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Looking to book to Johannesburg using Avios and 2 BAPP vouchers for 3 people including teenager next August. Any recommendations on where to stay (Diamond IHG member and Gold Radisson and Hilton)? Also any recommendations for route to do safari and cape town returning to Jo’burg for flight home. Would also prefer not to hire a car.
I can recommend the Voco Rosebank in Jo’burg if you have Diamond status. It’s a safe spot with good security, has a gym on 3 levels (but no pool) and very good dining options. And you have the Rosebank Mall adjacent.
It’s a relatively short hop to fly to one of the airports close to Kruger National Park where you will find the best game reserves (esp in Sabi Sands). Airlink provides an excellent domestic service.
@Mandy Don’t have any hotel recommendations as I usually stay with friends. But just to forewarn you that unless you have BAPPs in separate names you cannot use 2 companion vouchers to book for 3 passengers. Rob did an article about this a few days ago.
Hi, there are various threads in the “destination advice” forum discussing South Africa. I had indeed set up one or two myself. I wrote a mini trip report in December 2023 which possibly could be some use to you.
You didn’t mention exactly where you would like to do the Safari. It is a slight minefield but if you can at all be persuaded to drive, I personally would recommend taking the short flight from JNB into Skukuza Airport, and there you are right in the middle of the bush. You can collect your bags off the plane, collect the car and drive leisurely (much more safer than driving on the M1 or M25)to your rest camp at your own pace. Apart from the rest camps, there are more glamorous places to stay that it is not exactly in the park, but I personally prefer the rest camp experience.
For Johannesburg we stayed at the Voco Rosebank. The bar area and restaurant was the highlight. An extremely vibrant atmosphere.
You will get some fantastic advice on South Africa, and although I completely understand you not wanting to drive in South Africa, I would certainly urge you to consider at the very least, hiring a car into the national park itself. The feeling when we woke up at 4am, went for a drive and stumbled on lions in the road will live with me forever.
Thanks all. @AJA, we do have 2 vouchers in separate names – just patiently waiting for some membership rewards to transfer and hope the flights are still there.
@yorkshireRich, I did read your review and it sounds great. Will consider a car for the park. Sounds like Voco it is for Jo’burg. How many nights would you recommend there?
Any thoughts on also seeing Durban/Cape Town?
Definitely need to do a lot of research and get into planning mode.I did a 3 week trip to SA last year. Depends on what you want from SA really. We flew into CPT and spent a few days there. Climbed Table Mountain, went to Cape Point/Boulders beach. Winter is a bit more noticeable in CPT so it can impact climbing Table Mountain or getting the ferry out to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela spent a lot of time imprisoned). August is also good whale watching time at Hermanus a bit south of Cape Town but you’d need to allow a couple days. Some people might drive the Garden Route to somewhere like Port Elizabeth or Durban. We flew to KMIA airport which is just outside Kruger, picked up a hire car and then spent time self-driving inside KNP. You could fly directly into the park at Skukuza but without a hire car (which you can pick up there) you’re limited to Game Drives organised by SanParks. Self-drive inside KNP is worth it. It is a special experience. We also did a few days in Greater Kruger (Timbavati) at a private lodge. You don’t need a car there as they organise the game drives but that also costs the big bucks. We didn’t spend any time in Joburg.
But, ultimately, depends on what you want from such a trip.
Also, unless you particularly want to do it, you don’t need to go back to JNB to fly home. You could fly out to JNB and back from Cape Town, all within the same 241 booking.
Having done it both ways, I would also recommend flying into the park. You can also fly direct from the park to Cape Town.
Fairlawns is a nice low-key place to stay. A car is essential, get a big fortuna and you’ll be safer if in an accident. There is ,more to do in Joburg than you may imagine. Apartheid museum, Soweto bike tour and Cradle on Humankind are well worth a visit.
The restaurant scene in Joburg is better than anywhere else in SA. Golf is great too if you’re into that.
Thanks to HfP and all the tips, we’re off on our first trip to South Africa next weekend with a 2-4-1. We are overnighting in Johannesburg before flying to Cape Town the next day and have booked a room at the IC. There are still rooms available at the Voco at half the price we’re paying for the IC. Would we be better cancelling, or as it’s just one night between flights, are we better sticking with the IC? How easy is it to get to/from airport to Voco?
@Mandy. We were concerned about driving but have decided to drive the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth and then flying to Kruger via JNB,followed by a few days at Victoria Falls. We’re going for a month and still found it difficult to fit everything in! Will post anything you might find useful as a first timer, but others have a wealth of knowledge that we don’t!We have done a couple of safari trips from JNB – to Madikwe and Pilanesburg. For both trips we used Biggest Leaf Travel who organise the transfers too. Not cheap but for us it was worth it.
Thanks to HfP and all the tips, we’re off on our first trip to South Africa next weekend with a 2-4-1. We are overnighting in Johannesburg before flying to Cape Town the next day and have booked a room at the IC. There are still rooms available at the Voco at half the price we’re paying for the IC. Would we be better cancelling, or as it’s just one night between flights, are we better sticking with the IC? How easy is it to get to/from airport to Voco?
@Mandy. We were concerned about driving but have decided to drive the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth and then flying to Kruger via JNB,followed by a few days at Victoria Falls. We’re going for a month and still found it difficult to fit everything in! Will post anything you might find useful as a first timer, but others have a wealth of knowledge that we don’t!I assume you are landing in the morning from the UK. We took the Airport train to Rosebank. Think the hotel actually can organise picking your bags up at the station and sending a buggy to you but we were happy with the 2 minute walk round the to the hotel.
We actually got a taxi back to the airport from the hotel, which was easy. We only stayed there one night but did a full Johannesburg day today tour. I think from memory they do afternoon tours so you can see something that Johannesburg as to offer.
Rosebank is a vibrant area with restaurants, bars, and is completely safe.Just to finalise, we were going to stay at IC on points and quite liked the idea of chilling by the pool etc. However I like to explore and see just a little of what a city as to offer. Glad I chose the voco, even though I have no doubt the IC is a tad more luxurious.
Thanks for the info @yorkshireRich. We’re on BA57, the later of the 2 flights. Is the Airtrain journey easy and safe? Will be 2 females travelling as we were unable to get 241 flights to Cape Town unlike the 2 males in the group who are travelling for a shorter time. Yep. I know. Bad planning! But thankful we all managed to use 241s.
The Airtrain is perfectly safe (unlike most of Johannesburg). We did the Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus Tour but were advised not to get off the bus at most stations as it would be unsafe without a guide.
The Garden Route is amazing, but some parts are not much different than Europe. We enjoyed the northern Wine Route 62 the last time, which is much more interesting. Are you planning to go to Nature’s Valley and Tsitsikamma?
Just bear in mind that a reputable car and driver is far from expensive.
We did a safari in Plianesberg in April and the lodge arranged a driver for us. It was a 2.5-3hr journey in each direction and the cost was £250 round trip. And that was probably toppy because we had the hotel sort it. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to drive over there – remember that the rolling power outages hit critical infrastructure like traffic lights, street lights etc, the sort of thing where understanding local driving conventions could make all the difference between a crash and avoiding one.
Talking to other guests in the lodge, some had come down from safaris in Botswana but I can’t remember exactly where they had been. Given the sheer size of South Africa, I wonder if heading north then flying down to CPT might be worthy of consideration?
So MR points transferred within a day and so I booked 3 Club World tickets using 2 vouchers in separate accounts to and from Johannesburg as there was no availability to/from Cape Town on the day that we wanted. Will keep an eye on whether any come up between now and then and if so I can pay the amendment fee. I’m thinking stay at Voco and then fly from Jo’burg to Kruger and hire a car there and then fly to Cape Town. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions and look forward to hearing others trip reviews.
Hi Mandy, I know you said you had read what I wrote so I won’t bore you (too much) and repeat myself. However I always critique my plans and when I arrive back in Blighty, evaluate and see what I would do differently, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t change the way I travelled around. For example, Arriving at Johannesburg from the Uk, and then using the lounge to get a shower and have some nice food before taking the superb internal flight on Airlink to Skukuza was easy. The main highlight being no jet lag.
As you are flying out of Johannesburg (I presume your flight is quite late back to the UK)? You could do what I did and take the internal flight from Cape Town the day before you fly back to the Uk. This means you can do a full day tour of Johannesburg on the day you are departing. I personally always prefer to chill in the city on the day of the long flight, to eliminate any issues with internal flights etc.
Lastly, I would definitely recommend Radisson Blu (booked before the devaluation). We loved our view on the balcony and breakfast was fantastic, but like most of the HFP community, I try and avoid Radisson now.
Just returned from our trip. We loved South Africa and will definitely return.
We cancelled the IC and stayed at the Voco. Thanks folks for the suggestion. The restaurant and bar area were great and we liked the vibe of Rosebank Mall. We took the airtrain there and back. Very efficient but 20 minutes between trains so a bit of a wait if you just miss one.
We had strong winds, storms and flooding along the Garden Route, so didn’t get to Nature’s Valley or Tsitsikamma. Robben Island boat cancelled for a day and a half, snow flurries at top of Table Mountain and rain, thunder and lightning at Victoria Falls. We stayed at Shamwari Private Game reserve just east of Port Elizabeth which was excellent and also 4 days in Kruger and hired a safari guide. Also visited Chobe, Botswana for game drive and river cruise, which didn’t really often any more than other game drives in SA.
From our experience, I am sure you will have an amazing time.
@LD27 glad you had a great time!
Where did you stay in Kruger and where did you hire guide from? We are still undecided where to stay in Kruger although am taking @YorshireRich tips and flying straight from Jo’burg to Skukuza. How many nights would you recommend in Kruger?Just returned from our trip. We loved South Africa and will definitely return.
We cancelled the IC and stayed at the Voco. Thanks folks for the suggestion. The restaurant and bar area were great and we liked the vibe of Rosebank Mall. We took the airtrain there and back. Very efficient but 20 minutes between trains so a bit of a wait if you just miss one.
We had strong winds, storms and flooding along the Garden Route, so didn’t get to Nature’s Valley or Tsitsikamma. Robben Island boat cancelled for a day and a half, snow flurries at top of Table Mountain and rain, thunder and lightning at Victoria Falls. We stayed at Shamwari Private Game reserve just east of Port Elizabeth which was excellent and also 4 days in Kruger and hired a safari guide. Also visited Chobe, Botswana for game drive and river cruise, which didn’t really often any more than other game drives in SA.
From our experience, I am sure you will have an amazing time.
Excellent, pleased that Shamwari was good as booked 3 days at Eagles Crag for later in the year.
Enter following search term into your favourite, decent search engine
site:www.headforpoints.com/forums KNP
KNP accommodation is basic and self-catering (although restaurants are present in some of the bigger rest camps) so may not be everyone’s idea of an ideal holiday destination.
But the experience has a charm and delivers a unique “back to the Bushveld” adventure, plus the opportunity to cook your evening meals over an open hardwood fire to the background soundtrack of the African Bush.
On my first visit, I would avoid being over ambitious, unless you’re convinced that it’s your bag. Maybe 3 – 6 nights max at two or three max rest camps, avoiding (for now) the more rustic (Spartan) Bush Camps in favour of established Rest Camps with restaurants. Latter include Skukuza (largest, most crowded, most commercialised), Lower Sabie (a favourite, highly recommended, best perimeter fence units get booked out very quickly as they are most popular), Pretoriuskop (underrated and consequently usually good availability, located near to entrance/exit gate so ideal for a first (or last) night stopover after (or just before) a fairly lengthy road trip).
All above are located in the Southern rump of the KNP, which is not a bad shout for an initial 3, 4 or 5 night visit.
Distances in the park are vast and best enjoyed unhurried (ave 25km/h speed) with plenty of time set aside for extended periods of game watching, or being prevented from going anywhere by a herd of elephants.
But if staying long enough to venture further into the interior of the park, then Satara is another firm favourite, as is Olifants, both featuring decent restaurants.
I would avoid booking the units that use a communal kitchen, if that’s all that’s available at any particular rest camp. Opt instead for a bungalow that has its own kitchen unit, but note that these usually only have a small microwave oven. Cooking is done on a “braai” or open wood (or charcoal) fire (a rite of passage for many a South African boy on his path to manhood).
Great wealth of information (including cool pdf maps showing detailed layout for each camp site) at http://www.sanparks.org plus similarly friendly, helpful community on the sanparks forums to the HfP community.
3 nights at a top rated rest camp like Satara or Lower Sabie is probably the sweet spot, otherwise minimum 2 nights in any one place to avoid pack-and-move fatigue, unless opting for a one night stop over in a close-to-the-gate rest camp like Pretoriuskop, Berg-en-Dal or Orpen for strategic road travelling purposes.
Another option is to stay at a hotel like Marriott Protea Kruger Gate hotel (or similar) that offers a fully serviced and catered stay just outside the park gates for the compromise of being a day visitor (and paying daily entrance fees) and having to leave the park daily by 17:30, 18:00 or 18:30 depending on the season.
Ask me any other specific questions with a follow up prompt if I miss it and don’t get back to you within a day or two.
Hope you have a magic Bushveld holiday and get well and truly bitten by the (metaphorical) bug that will take you back again and again.
The walking safaris (three nights) that are offered by SAN Parks are incredible – guide led so you aren’t travelling aimlessly around Kruger, accommodation (basic, as described above but more than adequate) and food included, makes a wonderful visit to Kruger to experience the real bushveld way. Definitely worth considering compared to DIY if you’ve not been before.
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