TravelSpark Blog - Travel Tips and Resources for Southern Africa

New Airport for Durban

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:31:00 +0000

On 01 May 2010 the Durban's new King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) becomes operational for all Durban-bound air travel. The existing Durban International Airport will be decommissioned; although it may be used for a temporary period during the Soccer World Cup event if required. All flights into Durban up to and including Friday 30 April 2010 will operate from the current airport. From 01 May 2010, all flights will officially operate out of the new airport which is located approximately 35 kilometers north of the city centre.

Travelers will need to factor in extra time to get to and from the new KSIA and bear in mind that if you are travelling in one direction before 30 April and back after 01 May, that you may need a shuttle between the two airports.

Exit Row Seats on Kenya Airways

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:36:00 +0000

I have just returned from a trip to Tanzania. I flew via London connecting on to a Kenya Airways flight from Heathrow to Nairobi with a further connection on Precision Air from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro. I have to say that service on both airlines was good. Kenya Airways operate a 777 on the London route and have a seat back entertainment system in all seats in economy. There are about 8 channels with a good selection of movies. Food was edible and believe it or not you still get a free drink (or two if you are lucky!!). Nothing like a couple of cold Tusker's to kick off an East African safari...

At check in I inquired about the possibility of getting one of the elusive Exit Row seats. It seems that like many other carriers Kenya Airways now sell these seats. The fee is GBP50 each way (works out to be somewhere around $85). I guess this is not too bad considering that it is an 8 1/2 hour flight. However, there did not seem to be too much of an uptake on the offer with a number of Exit row seats remaining unsold (and unoccupied) when the doors closed. This worked to the advantage of those who had strategically seated themselves in aisle seats close to the exit row. As soon as the doors closed these eager travelers sprinted to take their pride of place in one of these coveted positions. So I guess if you are thinking of trying to nab an exit row seat on your next Kenya Airways flight you have two options.......pay your money or take your chances...

SAA and Virgin America Sign Agreement

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:54:00 +0000

SAA and Virgin America have implemented an interline agreement offering seamless travel on the flights of each airline. The agreement will allow connecting passengers to purchase interline tickets for travel between the U.S. and South Africa via their travel agent. Both SAA and Virgin America will transfer baggage between connecting flights and to your final destination. Virgin America flies to New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, Orange County and Las Vegas.

Since its launch in August 2007, Virgin America has captured a list of industry best-in-class awards, including most recently “Best Business/First Class” among domestic airlines in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2009 Business Travel Poll. The airline offers travelers low fares and high-tech features, including touch-screen seatback entertainment, standard power outlets near every seat and Gogo® In-flight Internet on every flight.

Click here to check availability and rates on SAA/Virgin America flights to Africa.

September Migration and Game Report Masai Mara

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Courtsey of Governor's Camp

The weather & the plains:

Whilst Kenya is going through a particularly bad drought this year, the Mara has at least had some relief. We have received localised afternoon rain showers, greening the parched grass that has been grazed and trodden down by the migration. Mostly the Southern and Western part of the Mara has benefitted from the rain, whilst northern areas towards the Aitong hills and beyond still remain fairly dry.

The new green growth has brought all the grazers together in large concentrations and the Musiara Marsh area around us is full of life. At the start of the migration into the Mara, the grass is long and the grazers move more or less in a particular order depending on how they evolved or developed. The bulk grazers (the zebras) and to some degree the wildebeest come in first, eating the larger leafy mass of the grass stem. They are then followed by the topi and gazelles who are more specific about what they eat, preferring the shorter sprigs at the base of the stem. In this way the animals compliment the other species instead of being in competition with each other.

The Marsh has started to fill up, much to the delight of the River frogs, Reed frogs and Guttural Toads who have added to the chorus of night sounds.

The Migration:

This month has seen large concentrations of wildebeest and gazelles mostly in the Musiara area, continuing down the Mara River to Paradise plains and over to look out hill. After some initial indecisiveness and a little rain, large herds of wildebeest have decided to spend considerable amount of time with us.

The Mara River runs North to South from its water shed the Mau Forest into the Serengeti, then deviates West into Lake Victoria which in total is a 395km journey. A large portion of the migration move westward towards the river in search of grazing, even though there is still grass where they have come from there is an unexplainable driving force to cross the river.

The viewing from the balloon has been exceptional this month as their flight path takes in the Mara River, the Olpunyata swamp and the Eluai plains in the Mara triangle. They have had great sightings of the migration, lion, leopard and the occasional rhino.

The main herds of zebras numbering somewhere in the region of 200 000 have remained mostly to the East of the reserve, with scattered herds along the river.

New arrivals:

During September we have been lucky enough to have seen the birth of a variety of species in the Mara. The zebras have their fuzzy brown foals, two topi calves have been seen up at the air strip following their mothers very cautiously, tiny piglets following the mother warthog in a train, tails high in the air and the gazelles who lay low, ears flat in the grass hiding from their predators.

We are still awaiting the ostrich chicks which, often hatch in large numbers as they have communal nests. Some of the eggs have however been targeted this season and eaten by lion and hyena.

There are a few hyena dens out on Paradise plains, one of which the pups have become very accustomed to the vehicle and come right up to investigate, sometimes chewing the tyres to see whether they are edible or not - no punctures yet!

The Cats:

The Marsh pride of lions have been spending their days under the shade of the trees around the Marsh, lying out on the grassed termite mounds or sleeping in the shade of our airplane on the airstrip! They have no need to move very far at all as the wildebeest have been in the area all month. The pride is doing very well and is stable with the two big boys ensuring the territory is safe from other males and the cubs nearing adulthood are secure. The younger members of the pride had an interesting encounter with a porcupine this month. After about half an hour of trying to discover whether the porcupine would make a decent meal the lions gave up and left the terrified porcupine to escape!

The Paradise pride are fat and happy too. With the arrival of 8 new cubs into the pride in August their numbers are increasing rapidly and with plenty of antelope coming down to the crossing area; they seem to be very content. Notch remains with his one son in the paradise pride; the two other sons have moved across the river and have been seen with other lionesses. The remaining two sons are still nomadic and have not been seen with females.

'Shakira' the female Cheetah and her 3 cubs are doing very well. Her cubs almost fully grown (20 months old) are learning very quickly and will soon leave their mother and forge their own way. As the cubs are females they will split after some time and become independent of each other, each having to raise a family alone.

'Malaika' the other female, Kikes daughter is in the area and has been seen less regularly...

The three Cheetah boys have been roaming the plains with their usual confidence as they have a strong coalition. They, like Shakira have to hunt daily as there are more mouths to feed and the success rate is not normally that high.

The mother Leopard 'Olive' out in the Talek river area has been seen most days. She has been bold enough to bring out her cubs which were born mid August from hiding and lead them to various resting and feeding spots along the river.

The young male leopard which has mostly been across the river in August whilst the river was low has been spotted a few times above the Little Governors crossing along the forest. He is a fairly relaxed young chap, posing perfectly on the fallen logs in the forest giving our guests some great sightings.

The leopardess that frequents the river line between the camps has been seen frequently as well as the odd sighting of the rather large male that resides near the rocks past the main crossing point.

We have had a couple of rare sightings of Caracal, once a mother with a cub. The cub was very curious and ran right to the vehicle and then returned to its shyer mother; an incredible sighting.
The Caracal is a smaller, tawny coloured cat with long tufts on its ears resembling a lynx.

Serval cats have been spotted periodically as well, a beautiful animal with extraordinary markings. It has long legs and large elongated ears aiding them in hunting birds and mice in the grass.

Elephants have been travelling longer distances in search of food as the grass has mostly been grazed and plants are less nutritious. We still recognise some of the characters that come through the camps, sometimes spending the whole night if they find a few trees worthy of their attention.
The elephant sightings this month have mostly been matriarchal herds with few bulls moving through the area.

On the whole, it has been an amazing month with the Mara continuing to support huge amounts of wildlife despite the droughts in Kenya.

On the community front we are delighted to announce that water was pumped to Aitong Primary School for the first time ever on the 16th of September. This was done thanks to a new windmill purchased by Mararianda Charitable Trust working in partnership with Governors Camp. We have also built a water distribution system at the school. This is a momentous moment for the school as previously the school had no running water and all water was collected by hand from a spring on site. If you would like to visit or get involved in any of our community projects whilst you are on safari with us then please let us know and we would be happy to arrange this.

TravelSpark.com offers great value safaris at Governors Camp in Kenya's Masai Mara.
Click here to contact us for more information

Lions at Sabi Sand Reserve South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:17:00 +0000

Lazy Lions 1, originally uploaded by TravelSpark.com.

We have uploaded some images taken on a recent Sabi Sand Safari organized by TravelSpark.com. Please check out our flickr page to view these.

Lion Sands Big 5 Game Viewing May 09

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:39:00 +0000

Percentage of Big 5 sightings in the month of May 2009 on game drives on Lion Sands Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sand, South Africa.

Lion - 81%
Leopard - 71%
Buffalo - 100%
Elephant - 100%
Rhino - 100%

Contact Travelspark.com for great value at Lion Sands Game Reserve by clicking here.

The full ecology report from Lion Sands which includes comprehensive details on all aspects of the reserve can be found here.

Delta suspends Cape Town flights

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:17:00 +0000

Delta Air Lines is to suspend its Atlanta-Dakar-Cape Town service. The flights operate from Atlanta with a fuel stop in Dakar, where transfers are available with Delta's New York-Dakar service.

The last service from Atlanta to Dakar and Cape Town will depart from Atlanta on August 28th. The last service from Cape Town to Atlanta, via Dakar will depart on August 29.

Delta will continue to serve Johannesburg in South Africa from both Atlanta and New York.

Passengers affected by the changes will be re-accommodated.

Masai Mara May 2009 Game Viewing Report courtesy of Governors Camp, Kenya

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:41:00 +0000

May brought warm days and rainy evenings typical of this time of year. Early morning temperatures averaged around 18°C but by midday we were basking in 31°C sunshine, in the late afternoons the storm clouds would gather and most evenings brought heavy rain showers. The combination of rain and sunshine has brought on lots of growth in The Musiara Marsh and adjacent grassland areas this in turn supporting lots of resident plains game. The rain in surrounding areas has also caused The Mara River to rise.

There are still good numbers of elephant and calves spread out within the Musiara and Bila Shaka grassland areas, with good grass available these elephant are not frequenting the woodlands as often. These families of elephant often make their way to the Musiara Marsh to feed and bathe. There are some large males in Musth and a few matings have been seen. During the months of February and March the Warburgia trees in the forest were dropping their fruit. Elephant love these small apple shaped fruit and the fruiting trees drew many elephant into the woodlands and subsequently into the camps to feast. There are a few elephant individuals that we all recognise well from their frequent visits to favourite fruiting trees in camp. There was one large bull in particular who would spend hours moving from fruiting tree to tree in the forest. He would curl his trunk up the tree, then slowly ease his weight against the trunk of the tree and then push against the tree trunk to encourage the fruit to fall. This bull would visit all three camps and many staff members encountered him as he wandered throughout the camps. On the 21st of May he was feeding out in the grasslands and came across another large bull elephant, both males were in Musth and at around lunchtime the two had an almighty fight. Our bull unfortunately sustained fatal internal injuries inflicted by the other bull elephant's tusks (we think the tusk must have pierced his lung / heart area) and he met his end and died near the Bila Shaka riverbed. Vultures were soon on the scene feeding on the carcass.

Giraffe are ever present within the Musiara area, specifically near the Marsh and between the camps; large numbers of them are being seen with many calves in crèches. Both sexes have horns, although the horns of a female are quite a bit smaller. The prominent horns are formed from ossified cartilage or cartilaginous growths, and are called ossicones. The appearance of horns is a reliable method of identifying the sex of giraffes, with the females displaying tufts of hair on the top of the horns, where as males' horns tend to be bald on top - an effect of necking in combat. Males sometimes develop calcium deposits which form bumps on their skull as they age, which can give the appearance of up to three additional horns. An interesting note on the Giraffes circulatory system; in the upper neck, a complex pressure-regulation system called the rete mirabile prevents excess blood flow to the brain when the giraffe lowers its head to drink or browse at grass level.

Within the riverine woodland verges there are good numbers of Defassa Waterbuck, breeding herds of impala with young calves and Olive Baboons. Out on the plains warthog are mating with boars sparring for oestrus females.

Reedbucks (who favour flood plains and drainage areas) are resident in the swamp. Towards the end of the dry season the grasses were dying back making the reedbuck visible and easy prey for cheetah and lion, but the arrival of rain and the growth of the coarse swamp grasses has hidden them away once again from preying eyes!

There are good numbers of eland with young calves on the high plains, there are also some large dominant breeding bulls that flank the periphery of these breeding herds. Topi, with their six month old calves, are resident on the high plains with herds of females congregating in well used lekking areas.

Blue Monkeys (C. mitis) have been seen in the forest around Governors' Camp. One rather confident Blue Monkey has been known to swim across the Mara River from the conservancy side to the reserve. He would sit and wait at the waters edge for up to an hour. Once he was sure the resident Nile Crocodiles had moved away he would jump in to the fast currents and swim strongly to the far bank. Many primates particularly new world primates are quite capable of swimming though it is not common for them to swim great distances.

The large breeding herd of Cape Buffalo estimated at 300 animals are on the northern grassland plains where the grasses are long, in plentiful supply and well suited for a buffalo diet.

The influx of water in the Marsh is attracting new residents and on the 4th of May a 10ft crocodile made its way along a hippo trail from the riverine forest towards the Marsh.

Within the camps and out in the grasslands we see lots of Dwarf and Banded Mongooses who are insectivorous carnivores. Out in the Marsh another more specialised mongoose is resident, the Marsh Mongoose. The Marsh Mongoose is a solitary creature who specialises in aquatic prey. They are most active at night and in the early evening although some activity has been observed during the day. An excellent swimmer, the Marsh Mongoose nonetheless prefers to keep its head above water, frequently resting on patches of grass and floating vegetation. Regular in its habits, this mongoose follows smooth and well-defined paths near the shorelines.

Recently there are good numbers of spotted hyena and their cubs on the high plains. Much of their prey is scavenged from other predators rather than killed by them. Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) form social groups called clans. Clans may be composed of 3 to 80 members. Larger clans generally occur in prime territory with large prey concentrations, such as the Masai Mara, whereas smaller clans occur in drier or desert type areas of northern Kenya and sub Saharan Africa. All females are dominant to all males, and females remain in their natal clan for their entire lives. The spotted hyena is one of the top predators in Africa. However, there are several species which may kill them. In one study 13 of 24 hyaena carcasses found were killed by lions. Hyenas and lions particularly in the Mara/Serengeti ecosystem compete directly for food and often scavenge each other's kills. This competition often leads to antagonistic encounters that may result in death. This was evident this month when on the 8th the six males on paradise plains killed a spotted hyena. On the 25th at Bila Shaka 50 hyena were seen scavenging on the remains of the elephant carcass. We suspect that these hyenas were from two different antagonistic clans, they aggressively harassed one another and this resulted in one hyena dying.

On the feline front the Bila Shaka / Marsh pride have been moving about within their territory. Two females and three 5 month old cubs were close to the riverine woodland and towards the end of the month three members of the pride took up residence close to Governors' Camp and roared loudly on a nightly basis!

The Paradise pride of 7 lionesses, 5 sub adult males and 'Notch' have remained close to the river on the high plains and have had an eventful month. One male has been mating with one of the females. The pride males had an aggressive encounter with a Hyena which they killed on the 8th and the pride has been feeding off Eland, Buffalo and an adult Hippo.

The Ridge pride of 6 lionesses and 9 cubs of varying ages have not moved very much recently hunting mostly down towards the Talek River. There have also been some new arrivals a lioness up on the plains has 2 young cubs that we estimate are three weeks old.

The cheetah of our area of the Mara are also doing well. Shakira and her three ten month-old female cubs are thriving. They occupy a prime territory which has provided them with abundant food and kept them healthy and well fed on Thomson gazelles and reedbuck.

A single female has been hunting close to our airstrip and has also been feeding off Thomson Gazelles and reedbuck.

The three male brother coalition have latterly moved closer to the Marsh. They have been feeding off young topi and warthog, on the 26th they killed a female warthog and had the prey all to themselves as they were not harassed by other predators.

The female cheetah (Serena) and her male and female 16 month-old cubs are resident on the high plains. The female leopard resident in the rocky croton thickets near the Mara River had a surprise this month; she killed a Thomson Gazelle which she dragged up a tree and then ate some of it. She then decided to move the kill, she came down the tree moved into a croton thicket where she was ambushed and robbed of her kill by a spotted hyena, who quickly ran off with his easy meal!

The Young male leopard Kijana of the Musiara Marsh has retreated back into the forest for much of the month; in the last week of this month he was lounging in a fig tree on the edge of the swamp with a reedbuck kill. Back in camp widlflowers cloak the riverbank bushes and frogs in the Marsh croak contentedly late into the night.

TravelSpark.com offers great value safaris at Governors Camp in Kenya's Masai Mara.
Click here to contact us for more information

South Africa World Cup 2010 Tickets

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Phase 2 of 2010 World Cup Ticketing begins on Monday May 4th at 12 Noon Central European Time (5am Eastern Standard Time). During this phase approximately 100,000 tickets will be made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets for all matches will be made available except for the semi-finals and finals. To purchase tickets online log on to the FIFA website. More details regarding World Cup 2010 ticketing can be found here.

Delta to charge for second checked bag

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:52:00 +0000

After reporting that it lost $794 million in the first quarter of 09 Delta Airlines announced that it would begin charging passengers for a second checked bag on all International flights. The charge of $50 for a second checked bag will come into effect on July 1, 2009 and will be charged to passengers who have purchased their tickets on or after 21 April 2009. The airline estimates that this new charge will generate more than $100 million annually. There are a few passengers who will escape the charge (for the moment anyhow !!). These are as follows -

First and Business Class passengers.
SkyMiles and WorldPerks Elite members (Executive/Platinum/Gold, including Flying Colonels).
Active duty military members traveling on orders.
Passengers who purchased tickets prior to April 21, 2009.
Passengers who are confirmed on a Full Y class Economy ticket.

Delta is the first major full service carrier to charge for a second bag when flying internationally from the USA. It is unknown at this point if other full services carriers will follow suit.

Currently Delta offers service from the USA to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, Dakar in Senegal and Lagos in Nigeria. New Delta African routes starting in June 09 are to Abuja in Nigeria, Monrovia in Liberia and Nairobi in Kenya.

Zimbabwe Travel Warning Lifted

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:30:00 +0000

The US State department has lifted its travel advisory that warned US citizens against travel to Zimbabwe. A spokesman for the State Department said that "The political-economic situation is still unpredictable but we lifted the restrictions because there was a return of basic medical, food and fuel services".

The announcement comes a week after Japan lifted travel warnings on Zimbabwe and is expected to generate an influx of tourist arrivals.

Kenya Visa Fee's Reduced by 50%

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Travellers to Kenya will obtain a 50% reduction and under 16’s will go free when obtaining a visa before travel through the High Commission or when landing in Kenya. This 50% reduction and under 16 cut came into operation on 6th April 2009, only a few days later than expected, and will be valid until the end of 2010.

The move is to benefit visitors to Kenya in the long term and make the country even more appealing for the growing family market. The visa cost has been reduced from $50 to $25 andno cost for children under 16, so a family of four (with two children under 16) will now only have to pay $50 for the two adults, offering a massive saving of $150.

South African Airways 2 For 1 Sale.

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:43:00 +0000

South African Airways have launched a two-for-one from gateway airports New York JFK and Washington Dulles. Well, maybe a better name for the sale might be "One person pays a higher fare but the second person pays only for the tax and gas". Basically the deal is as follows, one passenger pays a fare off $1399 + taxes and fuel charges of $373 making a total of $1772. The second passenger pays taxes and fuel charges of $328. So the total cost for the two tickets is $2100. The fare is valid for travel from JFK or Dulles to Johannesburg departing between 23 January 09 and 31 March 09 and also between 1 October 09 and 30 November 09. There is also a version of the fare to Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth for a slightly higher amount. The fare is capacity controlled with only a limited number of seats made available on certain flights, so you will need to be a little flexible with your dates to get this. Tickets must also be purchased and paid for in full at time of booking and the last day to purchase the fare is 31 January 09. For the record if there is just one of you and you can't convince a friend to fly with you, the current rate for one passenger flying from either JFK or Dulles to Johannesburg is $1229 including taxes and fuel charges. This is based on travel between January 23 and March 31. For those traveling between October 1 and November 30 the lowest fare for one individual traveling alone is $1332. Both of these fares are sale fares and are subject to availability.

The Sabi Sand Game Reserve South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:04:00 +0000

The Sabi Sand Game Reserve is the oldest of the private reserves in South Africa. The reserve was formed in 1934 and shares an open border with Kruger National Park. Many regard the Sabi Sand as having some of the best game viewing in South Africa. The reserve is home to the Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Buffalo and Elephant) and also some endangered species. 153,000 acres in size the reserve takes its name from the two rivers that meet there, The Sabi and The Sand. 16 private safari lodges are based in the reserve and a range from the reasonably priced (approximately $200 per person per night) to the exclusive (approximately $1100 per person per night).

Most of the lodges operate open safari vehicles which seat between six and 12 people. Safari game drives are held in the early morning as the sun begins to rise and later again in the afternoon before the sun starts to set. Overall approximately 6 hours a day spent out in the bush on Safari. TravelSpark offers for both a Sabi Sand fly in safari and road safari. We also offer a safari that combines a couple of days in the Kruger National Park along with a couple days at the Sabi Sand Reserve. This combo safari trip is very popular that gives tourists an opportunity to experience both types of game viewing, within the National Park and on a Private Reserve.

Access by air to the reserve is relatively easy with charter operator Federal Air offering service from Johannesburg to a number of lodges. Scheduled service is also offered by South African Express Airways from Johannesburg to Mala Mala Airfield, KMIA Airport and Hoedspruit Airport. Onward transportation can then be arranged by road to the lodge.

For more information please feel free to contact us info@travelspark.com

South Africa Luxury Travel Deals in July and August.

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:44:00 +0000

While July and August are regarded as "peak" summer travel months in the Northern hemisphere, on the other side of the globe July and August are "off peak" winter travel months. Those who are prepared to head south for our summer can often find some great travel deals and savings. South Africa is no exception where good value can be found particularly at the luxury end of the market. In fact game viewing in many of South Africa's National Parks and Private Game Reserves is often very good during July and August. Winters in Cape Town can be windy and rainy at times but temperatures are still relatively mild averaging around 64F during the day and dropping down to around 45F at night.

There are two ways in which off season (also known as low season) travelers to South Africa can save. Firstly, many South African hotels and lodges offer a low season rate for travel during these months. In many cases the rate is about 25% less than the usual peak season rate. For example the 5 Star Cape Grace Hotel in Cape Town quotes a rate of Rand 5100 per room per night for a twin room in Peak Season but the rate drops to Rand 4075 per room per night in low season. Private Game Lodges often operate a similar rate structure. Guests at the luxurious Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge pay a per person rate of Rand 5150 per night in high season which drops to Rand 4100 per person per night in low season.

The second way travelers save is with "low season specials". Many South African hotels and lodges offer additional incentives during the off season to help drive business. Take for example Lions Sands Private Game Reserve, a superb game reserve located in the Sabi Sands region of the greater Kruger Park (an area renown for good game viewing). During low season guests who stay for 3 nights at Lion Sands (and pay the low season rate) can avail of a 3 night complimentary stay at the Cape Cadogan Boutique Hotel in Cape Town. Yes, that's 3 free nights hotel accommodation in Cape Town ! Other luxury properties have similar deals, the 5 Star Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa in Knysna on South Africa's Garden Route offers guest's who stay 2 nights in low seasonthe opportunity to spend a 3rd night for free !

Many of these specials however are subject to availability and in most cases the offer must be taken up at the time of making the original booking. Details of these deals are often not listed on the hotel or lodges own websites and in many cases are distributed only to tour operators and travel specialists who focus on Southern Africa. Here at TravelSpark we receive regular updates on all South African travel specials. If anyone is interested in learning more about these offers please a drop a quick e-mail to us at info@travelspark.com requesting travel specials and we will send a list to you.

South Africa Air Fare Sale Ends June 20th

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:48:00 +0000

An airfare sale currently on offer with South African Airways from the USA to South Africa is due to end on Friday, 20 June. Rates start at $1160 including fuel surcharges from selected points on the East Coast and $1295 including fuel surcharges form selected points on the West Coast. Government taxes are additional. Flights are subject to availability and the fare is capacity controlled. Flights are to Johannesburg, however for an additional $100 passengers can connect onwards to Cape Town, Durban or Port Elizabeth. Departure dates are between October 5th, 2008 and March 31st 2008, which is South Africa's summer months. The fare is not available for sale however over the holiday period spanning from December 7th, 2008 to January 6th 2009.

The South African Airways sale represents reasonably good value in this era of increasing fuel surcharges and reduction in capacity by many major carriers. While one would often need a "crystal ball" to determine where airfares are headed in these turbulent times, it is reasonable to assume that unless oil prices drop substantially fares will not be decreasing anytime soon. So as they say "If you know your gonna go" it may make sense to grab one of these sale seats! More details on the South Africa Airfare sale can be found on the TravelSpark website.

A Strong Dollar means great value for US visitors to South Africa and Namibia !

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Yes, that is correct, a strong Dollar. In fact currently the South African Rand is hovering at around 7.5 Rand to 1 US Dollar, that's about 16% ahead of where it was in May 2006 and a whopping 25% ahead of where it was in May 2005. I mention Namibia as the Namibian dollar is valued at par with the South African Rand and represents the same value.

So how does this translate if you are considering a Southern Africa Trip this year. Well for starters it means that there is some fantastic value to be found on air inclusive packages from the USA. Take for example our South Africa in Style Package which includes airfare from Washington or New York, 4 Nights in a luxury hotel in Cape Town and a 2 night luxury fly in Safari. Rates including taxes and fees start as low as $2,700 per person.

Just as importantly, when you get to South Africa your will find that you Dollar will stretch a lot further than in a European city. Let's look at dining for a moment. Le Quartier Francais in the Cape Winelands has made Restaurant Magazines "Worlds Best 50 Restaurants List" in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Their superb Tasting Room offers the ultimate gastronomical experience with a 6 course tasting menu at Rand 480 per person, that's about $65 at today rate ! If fine dining is not your thing but you enjoy a great steak, try the Famous Butcher's Grill Restaurants. This small chain offers fantastic aged South African steaks at its Cape Town, Johannesburg and Sun City Locations. The service is great and you can enjoy a 3/4Ib Fillet Steak for around Rand 110 or $15 at today's rate.

And it's not just dinning that offers great value, activities from Golfing at Arabella on the Western Cape of South Africa to Quad Biking in Dunes of Namibia can now be enjoyed by American visitors without stressing their budget too seriously. So the next time you hear your neighbor or co-worker commenting that they can't afford that international trip this year, please, spread the good word about Southern Africa......

South Africa, who flies there and how long does it take to get there?

noreply@blogger.com (TravelSpark Africa Travel) — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:28:00 +0000

A conversation with a client who is taking their first trip to South Africa will usually start with a discussion about the logistics. Many are surprised to learn that despite the distance involved there are quite a few options for US visitors flying to South Africa. Here's a quick overview....

Direct Flights to South Africa from the USA.
Two airlines offer direct service from the USA to South Africa, South African Airways and Delta. South African Airways, South Africa's National airline, operate two flights a day from the USA. One from New York's JFK Airport and one from Washington Dulles Airport. Both flights are to Johannesburg's OR Tambo Airport which acts as a hub for most of Southern Africa. If your final destination is Cape Town or Durban you will clear customs and immigration in Johannesburg and stroll over to the nearby domestic terminal for your onward connection. The South African Airways flight from JFK makes a fuel stop in Dakar, Senegal. Usually the aircraft is on the ground for about 1 hour and passengers do not deplane. Total flying time from JFK to Johannesburg including the time spent on the ground in Senegal is approximately 17hours and 45 minutes.

The South African Airways flight from Washington Dulles is currently the only non-stop flight from the USA with a flying time of approximately 15 hours and 30 minutes to Johannesburg. This flight however does make a fuel stop in Dakar on the return leg back to Dulles. Also, during the busy summer months from around 15 June to 15 August the aircraft makes the Dakar fuel stop in both directions.

South African Airways or SAA as they are commonly known, are members of the Star Alliance and offer good add on rates with partner airlines from many cities throughout the USA. This works particularly well when using United Airlines who hub at Washington Dulles. The timing of the SAA departure in the early evening facilitates good connections from United's many West Coast and Mid West cities.

Delta Airlines offer year round daily service from Atlanta to Johannesburg. Again the flight stops in Dakar in both directions for re fueling. Flying time from Atlanta to Johannesburg is approximately 18 hours and 15 minutes. Connections with Delta from most points in the USA through Atlanta are quite good. Starting early June 2008 Delta will also offer direct service from New York's JFK airport to Cape Town 4 times a week. This flight also makes a fuel stop in Dakar in both directions. The timing of the Dakar stop is set to coincide with that of Delta's Johannesburg bound flight from Atlanta. This gives passengers on the New York flight an option to connect in Dakar to Johannesburg and passengers on the Atlanta flight the option to connect to Cape Town.

Flights via Europe to South Africa
Many European carriers offer service to South Africa. These include British Airways and Virgin Atlantic from London, Lufthansa from Frankfurt, Iberia from Madrid, Swiss from Zurich, KLM from Amsterdam and Air France from Paris to name a few. Most of the flights offered by these carriers are evening departures from Europe to South Africa. If you live on the East Coast of the USA and are considering using one of these connections you may be faced with quite a long layover in Europe. Most flights from New York, Boston, Washington and Atlanta to Europe tend to be evening departures with arrival times in Europe somewhere between 8am and 11am the following morning. The onward connection to Johannesburg or Cape Town usually departs Europe between 7pm and 9pm in the evening. In short this amounts to a layover of between 8 to 13 hours adding greatly to the travel time.

At the time of writing only two carriers offer a morning departure from Europe, Air France from Paris to Johannesburg and KLM from Amsterdam to Johannesburg and Cape Town. Both of these carriers offer great connections of between 2 and 4 hours in Europe for East Coast passengers bound for South Africa.

For those coming from the West Coast a connection through Europe maybe a more viable option. European Flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco also tend to depart in the evening with arrival times the following afternoon. The later arrival time in Europe will leave most with a respectable 3 to 5 hour connection before continuing onwards to South Africa.

Flights via South America to South Africa
South African Airways operates a daily non stop service from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Johannesburg. As both cities share roughly the same latitude flying time across the ocean is a quick 9 hours. Connections from the USA via Sao Paulo however are not great and in our experience this is seldom used as a routing for passengers from North America.

So as you can see there are quite few options for those bound for South Africa. However it still close to impossible to find a decent airfare in July or August!