Ideas for long haul in July/August

[reluctantbrit]

I have a milestone birthday in 2 1/2 years and we think to go away for a larger trip and I try to get ideas together to see what we can do.

Due to flight distance we would prefer going for 3 weeks in Summer instead of cramping it into Easter or October half term

Problems are:
DD will be 15 - can't miss school
DD and I do not do well in heat and humidity
I have a knee problem and have issues with physical stuff, no long hikes, esp no uphill, can't do watersport or similar
DH is getting sea sick on a cruise ship
no strict Muslim country like Malaysia

We love history. Original we thought about Asia (Thailand/Cambodia) but I fear the rain season works against us.

We would like a certain amount of comfort, no backpacking/hostel, no tents or rough outdoor.

Until Easter we thought about Sri Lanka. Obviously the trip is still a huge amount of time away so the whole political situation may be very different again and worse somewhere else. Is Sri Lanka something to consider in high Summer?

Budget is a max of £20k.

For good Africa advice: Wildlife Worldwide and Expert Africa are good places to start. You can look at their suggested trips and then think about amending them to your needs. We have found both have great advice. Steppes Travel are also good.

Would definitely recommend South Africa too. We stayed at a small game reserve (no Big 5 as they had had their only rhino poached but plenty of giraffe, zebra, eland etc) and were the only guests. We did a quad bike safari with DCs aged 16 and 9 which was fun as well as a standard game drives. You could do horseback safaris too.

Loads to see - Addo is amazing for elephants and the nearby Daniell Cheetah Sanctuary is worth a visit. Lots of safari options available on the Cape which is malaria free.

Climbing Table Mountain is a great experience. Whale watching at Hermanus. DH and eldest DC did a shark cage dive, and eldest DC also did the Bloukrans bungee jump. Penguins at Boulders Beach. Loads to see and do - we took 3 weeks.

We went to Kilimanjaro and Serengeti for safari and it was awesome
We used ultimate travel company

I’d suggest New Zealand or Singapore. You could ski in NZ? I am going in August and it will be winter but my friend who lives over there says it’s not as bad as UK winter. I wasn’t going to mention Singapore as you mentioned you didn’t like heat and humidity but if you are ok with that Sg is just amazing!

America, road trip in an RV, or Canada?

We took 10 year old son to Botswana on safari: there were no other children and nothing was dumbed down. Recommend the Okavango delta

India does have the monsoon that time of year; but we didn't find it got in the way much at all. We don't like heat much so it was a good time of year to go.

Isn't it the high grass season in South Africa so very hard to see animals?
And I live in Sydney, and I wouldn't recommend coming in winter as it can be very cold, wet and dark and if you take the beaches away, Australia is a lot less fun.
New Zealand would be even colder.

Not hard to see game in July / August in South Africa - it’s more like scrubby veldt than long grass. Also it’s cooler, so animals aren’t hiding away from the heat and they mooch around the waterholes.

July to November is also whale season.

It’s easy to see animals in SA in July/August and but it’s colder in the mornings. There are plenty of rhinos in Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park in Kwa Zulu Natal and Sabi Sands has lots of leopards. The grass doesn’t hide rhinos. The whales off Hermanus are so close! We watched a mother and calf from the shore for 2 hours. Other whales swam into the cove to visit and the calf frolicked with them. It was amazing.

Many game reserves in SA are former farms that have been rewilded. Kruger and Hluhluwe Imfolizi are proper National parks and feel like it! Bigger and wilder!

Liliesandchocolate - any idas how the Northern Territories are in August?

I have a friend in Sydney and she complains a lot each Summer about the weather so I def don’t think it is a good idea.

@reluctantbrit did you book anything?