First trip to South Africa: travel report and planning

Hi everyone,

After using this forum a lot to plan several trips, I’m finally writing my own travel journal about South Africa, a trip that took place from May 14 to 31, 2025. I hope to inspire but mostly to share info and details for those like me who need to plan their trip as precisely as possible to make the most of it once there.

This is our first trip to Africa outside the Maghreb for my wife and me. What follows is, of course, just my opinion and very subjective. You’ll easily understand that my goal isn’t to debate my choice of destinations or activities since everyone has their own travel style and beliefs. I just want to share. Thanks in advance.

We booked our tickets with Emirates for the routes: Lyon-Dubai, Dubai-Johannesburg on the way out. For the return, it was Cape Town-Dubai, Dubai-Lyon. The tickets cost us 1400 € for two, booked in December. I monitored prices for several weeks, and they didn’t tend to drop. I think I got the flight tickets at the right time because alerts I set on different sites showed prices only going up.

Here’s our itinerary:

Day 1: Arrival at Johannesburg airport, pick up the rental car, and head to Hartbeespoort (northwest of Pretoria): overnight in Hartbeespoort. Day 2: Visit the Elephant Sanctuary + Monkey Sanctuary + cableway: overnight in Hartbeespoort. Day 3: Head to Ukutula, visit the site. Day 4: Head to Kruger Park, transition day: overnight in Dullstroom. Day 5: Head to Blyde River Canyon, visit the viewpoints (more details in the journal later): overnight in Graskop. Day 6: Hike the Leopard Trail (Blyde River Canyon) then return to Kruger Park: overnight at Pretoriuskop rest camp. Days 7 & 8: Visit Kruger Park: overnights at Lower Sabie rest camp. Days 9 & 10: Visit Kruger Park: overnights at Berg-En-Dal rest camp. Day 11: Visit Kruger Park: overnight in Malelane. Day 12: Domestic flight to Cape Town: overnight in Cape Town (Mouille Point neighborhood). Days 13 to 17: Visit Cape Town and its surroundings (more details in the journal later): overnight in Cape Town (Mouille Point neighborhood).

Before describing our trip in more detail, here’s some practical info about the stay:

For internet, I got Bouygues Telecom’s travel pass for 35 € on top of my regular plan with them. It worked well except in Kruger. Otherwise, I hardly had any network coverage issues. For all accommodations and car rentals, I used Booking.com. No bad surprises.

Hello

+ walk with lions?

Did you walk with lions?

Hi Nicolas, And thanks for taking the time to share your trip—it brings back some great memories for me! 😊 Did you also book your Kruger accommodations through Booking?

Hi Solène,

I went through the SanParks.org site—actually, we don’t have a choice, it’s the only way. It’s pretty easy to use.

Hi Michel,

Yep, that’s exactly it . I flagged it so those who are interested can get more details later when I cover that day. Anyone who doesn’t like it can just skip it.

Hi there, For a bunch of reasons Partly explained in my post And that everyone can easily find online Especially— Please, never do this! You’re harming lions You’re supporting a huge trafficking operation You’re lining the pockets of criminals You’ve been scammed Please don’t promote this! It’s not about loving it or not It’s just wrong !

I wrote in the introduction:

"You’ll easily understand that my goal isn’t to debate my choice of destinations/activities because everyone has their own model of tourism and beliefs. I just want to share. Thanks in advance."

What’s unclear about what I wrote?

Your introduction makes perfect sense. Same goes for Michel’s comment.

Readers who might be interested in your experiences with big cats will now know the darker side of this activity and can decide for themselves whether to go or not.

End of digression

Thanks! I had no intention of judging, just wanted to remind everyone how highly questionable and contested this activity is. In fact, many tour operators have removed it from their programs. Everyone makes their own choices.

Hi,

After some thought, I won’t be continuing this travel journal. If anyone has questions about any aspects of my trip, I’d be happy to answer...in private.

Good evening Nicolas, Imagine Michel as a sphinx—usually reserved, of course. But what we do to the lion, his human head literally feels in his body. He expressed himself with all the care he could muster on a subject that’s almost existential for him.

The opening of your travel journal is fascinating; it’d be a shame to give up and deprive us of your perspective on this country we all love.

🙂

Hi Nicolas

As Voyajou said, it’d be a shame to skip keeping a travel journal just because of one (controversial) topic that only affects a tiny part of the trip. Michel’s rehashing his take on lion-related activities helps shed light on what’s really going on behind the scenes, instead of just hearing the organizers’ side. Anyway, I think the topic’s wrapped up (at least for this journal 😉) and, like you said, everyone’s free to make their own choices based on their principles.

🙂

Hello, and thank you for sharing your experience in South Africa. I’m in the same boat as you—I just posted our own itinerary and was really interested in your journey.

Did you end up creating a blog like you mentioned?

Could you take a look at my post and give me your thoughts?

Thanks again for letting us share and for all the info you provided. Best regards,

Hi Royerjm,

I read your travel plans. Since I haven’t visited most of the places you’re planning to go, I can’t really give my opinion. Visits to Kruger are obviously amazing.

For Cape Town, if you’d like, take the "Hop-on hop-off" bus—it’s super convenient.

Have a great trip.

Thanks for the info! In terms of budget, what do your 80 € per day cover? How much do you plan to spend on accommodation on average? The only things I’ve got a handle on in my budget forecast are flights and car rental. Thanks for your reply.

Hi royerjm,

For the 80 € daily budget, I had to base it on a bit of a guess. Just so you know, we don’t do breakfasts—just a coffee—so minimal morning costs. We didn’t plan to eat out much, so we regularly bought classic groceries from supermarkets. That didn’t stop us from trying a few restaurants, especially in Kruger. Since food is cheaper and portions are pretty generous, we always treated ourselves.

For accommodation, there’s something for every budget. That said, the neighborhoods we picked in Pretoria and Cape Town were recommended by a South African friend who knows both cities well—so we could avoid sketchy areas. Price is one thing, but you’ve got to be careful where you stay. Unfortunately, I can’t give more specific advice since it really depends on what you’re willing to spend and where you’re going.

Hello, Thanks for your reply. We’re planning to get around by rental car at 20 €/day plus gas. We’re used to traveling in a way that lets us cook for ourselves most of the time, with the occasional restaurant meal. For accommodation, we’re looking for Airbnb-style places. Looking at the route and using Booking.com, it seemed like we could find decent places for 30 or 35 € a night, and maybe splurge on a 60 or 70 € place once in a while. From that, I figured we could live on 100 €/day for two.

What do you think?

Best regards