I'm getting ready to book my flight for next year to Namibia and Zimbabwe. This time I'm taking my wife with me. She's a non-hunter, so I'd like her to see a few sights.

Got a few questions:
1) Since we are flying through Capetown, is it worth stopping a couple of days there? What is there to do/see there?

2) Is there a flight directly from Capetown to Windhoek? Do you have to go through Joberg?

3) Is there a flight directly from Windhoek to Vic Falls? Or do you have to go through Joberg?

4) Last year I stayed at the Ultimate Guest Lodge (since renamed to Selous?) in Vic Falls. Is there a nicer place to stay without spending an arm and a leg?

TIA,

Jeff

Jeff,

It is DEFINITELY worth spending a few days in Cape Town. I just moved back to the US from Cape Town and I love it there.

Some things you must do:

1.) Take the cable car up Table Mountain
2.) Go tour the castle
3.) Go on a tour through the winelands, and especially spend time in Stellenbosch, walking down Dorp Street
4.) Drive around Chapman's Peak and Hout Bay
5.) See everything you can..it's beautiful there.!!

We had a day and a half in Cape at the end of our trip and had a great time, waterfront is a terriffic stroll around area. We flew Atlanta to CT, then direct to Windhoek. Bob

Jeff, take a look at www.zanzee.com ! The site belongs to a friend of mine. (By the way, when you look at the site, you might think that he is queer, he is not !!!!)

Yes, there are dircet flights from CT to Windhoek and from Windhoek to Vic-Falls. CT-Whk either Air Namibia or SAA. Whk to Vicfalls only Air-Nam.

I would advise you to spend at least two full days in CT.
Windhoek only needs one day to see what's worth looking at.

Vicfalls has a few good places. Try to get something on the banks of the zambezi and when its full moon, cover yourself with mud and dance around the fire. The Nyami-Nyami (River-god) will step out of the river and the locals will confirm their thoughts about tourists!

Jeff,
Capetown is worth a stop. The scenery is some of the best I've seen. Dramatic Table mountain and the bay together are impressive.

Kyler

Please have a look at

www.kapstadt.de/lemberg
Hunting one hour from Cape Town

My wife & I spent 3 days at the end of our Africa trip in '97 in Capetown, and we wish we had stayed at least 5 days when it was all said & done!

(Click on the bold lettered words as I have provided links with them).

We stayed at a very nice B&B at the base of Table Mountain but I will have to find our scrapbook to give you its name. We were treated extremely well by our hosts and I would highly recommend them. We rented a car (arranged before leaving the states by our travel agent).

Day 1 we went up the coast (north) from Capetown and visited the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. Although it was early August, it was spring down there. My wife loves taking pics of flowers so she enjoyed this. We drove as far as Yzerfontein which is a beach resort and ate at a very nice seafood restaurant before driving back to Capetown.

That evening we visited the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront which for those of you familiar with Houston, was like the Galleria but on the wharf. Many great stores and eating places on the water.

Day 2 we went into the Wine Country - ah, Paarl, Stellenbosch, and Franschhoek! Amazing mountain scenery and centuries old vineyards- you'll never believe you are in Africa when you are eating a great trout lunch overlooking a beautiful valley in the mountains in Franschhoek! Don't forget to take the wine tours, of course, and visit the Hougenot Museum, it is well worth it with beautiful gardens as well.

Day 3 we drove down to the Cape of Good Hope, with a twisty curvy road reminiscent of Hwy 1 on the West Coast of U.S.

We passed through many towns, with nice beaches and great seafood restaurantes overlooking the water, such as Houte Bay. At the actual Cape of Good Hope, take your hiking boots as it is an uphill climb (or you can choose to take the gondola up and down) but don't take food with you or you will find yourself being followed by baboons who are not afraid of intimidating you into giving your snacks up to them! Standing on the peninsula dividing the Atlantic and Indian Ocean gives you a sense of the bravery of the sailors of old- those waters are not calm!

Since we had a late afternoon flight on the 4th day, we went back to one of the small towns, Camps Bay, and had champagne on the beach after a seafood lunch to commemorate our great trip to Africa.

We did not actually go up Table Mountain which we would have done if we had more time.

Would I go back to Capetown- absolutely, in a heartbeat!

Due to the "problems" Zimbabwe is having, you might find that the lodging at the Vic. Falls Hotel might be in your price range. I have heard that tourism is much lower than what it should be. Vic Falls was one of the highlights of our trip as well. We stayed at the Block Hotel which was about 30 min. out of Vic Falls by shuttle.

Here are other sites with good attractions in and around Capetown: Capetown attractions and another Capetown site

Hope this helps,

Joe

in Houston

Hey Jeff!

Heres a couple of ideas...

1) Since we are flying through Capetown, is it worth stopping a couple of days there? What is there to do/see there?

Definitely worth stopping there for a day or three! Plenty to do, lots of good restaurants & guest houses(if you dont feel the urge to stay in a hotel) and generally so much to do that you will have to carefully pick and choose what you want to do while you are there!

All of the things mentioned in jrslates reply, although if you are in good shape I would say take a daypack and hike up Table Mountain and take the cable car down. Throw stones at the baboons!!!

A lot depends on your own interests. There is a heaps of historical stuff in Cape Town, the castle, the museums and stuff are great, but if you are more active and like the natural kind of stuff then you could go out on a boat for a day and look for White Sharks - cage dive with them, photograph them from the boat etc. Just make sure you dont book onto a boat that takes more than 12 people on the boat. Otherwise it turns into a circus.

A good option would be to look into a Peninsula Tour with a good local operator. Its a full day, but it will take you through a good number of the highlights to be found in that part of the world. The tours usually take you through the Chapmans peak pass, into the Cape of Good Hope Nature reserve - where you might get to see Bontebok in their natural habitat, you have lunch either as a picnic or if the weather is not so great then at a restaurant along the way. Then you carry on with your trip down to check out the penguin colony & maybe on to the Naval town Simonstown and finish off with a section through the fishing villages of Kalk Bay and finally through St. James & Muizenberg. Its a good trip IMO and saves you having to plan your route to include all of the places of potential interest. The tour will cost around US$100-120 per person, but should include all your entrance fees to the different parks & places you visit + lunch and a good guide.
The Two Oceans aquarium is great.

2) Is there a flight directly from Capetown to Windhoek? Do you have to go through Joberg?

I dont know offhand, but whoever is booking your long haul flights should be able to tell you.

3) Is there a flight directly from Windhoek to Vic Falls? Or do you have to go through Joberg?

There is a direct flight...maybe more than one, but Air Namibia have a direct flight I think 3 times a week.

4) Last year I stayed at the Ultimate Guest Lodge (since renamed to Selous?) in Vic Falls. Is there a nicer place to stay without spending an arm and a leg?

If you had a good time at Ultimate - and the ownership/management has not changed...stick with what you know. If you are looking for an alternative and nothing comes up here PM me and I will ask around - I have quite a few friends in Vic Falls who will have their finger on the pulse. If you do choose to PM me, please tell me what you like, what your budget is and when you plan to be there and I will help you out if I can.

If you can aford the time to stay in CT for a couple of days or more I would almost guarantee that you would not regret the decision.

Have Fun!

Andy

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I will check them out.


Jeff

If you go to Vic Falls stay away from the Kingdom Hotel. Do not trust any in room safes while in Africa. F.Y.I.