South Africa - 8/1

[deckes]

Is anyone else going on the South Africa trip on 8/1?

 

[tiggrbaby]

Is anyone else going on the South Africa trip on 8/1?

YES! My sister and I have been sooo excited for this trip! I had started a thread months ago, but no one responded.

I am a 52 yo Disney lover, and my sister is younger and very tolerant of my obsession. She has dreamed of going on a real safari (we've done the AKL CL ones twice) and was willing to do the Disney one.

Are you getting in early? We arrive on 7/31. I already booked the Robben's Island tour on 8/1 at 11:00A (thanks, Renee aka forever a princess!). We are leaving when the tour is over; at that point I will have been away from my family long enough.

What are you most looking forward to? I am really excited about seeing the penguins and, of course, the safaris.

I see that you are from NY; we are from NJ. We are flying out of JFK on Southafrica Air.

 

[deckes]

Hello! I was thrilled to see that someone had replied. My husband and I are going with our two children (daughter almost 13 and son almost 10). We are so excited!! We are both turning 40 that week and wanted to be somewhere interesting for our birthdays. We are flying from JFK on SAA on 7/30 at 11:15 am and returning on SAA on 8/12 at 8PM. We are from NY and actually live near Sussex, NJ.

It is great that you and your sister are having a girls' getaway (you are going to have a blast!)!

I am really looking forward to seeing the penguins and the safari. The penguins look hilarious on You Tube. I am going to follow your lead and book Robben Island in advance. The aquarium sounds great too. Of course, my daughter is thrilled that there is lots of shopping to do there... By the sounds of the blogs that are online, we are going to have a great time.

We just got our backpacks from our travel agent which made it more real that we are actually going. It is hard to believe that it is only 4 weeks away!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Hello! I was thrilled to see that someone had replied. My husband and I are going with our two children (daughter almost 13 and son almost 10). We are so excited!! We are both turning 40 that week and wanted to be somewhere interesting for our birthdays. We are flying from JFK on SAA on 7/30 at 11:15 am and returning on SAA on 8/12 at 8PM. We are from NY and actually live near Sussex, NJ.

It is great that you and your sister are having a girls' getaway (you are going to have a blast!)!

I am really looking forward to seeing the penguins and the safari. The penguins look hilarious on You Tube. I am going to follow your lead and book Robben Island in advance. The aquarium sounds great too. Of course, my daughter is thrilled that there is lots of shopping to do there... By the sounds of the blogs that are online, we are going to have a great time.

We just got our backpacks from our travel agent which made it more real that we are actually going. It is hard to believe that it is only 4 weeks away!

I think that we may be on the same flight! How funny!

What a great way to spend your birthdays! I'm sure Disney will work some magic for you.

We are also thinking about doing the aquarium. My sister loves animals, and that's something different from what Disney is offering. I think the Robben Island tour had several different times available. We picked that time as we thought it would work in case we decided to either sleep in or needed an afternoon nap while we were adjusting to the time change.

I waited until my sister could come over to open the box; it does make it more exciting, doesn't it?

Your children sound like the perfect age for this sort of trip. I found that my boys tolerated being away from home for two weeks better at that age than they did when they were older. And this is really a trip of a lifetime!

 

[abbyjt]

I don't want to steer you wrong, but we just walked up to the ticket counter for both Robben Island and the aquarium and bought tickets. It's winter, so not as crowded. However, there may be a lot more tourists this winter because of the world cup.
Have a fab time. I'm happy to answer any questions. I have a trip report posted on the first thread.

 

[tiggrbaby]

I don't want to steer you wrong, but we just walked up to the ticket counter for both Robben Island and the aquarium and bought tickets. It's winter, so not as crowded. However, there may be a lot more tourists this winter because of the world cup.
Have a fab time. I'm happy to answer any questions. I have a trip report posted on the first thread.

I remember reading your report! I will have to go back and read it again!

Questions: Will my laptop be safe in the room, or should I reconsider bringing it? I like to download my pics every night.

Do the hotels have all the toiletries? I know I've been some places that only have soap, not shampoo.

 

[abbyjt]

Hi Tiggrbaby,
I'm pretty sure each hotel had a safe in the room, but check the websites to be sure. I don't recall if they would fit a laptop. The hotels are safe, but they are hotels and I would lock up any valuables and passports whenever possible on a trip.
The hotels did have nice toiletries. I think only Kapama (the safari hotel) didn't have conditioner. The other hotels had everything.

 

[Forever a Princess]

Hi there! Just stopped by to say Hello!

We went in March 2010. We tried to go to Robben Island on the Sunday that we got there. When we walked up to the ticket booth they were sold out until Tuesday. I would highly suggest buying your tickets before you go.

Your laptop will fit in the safe in each hotel of the trip.

South Africa Airlines is awesome! It is the best airline that we have flown on. The wine is complimentary (when we were flying SAA while in SA. Don't know about the trip over or back).

You are in for a wonderful trip. Have a great time!!!

 

[deckes]

I cannot thank both of you enough for your trip reports. I have referred to them many times and have them on My Favorites. Thank you so much for taking the time to do them - just reading your posts got us so excited for our upcoming trip.

One question I had if you wouldn't mind answering was whether there was a need for dressier clothes at all. I read that it is mostly casual but wanted to make sure.

Thanks!!!!!

 

[Forever a Princess]

I cannot thank both of you enough for your trip reports. I have referred to them many times and have them on My Favorites. Thank you so much for taking the time to do them - just reading your posts got us so excited for our upcoming trip.

One question I had if you wouldn't mind answering was whether there was a need for dressier clothes at all. I read that it is mostly casual but wanted to make sure.

Thanks!!!!!

You're Welcome!!!!

No you do not need to bring dressier clothes. I brought a couple of skirts and wore them a couple of times-but the nights that I wore them jeans or would of been fine.

:

 

[abbyjt]

ditto on the no dressy clothes necessary. I brought a nice pair of dress slacks and a nice blazer ( I sound like my mother) and I did wear them on a night on our own when we went to Nobu in Capetown, but they really weren't necessary. All the Disney nights are casual.
Do bring warm clothes for the game drives. A hat and scarf and pair of gloves will be appreciated when you are there. Also a couple of layers. I'm always cold, but I remember wearing my pj's under my clothes for the game drives just to keep from freezing in the early morning. I also wore like 2 or 3 shirts, a pullover fleece, a sweater and a zip up fleece (all at the same time). We had unusually cold weather. If you have watched the world cup, you have seen that everyone is wearing coats.
Have a great trip.

 

[campbyers]

You will love this trip! We went over Christmas this year and it was fabulous! I hope you have the same guides Craig and Dusty - they are amazing! Our children are the same age as yours and loved every minute! My daughter especially loved the aquarium! We didn't do the Robbens Island tour because we had heard it might be a little too intense for the kids. Some on our trip did go and had horrible weather on the boat coming back! But that is probably the exception!

It was cool in the summer, so I can imagine you will need extra layers.

Also, I thought the air travel during the trip might be a problem, but it wasn't at all. We were delayed at one point at the airport and Dusty and Craig had all the kids entertained. And when we were then late to catch the connecting flight and we thought we would miss it- Dusty tells us, "the magic of the mouse......."


Enjoy and take Lots of pictures!

 

[Forever a Princess]

You guys are getting so close. Have a great trip!!!!