later we moved to another accomodation (time share we borrowed from his co-worker) and stayed at Blaustrand (could have the name a little off, but it means blue beach in Afrikaans). that was a nice area right across from table mountain.

while we were in cape town, we did the wineries that were about an hour away in stellenbosch, and went to cape of good hope, which is amazing.

we then went back to his place in pretoria, and were suppossed to go to Kruger, but didnt b/c the accomodation wasnt available. since i was on a strict budget, b/c the plane fare was expensive, he organised accomodation and cars thru his friends, which were really really cheap, but really nice.

I never took malaria medicine, b/c i never went up to kruger or any other safari stuff. i heard it can make you sick, but i also heard that they have made better medicine since 2000 that do not make you sick.

the second time i went with a friend in 2003, but only to cape town. i wasnt dating the guy anymore, but went on a 1 week trip b/c it was a great deal. then i saw more history stuff, like robbin's island etc. i was with a tour group, but i was free to do things on my own, as well as tours that they had. there was one instance where the hotel we were in, while in a safe area, had changed our locks mid stay. there was also a murder scandal down the block the week before and me and my friend did get haggled when we walked out of our hotel one time. the crime rate is very high there. take taxis, and use common sense at nite, do not walk alone and stay in well lit and populated areas.

jo'burg is a bit dangerous with car jackings and stuff, but i was with south african so he knew what to do and what areas to stay away from.

if you do decide to go, do go on an organised tour. it can be a dangerous place for just you and your DH to go to. even my ex who was a native, still used to get worried about the crime, b/c car jackings happen often.

also the exchange rate is amazing and the history of the country is so amazing as well.

FM me if you have any specific questions i may have left some stuff out.

also i did a tour of townships right outside cape town, and that was one of the best tours i took in my life. they took you and walked you around the townships and you got to see a school and what everyday life was. it was sad in some ways, but the money we paid for the tour went to help these townships. when the tour was over i almost felt bad and guilty b/c we live such a padded life- i mean these people were lucky to have running water in their house and here i am walking around in seven jeans and a banana republic shirt.

anyway feel free to FM me if you have any questions, i feel pretty knowledgeable about south africa and its culture being that i dated one for a while.

Re: South Africa

Thanks so much - this is really good information to be aware of. I always find that it is important to learn about the safety, etc., in any region to which we travel. We will carefully consider the safety cautions you have provided, and the other ideas you have given us will be exceptionally valuable as well. THANK YOU!!

Edited to add - I like the idea of doing the township tour near Cape Town. We'll have to look into that. Sounds like a very unique opportunity.

Message edited 8/23/2006 11:57:27 PM.