[cha1n]

Very likely heading here at the end of June, firstly regarding flights. Direct (return) comes in at £890 from LHR and flights with a brief stop in Johannesburg (so only adding 3 hours to direct flights) comes in at £600. Would anyone with some experience doing this like to comment on if it's worth saving £290 for non-direct? They are both overnight flights.

Any other general advice, especially regarding accommodation and hire cars is gladly welcomed.

[Duncan campbell]

I have no experience in flying to Africa but I'd Defo save £290 for an extra three hours of travel...

[cha1n]

Yeh, that's my gut feeling but just wanted to see if it makes it all a stressful faff, plus more potential for missing bags, etc. Many of the flights with changes were between 7 and 13 hours extra, so don't fancy those but +3 seems OK. I do quite like the idea of not having to change flights and I have to spend my bonus on something after all...

[monkey boy]

We have just booked our flights and got £490 return flying with Emirates. The flights are slightly longer but much cheaper and you get a good amount of luggage, 30kgs in multiple bags. If you are taking pads then this is definitely something to be aware of as most other airlines only allow 23kgs in one bag.

Accommodation wise it depends on budget. There is camping at De Pakhuys (around 30R a night), Caravans at Alpha Farms (around 150/200R a night), houses at Travellers Rest and Alpha Farms (around 200R a night).

Car hire, I normally use a firm called Penny K's as I prefer to support a local company rather than a multinational, however I know Philip hasn't done his rates for summer 17 yet. Search on rentalcars.com for easiest and probably just as cheap option.

[James Malloch]

We went with Emirates via Dubai which was fine (transfer wise) but one of our bags didn't make the changeover and arrived via courier a few days later. Though we've also had bags left on direct flights in the past...

The important lesson is to take climbing shoes in your hand luggage as there will always be pads you can borrow.

I'd personally go for the connection as the cost saving would pay for a lot of the things out there (car hire etc) and you could have a week in Spain with the £300 saved. However I am turning more towards the "convenience wins" thinking as I've started to earn more so I can totally understand!

It's ace out there though, whatever you do you'll enjoy it!

[Coops_13]

We have just booked our flights and got £490 return flying with Emirates.

What time of year are you going to get flights that cheap?

[cha1n]

Thanks for the tips people.

There are many flights starting from around £480 depending on how long you're willing to wait, the ones with emirates were nearly 20 hours total flying from heathrow (vs 12 hours direct). It comes down to 18 hours if you fly from Gatwick but that's a bit of a ballache from Bristol. I'll definitely check luggage conditions though as the two carriers I was looking at (BA and SAA) are both 23kg as you said.

Regarding accommodation, if xe.com is correct and camping is £3.60/d and something a bit nicer for £12/d then I'm personally happy to pay £12/d as that's still a bargain. I did my time living on bugger all in my van but happy to have a bit more comfort now I'm earning money again! Which is the best out of the ones you mentioned?

Someone else mentioned Penny K's as the place to go for rental cars, so I'll go with them. I wonder if they do camper vans, could be convenient.

[Reprobate_Rob]

The flights are slightly longer but much cheaper and you get a good amount of luggage, 30kgs in multiple bags. If you are taking pads then this is definitely something to be aware of as most other airlines only allow 23kgs in one bag.

What are people experiences with pads then? Looking at most carriers' guidance on luggage dimensions, I haven't found anywhere that wouldn't officially class a normal sized pad as over-sized luggage and charge a fortune.
Do they tend to ignore it?
It would be cheaper to buy new pads out there and then chuck them in a skip than to pay the oversize fees most airlines specify. BA don't charge, but then the flights themselves are £££'s more expensive in the first place.

[James Malloch]

The flights are slightly longer but much cheaper and you get a good amount of luggage, 30kgs in multiple bags. If you are taking pads then this is definitely something to be aware of as most other airlines only allow 23kgs in one bag.

What are people experiences with pads then? Looking at most carriers' guidance on luggage dimensions, I haven't found anywhere that wouldn't officially class a normal sized pad as over-sized luggage and charge a fortune.
Do they tend to ignore it?
It would be cheaper to buy new pads out there and then chuck them in a skip than to pay the oversize fees most airlines specify. BA don't charge, but then the flights themselves are £££'s more expensive in the first place.

When I went with Emirates we were allowed 2 hold items up to 30kg (or maybe 40kg?). I put a big duffle bag in a pad and secured all the pad straps. I also took another pad with a smaller pad in it for my second item of luggage. Then just took a big rucksack on as hand luggage with plenty of stuff in too.

Didn't have any problems restrictions wise doing it this way.

However on the way back my duffle bag was stolen. The things I'd put around the pad to make sure it was secure enough to hold the bag had been cut. Insurance eventually covered most of my items but next time I'd wrap it up in cling film as per the machines you see at airports.

[tomtom]

When we flew to Capetown 3 years back we had the option of SA or BA.. went with BA and had to spend 12 hours each way in a knackered old 747 with little room and some of the screens not working etc.. For me it would be a tough choice between 12 hours in a shit flight or 18 hours on a good flight (with a 2-3 hour break in the middle presumably..)...

The flight back was so cramped for me, I spent 8 hours or more of it standing or (after polite conversation) nabbing one of the flight crew fold down chairs... it got a bit entertaining when after 3 hours someone was found sleeping in the cabin beds (through a little normally locked door right at the back of the 747) which required the captain coming back and dishing out some discipline. A couple of hours later there was (unrelated) a bit of fisticuffs between two passengers surrounding seat reclining / lack of room etc.. happy days eh...

[peewee]

Past 2 time and the flights for this July we've been with South African Airlines, £630 return this time from Heathrow with a stop on Joburg, flight is overnight, best thing about SFA is you can take a pad Each for FREE!!!! as well as a suitcase each.

[cha1n]

Thanks for the additional info.

That's the exact fight I'm looking at, how is it? Someone on other channel who lives in cape town said they'd avoid the flight because the layover air port is not a pleasant experience.

Is it officially stated that you can take sporting equipment in addition to a suitcase? Cheers

[peewee]

Past 2 times it's been fine, joburg is fine you have to check in again as your stuff has to clear customs. Yeah it specifies bouldering mats in sporting equipment, print it out tho as not all check in staff know this.

[cha1n]

Sweet, thanks man. There are two flights one with a 1.5 hour and one with a 2 hour layover. Would you say the 1.5 hour one was cutting it close or find?

[peewee]

Think it was 2.30hr last time,  goes quick as you have to get baggage and check in so best leaving some time.

[shark]

Is it possible for a family holiday here which includes having non-climbers to have an OK time out here too? ie other stuff to do, trail running, places to stay with a pool etc or is it just the back of beyond?

[moose]

And to piggy-back a query, would it be a feasible location for a lone boulderer? I am scouting for solo holidays - willing to pay for convenience and comfort but wondering whether driving alone into the beyond would be a bit daft (compared to going to font / swiss .. or my usual spree of using up holiday days on midweek kilnsey visits).

[monkey boy]

Going end of May/beginning of June for those prices. We have an 18hr and 20hr flight times but going from Manchester, I actually quite like having the stop over and stretching your legs. I have flown SA and BA and both times the flights were way less comfortable than Emirates.

I have never have pads questioned really, I have even taken a saturn with Emirates before. Buying pads out there isn't that cheap and the selection is pretty poor. If you stay at Alpha you can borrow pads and give a donation but just check with Becky/James when you book that this is still the case.

Both Travellers and Alpha are nice but slightly different. Alpha might be all booked up now to be honest as they don't have as much accommodation as Travellers. Alpha is mainly sharing with other in the farmstead unless you have a big enough group to take over the whole place. Travellers you can 2-12 person houses.

You can definitely go to Rocklands solo. I went solo in 2015, there are lots of people to meet and climb with or you can just enjoy your own company. Best option for solo and meeting people is camping or Alpha.

Family wise you can definitely go on nice walks etc and there is a bit of stuff to do but not loads. If you combined the trip with sometime in CT and didn't spend too long in Rocklands then I reckon they would be happy. Can laze around, drinking coffee and reading if nothing else.

[T_B]

Is it possible for a family holiday here which includes having non-climbers to have an OK time out here too? ie other stuff to do, trail running, places to stay with a pool etc or is it just the back of beyond?

I've thought about this having had 3 weeks in SA for our honeymoon pre-family. The two hour time difference also makes a shorter trip viable. I reckon you could plan an ace family trip but you'd want to travel around a bit as there isn't that much to do at Rocklands other than climb. That said the trail running around Rocklands would be awesome, but it would feel remote and I don't know what the mapping is like? You'd want to be running with a partner really and early morning. If you plan in some time in the Winelands and on the coast, you could sell it to any member of the family. You can even head inland to a 'big game park' (we went to Aquila), though admittedly it's not the same thing as you would experience at Kruger or similar.

The best advice I had was to be semi-flexible as you can get non-ideal weather in the summer (too hot, or rain). On those days you can quest off to CT/Winelands for a night or two. Or even if you're skin is trashed. We spent time in Franschhoek (amazing wineries and restaurants), CT (heli ride up the coast, ace restaurants) and Hermanus (incredible whale watching).

Cape Town is pretty much the one place I've visited where I could imagine living, other than the UK.

[AJM]

Agree with lots of what T_B says - in fact I think I must have found some of this beta when planning my honeymoon as we did Aquila (mid-bouldering night away to break up the trip) and wine lands (a few days relaxing post bouldering) too.

We went Easter due to the wedding timing and whilst it was rather hot for "proper" bouldering neither of us is especially hardcore as a boulderer anyway and the warmer stabler weather worked out quite well...

[T_B]

...

[SA Chris]

You could do a short trip to Rocklands, and combine it with may things CT has to offer. There is also some amazing hiking to do in the Cedarberg, plus a wealth of trad and sport of all grades. When in Cape Town there is tons to do, plus a load of boudering, sport and trad  you could sbeak away from family and get on. You could even tick a quality 8b or two while you are there. Montagu would also be great for the family; hiking, mountain biking, hot springs, sport climbing.

Plus everything T_B suggests and more.

[cha1n]

Right guys, thanks for the tips. I think I've basically got everything planned, I just need to confirm everything tonight.

Flights wise, I decided I can't be assed to start the epic, long journey with 2 hours driving so I'm gonna fly from Bristol. Unfortunately this means arriving in Cape Town at 21:50, so I'm going to book a room for the night in Cape Town. Forgive my ignorance but is Cape Town sketchy? I'm sure someone said stuff like don't stop at traffic lights, etc. If anyone can recommend a cheap place for a room for one night that's would be great, otherwise I'll probably use AirBnB and post in here if it was any good. Otherwise I was probably murdered in my sleep.

Accommodation wise, I went for a Caravan at http://www.alphaexcelsior.co.za (thanks for beta monkeyboy). Nobody else got back to me and depakhuys seemed to only have camping left according to their website. The caravans seem like they'd be great value for a couple, I think it works out around £350 for my 3 week stay which I can live with. Google maps says it's 10 min walk from the campsite which is handy if you know anyone there staying there (I don't).

[Duma]

did you look at flying from brum Ross? think thats what Si and Llin are doing

[Paul B]

Right guys, thanks for the tips. I think I've basically got everything planned, I just need to confirm everything tonight.

Burning question - which shoes are you going to take?