Elegant Adventure September 2015

susangu

We are going on the South Africa Elegant Adventure on September 25, 2015. We will be in Capetown a few days early and would love to meet fellow travelers and maybe take a tour together. This will be our second Tauck trip. We went to Australia and New Zealand last year and had a fabulous time. Would also like to hear from those who have already taken this trip for suggestions and insights.

iamdavidg

Just got back from this trip yesterday. It was fantastic! I know everyone says this, but it literally was the trip of a lifetime. I went with my brother and it is something we will never forget. Our tour director was Marcia and she was superb. She did not miss a detail, not one and she did it with humor and grace. The one mistake I made was not packing appropriately for the weather. August is dead of winter in South Africa and the morning game runs in Kruger and Sabi Sabi were really cold up until about 9am. I'm talking winter hat, gloves and one of those very lightweight, but super warmth retaining jackets from North Face or Patagonia with a fleece underneath. I packed more for American summer. I only wore shorts two or three times. It will probably be much warmer in September, but just a heads up. Afternoons were warm to hot. Evenings were cool and those game runs did require a jacket and scarf. Enjoy and soak it all in. Tauck has thought of everything. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have. Oh, bring adapters to charge your electronics. Zimbabwe uses different voltage than South Africa but the Victoria Falls hotel has outlets in the rooms that use the South Africa adapters. I brought both because I didn't know.

British

All the tips for the cold mornings were right here on the forum and on the tour page packing guide along with temperatures! Yes wonderful tour!

iamdavidg

I believe the material from Tauck suggested a light jacket and I offered my experience having just been on the trip. I did not need to be corrected, nor did my suggestion need to be clarified. Must you chime in when anyone offers information that is solicited? It makes it very unpleasant to post.

British

I was trying to be helpful for future readers the topics are often hard to find.

supersecdd

iamdavidg wrote:

Just got back from this trip yesterday. It was fantastic! I know everyone says this, but it literally was the trip of a lifetime. I went with my brother and it is something we will never forget. Our tour director was Marcia and she was superb. She did not miss a detail, not one and she did it with humor and grace. The one mistake I made was not packing appropriately for the weather. August is dead of winter in South Africa and the morning game runs in Kruger and Sabi Sabi were really cold up until about 9am. I'm talking winter hat, gloves and one of those very lightweight, but super warmth retaining jackets from North Face or Patagonia with a fleece underneath. I packed more for American summer. I only wore shorts two or three times. It will probably be much warmer in September, but just a heads up. Afternoons were warm to hot. Evenings were cool and those game runs did require a jacket and scarf. Enjoy and soak it all in. Tauck has thought of everything. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have. Oh, bring adapters to charge your electronics. Zimbabwe uses different voltage than South Africa but the Victoria Falls hotel has outlets in the rooms that use the South Africa adapters. I brought both because I didn't know.

iamdavidg - You were very helpful. Did you swim in the afternoon? When you wore shorts in the afternoon, did you have to spray your legs with bug spray or is that only done when on an actual safari, in the bush?

LarryC

I would echo iamdavidg's remarks. We all checked Tauck's comments about dressing for game drives and we all kept constant Internet contact with weather reports in all areas visited. Nonetheless, the 6:30 am game drives were very cold during the first hour, made more so by riding in an open moving vehicle (each seat tier is elevated for viewing, but it means no windbreak). Each safari vehicle has a thick blanket and water bottle which we all used for warming. Later in the days it may hit the mid-80's, so dress in layers. For the morning game drives, I wore a polypropylene long sleeved thermal layer under my long-sleeved safari shirt and a windbreaker over that. When we came back for breakfast at 9:00 am, I just removed the undershirt and jacket and was very comfortable the rest of the day.

During the African winter (our summer), insects were hardly seen. We had all sprayed our safari clothing with pyrethin before leaving the US and used either picardin or DEET as repellants. We all took Malaria preventative meds. The lack of insects allowed us to wear shorts and short sleeved shirts during the day at the lodge. Back to long sleeves during evening game drives because you'll return when it's dark and cooling. If you are sun-sensitive, like my wife and I, wear long sleeved clothing almost the entire trip. Those who didn't got some bad sunburns. The safari/hiking shirts are vented and were never too hot.

There are plenty of pools for swimming, including your room pool at Lion Sands, but none are heated. Due to the cold nights, the pool temps were very cold and even the hardy travelers jumped out after a minute. Leave the swim trunks at home in September.

Same day laundry service is available at almost all locations you will stay at. We took too many clothes.

This SA Elegant Adventure is a trip of a lifetime. You will be glad you visited two cities in addition to the game parks.

susangu

Thanks for the replies to my post and the helpful information. Less than three weeks till we leave!!

Paula and Lawrence

Hi SusanGu, My husband and I are arriving in Cape Town on Sept. 21st. We have a few plans but would love to meet you for a tour a cup of coffee or a glass of wine on Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday before the trip starts. This will be our 4 Tauck tour and our second trip to SA and Zimbabwe (not with Tauck). --Paula