I'm planning a trip in June 2009. First, how's the weather? Is there a better time to travel?

We're currently planning the following:

1. 3 nights JNB (we might reduce this to 2 nights depending on your feedback)
2. 3 nights Kruger (Singita or one of the other top-end camps)
3. 3 nights CPT (if we reduce JNB to 2, we will do 4 nights here)

So, is the above itinerary a good way to spend 9 nights in SA, or would you allocate your time differently?

Also, for CPT is it better to stay in the city/port, or better to do one of the farther away resorts like Arabella.

Any other advice and feedback would be appreciated!

Firstly June is mid-winter in South Africa; therefore it is low season and the weather will be at its worst. That being said I have travelled to SA twice at this time of year and the weather in CPT was (for a European like me) very pleasant. JNB will probably be quite cold though at that time of year.

As for CPT/JNB. I would keep JNB to no more than 2 (maybe 3) days. A must in the JNB area is the Apartheid museum. Also consider a tour of Soweto and possibly a side tour of Pretoria (40 mins by car). CPT is amazing and I would stay within the city or around Camps Bay. You can easily fill 4 or 5 days in the city alone. Do a tour of Robben Island, Cable Car up Table Mountain. Within an hour's drive of CPT is Cape Point and also Boulders Beach (for the Penguins). Nightlife in CPT is very good and I would recommend Long Street or the Bo Kap for restaurants. Also take High Tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel (delicious and hilarious at the same time!

Cape Town may well be wet and Seattle-ish; OTOH it's a good time for Kruger/Sabi etc. as it's the dry season (hence the beasts come to the water) and much of the foliage is down, making visibility better. No bugs to speak of either, so you could probably skip Malaria meds if you go up north.

How are you getting from one place to the other? If driving JNB-Kruger/Sabi, it's a full day's drive and you don't want to arrive after dark. We go to that area in Aug/Sept and have taken to driving from JNB to Graskop the day before the stay at the lodge is to begin, visit the various scenic bits around the Panoramic Route, then dash into Sabi Sands the next morning in time to make the evening game drive. That way you're making the most out of your safari investment, whereas arriving in the late afternoon usually means you miss that drive. Remember too that daylight is not terribly long at that time of year.

Personally, I would only do two cities. We did 9-10 days in early August of this year, with 3 nights in JNB, and 6 in CPT. There is a wildlife reserve around JNB, that I liked. Especially the part where they were feeding the lions, and the teenage lions went and punctured one of the cars tires. Pretty funny, as long as it's not happening to you.

We took the train down to Simonstown, and went to see the penguins that were on the public beach. No boardwalk for us. It was very nice, and cost all of $9 for the train and minivan from the train station to the beach, for 3 people.

I just wish there was a IC, Hyatt or Hilton in CPT.

I was in both cities this June. CPT was 14oC and extremely wet - there were lethal floods on the Flats. The weather can be very variable, pack for rain.

JNB was dry. 20oC during the day, sunburn is still a real threat - at night it can get down to freezing, but slightly less cold is more normal.

I'd ignore the advice to skip Kruger, but if you do, you can make a day trip to Pilanesberg reserve from JNB (2.5 hours each way) which is a great safari light. Next to Pilanesberg is Sun City, which is a mini-Vegas resort.

Funny, people say skip Kruger. I disagree WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

I looooved Royal Malewane (very, very, very high end, as you say you're looking for.) I only spent two days there this past February, and would return in a heartbeat. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and would recommend it to everyone I know. PM me if I can convince you any more (or send you some pictures).

Cape Town is also gorgeous. The weather at that time of year will be unfortunate for some of Kaapstad's nicer aspects, but I'd still do CPT over JNB any day. Really, any day.

Well on the advice of my Virtuoso agent, I have been advised:

1. Limit JNB to 2 days max
2. Do a MINIMUM of 3, and possibly 4 days in Kruger
3. #2 MUST be at either Royal Malewane or any of the Singitas
4. Stay 3-4 nights in CPT area, with at least 1 of those nights at a wine resort

That being said, I am looking for more information to make a decision between Malewane or Singita. My wife and I are young (29 to be exact), and we appreicate both classical and modern luxury. For this specific trip we're looking for a TRUE 5 star experience to rival FS Tented Camp in Thailand. Gotta have excellent food and wine.

T+L says Singita Sweni is #2 in the world, whereas Conde Nast rates it #45. Neither magazine has any rating for Malewane (at least nothing I could find).

Well I spoke to Virtuoso again. Now she says we can effectively get rid of JNB and thinks we should do:

4 nights CPT/Wineland
3 Nights Kruger
3 Nights Botswana Okavonga delta

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Is it a mistake to ignore JNB altogether?

This question of skipping JNB comes up over & over in this forum. As you'll see when you read the previous posts, you can not understand modern political South Africa (or its obvious implications for U.S. history and culture) without visiting Johannesburg & Pretoria. So, that means you should skip JNB if you're not interested in that. And conversely, you must go to JNB if you are. The previous suggestions about the Apartheid Museum, Soweto and the Hector Pieterson Museum, the Voortrekker Monument, the CBD, the northern 'burbs, etc. are correct.

David

+1

To skip Joburg is to miss an important aspect of South Africa. I've seen the debate on this before and have stayed silent on the topic, so I'll add my agreement with David's perspectives and try and not enter the fray again.

IIRC CPT is definitely better for lux hotels, and the new one & only is scheduled to open in may.

parallel thread in lux hotels >
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=892724

Take it from a local (I am from cape town), JHB has a few thing to do and see but nothing supper remarkable. so NO its not a mistake. from what I could gather you only have 10 days so I would skip JHB. In fact I would start in Cape Town, spend at least 6 days there, from there fly up to JHB and take a air charter to Nelspruit (if cost is not an issue) hire a car and head to Kruger. Just a bit of advice on Kruger, although it has plenty of wildlife, it can be very very difficult to see them due to the size of the reserve. A much more intimate experience can be obtained in the addo elephant park not all that far from PE (Port Elizabeth). If you can provide me with a few more details about your interests and what type of things you like to do I will be happy to provide you with some pointers.

Agree. You can probably do the key highlights -- Soweto and Apartheid museum in 1 day.
Don't really agree. We did 2 nights in Kruger, which included four 3-hour game drives (two morning, two evening). We saw everything we needed to see. I probably would have been okay with one more day, but I don't think it's really that necessary. It's super-expensive!

We stayed at the Thornybush main lodge, in one of their two upgraded villas with private plunge pool. It was amazing and hard to imagine how much better the more well-known lodges could have been. Food and service was superb. Airstrip adjacent to camp, so you can fly in straight from JNB. One thing I heard about a more well-known lodge (Mala Mala) was that the guests were typically very snobby; something to consider.

Royal Malewane is a bit of a charade. They want their guests to believe that Thornybush is part of the greater Kruger National Park. In reality, Thornybush is fenced on all sides. Since they try to keep this a secret, they have a "geen draad" policy, i.e. guests are not supposed to see the fence on game drives. On the Thornybush safari radio channels you can frequently hear RM vehicles asking whether "the draad" can be seen at reported sightings. Surprisingly often it can (fences make convenient territorial boundaries and the roads along them make for easy walking), which means that RM guests sometimes miss out on sightings that other who have paid only a fraction of the price get to enjoy.

For those who go to a game reserve to see the wildlife (why else go?), I would recommend any number of other lodges in Thornybush (or elsewhere, for that matter) over Royal Malewane.

For those who come for the luxury and only want the Big Five lined up in the shortest possible time, Royal Malewane is a good choice. On the other hand, why not stay at a top hotel in Johannesburg and visit the zoo? They have the Big Five, and polar bears to boot.

Johan

If you want an unsurpassed experience, this is what I would suggest. Fly in to Johannesburg and stay in one of the hotels in Sandton overnight. Spend one day in Johannesburg if the previous suggestions is of interest to you. Take a return fly in trip to Thanda Game Reserve in northern Kwazula Natal voted the best game lodge in Africa for 2 consecutive years. Suggest you stay in one of the villas for 2 nights. It is amazing and at that time of the year this will offer you the best climate and will still be lush. Thanda's rangers are superb and will find you what you want to see. I love Cape Town but it is a massive risk to go their in June. You most probably will end up being forced to stay indoors being terrorided by howling winds and rain. It can end up being pretty miserable. Cape Town is fantastic from Oct through to March. Suggest you look at the Garden Route in stead for that time of year. Fly down to one of the 3 airports in the region, rent a car and do a Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Natures Valley, Storms River mouth tour. It is the most beautiful part of the country. A must to stay in on this trip is Tsala Tree top lodge close to Plettenberg Bay.