[cha1n]

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

I did look into this but it's not really much different to flying from London in terms of travelling time and costs involved to leave a car there/getting a train. It's going to be a long day, I'm keen to limit hours travelling within reason and quite like the idea of a 15 minute drive to the airport!

I'm also not sure how I'll get on sleeping on the plane overnight in economy, I'm a pretty light sleeper and don't usually fall to sleep easily on coaches, etc, so if it doesn't work out it'll wipe me out for maybe 1-2 days. The return flight is overnight so I prefer to experiment that way around.

Burning question - which shoes are you going to take? 

Haha, that's easy nowadays. Futuras for sandstone but I'll take my instinct vs for the heel and my Skwama if they pass the testing phase over the next few months. Fuck it, maybe I'll take my hiangles and dragons too. Maybe my instinct lace for the retro look... That's all I have at the moment believe it or not, should be enough to co-ordinate with all my outfits (a single pair of shorts).

[SA Chris]

Biltong in perfect condition is great, but droewors is more reliably good.

[monkey boy]

The caravans are great, amazed they weren't fully booked! I have stayed in them twice, perfect for 1 or 2. Quite private but a 30 second walk to Hen House for coffee and socialising if desired!

[the_dom]

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.

Cape Town is completely fine - use Uber to get into town from the airport, and either get a hotel or an AirBnb. Hotels are probably easier given the time you arrive. You're unlikely to be murdered in your sleep. PM me if you need any pointers.

[SA Chris]

Loads of backpacker type hostels as well, with double or shared rooms, priced according to quality.

[cha1n]

Thanks, I'm sure people will find this useful in the future. I ended up having to book an overnight flight from London, so don't need to stay in Cape Town now but good to know it's safe there. I'd been keen to spend a day there on a rest day or something.

[SA Chris]

It's a fair drive from Rocklands to CT, not sure I'd bother for a rest day, but good for a day at beginning or end of trip.

[monkey boy]

The climbing on the Cape Peninsula is pretty good too, great quality rock!

[AlistairB]

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.

Just a heads up, we were booking flights last night and discovered buried on Emirates' website an updated luggage policy for itineraries commencing in Africa. Not quite sure how this will apply to a return trip from UK to SA but their online tool seemed to indicate it would apply for the return leg. The killer with this is that you are allowed 2 x 23 kg bags in economy (great!) but their total dimensions (W+L+D) must not exceed 150 cm rather than Emirates' usual 300 cm. This seems to rule out most pads, if people are booked with Emirates for this season it might be worth getting this cleared up before you go.

As a result, we've booked with Qatar instead who still have a max of 300 cm for African flights and a 30 kg weight. Paid £495 each flying from Manchester in June. We were hoping to take at least 1 Saturn sized pad so will see how it goes!

[cha1n]

Thanks for the heads up Alister, don't think anyone in our group is effected luckily. When in June are you out?

[cha1n]

Are there any decent Safaris near Rocklands? I need a photo with a sedated lion for tinder.

[SA Chris]

how close is "near"? I think you mean game reserves? Most of these will have the animals roaming in the wild and you may or may not see any. Wildlife Parks are usually where you can go and stroke wild animals if that's what you are after, I've been in the cheetah cage in the one at Oudshoorn, but there might be one closer. Sounds cheesy, but getting up close with these animals is incredible.

[cha1n]

Cheers for the reply Chris. I'd be willing to drive a few hours but not much more than that. If it's not possible then so be it, I've been told that it's not the best side of SA for Safaris.

Whatever is closest to how they'd naturally by living would be good, I can go to the Zoo to see them caged up!

[SA Chris]

Tankwa Karoo looks to be closest NP (not that it;s actually close), I've never been and no idea of which animals you will actually see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankwa_Karoo_National_Park

Loads of private ones about, with an associated tourist only price tag. Never been could never afford it.

Might be easiest to do at either beginning or end of trip

http://www.capetownmagazine.com/things-to-do-cape-town/best-cape-town-safari-adventures-and-game-drives/15_52_55288

[AJM]

Cheers for the reply Chris. I'd be willing to drive a few hours but not much more than that. If it's not possible then so be it, I've been told that it's not the best side of SA for Safaris.

Whatever is closest to how they'd naturally by living would be good, I can go to the Zoo to see them caged up!

We went to Aquila which was a few hours(~3) away. We used it as a mid trip break (I've found a double rest day mid trip often helps bouldering anyway). You could probably do it as a long day though of you were sufficiently motivated.

[sxrxg]

We also took a mid trip break to Aquila which worked out perfectly as it got too hot to climb hard on those days (we went at the very end of the climbing season in September). The drive is 3 hours however it was super interesting (just make sure you have insurance for driving on dirt roads!) passing some amazing scenery especially around the town of Ceres.

With regards to cost we thought it good value at approx £110 per person winter rates for 2 game drives (one in the afternoon and one early morning -wrap up warm!), a visit to the rescue and conservation centre, arrival drinks, lunch, dinner, breakfast and overnight stay in a lodge.

Yes it is a massive safari park where they do conservation work however the enclosure is so large it really does feel like you are seeing the animals in their natural environment. Overall I would recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of luxury for a night and wanting to see some of the animals Africa is famous for. 

[SA Chris]

If you can do a night drive it's a great experience too. Just don't shine a spotlight straight in an elephant's eyes, it annoys them (our guide told me this after I did it and we were on the receiving end of a fake charge!)

[cha1n]

Great info, thanks guys. I've got excess waiver but do you think a tiny Hyundai (cheapest rental car possible) will make it along the roads?

[AJM]

Great info, thanks guys. I've got excess waiver but do you think a tiny Hyundai (cheapest rental car possible) will make it along the roads?

I can't remember what we had but it was something fairly small and we were fine. You can probably check if you look at the fb photos from our trip.

[sxrxg]

The roads we went on were well surfaced dirt roads and any modern car will be fine on them (just don't turn on the fans if it has been dry, we ended up getting covered in red dust!)

Other things that I don't however recommend you do in the hire car though are trying to cross the ford to the De Pakhuys camp ground when the water is high (only just made it across!) or try to drive up to the upper parking at Sassies (we made it however i manged to take a decent chunk of the undertray off on a rock!) as this really needs a 4x4 (as suggested in the guidebook...) with deep sand and some decent size rocks to contend with on a reasonably steep hill.

[Coops_13]

Going out in June, super psyched 

Can anyone tell me which areas are banned? I hear Teagarden roof may be not climbable? Sorry if this has been asked before...

[SA Chris]

You can find out when you get there! Don't worry you won't get bored!

[Coops_13]

You can find out when you get there! Don't worry you won't get bored!

Gah! Don't want to get too psyched on something to find out I can't try it...

[zloty_dziecko]

Cheers for the reply Chris. I'd be willing to drive a few hours but not much more than that. If it's not possible then so be it, I've been told that it's not the best side of SA for Safaris.

Whatever is closest to how they'd naturally by living would be good, I can go to the Zoo to see them caged up!

We've been to Inverdoorn on both our trips, I'd really recommend it, it's a bit under two hours drive on some interesting roads (if you go fast enough you don't feel the bumps anymore!) They've got the big 5 there and also a cheetah rehabilitation programme, you get to see them chasing bait to prepare them for hunting back in the wild etc. Doing the overnight stay with evening and morning safari was a perfect break on the trip for a rest day and meant we got to see all of the animals.

[peewee]

Going out in June, super psyched 

Can anyone tell me which areas are banned? I hear Teagarden roof may be not climbable? Sorry if this has been asked before...

Teagarden was ok in 2015 don't think its changed but the access there isn't covered under the normal permit you pay for.