# First trip to Africa



## Judy (Apr 21, 2010)

Africa is the next destination to plan from my bucket list.  We've never been on that continent, except to Egypt.  For this trip, we'd like to do a cruise or a photo-safari/tour and see Victoria Falls and Olduvai Gorge. Are there timeshares we should consider? Tours or cruises you'd recommend?  Some combination?


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## akp (Apr 21, 2010)

*I am anxious to hear what timeshares you hear about...*

My husband and I went on a photo safari back in our carefree pre-kids days.  We started at Vic Falls and traveled west across Botswana.  It was amazing.  Despite all the things I've seen, nothing can compare to hundreds of elephants at the Chobe River...

We did it with a tour and camped our way across Botswana which was great when I was 29 and not yet addicted to 2 bedroom luxury timeshares  

I plan to book a trip to some safari destination in Africa as soon as our youngest (now 6) is old enough, and I have poured over all the timeshare options in RCI and II.  There are some really nice looking ones but I have no personal experience with them, and reviews are few and far between.

One name I recall from my previous searches is Kwa Maritane.  It is part of a larger group of resorts, Legacy (IIRC), several of which looked nice.

And there is another I see available a lot on RCI Points but I can't recall the name.  I'll look for it and post later.  

Have fun planning, and please report back when you have a review!

Anita


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## spragu14 (Apr 23, 2010)

We stayed at Sabi River Sun in 2002.  It had lovely grounds and is close to Kruger National Park in South Africa.  I also own at Kruger Park Lodge and we drove through it while we were there.  It was very nice but the grounds were not nearly as lush as those at Sabi River Sun.  I would love to go back to that region, but too many other places to see  
Janet


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## Judy (Apr 23, 2010)

Which exchange company is best for getting into southern Africa - II, RCI, DAE? In other words, where should I deposit my weeks while I finish my research and decide where to go?


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## nterpstra (May 28, 2012)

Judy said:


> Which exchange company is best for getting into southern Africa - II, RCI, DAE? In other words, where should I deposit my weeks while I finish my research and decide where to go?




I know your message is old, but it is always best to deposit your weeks ASAP if you know you will be traveling/using them within two years.


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## zora (Nov 18, 2012)

Judy said:


> Which exchange company is best for getting into southern Africa - II, RCI, DAE? In other words, where should I deposit my weeks while I finish my research and decide where to go?



Judy,  I realize that your post is old and am hoping that you were able to answer your own question. Did you ever get to Africa?  Which exchange co did you use?  Where did you stay?  Did you take kids?  Thank you.  
Suzanne T.


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## Judy (Nov 18, 2012)

zora said:


> Judy,  I realize that your post is old and am hoping that you were able to answer your own question. Did you ever get to Africa?  Which exchange co did you use?  Where did you stay?  Did you take kids?  Thank you.
> Suzanne T.


Yes, we went to Africa last May (2012), but we didn't use timeshares.  Instead we traveled around Africa on the Ocean Princess.  She made port calls in Durban, South Africa | East London, South Africa | Cape Town, South Africa | Luderitz, Namibia | Walvis Bay, Namibia | Cotonou, Benin | Lome, Togo | Tema, Ghana | Dakar, Senegal | Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands | Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands and Casablanca, Morocco.  We disembarked in Durban to spend three days on photo-safari at Simbavati River Lodge in the Timbavati game preserve near Kruger.  After that we rejoined the Ocean Princess in Cape Town.  This cruise was a really good introduction to Africa for us as we were able to visit places we would never have gone on our own.  It was just DH and myself.


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## optimist (Nov 18, 2012)

Did you find it was was enough time to see each place? Did they give you more than just an overnight?
This sounds like an amazing cruise...


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## Judy (Nov 18, 2012)

We had two overnights in Cape Town.  The rest of the port calls were only one day.  For most of the places, that was enough.  It was an amazing cruise, but there were some places where I would have liked to have spent more time.  Such is the nature of a cruise.  It's a good way to find out where you'd like to return (and where you wouldn't), but doesn't allow enough time to see any one place in depth.


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## zora (Dec 6, 2012)

It sounds great. What time of year did you go and how long was the cruise?


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## Judy (Dec 6, 2012)

zora said:


> It sounds great. What time of year did you go and how long was the cruise?


We went in the spring.  The cruise was 58 days. It's possible to book only the Singapore to Cape Town or Cape Town to Dover portion for a shorter cruise.  The Ocean Princess has been doing this itinerary in the spring and fall every other year. She's scheduled to do it again in 2014.  In 2013 she'll make the voyage from/to Asia through the Suez Canal, instead of around Africa.


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## MuranoJo (Dec 7, 2012)

Wow, a 58-day cruise around Africa!  Amazing.   I've been toying with a longer cruise now that I took early retirement, so this is all so interesting.


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## Judy (Dec 7, 2012)

muranojo said:


> Wow, a 58-day cruise around Africa!  Amazing.   I've been toying with a longer cruise now that I took early retirement, so this is all so interesting.


This was our first long cruise.  We  were afraid that we'd be bored on so many sea days, but we weren't.  The sea days on a long cruise are much different (at least on Princess) than on a short cruise. Even on the small ship there was plenty to do.


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## buceo (Jan 23, 2013)

Our first trip to S Africa will be this fall, we bought tickets.  RT from Washington DC, $1,250.  I thought that was great.  We'll stay quite a while at Sodwana Bay Lodge (NE Coast, way to the north) which has timeshares with little availability (few units) so we rented there.  Really looking forward to diving, hoping to see nudibranchs and not see great whites.  Probably also a multi-day trip in Kruger. But first a winter trip to Cancun, life is good.


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## rhonda (Jan 24, 2013)

buceo said:


> Probably also a multi-day trip in Kruger.


We are just wrapping up a week at Burchells Bush Lodge located right at the Paul Kruger gate to KNP.  It has been an awesome stay!  Today, our last day in the park, we had 20 minutes alone with a pack of hyena (we got in right at opening and beat the tour trucks to the sighting), saw cheetah, leopard, water buffalo, many giraffe, many elephant (some too closely!), many rhino, water buffalo, tarantula, tortoise, warthog, and so much more.  We did five days of self guided driving with a break in the middle.  On the break day, we slept in, enjoyed the resort grounds and joined a night game drive operated by the park itself.  Indescribably wonderful all the way around!

I hope this is our "first trip" to South Africa with more to come!


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