South Africa safari in malaria free zones

[mummymeister]

Hi all. am starting to plan future holidays and kids have asked about doing a beach holiday and safari in S Africa. for health reasons we need to be in a malaria free zone. anyone ideas or done something similar. thanks

We went to Madikwe near the Botswana border last month, which was great. Malaria free and an easy four hour drive from Johannesburg (you can fly there alternatively).

We went to Addo Elephant Park when I was pregnant with DD - it was mostly elephants then (13 years ago) but now has a wide variety of animals including the big 5 I believe. See www.addoelephantpark.info/

For beach holidays, Cape Town is lovely (cold sea though). Durban has a much warmer ocean but Cape Town is probably more beautiful what with the mountain etc. I'm sure you'll have a blast!

Thanks Azure and wordsmith I will start checking this out. is there a must have guide book that you used or places to stay? I am thinking of planning this for December. would that be about right for the weather?

Not sure about the guide book as I'm a local but December will be lovely weather - quite hot though but I think heat's generally always a good thing!

I think the Pilansberg is malaria free (although you'd need to check). It's next to the Sun City resort north of Joberg.

In answer to the question about finding out where to go, I have been to South Africa before. I found it useful to look at holiday brochures for ideas of suggested routes (including family friendly trips) but did research on and booked places to stay, car hire and internal flights on the internet. We used a Eyewitness guide book when there. I went to Madikwe in their winter, which is also the dry season there and is a good time to visit. On the other hand it was the wet season in Cape Town (although we were lucky with the weather). As you're planning December I would be tempted to stay around the Cape Town to Port Elizabeth area as the weather should be great. There are several game reserves (eg Addo as mentioned), but I don't have personal experience of them. We self-catered in Cape Town for the space and affordability (the safari part gets expensive).

thanks everyone for some really helpful suggestions. I have absolutely no idea where to start planning a holiday to SAfrica to make sure we include the elements everyone wants - bit of sightseeing, water sports, safari's. I will start with ordering some brochures but if anyone else has any other ideas all gratefully received. like the idea of a 3 - 5 day type safari if they exist.

We went malari free, sun city and then onto Madikwe.

Fantastic holiday, got so much help from bushbaby travel, who we used, can def recommend them.

thanks blue sky will check bushbaby out now. where did you stay. struggling to know what sort of accommodation is best. it seems on the safari it is more b and b/hotel not self catering. is that right? currently thinking cape town, port Elisabeth, addo safari, the joburg, suncity and Madikwe. what does this sound like in December?

We stayed at Cascades hotel in sun City, lots going on, great water park. We went in October half term, perfect weather. You can go on Safari from there, Pilanesberg, the vehicles pick you up from outside the hotels.

We stayed at jaki's tree lodges in madikwe, once in a lifetime treat of a place! Perfection. You don't tend to have self catering out on safari, its lodges of various sizes and quality, they feed you and take you out at dawn and dusk.

I'm sure December is a nice time to go weatherwise.

Pilanesburg is malaria free and is much cheaper if you hire a 4x4 and self drive instead of paying for game drives. Entrance into the park costs about £10 per car and you can come and go as you please.
Also I would recommend paying locally for accommodation etc rather than through a travel agent....one trip I have priced up with paying in SA is costing me £200....if I booked with a UK agent the same trip (with the same transport company n hotel) would cost me £900. The rand is very weak right now so paying locally will get you some great deals.
The weather will be hot in December and it will be very busy. It is their summer holidays. You can fly from Jo'urg to the garden route pretty cheaply using Kulula airline. I usually fly to George but they do fly to Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The website roomsforafrica.com usually will find you some good accommodation and then if you contact the accommodation direct then you will get a much better deal!

We travelled to SA this summer and booked family accommodation through Hotels.com and Booking.com.

Lots of private game reserves between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, try Gondwana, Sanbona, Aquila, Fairy Glen, Inverdoorn, Buffelsdruft, Nyaru, Shamwari. The Sanparks accommodation at Addo is good too, and it has the Big Five. You can go luxury or budget, stay several days at one place or do day drives. Really depends on your budget.

Car hire is good value, we booked direct with Avis.

We stayed in Cape Town in March and did a safari at Aquila, about 1.5 hours drive from Cape Town. There are lodges to stay in, nice restaurant etc.
Hired our own car from the airport and visited al the Cape Town area attractions - Camps Bay, Cape Point, Stellenbosch, Franscheok, etc.
December would be a good time to go - middle of the SA summer really. (I think) the SA schoolchildren have December off school as their summer break.
We stayed at the Winchester Mansions in Cape Town, old colonial type hotel, but it had a heated pool which was really nice. The sea is freezing all year round. Cape Town also has a huge outdoor pool with diving boards etc on the seafront, nominal charge to go in, but very nice (and cold).

December is the most expensive time to go!! I think Easter can be really good. I would recommend the garden route, the winelands for the adults, and I think I would do Madiwke although we like Sabi Sands but that is probably a malaria area. Some of the other parks are glorified safari farms with imported animals.

Some interesting places to stay are found in the Greenwood Guide (hand picked accommodation) to South Africa and Namibia. We stayed at Four Rosmead in Cape Town. This is a guest house and there are some lovely properties in SA which are B and Bs or guest houses. Personally I dont like the hotels so much. There is also a book called South African Highlights by Greenwood Guides which gives holidaymakers good advice on things to do and places to eat. They specialise in finding places that are friendly, often family run, small and a bit different. We have found you can't go wrong with this guide. They suggest Mosetlha Bush Camp at Madikwe. Bush camps are truly great places - an authentic experience. It is very unlikely you will see the same game and have the best experience driving yourself in a game reserve. Part of the fun is having a tracker telling you what to look for and sundowners! The safari farms dont need to track much because they know what they have is pretty close! The beaches on the gardenroute are lovely and they are around Cape Town. Agree water is cold!!! Probably warmer nearer to Durban as that is the Indian Ocean but again it might be malaria area. North or Durban is Hluhluwe-Umfolozi and the Hluhluwe River Lodge is a great place to stay. There are beaches in this area.

Also, I really wouldn't go to Jo-burg or Sun City. South Africa has so much else that is better.

I don't know if you know the rules change in October about travelling with children this is off the British FCO site
With effect from 1 October 2014, parents travelling with children into or out of South Africa may be asked to show the child’s full birth certificate, and where only one parent is accompanying, proof of parental or legal authority to travel with the child.

I live in Johannesburg. School holidays here are from about the 9th December to 15th jan, it is the most expensive time to travel and a lot of places will be booked up already. It's also very hot. Durban is tropical so will probably be quite wet.

Book internal flights on kulala.com

I find sun city quite touristy, over priced and in need if refurbishment personally. The pilansberg is lovely though or you could go to one of the private game reserves nearer Cape Town.

If you have 2 weeks I would do 5 days or so in Cape Town, drive the garden route and then private game reserve on the way.

Lots of ideas on here: www.wild-wings-safaris.com