After pouring over Lonely Planet’s Southern Africa, I decided to hit in the Internet and start to learn more about the beautiful country we were about to visit, and what I thought I’d get the most of with our quick 10 day trip.
From all my notes, especially the starred ones on incredible looking stops, drives, experiences, and more, I decided to make a must do list, and see how I could fit it all in:
- Safari
- Shark Diving
- Whale Watching
- Penguins
- Cape Town
- Neighbourgoods Market Only on Saturdays from 9-2
- Table Mountain
- Muizenberg
- Vineyards
While this list may not seem too daunting, what you must understand is that despite 10 travel days, we’d only be in South Africa for 8. It is also important to note that the distance between Kruger National Park and Cape Town is roughly 1800km!
However, this type of challenge is my bread and butter, it sparks something inside me that is more addictive and satisfying than I’m sure any drug could be, and I could not be more thrilled to plan every aspect of yet another bucket list trip! Yes you heard it right, I did not use a travel agency for any part of my trip, nor do I usually. I’m a bit of a control freak, and really like to be in charge of my own destiny (or at least feel like I am), so am not too comfortable with the idea of leaving my very previous time in someone else’s hands. No disrespect to travel agents or those who use them, it’s just not my thing.
The added challenge to accomplishing my must do list is how we would get between destinations safely, quickly, and reasonably. Of course the quickest method in most cases would be flying, however this can be limited by availability, schedules, and cost. Additionally, sometimes the quickest method is not the most scenic, and I didn’t want to sacrifice the opportunity to see some of the beautiful countryside just to get there faster, you know the old saying, it’s not just about the destination, but the journey. I should also add that neither Payam nor I had any inclination on driving across the country to get from place to place. While we will both admit that it would be an incredible way to see many different parts of a country and would certainly make for share-worthy stories after the fact, it also brings a certain element of risk and stress that neither of us could see fitting into our 8-day dream trip. (Remember, I mentioned, we don’t “rough it”, we purposely plan to make the most of our trip and how it suits us- we plan with unplans in mind!).
I also added to my geographical challenge by deciding that we would be skipping out on Cape Town to do our shark diving and whale watching- I wanted to see Cape Town for the amazingly beautiful urban center that it is, and use sharks and whales as an excuse to see the Southern Cape (remember my original “to do” of spending time on/near water).
If you’re keeping track this now means that in 10 days we’d be flying from Toronto to Johannesburg (2.5 days) to Kruger, from Kruger to Cape Town, from Cape Town to Gansbaai, back to Cape Town and then to Toronto. In case you’re wondering, yes we did plan to stop and smell the flowers along the way too!
(More details to come on how/why I chose the various lodges, transportation services, and excursions in the daily diary posts.)
Since Kapama River Lodge (in Kruger Park) is conveniently located virtually across the street from the Hoedspruit (in case you’re curious it’s pronounced ‘hood-sprite’, hope this saves you the embarrassment I put myself through trying to pronounce it to many confused South Africans!) airport, I wanted to try to coordinate a flight from Johannesburg there (about an hour) versus taking some type of land transport (4-5 hours, with the possibility of major carsickness for me!). This proved to be an added challenge however considering the only airline to fly JNB-HDS is South African Airlines, and they only have two flights every day.
After coordinating with various airlines, flight times, and private transfers, here’s what our initial itinerary looked like:
Yes it is handwritten, and yes I did take this, amongst many other paper documents, with me wherever we went
I realize that it may be too hard to read, so here’s a daily breakdown:
July 4
Depart Toronto (YYZ) @ 11:15pm for London (LHR) on British Airways
July 5
Arrive LHR @ 11:05am
Depart LHR @ 7:10pm for Johannesburg (JNB) on British Airways
July 6
Arrive JNB @ 7:10am
Depart JNB @ 12:15pm for Hoedspruit (HDS) on South African Airways
Arrive HDS @ 1:20 pm
Transfer to Kapama River Lodge
Make it in time for departure on the afternoon game drive- FIRST SAFARI!!
July 7
2 Daily Game Drives
11:00am Couples Massages at the Kapama Wellness Centre– Happy 8 Year Anniversary to us!
July 8
2 Daily Game Drives
Optional excursions at Kapama
July 9
Morning Game Drive
Check-Out of Kapama
Depart HDS @ 12:00pm to JNB on South African Airways
Arrive JNB 1:00 pm
Depart JNB @ 3:50pm to Cape Town (CPT) on South African Airways
Arrive CPT @ 6:00pm
Private Transfer with Bernardus Tours to Grootbos Lodge
Dinner at Grootbos on Arrival
July 10
Morning: Shark Cage Diving-DIVING WITH FREAKING SHARKS!!!
Horse Back Riding on Grootbos Reserve
Dinner in the Private Wine Cellar at Grootbos Lodge
July 11
Morning: Marine Big 5 trip- WHALES!
Check out of Grootbos
Private Transfer with Bernardus Tours to Cape Town
Stop in Stony Point to see the African Penguins- PENGUINS!!
Arrive at Blackheath Lodge Cape Town
V&A Waterfront tonight?
July 12
Hop on/off bus around Cape Town
Neighbourgoods Market (9am-2pm)
Table Mountain
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens- Make sure to do the Canopy Walkway
Long St or V&A Waterfront
July 13
Rent (“hire”) Mini Cooper from Blackheath Lodge for the day
Morning: Mount Nelson Hotel High Tea
Surf Lessons at 11:00 with Gary’s Surf School in Muizenberg
Head out to Wine Country
Return Mini Cooper to Blackheath Lodge and take city taxi to airport
Depart CPT @ 9:25pm to LHR on British Airways
July 14
Arrive LHR @ 8:30am
Depart LHR @ 2:45pm for YYZ
Arrive YYZ @ 5:25pm
Pick up Isla and prepare for lots of cuddles!
Spoiler Alert: As I’m sure you can imagine, though this seems like a seamless plan, many things were changed/adjusted along the way based on how we were feeling, the weather, and how we thought we could make the most of our trip- each day will be updated in the daily diaries.
Next up: My daily diary from South Africa!
myunplannedplan.wordpress.com 
One thought on “My 10-Day South Africa Itinerary- July 2014”