trip to south africa

[weatherman]

Hello everybody!
I'm thinking about doing a trip to South Africa (10 to 14 days) next january. Has anybody been there? Maybe somebody here is from South Africa? What do you suggest visiting? How expensive is life over there? Can you recommend me any cheap flights from the E.U.?
tnx

[RAV TUX]

Hello everybody!
I'm thinking about doing a trip to South Africa (10 to 14 days) next january. Has anybody been there? Maybe somebody here is from South Africa? What do you suggest visiting? How expensive is life over there? Can you recommend me any cheap flights from the E.U.?
tnx

They have the only beach in the world with penguins....not sure of the name,....Linux Beach?

[K.Mandla]

See if you can contact mips (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=8017) or Biltong (Dee) (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=89915). Dee is from Cape Town; mips is in Durban, on the east coast of the country.

My suggestions would be to visit the Garden Route, Kgalagadi Transfrontier (although it will be ungodly hot in January), and Cape Town. Don't miss Robben Island or the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg/Pretoria.

[Obor]

Where to start... I lived in Johannesburg for 5 years but everyone I take to SA loves Cape Town the most (Table Mountain, Cape Point, Boulders Beach with Cape Pinguins, Cliffton beach with hot chicks, Waterfront with good steaks, Botanical garden for a nice picnic, Wine route for wine tasting ....)

Another must do is a visit to one of many nature reserves.

If you like bit of adrenalin try the highest bunjee in the world (http://www.faceadrenalin.com/). Its kind of on a way from the Garden route toward Cape Town.

When I went there last year the cheapest flights were with Air France.

[mips]

They have the only beach in the world with penguins....not sure of the name,....Linux Beach?

That would be at Boulder's Beach, Simon's Town, Cape Town. Remarkable little buggers. Some actually venture into the residential areas and take a dip in peoples pools. Not to weird seeing them walk on the pavement or cross the road. Actually comical :biggrin:

[RAV TUX]

That would be at Boulder's Beach, Simon's Town, Cape Town. Remarkable little buggers. Some actually venture into the residential areas and take a dip in peoples pools. Not to weird seeing them walk on the pavement or cross the road. Actually comical :biggrin:

ahhh Yes....thanks for the 411....are these little guys noisey?

I found this article about them:

http://www.sunsetbeach.co.za/penguins.htm

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8967/penguinscmmdh6.jpg


Jack-*** Penguins.
Boulder's Beach. Simon's Town.



Photograph and text from: F.J. Hinds - www.cmm.co.za (http://www.cmm.co.za/)






Jack-*** Penguins. Boulder's Beach. Simon's Town. (Notice the excellent shape of the wave in the background of the photograph above.). Penguins are also seen in Kommetjie, occasionally at Cape Point and on Robben Island. African (Jackass) Penguins (Sphensicus demersus) are so called for the donkey-like braying sounds they make when on land. There are only 16 penguin species worldwide. Jackass Penguins are endemic to mainly offshore islands and only three mainland sites on South Africa’s coast, Simon’s Town is one of the total of 28 world sites where they occur. The colony, started by the penguins themselves at Boulders Beach, is unique in that they have voluntarily inhabited suburbia and a public bathing space. Despite a traumatic history of dog and cat attacks, egg poaching and vicious landowners, they have increased from a few individuals to a colony of over 1000 penguins. This is in large part due to the diligence of Mr. van der Merwe (Van, the Penguin Man), a retired naval officer who is single-minded in his care taking and protection.
Jackass Penguins are birds that are almost totally adapted to life at sea and can spend long periods without landing. They feed on oil-rich pilchards, but have to feed on other fish and squid due to competition from commercial fisheries and increased seal populations. At sea they "fly" through the water with specially modified wings, and can attain speeds of 2.5km/hr to over 7 km/hr. Unlike whales and seals, penguins do not have blubber to insulate them against the cold, but they have a layer of air trapped beneath their feathers which gets severely damaged when coming into contact with an oil spill. Their nests are shallow hollows in soil or stones where usually two eggs are laid. Males and females share breeding and feeding duties by regurgitating fish.
Agile as they are in the sea, so are they clumsy on land, making them vulnerable to exploitation by humans and predators. Early sailors and settlers harvested penguins to the extent that from several million in the late 1800’s there are now only some 100 000 remaining. Although fully protected by law, the Jackass Penguins still face numerous threats. Chief among these are oil spills from ocean-going ships which means certain death to thousands, if oil is washed into the feeding or breeding areas.


Fortunately, the Southern African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) was formed 20 years ago to help rescue penguins from oil spills and other disasters. 10 000 penguins were individually caught and treated successfully in just one oil spill incident.
SANCCOB operates a rescue and rehabilitation center for injured seabirds near Tableview. It is funded solely by membership fees and public donations, and has been scientifically proved to be the most successful sea bird rehabilitation center in the world.
Picture and Text from http://www.ccm.co.za (http://www.cmm.co.za/) . This site is definitely worth visiting if you are planning a trip to Cape Town.

[mips]

Hello everybody!
I'm thinking about doing a trip to South Africa (10 to 14 days) next january. Has anybody been there? Maybe somebody here is from South Africa? What do you suggest visiting? How expensive is life over there? Can you recommend me any cheap flights from the E.U.?
tnx

What interests you ? Lot's of foreigners seem to like CT a lot, more so than the rest of the country I would say. There is lots to see in and around CT. Then venture up the Garden Route to see places like Knysna/George/Wildernis. In KZN there is places like the Drakensberg, St. Lucia wetlands & game parks to vist. If you go a bit further north you get places like the kruger park, sabie etc. I personally don't see much attraction inland although the desert is nice and there are other things of interest, just not for me.

Also lots of extreame sports available if you are into that kinda thing.

All depends on what you like, 14days is a bit short to see the whole country.

I would say SA is cheap for foreigners. 1Euro will buy you 9.15Rands which is about the price of a beer. You could have a nice supper for 6euros, a take away burger for 2euros. Acommodation could be had from like 12euro to 50euro per night, it all depends on what you want. It all depends on your required living standards.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

http://www.environment.gov.za/
http://www.southafrica.net/
http://www.safarinow.com/
http://www.southafrica.info/plan_trip/holiday/
http://www.sa-venues.com/tourist_and_visitor_information_.htm

[Biltong (Dee)]

The Cape Town Waterfront is a must,the top of Table Mountain too, but note that it can be windy in January so phone the Cableway first before venturing up to the base of the mountain and finding out the cable cars aren't running.

Don't forget the Wine Route!!
Hire a car, find a designated driver and head out into the areas surrounding Cape Town. Google "Cape Town Wine Route".
THIS IS A MUST DO THING!

Regarding cheap flights - my Gran used to live in England and she always used Turkish Airways.

[mips]

....are these little guys noisey?


Depends on your definition of noisy. I personally don't find them noisy but then again I don't live among them.

lol, the forum software censored the name of the penguins, Jack-A$$ penguins.

[Biltong (Dee)]

Mips - they are noisy, and pests who really like cheese sandwiches...
You cannot leave Cape Town without being mugged by a penguin! I think it's a local law or something. :-)

[mips]

Mips - they are noisy, and pests who really like cheese sandwiches...
You cannot leave Cape Town without being mugged by a penguin! I think it's a local law or something. :-)

lol, I saw them years ago. Still find the sound of hadidas and sonbesies the most annoying out there. A trip to kruger in dec/jan a few yrs ago nearly drove me nuts.

[weatherman]

great, thanks a lot for all the answers. Since I don't have so much time I guess I'd like to visit:
- Johannesburg (is it a nice city? I'd like to go to the Apartheid museum, what else should I visit? how many days would you spend here?)
- Cape Town + Robben Island (what's the best and cheaper way to get here from Johannesburg? I'd like to go either by train or plane)
- one national park (which one do you recommend? maybe kruger or the transnational one?)

do you think that's doable in (worst option) ten days? Or would it make more sense to do
cape town, garden route and one national park?

I'm sure my girlfriend would love the garden route, also the bunjee jumping sounds fun but it seems to be a little far away from cape town. sorry Biltong but I'm not so much into wine :) . As far as accomodations my girlfriend and I are poor students, so we'll probably go with youth hostels, are they nice in SA? Are they usually very crowded in january?

[Biltong (Dee)]

Jo'Burg is large and very spread out, and quite frankly I can't give you much advice.

In my opinion, for a backpacker the best thing to do is start in Cape Town and head along the N2 (the main road along the Garden Route). There are Bed & Breakfast places all over the place, or you can pitch your tent like a lot of people do.

I do this trip this every year, and am off on my annual two week holiday next Friday again - yippee! I take a Luxury Bus (Intercape or Translux - Greyhound doesn't go up the Garden Route) and it costs R330 Cape Town to the city of George and back to Cape Town again. Divide this by 9 and you get the Euro.

Just after George you get the Wilderness National Park, but this is a park dedicated to the preservation of plant life, so if you are after African animals you may be disappointed. I love it, and consider the combination of rolling hills and southern ocean to be some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world, but you may not.

Oh yes, regarding the Robben Island trip - that's so easy. Take the Waterfront bus (one leaves every five minutes from in front of the railway station). Once in the Waterfront simply buy a ticket. :-)

Or click here: http://www.robben-island.org.za/

Of course, actually remembering to get on the boat may be a task - the Waterfront is a shopping mall deluxe...

[sam4k]

They have the only beach in the world with penguins....not sure of the name,....Linux Beach?

I know this thread is about SA, but there is a beach near Dunedin in New Zealand that also has penguins on a beach. (They also have a very cool trench system so you can get up close and on eye-level with the little critters.)

[Obor]

do you think that's doable in (worst option) ten days? Or would it make more sense to do
cape town, garden route and one national park?

If you have only 10 days I wouldn't waste time in Johannesburg, I mean I love Joburg but its not exactly a tourist destination.

If you do go there it might be worth visiting Pilanesberg national park (http://www.tourismnorthwest.co.za/pilanesberg/)(next to Sun City) about 2 hour drive from Joburg and you can see pretty much everything in 1-2 days as its not very large. Last time I went there we stayed in one of the "safari" tents which my wife rather enjoyed (except for a baboon stealing all our food from the tent :roll: )

The best way to get from JHB to CT would be to fly (http://ww2.flysaa.com/saa_home.html) otherwise you'll kill whole day travelling.

I think Cape Town, Garden Route and 1 Park would be a really nice holiday. I don't know any parks with animals around there though.

[mips]

I would also say skip Johannesburg, just a big city, not much to see.