Baz Bus & Garden Route

Krystie
Glad to hear you enjoyed Africa, maybe as much as we do staying here?

Baz normally drop you at the front door of a hostel, hotel or lodge that they have an arrangement with. Their drivers tend to be very helpful but that depend on their time. If they run late, they may want to make up for lost time by just dropping you off and goodbye.

I could not understand your ref to Baz via Lesotho, as it is not quite on the way. So I phoned them, (Baz, like me, is based in Cape Town) to get from them confirmation on their route. This is what I can tell you:

Stage 1 - Johannesburg to Durban: You are correct, the use two routes. One directly to Durban, and they call it the Drakensberg route (which may be the cause of the Lesotho confusion?) The second route is from Johannesburg towards Mozambique. From Malelane (near Mozambique) they travel south through Swaziland where you have to catch another bus that will take you to Durban along the KZN north coast. The second route adds at least one day to your travel time but the advantages include a more scenic route, and off course the time in Swaziland, one of my favourite destinations in Southern Africa. I will add another day in Swaziland if time permits.

Stage2 - Durban to East London and Port Elizabeth. Rural South Africa in the true sense of the word.

Stage 3 - Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, via the Garden Route. The pretty part of the trip. How much time you spend here is up to your bus ticket. Enjoy.

I understand from Baz that their tickets can be valid for up to 21 days, which may be adequate for the trip.

There are also bus services that run Jhb-Cpt direct at much less than the Baz price, but you do that once you have aged past a sence of adventure, or maybe on your return trip.

Back to the facilities available at the drop off points. During my telephone conversation with them, they gave me names of the establishments. I will get the complete list from them and post the names here, or maybe by PM to you, so you can check them out on the internet.

Enjoy the trip and feel free to ask for more info if you need.

Faure
Cape Town
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Krystie
First question, how much time do you have, or is that not a problem? The diversity all along the route you will follow is such that you can get lost in time, maybe even grow old, and still never get bored.

Allow me to think about how I would spend my time, and I will pass that to you as a suggestion, and you can plan your thing.

Next question, when do you plan your trip. The season at the time may just change some of my suggestions.

Faure Reply to this

faurec - I'm planning my trip for about 1st or 2nd week of september next year... I'll be travelling by myself for this section so it would have to all be things that are safe/suitable for a young (will be 20) female traveller.

I'll be getting a 3 week ticket and I could probably give myself the 3 week timeframe. It really does depend though on how the dates on my tours match up and unfortunately the dates for that time of year haven't been released yet. I would definitely prefer to go via Swaziland, but Faurec, am I correct in saying that you never cross the border into Mozambique? I went on Mozambique on this last trip and found the border crossings extremely annoying and to be honest, it wasn't worth all the trouble; especially for only short trip.

Theres, thanks very much for all the info! I will eventually get around to reading your blogs - they'll help a lot I'm sure. Baz Bus still sounds like my best option - I do have a bit of time and I want to do it the right way - money is limited but not so limited that I'd do local transportation and possibly have to sit and wait several days in a place I don't like and then be forced to speed through somewhere I do. I liked the sound of Baz Bus because if I reached a place and discovered I hated it; no problem - I can get back on the bus the next morning and get out of there, likewise, if there's a place that I LOVE and I have time - I can stay there a bit longer.

About the game parks - I visited both Chobe and Kruger on this previous trip and already doing these again. I share your love of Chobe - it's probably the closest thing to an East African game park (by far much better), however, I find that if I do nothing but game drives for say 2 weeks full on I get 'safari fatigue' but if i do the occasional drive here and there in a new park I stay a bit more enthustiastic ----> if there's something on the way I wouldn't mind doing a game drive or two just to break up my activities a bit but with that said - I've seen enough game that a park with nothing but giraffe and zebra isn't going to satisfy me at all.

Thanks very much for your help both of you and if you have any more input; please - I'd love to hear it :D Reply to this

Hi Krystie

I am in the process of putting together some detail for you, and thanks for the reminder to include the safety thing.

Fortunately there is a little time, so please be patient for a day or so.

Faure
Cape Town Reply to this

Krystie

Thank you for the oportunity to give you my ideas of how to help plan your trip. To me, this was a great exercise and it is based on what I would do if I should follow the same route. I also enjoyed all the memories of my past visits.

I constantly had to remind myself of two things:
a) I would normally travel with own transport, a luxury that you do not have. Some of the sights and locations that I would have visited may not be that easy for you.
b) I am of a generation slightly older than you, you know, a generation that tend to live and play by day and sleep by night. Our interests may be very diferent. However, some of the places mentioned in my exercise actually stood the test of time, and may still be of interest to you and generations to come.

You are planning for a good time - best weather, and after the rush (and inflated prices) of worldcup 2010.

You can see what I put together for you at:

I have also included some general notes on South Africa, Swaziland and Namibia, which is in fact just a copy of something I did in the past for someone else, and it may be of interest. (Links at bottom of page)

I have omitted details about what to do or see in and around Cape Town from my suggestions. I do however offer you a link to a rather comprehensive list which I am sure will be of value to you:

Cities do over time change in shape, size and even character. I keep the list on Cape Town updated, so feel free to look at it again closer to your visit.

You mention that you will also travel to Namibia. A while back, someone asked my opinion on what to see in Namibia, and at that time I compiled a "tour" of the country, based on my experience, traveling from south to north. I include a link to the info as maybe you will find something of interest to you:


If you have any questions, or want more info, please do not hesitate to ask. I have travelled our part of the world extensively, in fact still do, and chances are that I have been to whereever you want information on.

During my travels I have collected many memories, a lot of photographs, and nowadays digital images. I have also left a large number of footprints and maybe even the odd sample or two. Whatever, it was always as much fun as I made it for myself. I cannot recall many memories of great moments that I experienced that was created by someone else. So, go out there and enjoy.

Unfortunately in todays world, one can also run into things that was not planned. I will send you my cell number by Personal Message. Keep it with you while in our part of the world, and if you need a local contact, do not hesitate to call - and I am sure your Mom will feel more comfortable with this info.

You asked about "unsafe" places. My personal experience, and I have a few more years than you in which I gathered that, is that trouble will find you if you go looking for it. Many travellers will tell you the important points to remember are:
a) If you are not comfortable with an area/situation, turn around and leave.
b) Do not openly show wealth.

On your proposed trip through our country, you will pass through places that are worlds apart from your everyday home environment, but that does not make it "unsafe". We have a very high crime rate, one that I am not proud of. Fortunately, should you analyse the available information, the majority of the crime occurs in small definable locations, which is not on normal, popular, or tourist routes.

I have not mentioned anywhere that I would think as "unsafe" among places that I included in my suggestions to you, and I can only hope that I will be proved right after your trip.

Enjoy your trip
Faure
Cape Town

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