Second safari - Touring questions

[Tim Blackwell]

Hi all,

I've just booked my second African safari, after having had a great hunt in Namibia with Kowas last May. This time we are headed to the East Cape with Marius from KMG in early July 2018. On my list is Nyala, Bushbuck, Eland, Zebra and Blesbok. But of course, we'll be flexible and take what Africa offers!

I will be hunting for seven days and then touring for 2-3 weeks with my wife and two early-teen daughters. We intend to see Cape Town, Vic Falls and Sun City to relax at the end. I'd welcome any other suggestions on places that are a 'must-do' with a family group or that the girls in particular might enjoy.

Also, I much prefer to hunt with my own rifles normally, but given the touring and border crossings this may be difficult this time around. (Pity, as I have an old Sako .375 H&H that I'd love to take Eland with!) Is rifle storage of some type possible and has anyone done this while over there?

Cheers all, it's an exciting time!
Tim

 

[Pheroze]

Kwantu is a wildlife park that has an elephant area. You can ride them and my family really enjoyed it. I stored my rifle with @riflepermits.com when we went to Sun City and they were great. We were late getting back and they were helpful in meeting us so I didn't miss my flight to Port Elizabeth.

I would love to tour the Garden route or any of the fabulous vineyards there. I think wine industry is really great there.

Have a great time!

 

[Dinsdale]

I also had Herny@riflepermits arrange storage when I transited back through J'berg on my way to other parts of SA for a spell after my KMG hunt. Went off perfect, and would do it again.

 

[Scott Slough]

Self-drive the garden route from Port Elizabeth down to Cape Town!

 

[Mekaniks]

We enjoyed the Cradle of Humankind Musem at Maropeng and the Sterkfontein Caves. Since you are going to be at Sun City I think you could do them in an easy day trip.

 

[wesheltonj]

Chobe NP in Botswana. And not far from VF. Both rifle permits and Africa Sky will both store your guns while you travel, but it adds up fast.

 

[JimP]

We took the coast from PE to Cape Town and along it we did a bungi jump and a shark cage dive in Mossel Bay. Then from Cape Town we took the wine tour route and stopped at quite a few and then on to Lesotho out of Malealea Lodge for a horseback ride into a remote village for a night then back to PE.

Since we were doing a loop back to PE we let a PH store our firearms and excess baggage for us until we were ready to leave.

 

[CAustin]

Sounds like you folks are about to have a grand vacation! Good luck. Wish I could get away for four weeks or so!

 

[zippy21]

Tim,

I am currently at JNB returning from a 2 week hunt and vacation with my wife and 2 children that do not hunt. It sounds like you have an amazing agenda planned. The only thing I would recommend is in Victoria Falls we did it quite a few different activities. We did the zip lining across the gorge (which is pretty good in tame) but they also have a gorge swing which is just a little more aggressive. We did a walk with lions that was amazing. We did a game drive and bush dinner with Stanel & Livingston out of Zimbabwe which was amazing. We saw 3 of the big five and 5 of the dangers 7 (not seeing the lion and leopard). We saw each other game previously. We are also able to see the black rhino. In Cape Town we went and visited Table Mountain and Robben Island. Please feel free to reach out if you would like to get any other insights from my recent vacation.

Rick

 

[wesheltonj]

Chobe NP in Botswana. And not far from VF. Both rifle permits and Africa Sky will both store your guns while you travel, but it adds up fast.

Forgot to add Kruger NP.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Cape Town is a great place to visit...............however, July is the wettest month of the year. For most of southern Africa, July is the dry season and beautiful cool, sunny weather. Cape Town has a micro-climate of it's own and gets rained on in July.

July is a good time to see Vic Falls, as the water coming over the falls is still a decent rate. Just as a FYI, I use a South African travel agent and she pointed out to me a few years ago when I was booking a family trip to Vic Falls and Chobe, that high season starts July 1. I was originally planning an August trip, but we moved it to late June. Prices for hotels, tours, etc, were 25-30% lower.

My kids, all late teens and early 20s at the time, seemed to like Chobe best of all. Lots of animals, great driving tours, boating up the Chobe river. Stayed at Chobe Game Lodge, right in the park.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Thanks one and all for the comments and great suggestions. Plenty to go on there.

Now to just keep saving and counting down the days!!

Tim