It may not be entirely appropriate to post this inquiry in a hunting forum, but I know many here have extensive experience in South Africa.

My cousin and her daughter have purchased a 6-day stay at the Zulu Nyala Game Lodge at a charity auction. This is a photographic safari in August, 2010. It's one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but has since become a little more complicated. They will fly into Richard's Bay from Jo'berg and must get to the lodge from there. They have the alternative of renting a car and driving to the lodge or arranging with the lodge to pick them up. The same goes for some side trips they have planned to Hluhluwe Park and St. Lucia Lake. There is significant additional cost to hiring transport and guide services from the lodge rather than driving themselves. Neither has been to South Africa before nor had experience driving on the opposite side of the road from what they are use to in the US. So the question is: Is it reasonable and safe for two women to rent a car for the trip to the lodge and the planned side trips or would it be more prudent to incur the additional expense of having the lodge transport them? "Official" web sites indicate that driving themselves will be no problem, but my cousin is skeptical.

We thank you for whatever advice you can provide.

Dave

Dave,
If it were my family I would discourage them from driving anywhere in SA. A PH friend of mine was in a bad accident in Zululand a few months ago and he was the only survivor in either car. Jim

Absolutely no problem at all for them to drive themselves on those routes.

I know that entire area including Zulu Nyala very well indeed. The roads are good and assuming they observe the usual rules of safe driving they'll be as safe as most other places.....

FWIW, I've been driving those areas for 30 years and never come close to having an accident and in all that time have only seen a handful of accidents on those roads and most of those few I have seen could have been avoided with a bit of defensive driving.

All that said, there is another alternative. If they have a hire car, it'll sit unused for a large part of the time they're at Zulu Nyala. Why not have a private company collect them for the journey to/from Zulu Nyala and if they want to do other trips out to places like Hluhluwe, have a local guide from Pongola or nearby collect them and take them out for the days they want.

Two places they should see are Duma Zulu and the game capture unit in Hluhluwe.

Feel free to contact me if you need to contact reliable people.

The Lodge is beautifully situated, and the game viewing can be breath taking.

Thank you everyone, especially Shakari! I'll forward this information to my cousin. Any additional comments will be appreciated, also.

Dave

I am not familar with the area that you will be in, but last fall a friend and I rented a car and drove from Mokopane into Kruger and back. We had a great time and had no problems. Just a couple of notes from our trip... 1) You will be driving on the opposite side of the road from the US 2) Get familar with a manual transmission 3) They use radar to check your speed but instead of pulling you over in their car they jump in front of your car to stop you. They are setup on the sides of the road and in the medians 4) Even on the highways the cattle are free to roam. You'll be going 60 kph and a cow is right in front of you, just like the traffic cop 5) If your route take you through tribal land be patient, the speed limits we had in these areas were aboout 30 mph and we went through about 100 miles of this.

A small correction in as much as speed limits and car speedos are in KPH not MPH.

I'll also add the the routes mentioned are all good, large tarred roads.

don't forget they drive on the wrong side of the road over there. I did the exact trip about 20 some odd years ago. richards bay is only a little down the road from trevors place (shot a nice nyala there then) the other thing is to take a day and go to umfalozi (spelled wrong) its a much larger park but few roads than is hluhluwe, and you will see game there that you won't at hluhluwe, and far fewer people. just that driving on the wrong side of the road gets people to wave at you, one finger at a time

You might drive on the right side of the road but we drive on the correct side..... therefore logic decrees you must also drive in the wrong side.

If it were me, i would let them pick me up and return me to airport. I thought the extra charges were well worth the cost. Usually the trip was bought cheap at auction so it is worth it. They will take you to all the side trips in style with no problems for you. Be sure and go to Phinda,probably the most expensive trip but worth every dime. If you like i can send you a lot of pictures.

We are actually scheduled to be there starting on 7/26/10. I'll hopefully be able to give you some pretty up to date info on the operation if you are interested.
We have a group of 6 going so the rate for them to pick us up at the airport was pretty reasonable (it is 1 fee that covers something like up to 8 people).

Did this drive about a month ago in the van from the lodge. It would "probably" be safe. Good roads, not much traffic, but--------

Having lived in the East Bay area of Ca for approx 18 motnhs I found it not too difficult to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road from what I was used to.

Tell your cousin it is quite easy. The only problems I had were at intersections when I had to really concentrate on which lane to turn into. Sometimes I found myself facing on coming traffic if I mentally 'switched off'.

They will have no problems driving in SA and car hire is quite cheap compared to other countrys. Traffic volumne won't be very much either down there.

Driving on the left side gives me vertigo especially making a right hand turn. The pay off to transporting yourself though is well worth any small inconvenience as you are free to stop and check things out, snap a few photos all without giving the driver the red ass! In addition you learn your way around much faster, yet again get lost like I did.. Traffic in SA to me is kind of like SF and the out skirts seem to always be light. I think someone else mentioned Duma Zulu, it would be right close to sinful not to go! Breathtaking at the very least..

I've done a lot of LH driving over the years, in the UK, the Bahamas, Kenya and a few other spots. Did a lot in the UK.

Initially, the problem I had was not action, but reaction. You are imbued with right hand driving habits and you often look the wrong way at an intersection, and in an emergency, you'll usually revert to your habitual patterns.

If they drive, have them take it slow and easy. They'll be shifting with the left had, as well. It can take a lot of getting used to.

You haven't actually said what the quoted transport costs were.... perhaps if you could either tell us that (or PM me if you prefer) I can tell you if the prices are reasonable or not.

It's a fair trot from Richards Bay to Duma Zulu.

If they do drive, they should be able to opt for an auto transmission at no extra cost.

Loneduck, I live here in KZN so I'll chip in my 10 cents (South African). Hiring a car and driving is no problem, but I would add the following caution: Hire a vehicle with decent tyres/rims, not the smallest, cheapest Korean runabout meant for city driving. If you hit a pothole (plentiful) that could mean a whole lot of trouble (no pun intended). My cousins from the UK were here recently and hired a vehicle and drove all over Zululand. Just remember the basics: Don't drive around after dark, keep the doors locked, don't give lifts to any strangers and make sure somebody knows where you are going to and what time you should arrive. Buy a local card for your mobile phone. These are precautions that anyone would take when visiting a less than 1st world country. Most of all ENJOY THE TRIP!!!
JCHB

This is the info I was given:

Transfer rates are as follows:
(There will always be someone to meet and great you)

Amount quoted in South Africa Rand
(One way Transfer)
Richard Bay to Zulu Nyala: R1400 (2-4 people), R1900 (6 people), R2300 (8 people) R2600 (10 people), R2720 (12 people)

Durban to Zulu Nyala: R3200 (2-4), R3200 (6 people), R3980 (8 people), R3980 (10 people), R3980 (12 people)

Johannesburg to Zulu Nyala: R6400 (2-12 people flat)

quote:

Originally posted by wildfowl:
This is the info I was given:

Transfer rates are as follows:
(There will always be someone to meet and great you)

Amount quoted in South Africa Rand
(One way Transfer)
Richard Bay to Zulu Nyala: R1400 (2-4 people), R1900 (6 people), R2300 (8 people) R2600 (10 people), R2720 (12 people)

Durban to Zulu Nyala: R3200 (2-4), R3200 (6 people), R3980 (8 people), R3980 (10 people), R3980 (12 people)

Johannesburg to Zulu Nyala: R6400 (2-12 people flat)

I reckon the price from Richards Bay to Zulu Nyala is about right and certainly cheaper than it'll be to hire a car for the week and put fuel in it.

Duma Zulu cultural centre is about halfway between the two so I'd expect the price for that to be in the region of half the price of the airport pick up.

Looking at those prices, I'd say it's not worth the trouble of hiring a car and better to have Zulu Nyala supply the transport as and when required.

FWIW, there's a lot to do and see in that area and if they have the time and money, they might like to extend their stay to make the most of the cost of the flight. Feel free to let me know if they need ideas.

All that said, even if they never set foot outside Zulu Nyala until they go home, they'll have a helluva good time.

african roads are 2 lane/5 lane. that is to say normally it is a 2 lane road, but if 2 cars meet each other and somebody wants to pass they just do. each car moves out onto the shoulder and the guy passing goes down the middle. now that i think of it i believe i did see steve driving

We drove from the northern Limpopo through the Natal and stayed at Zulu Nyala for a couple nights last year. While there we met a couple ladies from the NE USA who were there on their own. They drove a rented vehicle with no problems.

As has been mentioned, drive during the day, no hitch-hikers and some common sense and you should be fine. Lots & lots of things to do and see in the area. Good luck & enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
now that i think of it i believe i did see steve driving

Most things get out of my way when they see me coming and most of those that don't I drive over the top of!

I had NO problem with Steve's driving I kept my eyes closed so I would not see the scene of the accident

Thank you everyone for all the information and advice. I will send my cousin an email with a link to this thread and I'm sure it will help her make a decision.

The AR forums are amazing!!

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Loneduck:

The AR forums are amazing!!

Dave

Ain't that the truth.

We all have a lot to thank Saeed for!

I sometimes wonder if he had any idea how big it would grow when he first launched it.

NOW Steve can hear the crash too

There is nothing to be afraid off driving in Kwa Zulu Natal - especialy up there in the remote areas, just be alert, watch out for animals - and leave the road rage at home, You’re in Africa on African time chill out stick to the speed limit and enjoy the ride...

BTW - Get the biggest truck at the airport, make sure its air-conditioned and ask for an Auto - yes they do have sometimes.

Keep your valuables locked up and out of site, don’t drive around with a video camera or handbag on your lap if you are a passenger, you would be surprised it can fly out the side window...

Thought I would post up that the prices quoted were correct for the transfers. They were by a mini-bus that was comfortable and all our luggage was handled lightly and stored in the bus with us. We were at Zulu Nyala from 7/25 to 7/31.
It is a longish drive from the airport at Richard's Bay if you are not familiar with the roads, but I think with a decent map, it would not be that difficult.
One thing we did too was ask the driver when we left the airport to stop at a grocery store where we bought a couple of bottles of wine and bottled water to keep in the room so we saved a little money from paying the lodge prices (which were not out of line, either). The store we stopped at was in an upscale mall and we felt safe there.