ABD- South Africa trip luggage advice

[sikzviewz]

Hello!

I have a question about which luggage is optimal for check in. We have booked our trip for summer 2025 and are so excited!

I am reading internal airlines prefer soft luggage / duffle, however Johannesburg airport may not accept duffles without a hard bottom? Then that is contradicted and many have not had an issue. I reviewed ABD FAQ and doesn't necessarily say one way or the other, beside the weight and size.

For anyone whom has been, do you mind sharing if I need to buy anything specific ?

Thank you!

 

[Poohlie]

Hello!

I have a question about which luggage is optimal for check in. We have booked our trip for summer 2025 and are so excited!

I am reading internal airlines prefer soft luggage / duffle, however Johannesburg airport may not accept duffles without a hard bottom? Then that is contradicted and many have not had an issue. I reviewed ABD FAQ and doesn't necessarily say one way or the other, beside the weight and size.

For anyone whom has been, do you mind sharing if I need to buy anything specific ?

Thank you!

We were on the SA trip in August and used regular sets of hard-sided large and carry on rollers (one set was Away, 2 were iFly sets). I will say that Jburg security was really thorough and many people had to open their carry ons for inspection. I had to open my carry on because I had a lot of charging cords and they wanted to look at them.

This is an amazing trip!!

ETA: FYI all the internal flights on this ABD were regular jets (not the small planes which are common for safari camps) which is why we were able to bring regular hard-sided luggage.

 

[sikzviewz]

We were on the SA trip in August and used regular sets of hard-sided large and carry on rollers (one set was Away, 2 were iFly sets). I will say that Jburg security was really thorough and many people had to open their carry ons for inspection. I had to open my carry on because I had a lot of charging cords and they wanted to look at them.

This is an amazing trip!!

Hi Poohlie
Thank you so much! We are so excited , August is when we are going as well
Appreciate the reply as I was confused if I should purchase soft sided luggage. I have the same luggage you mentioned and that's what I'll stick to.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have been to South Africa twice but on abd. We take soft sided duffle roller carry on size and one extra soft bag that attaches to the roller. But the duffle has a hard bottom. There was no problem at all getting it on the smaller planes to reach our safari camps. And no problem getting thru security

 

[disruptor32]

We were on the SA trip in August and used regular sets of hard-sided large and carry on rollers (one set was Away, 2 were iFly sets). I will say that Jburg security was really thorough and many people had to open their carry ons for inspection. I had to open my carry on because I had a lot of charging cords and they wanted to look at them.

This is an amazing trip!!

ETA: FYI all the internal flights on this ABD were regular jets (not the small planes which are common for safari camps) which is why we were able to bring regular hard-sided luggage.

Ooooooh good to know! We are going on this trip next week

Any other tips or advice you may have, as someone who was just on this adventure?

 

[Poohlie]

Ooooooh good to know! We are going on this trip next week

Any other tips or advice you may have, as someone who was just on this adventure?

You are going to love it!

I was going to recommend the tip thread from July but realized you started it lol! It was so helpful for me as I am also an “anxious overplanner” so thank you!

I’ll take a look at that thread again to see if I can add any tips but in the meantime do you have any specific questions?

What day are you arriving and what day does the ABD start? We arrived late Saturday and the first day of the ABD was Monday but no activities were planned other than meeting the guides. If you are looking for activities for your pre-day/days, we emailed the concierge and booked an all day private wine region tour on Sunday and a private food tour with Cape Town Culinary Tours on Monday. The food tour was booked through the concierge but you can also book direct. I highly recommend both. If you do the food tour, request to make a stop in the spice shop in the Bo-Kaap district for some great souvenirs.

 

[disruptor32]

You are going to love it!

I was going to recommend the tip thread from July but realized you started it lol! It was so helpful for me as I am also an “anxious overplanner” so thank you!

I’ll take a look at that thread again to see if I can add any tips but in the meantime do you have any specific questions?

In the meantime, what day are you arriving and what day does the ABD start? We arrived late Saturday and the first day of the ABD was Monday but no activities were planned other than meeting the guides. If you are looking for activities for your pre-day/days, we emailed the concierge and booked an all day private wine region tour on Sunday and a private food tour with Cape Town Culinary Tours on Monday. The food tour was booked through the concierge but you can also book direct. I highly recommend both. If you do the food tour, request to make a stop in the spice shop in the Bo-Kaap district for some great souvenirs.

Nice, thank you!

I think we have the same schedule - we are arriving late Saturday and Monday is the first day but no activities. We did not book anything for Sunday or Monday and I think we are just going to wing it. My mother wants to see the aquarium and I want to go to a brewery nearby. We may also go to the beach, or maybe just hang out at the hotel pool.

Speaking of which, any tips for Table Bay Hotel? For plug adapters we have 1 type M and 1 type G. Did you have any issues charging your electronics in the room? Was the room nice? Was the pool nice? Sorry to pepper you with questions!

 

[Poohlie]

Nice, thank you!

I think we have the same schedule - we are arriving late Saturday and Monday is the first day but no activities. We did not book anything for Sunday or Monday and I think we are just going to wing it. My mother wants to see the aquarium and I want to go to a brewery nearby. We may also go to the beach, or maybe just hang out at the hotel pool.

Speaking of which, any tips for Table Bay Hotel? For plug adapters we have 1 type M and 1 type G. Did you have any issues charging your electronics in the room? Was the room nice? Was the pool nice? Sorry to pepper you with questions!

Ask away and I will do my best to remember!

All the hotels were really nice. The breakfast buffet at Table Bay is amazing and the views of Table Mountain from breakfast are spectacular.

We are big pool people but unfortunately Cape Town was too cold for us in mid-August to use the pool and we didn’t even visit it. Hopefully it will be warmer for you. We really enjoyed the pools at Pezula & Kapama though. I second the suggestion in the tip thread to book a spa treatment at Kapama and have lunch by the spa pool (our guides arranged the reservations and time slots). The spa pool overlooks a watering hole and we watched hippos, elephants and giraffes from our loungers. It was unreal!

I just asked my DH about the plug situation. He remembers mostly using the SA M type over the UK G type, but he thinks there were also USB outlets. You might find it handy to have an additional M type. I ordered a pack of 3 Ceptics brand adaptors for $10 from Amazon. Some of the outlets in our room were wonky but there were ultimately enough that worked.

Our favorite OYO meal in Cape Town was at Karibu on the V&A Waterfront, recommended by the hotel concierge.

 

[disruptor32]

Ask away and I will do my best to remember!

All the hotels were really nice. The breakfast buffet at Table Bay is amazing and the views of Table Mountain from breakfast are spectacular.

We are big pool people but unfortunately Cape Town was too cold for us in mid-August to use the pool and we didn’t even visit it. Hopefully it will be warmer for you. We really enjoyed the pools at Pezula & Kapama though. I second the suggestion in the tip thread to book a spa treatment at Kapama and have lunch by the spa pool (our guides arranged the reservations and time slots). The spa pool overlooks a watering hole and we watched hippos, elephants and giraffes from our loungers. It was unreal!

I just asked my DH about the plug situation. He remembers mostly using the SA M type over the UK G type, but he thinks there were also USB outlets. You might find it handy to have an additional M type. I ordered a pack of 3 Ceptics brand adaptors for $10 from Amazon. Some of the outlets in our room were wonky but there were ultimately enough that worked.

Our favorite OYO meal in Cape Town was at Karibu on the V&A Waterfront, recommended by the hotel concierge.

This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much! Karibu looks great, we will definitely check that out. And definitely doing spa treatments at Kapama. I think my wife wants to get a spa treatment at each hotel

 

[Poohlie]

I also got a massage at Pezula so I understand!!

Two tips for your wife:

Stay for the relaxation room after the massage at Pezula - I don’t want to spoil it but the experience is very cool

I chose the Calabash massage at Kapama - they use different size gourds. Sounds weird, but very relaxing and unique.

 

[sikzviewz]

Ask away and I will do my best to remember!

All the hotels were really nice. The breakfast buffet at Table Bay is amazing and the views of Table Mountain from breakfast are spectacular.

We are big pool people but unfortunately Cape Town was too cold for us in mid-August to use the pool and we didn’t even visit it. Hopefully it will be warmer for you. We really enjoyed the pools at Pezula & Kapama though. I second the suggestion in the tip thread to book a spa treatment at Kapama and have lunch by the spa pool (our guides arranged the reservations and time slots). The spa pool overlooks a watering hole and we watched hippos, elephants and giraffes from our loungers. It was unreal!

I just asked my DH about the plug situation. He remembers mostly using the SA M type over the UK G type, but he thinks there were also USB outlets. You might find it handy to have an additional M type. I ordered a pack of 3 Ceptics brand adaptors for $10 from Amazon. Some of the outlets in our room were wonky but there were ultimately enough that worked.

Our favorite OYO meal in Cape Town was at Karibu on the V&A Waterfront, recommended by the hotel concierge.

Thank you so much for all these amazing tips! I was just on amazon looking at the Ceptic adapters and added them to my list I am compiling of things to buy. Hoping Thanksgiving sales coming up can knock some pricing down

We arrive in earlier in the day Sunday, Monday is the arrival/on your own day and Tuesday is the meet up day. I was planning to book Robben Island, aquariums and maybe shop and sleep.

Looking forward to the massages at both places. The hotel in Cape town for our itinerary has changed, it isn't Table Bay, rather the Radison Blu.

Did you by any chance bring binoculars ? Or did they provide?

 

[Poohlie]

Thank you so much for all these amazing tips! I was just on amazon looking at the Ceptic adapters and added them to my list I am compiling of things to buy. Hoping Thanksgiving sales coming up can knock some pricing down

We arrive in earlier in the day Sunday, Monday is the arrival/on your own day and Tuesday is the meet up day. I was planning to book Robben Island, aquariums and maybe shop and sleep.

Looking forward to the massages at both places. The hotel in Cape town for our itinerary has changed, it isn't Table Bay, rather the Radison Blu.

Did you by any chance bring binoculars ? Or did they provide?

I am now sorry that I missed the aquarium!

We didn’t pack binoculars because my husband couldn’t find his compact ones (!) but each safari vehicle had a regular-sized pair to share which worked out fine.

The animals were so close that I only remember using the binoculars a few times - for a leopard up in a tree with a kill, some hyenas under a tree and to look at birds. I am not a birder but the birds in South Africa are so different and beautiful (like Red-billed Hornbills AKA Zazu!)