Because I’m allergic to group tours and have done this successfully twice now, thought I might share what worked for me for anyone contemplating a DIY trip to South Africa to see amazing animals. It’s easier than you might think.
Because Africa is on the other side of the equator, seasons are reversed from ours. I like going in July or August, SA’s winter - fewer leaves on the trees for easier viewing, no mosquitoes, and no snakes! Other seasons are better for baby animals and warmer weather. But there’s nothing quite like leaving Hotlanta in the middle of summer, packing a down jacket.
Getting there
The worst part is the flight. From Atlanta, Delta flies direct to Johannesburg in 15+ hours, which feels endless. I booked exit aisle seats in Main cabin six months ahead for my friend and me, to guarantee I had room for my long legs and a wall to sleep against, but neglected to turn off “Request Upgrade” and got a night before message from Delta that I had been upgraded…to a middle seat in Comfort. (Nobody wants me for an overnight roommate in the middle seat!) After a middle of the night meltdown (first world problem, I know) Delta unblocked two seats in the exit aisle in the middle section so my friend and I could at least sit together. (My solution was to give whoever took my original seat my new seat in Comfort, but apparently that’s not an option.)
The 10PM ATL flight arrives at 7:40PM at Tambo in Jo’burg. We needed the closest airport hotel to collapse in before the next day’s flight to our first safari camp. My first trip I stayed in the fancy Intercontinental, literally across the street from the Arrivals hall at Tambo. For $300+ I took an Ambien, slept 8 hours, and checked out before breakfast to catch a shuttle to the camp. This trip we walked one block further to the shuttle bus pickup for the Marriott Protea Hotel’s van to their airport hotel, not as fancy but plenty nice, for about $75 including breakfast. (The worst thing we did was terribly undertip our porter with our new SA Rand for which we hadn’t yet figured out the conversion rate. Still feel bad about that.)
I’ve never actually visited downtown Johannesburg, but the drive through the outskirts on my first trip, past neighborhood compounds with broken glass-topped walls, did not make it feel inviting. From my limited experience, I would say fly into Tambo and move on. First trip we took a 5+ hour shuttle up to the Krueger area. This trip it was much easier to fly to Hoedspruit (the airport nearest our safari camp) on Airlink. https://www.flyairlink.com/en/za. We were in the air less than an hour and they had time to serve drinks and a sandwich.
What you don’t want to do is drive! Driving is on the left, like the UK, and traffic signs are more suggestions. The farther north you go, the bigger the potholes and the more pedestrian and livestock traffic on the highways. On faster stretches closer to Jo’burg, cars passed us on the shoulder on the left and blew through stop signs. The only time I was scared in SA was in a pre-booked van ride at night from Durban when I thought it possible I might wake up in a hospital in one of the HIV hotspots in the world.
This sounds alarmist and is not meant to frighten, but to help you make good decisions. It is very easy to have your safari camps arrange all your ground transportation from airports and on to the next camp with safe and friendly drivers. I would plan transfers only during daylight hours. This trip I booked all our transportation before we left ATL and it worked perfectly.