South Africa: Itinerary, Flights, Hotels, and Points/Cost

Itinerary

QR 732 (DFW to DOH) - October 30th, 2021

QR 1363 (DOH to JNB) - November 1st, 2021

Airlink 4Z865 (JNB to SZK) - November 1st, 2021

Kruger National Park (Hoyo Hoyo) - November 1st to November 4th, 2021

Airlink 4Z652 (SZK to CPT) - November 4th, 2021

Cape Town (The Taj) - November 4th to November 6th, 2021

Stellenbosch (Spier Hotel Vineyard) - November 6th to 7th, 2021

Cape Town (The Taj) - November 7th to November 9th, 2021

ET846 (CPT to ADD) - November 9th, 2021

TK677 (ADD to IST) - November 10th, 2021

TK191 (IST to DFW) - November 10th, 2021

Booking and Arrival

One of the reasons we booked South Africa was due to our fear that AAdvantage was going to devalue their amazing Qsuites sweet spot to Africa and the Middle East. We previously used this sweet spot to book Qsuites to the Maldives for our honeymoon. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough AA points to book a round trip on Qatar, but we were able to at least get to Johannesburg from Dallas in it. The cost of DFW to Doha to JNB is only 75k AA points and $15.70 per person. This is an outstanding deal! You get 24 hours in Qsuites plus you get access to the Al Mourjan lounge in Doha. The lounge has showers, two restaurants, a full service bar, and a game room. You’re able to order filet, lamb, salmon, sushi, or almost anything else you can think of.

A pretty comfortable way to fly to South Africa!

On our first flight we started with some champagne, warm nuts, and salmon with caviar. All were delicious. I selected Chicken Kabsa for main course while Anna went with the Seared Chilean Sea Bass. The Chicken Kabsa was probably the worst meal I’ve ever had on Qsuites, but it was still much better than normal airline food. We finished our meal with Chocolate Delight with Hazelnut which was amazing! The first movie we watched was Maleficent which was entertaining. Neither of us had ever seen it, but it kept us entertained while we had some drinks and relaxed.

Besides the amazing seat, Qsuites is great because you get a fantastic BRIC’S amenity kit and the White Company pajamas. It truly is one of the most comfortable ways to fly.

We finished our DFW to DOH flight with a little breakfast and then we were off to the lounge. Anna and I really love the Al Mourjan lounge and it truly is one of the top business class lounges in the world.

After a relaxing stay for a few hours at the lounge, it was time to head off to Johannesburg. This flight doesn’t always have Qsuites, but we were fortunate it did for us this time.

After 24 hours of flying we arrived in Johannesburg, but our travels weren’t over yet. We were heading to Kruger national park to enjoy a 3 night safari. Since Anna didn’t want to be away from our precious dog Anubis too long, we only had 8 total nights in South Africa. We decided to spend no time in Johannesburg and head straight for Kruger. We flew Airlink airlines to Skukuza airport which is the only commercial airline located inside Kruger national park. The price was $3,291.30 ZAR which is roughly $171. It was a small plane, but overall the flight went very smoothly. A little tip when paying in foreign currency… Never let the airline convert it to USD as most companies mark up the conversion fee. It’s better to use a credit card with 0% foreign transaction fees and pay in the local currency.

30 hours down and 4 more to go!

After a quick two hour flight to Skukuza, we were finally in Kruger national park. The airport was very small and pretty much open air, but it looked very nice.

Once we arrived at Skukuza airport, we had a driver from the Hoyo Hoyo lodge pick us up. Sometimes there is a cost to this transfer if they don’t have one of their own staff members available. Our driver was friendly and when he realized it was our first time in South Africa he stopped the jeep so we could see all the animals. We saw giraffes, Elephants, Water Buffalo, and Baboons on our ride to the lodge which was a great way to start our trip!

Our first elephant on our drive to the lodge!

Hoyo Hoyo Lodge

We booked Hoyo Hoyo through a promotion through TripAdvisor plus. There was a promo to sign up through Rakuten that made Tripadvisor plus free and that allowed us to received a significantly discounted price of only $392.38 per night. That might sound expensive (and it was actually the most expensive hotel/lodge/resort we’ve ever stayed at not on points), but this was the least expensive all-inclusive option available inside Kruger National Park. That price included all of our game drives, food, alcohol and guides for the trip. If you’re not staying inside the park, you have to wait in line at the gates to get in. While you can travel yourself, most people would probably hire a guide which would cost additional money. We found the all inclusive deal made our lives much less stressful and allowed us to relax and enjoy the wildlife. They even allowed us to take bottles of wine back to our room. There are only 12 lodges, so it’s a very private resort. If you need to leave your room in the evening, you have to call to get an escort as it’s not safe or recommended to go out by yourself in the evenings with leopards up in the trees. The lodge also has their own private game reserve area in the park where only they are allowed to view game. This prevented a pile up of jeeps/cars that happens occasionally when we were driving on the public roads. You can read our safari review here, but I would highly recommend it… https://www.aatraveltheworld.com/travel-reviews-points/african-safari-is-it-worth-it . I’ll also add that this price was pretty discounted as the country was just opening up from COVID so tourism was low and it was paired with a promotion. Currently the cost per night is closer to $1,000, so in retrospect it was a fantastic deal.

A room tour!

Overall we were very satisfied with Hoyo Hoyo. The food was phenomenal and freshly made each day for each meal with a chef onsite. For alcohol we mostly stuck to wine which was fine, but I don’t believe it was super high end. We’re both not wine connoisseurs so it worked for us! Some lodges and resorts can go for over $4000 a night, so it really just depends how much money you want to spend. We would never spend that much, so Hoyo Hoyo was a perfect option for us. One more thing to be aware of is that Hoyo Hoyo doesn’t have internet access. If that matters to you, it would not be the right choice. We actually enjoyed the lack of wifi as it allowed us to unplug and I was able to finish reading my book Dune.

Our first breakfast in Africa!

A delicious lunch with our elephant friends!

We stayed 3 nights and we thought it was the perfect amount of time. We were able to see all of the big 5 (lions, leopards, water buffalo, rhino, and elephants). We also saw baboons, giraffes, hyenas, ostriches, cheetahs, warthogs, and plenty of impalas. I went on two game drives a day while Anna would normally get a massage in the morning and join the afternoon game drive. Massages were only $30 for an hour, so it was quite a good deal. Our guide for our time there was Moses and he was phenomenal. He was informative, funny, and just an all around nice guy.

In the afternoon when we weren’t doing game drives, we were able to hang out by the pool and watch the animals. it was very relaxing and enjoyable, especially after our 34 hour journey to get there!

Pool time!

This was truly an unforgettable trip after only 3 days, and we still hadn’t visited Cape Town or Stellenbosch.

Evening wine and snacks after our game drive!

After seeing all of the big 5, we headed back to Skukuza to head to Cape Town on Airlink. When booking this flight make sure you get a direct flight. It seemed a lot of the flights wanted to have a layover in Johannesburg. The direct flights were a little more expensive, but definitely worth it since it was only about $30 more per person.

Cape Town, Taj Hotel, Shark Diving, Penguins, and Stellenbosch

Upon arriving in Cape Town we headed to the Taj hotel. While this hotel was not directly on the water, it was in a very safe neighborhood with a bunch of bars and restaurants. Anna stayed mostly in the hotel, but I went out an explored a little bit. There was a police officer on almost every corner, which makes me think they prioritize safety in the tourist areas. The Taj was a remarkable hotel. We found the hotel through Amex Fine Hotels and Resort Collection. Due to both of us having the Amex Platinum at the time, we both received $200 off a two night booking, $100 experience credit, an upgraded room (if available), and free breakfast. We booked two nights at the Taj, one night in Stellenbosch (wine country), and then two additional nights at the Taj to fully maximize this amex program. While the cost for four nights was $820.71, with the $400 rebate and $200 worth of credits, it really only cost us around $55.17 per night which is a steal for a luxury hotel. Even better is we got upgraded to a remarkable suite with our own enormous outside patio. Upon arriving at the Taj, we were seated by their bar and offered welcome drinks while we checked in. The bell boys took our bags up to our room.

Checking into the Taj!

The hotel looked a little lost in time. They had a very nice cigar room and Indian restaurant attached to the hotel that had just opened back up the day before (it was closed prior to COVID). It looks like our timing was perfect! It really reminded me a little bit of the Grand Budapest Hotel in a way.

I’m not sure if the pictures do it justice, but it was basically a two room suite, with a nice bathroom, a giant walk in closet, and we had the entire balcony to ourselves. That’s correct, no one else could even access the outside area. This room would have been amazing if we were hosting some sort of party, but it was just me and Anna on this trip. After we checked in, we decided to have dinner at the Indian restaurant, Bombay Brasserie, that had just opened up. It was authentic, spicy, and very delicious. They even helped us celebrate our anniversary!

Since we were exhausted from our trip and were heading to Robben Island the next day, we ended up not exploring the city after dinner and instead watched the movie Invictus which is a movie based off the true story of South Africa winning the World Cup of Rugby shortly after Apartheid ended. We thought it was the perfect warm up for Robben Island the next day and who doesn’t love a good Morgan Freeman movie. After a great night’s sleep and a delicious free breakfast, we headed to the V&A Waterfront to take the ferry to Robben Island which is where Nelson Mandela was locked away for 18 of his 27 years in prison.

The cost for the ferry and tour of Robben Island was 600 ZAR or around $31 per person. We thought this was pretty reasonable since it included the boat ride out to the island. Robben island has some amazing views, but you’re mostly going to see the former prison colony which is now a museum. It was a pretty remarkable experience to see the former prison colony which held political prisoners up until 1991 which seems incredibly recent (maybe we’re just old though). Your ferry leaves from V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. It’s a lovely little pier that has a lot of nice shops and restaurants on it. Once we got back from Robben Island, we grabbed some food and a drink. I believe the waterfront is a very touristy area and there are a lot of hotels around here if you wanted to stay in this area of Cape Town.

At the Pier before Robben Island!

Once you arrive on the island, you are seperated into groups and get on different buses. Every bus starts their tour at a different spot on the island. This allows them to maximize the number of people who can see the museum. and prison. Overall it was a sombering experience, but definitely eye opening and we both learned a lot. While we probably won’t head back to Robben Island if we revisit Cape Town, you definitely have to go at least once. Below you can see Nelson Mandela’s cell and the section B courtyard where he hid his manuscript that was eventually published.

Nelson Mandela’s Cell

Section B of Robben Island where Nelson Mandela hid his manuscript

After another night at the Taj, we headed off to Stellenbosch which is South African wine country! I had no idea where to stay in Stellenbosch and there were so many options. We ended up staying one night at Spier Hotel and Winery. It was amazing and we had the best time. The grounds of the hotel and winery were massive and we were fortunate enough to have perfect weather. If we went back to South Africa again, we would definitely go back and stay longer in Stellenbosch and maybe check out some of the other wineries. Since it was our anniversary, I purchased the flower package which was an additional 400 ZAR ($21). The room was $159.91 which I thought was pretty good value as they provided a bottle of wine and welcome drinks while we were checking in. When we arrived to the room Anna was very surprised by the flowers, champagne, and chocolate. I thought they did a really nice job. Anna enjoyed the bouquet so much that we took it all the way back to Cape Town with us!

A little dessert to go with our wine and flowers!

The hotel and winery was so relaxing. We got to roam around the grounds in perfect weather. Everyone was having picnics all over the grounds of the winery. I had signed us up for a wine tasting though.

On our way to the wine tasting!

We found the wine tasting!

The wine tasting was delightful and I think we were both fans of South Africa’s signature wine, pinotage. They provided copius amounts of wine and then we also purchased a delicious cheese and charcuterie board. Later in the evening we had some BBQ which was only just mediocre, but you don’t go to a winery for the food!

On our way back from Stellenbosch we decided to visit Bolder Beach penguin colony. This is one of two land colonies of penguins in the world. I’ve already swam with the endangered Galapagos Penguins on Isabella island, but this was was completely different experience. They had viewing walkways all along the beach so you wouldn’t disturb the penguins, but you could still get very close and capture some amazing photos.

They don’t call it “Boulder” Beach for nothing!

A penguin with some ups!

You have to get at least one selfie with the penguins!

Overall the Boulder Beach penguin colony was an amazing stop on our way back from Cape Town even if it was a bit out of the way. I would highly recommend it. The cost was only 176 rand which is about $9.50 per person which we felt was worth it. Once we got back to the Taj we got a good meal and went straight to bed because I had to be up at super early for Shark Diving! Unfortunately, Anna had zero interest in shark diving or waking up at 6 AM, so she stayed at the hotel to get a massage with our free “experience credit” from the Amex Fine Hotels Reward program while I drove 3 hours to Gansbaai. I could have gotten a bus to pick me up, but it was much less expensive to drive myself and we already had a rental. After the fact, I was so glad I did the drive myself. Not only was the drive beautiful, but I’m sure my drive which ended up being about 2.5 hours with traffic would have been closer to 4 hours each way on a bus. The cost for the shark diving was 1350 rand or around $72.50 per person. This included a boat ride, all the gear, a small breakfast, and a hearty lunch of soup and bread afterwards. I had never done shark diving before so I didn’t know what to expect. The good news was we had phenomenal weather and there were plenty of sharks. The downside is they are throwing chum in the water for the sharks and if you’re not under the water, some of the chum can land on your head. Not the worst problem in the world, but a little gross!

Some casual shark diving!

Overall it was a great experience for a reasonable price and I got to see the shoreline and landscape of South Africa on my drive. I will say there was one time when the nose of the shark came into the cage a bit and freaked us all out, but luckily everyone was okay. Once I arrived back in Cape Town there was only one thing left to do before we left… COVID test! Yes, the US government was requiring us to do a COVID test for us to return back to the country.

Fortunately we found a one man company who was doing tests for foreigners. He said his business was booming at the time. He came to our hotel room and handled everything for us. It was a pretty harmless experience. I’m not sure what we would have done if we tested positive but thankfully we were both negative. This allowed to head to the airport.

Heading Home

Originally we were going to fly Air Canada through Toronto, but their regulations required you to have multiple Covid shots to even connect through the airport. While I had both of my shots, Anna hadn’t had the chance to get her second shot, so I had to rebook us flying Capetown to Addis Ababa to Istanbul to DFW. The first two legs were on Ethiopian Airlines while the final leg was on Turkish airlines. We booked utilizing United points. For business class it was 88k United points and $55.75 per person in taxes and fees. The crazy thing was that a civil war was happening in Ethiopia at the time we were traveling and the rebel forces were within 21 miles of the capital Addis Ababa. Fortunately we didn’t have any issues. At the Cape Town airport we stopped by the Bidvest Premiere Lounge before we our flight. Overall it was an average lounge. It had a nice drink selection, but the food left a little bit to be desired as you can see from the pictures below. It might have been due to it being COVID and everything being wrapped. It was also a little cramped for an international airport lounge.

We got a little food and left for our flight. I wouldn’t get to the airport early for this lounge. Our flight from Cape Town to Addis Ababa was the first time Anna and I had flown Ethiopian Airlines. We didn’t have high expectations considering we normally fly Qatar or Turkish airlines when we’re in this part of the world and those are two of the top airlines, but it was a great flight. We actually got plane swapped in a positive manner and got their flagship A350 for this flight. It’s completely lie flat and in a 1-2-1 configuration.

We also received a nice little amenity kit. It wasn’t as extensive as some other Asian or Middle Eastern airlines, but it was definitely better than what the US carriers provide. Anna always loves a good eye mask!

Overall the flight was really nice. The flight attendants were very nice and attentive, proactively offering refills on drinks. I got the beef curry for the meal. It doesn’t look super appetizing by the photo, but it actually was pretty solid. The flight was 6.5 hours, so having lie flat made it a very enjoyable flight. Sometimes flights in this range don’t have lie flat as you’ll see on our next flight. After deboarding the plane we headed to Sheba Cloud Nine Lounge lounge. It is the flagship lounge of Ethiopian airlines and it is simply massive. Even though it’s massive, almost no one was in the lounge at this time. I’m not sure if it was due to COVID or the civil war, but we basically had the entire place to ourselves. They had multiple buffet options and the food was really good. They also had some sleep rooms that we were able to take advantage of and get a little sleep before our flight.

There were multiple large rooms like this.

There were multiple drink station and bars like this as well.

Overall, I would highly recommend this lounge and would love to come back when it was at full capacity. Since there were more lounge attendants than passengers, it was a bizarre feeling. Everyone was super nice and I wouldn't hesitate to fly Ethiopian again. My parents are actually trying them out next month on their trip to South Africa.

Our next flight was Addis Ababa to Istanbul. This was the flight I had been dreading because while this flight is 5 hours and 40 minutes, it is not lie flight. While we normally love Turkish when it’s one of their A350s, this was a totally different situation. The seats were barely better than domestic first class and the food left a lot to be desired, but this is the price you pay when you have to change your flight plans last minute and have limited flight availability.

Business class seats on a 5+ hour flight

It wasn’t the best flight or food, but we got through. The good news is we arrived in Istanbul where the Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge is located. It is Turkish Airline’s flagship lounge as they don’t have first class flights. I personally think it has some of the best food in the world for a business class lounge.

Overall the lounge and food was great. We were able to get a little sleep before our flight back to Dallas. We were flying on Turkish’s new A350 business class. It is in a 1-2-1 layout which gives everyone aisle access. It’s not as intimate as Qatar as the privacy blinders make it difficult to talk to your seat mate, but overall it’s a very solid product. It’s very important to check which plane you are flying on with Turkish airlines. Their older business class on their 777-300ER is in 2-3-2 configuration which means you could have a middle seat even though you’re flying long haul business class. The highlight of Turkish is they have a chef on board to tailor their catering to your needs. While not quite as good as our Qatar flight, it was enjoyable and we were able to book it relatively last minute. Overall it was a fantastic trip and I would highly recommend South Africa!

Points and Cost Breakdown

Two Qatar Airways flights from Dallas to Johannesburg in Business Class on Qsuites: 150,000 AA points plus $31.40 in taxes and fees

Four Domestic South African Airlink flights: 9,395.28 rand ($624.54)

Hoyo Hoyo Lodge (3 nights all inclusive including food, alcohol and game drives): $1177.14

The Taj Hotel (4 nights with The Amex Hotel Collections, separated by 1 night in wine country to receive the amex benefit twice): $820.71 (Subtract two $200 amex hotel credits and two $100 food and dining credits for using our platinum card) = $220.71

The Spier Hotel Vineyard (Stellenbosch wine country): 2,405.55 rand ($159.91)

Two Ethiopian and Turkish flights from CPT to DFW in Business Class: 176,000 United Points and $111.50 in taxes and fees.

Total Cost: 150,000 AA points, 176,000 United points, and $2,213.70 for two people subtracting our Amex Platinum Benefits.