My wife and I are planning a trip to South Africa and can go in either March or April. Does anyone know if one month or the other is best to view wildlife and visit the vineyards? We'll be goin
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Cat:Middle East and AfricaForum:0EE6B362
Cat:Middle East and AfricaForum:0EE6B362Discussion:50a29c0f-22cb-428b-b0a5-fcceba76eebe
My wife and I are planning a trip to South Africa and can go in either March or April. Does anyone know if one month or the other is best to view wildlife and visit the vineyards?
We'll be going to Cape Town and Johannesburg and then on to Victoria Falls. Since it will be fall I suppose March would have the grape harvest going on in the vineyards.
How long will you be in SA? The best month is March with out a doubt. I am from Cape Town, feel free to ask for tips :).
Cape Town is devenatly the best place to visit. Also where do you want to see wildlife? Remember, the Kruger is a full day drive from JHB and game viewing is not always that good as there is no fences.
March is usually good for Cape Town - dry and warm, though it can still be raining in the Kruger area. It depends how you do Kruger to whether the game viewing is good or not - the private reserves have excellent trackers and guides who will find you the animals - if you are driving yourself around, you might struggle, but I am sure still see plenty of game. Kruger is a far better experience than the small parks in the Cape where all the animals have been re introduced and have a fence around the property - if you are only after some nice pics fine, but if you want to experience being in the true African bush then you can't beat Kruger. That said, Botswana provides the best southern Africa safari experiences.
I tend to disagree a bit about the kruger, It is a great place to visit and I have been there myself a dozen times, but the sheer size of the reserve counts somewhat against it. My best experiences have been at Addo Elephant Par, mush more intimate. But if you have the time to drive tthere Kruger will not dissapoint.
Are you taking the SA Airways package tour? It sounds like it. We took it in October. Late March or early April is a good time. It is at the end of their winter season and starting into spring. This was our second time to SA and we enjoyed it just as well as the first. If you are taking the package we have lots of tips for you, like be sure you stay at the Twelve Apostles Spa Hotel in Cape town and the Jackleberry Lodge in Thornybush in Krueger. If you want to see animals in the pure wild go to Kenya. The preserves in Krueger offer a different view that is up scale. Email us at equity25@aol.com for all the details and things you should know and go. John
If this is a tour on your own I would skip Kruger and go to Botswana,short flight from Capetown. In Kruger unless you book far ahead with a ranger led walking three dya trip you will find animals mostly by other drivers stopped. Must stay on the roads.We spent a week at Mabula Private Game reserve and really liked the horseback trips into the bush but the animals there were segregated so the lions could not eat the expensive animals. We saw quite a bit of game in Zambia and liked the river canoe trip thru the hippos. Have fun South Africa is great We went January - March a few years ago for 10 weeks and loved it.Scenery spectacular,wine and food great ,and people friendly.
I agree that the best time to visit is August. I was in Botswana for three weeks and temperatures were perfect. Only two days did it reach ninety degrees and the nights had temperatures in the 50's. Perfect for sleeping. Stay away from Kruger if you want to participate in the true African experience. It is a game preserve yes, you will see animals yes. However, you will be in the company of many, many others in safari type vehicles looking for animals. My trip to Botswana, Africa. was absolutely wonderful! The trip far exceeded my expectations.I went as a single traveler and met up with four couples from Europe once I arrived in Johannesburg.We flew by private single engine aircraft to Botswana where we spent almost three weeks in the wild.Did not see another person other than our guide and camp support staff during that time.We stayed at three different locations while there and all were very, very comfortable sites.Our accommodations were canvas tents placed over a wooden frame; each tent had three separate “rooms”…bedroom, toilet and shower with solar hot water and electricity.Therefore, even though we were out in the wild we had many of the comforts of home.The food was excellent; we woke up early, 5:30 a.m. to go on game drives each day, having coffee, tea and breakfast by the campfire.We were on the game drives from six a.m. to eleven and then returned to camp for a great brunch and time to write, read and relax.Some camps even had whirlpools to cool off in. In the afternoon we went out on game drives at four PM until about eight PM then returned for a wonderful dinner with plenty of wine to go around.Every morning when I woke up I would go outside and see lion tracks all around my tent, as did the other eight people on the trip.Once the guides escorted us to our tents at night, due to saftey reasons,we were not permitted to leave them until sunrise.I took over 3,000 pictures. We saw all the major animals, you name it and we saw them.Hundreds of elephants, many lions, leopards, giraffes, etc…hundreds of different species of birds. All in all a wonderful trip.I have already put a down payment on my next trip: .a three week hiking trek in the Andes mountains of Peru next June.I went with this group: http://www.ecoafrica.com/african/safaris/WildernessSafaris/12dayTheGreatWildernessJourney.html
I reseached and talked to many "experts" but we decided on mid Sept for our trip. Maybe the scenery wasn't as green and lush, but NO bugs was a big plus for me and the animals were much easier to see. We did a private reserve adjoining Kruger (Thornybush) and could not have been happier. Accomodations, food, guides could not have been better. It was pretty upscale, but since it was a once in a lifetime, we decided to go for it. Also stayed 3 nights in wine country near Capetown and spring was lovely. Took a week selfdrive on the garden route and the flowers, sealife, etc were just what we had hoped. If you are interested, send me your email and I will send you our photobook on Shutterfly.com and you can judge for yourself! We used SA Adventures out of Atlanta, GA for our tour company and were thrilled with their service from beginning to end. Price was MUCH better than if we had booked on our own.
Mabula Game Reserve is in our timeshare community and I am considering visiting. We went to Zambia and the Chobe area last year and fell in love with Africa, but can't afford to spend that much money this time. Would you tell me more about your game ride/drive experiences at Mabula. Also, did you go to any other nearby game parks? Thanks for any info you can pass along!
My wife and I made our first trip to Africa this past April '08 through six countries...South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozombique, Zambia, Botswana and Swasiland. We took the prescribed medical precautions, i.e. malaria pills as suggested and never ran into any mosquitos during the whole time. Our travels took us through big cities and on safari's exposing us to different types of environments. Do not hesitate to email me with your questions. Ron
Hi Ron, We were in Zambia, Swaziland and South Africa this July and did not see any mosquitos, ticks, etc. We were told that it was an unseasonably warm winter to that point. Victoria Falls was still glorious thanks to high rainfall earlier in the year. We saw many animals on trips to Kruger National Park and various game reserves, and even spotted whales on the eastern Cape. It's always best to be prepared with shots, visas, etc before you go.
You have received the usual plethora of insightful, helpful information that is the norm for the Frommer's community. However it would seem that some of the information has veered away from the simple, direct questions you have asked. If it's just a case of choosing between March or April, then I hope the following will assist you with your planning:
Wildlife viewing: April is generally better than March in the north and east of South Africa (i.e. Greater Kruger and Kwa-Zulu Natal) but only because there is generally less rain & humidity...but be sure that you will probably still encounter some of this weather even in April. TC is correct in saying that the foliage will be quite dense during March or April due to the preceding rains. Birdwatchers enjoy this time of the year, but those looking for the bigger wildlife generally come in the dry months from May-September. Richard Steiner makes a good suggestion in that you may wish to book a ranger-led game walk to increase your chances of a close-up wildlife encounter. SoZa! also makes a good suggestion that perhaps Addo Elephant N.P. may be a better option, as the weather in this park will be more temperate during March and April due to its location in the southern half of South Africa. Cape Town: March and April are both fantastic months in Cape Town, as the weather is generally still warm to hot and the persistent summer sou-easter wind has usually died down (a little, at least!). Having said that, the Cape area can experience four seasons in one day at any time of the year. You're correct in presuming that much of the Cape Winelands harvesting is done during March. Rather than the weather, I think the main point to consider is the school holidays, see below. Victoria Falls: As a summer rainfall area, the Falls can be pretty humid during March and April. I would consider April the better month only because the rainfall should have subsided somewhat, though the Zambezi should be in glorious flood in either month. With regards to wildlife viewing , the situation is generally the same as for the Greater Kruger area, as mentioned above.
The 2012 Easter school holidays occur from 24 March to 9 April within the Cape regions (including the Cape Winelands and Addo Elephant N.P.) and Kwa-Zulu Natal, and from 31 March to 9 April in the inland provinces (including the greater Kruger area). During this time accommodations can be pricey and booked out.
If your plan is to go to zambia afterwards then March is a great time. The longer you wait the closer you get to the rainy season and miserable weather is not good for any trip.
I reseached and talked to many "experts" but we decided on mid Sept for our trip. Maybe the scenery wasn't as green and lush, but NO bugs was a big plus for me and the animals were much easier to see. We did a private reserve adjoining Kruger (Thornybush) and could not have been happier. Accomodations, food, guides could not have been better. It was pretty upscale, but since it was a once in a lifetime, we decided to go for it. Also stayed 3 nights in wine country near Capetown and spring was lovely. Took a week selfdrive on the garden route and the flowers, sealife, etc were just what we had hoped. If you are interested, send me your email and I will send you our photobook on Shutterfly.com and you can judge for yourself! We used Players Club Tours out of Tampa, FL www.PlayersClubTours.com for our tour company and were thrilled with their service from beginning to end.
