South Africa 2022 – Itinerary

South Africa 2022 – Itinerary

Our trip to South Africa was primarily to attend a wedding reception and visit my wife’s family. After South Africa, we planned to spend about 2 months traveling through the Balkans as that is an area of Europe we had not visited yet. Due to family emergencies in May 2022, my wife made 2 trips to visit family in South Africa. The first one was mid-May through the end of June, then again at the end of July until mid-August. This trip started on September 11th, so not long after my wife had returned to the US.

Plans Can Change

Therefore, at the end of this trip, my wife decided to not visit the Balkans, She was tired from all the stress from the family emergency, working remotely with the 6-hour time difference, not to mention all the traveling back and forth. She changed her flight to return to Atlanta from Istanbul. We would be meeting up with our daughter and her boyfriend in Turkey since they spent 10 days in Europe after South Africa.

However, I wasn’t ready to return to the US and I needed some dental work done. So my plan was to fly to Istanbul, then after my wife and daughter left for the US, I would go to Antalya or Fethiye to get the work done. I only had a few days to plan for this, and I needed to consult with multiple dentists in both locations. Once I decided on a dentist, I could book flights and accommodations in that area. Just as we were about to leave for the airport in Cape Town I received the final quote I was waiting on for the dental work. This left me with no time to make the arrangements before going to the airport.

Let the Games Begin

Unfortunately, that meant I would have to organize a rental car, flights, and accommodations once we landed in Istanbul. Luckily, we had a 30-hour layover after arriving at 4 AM. We grabbed a rental car and headed to the hotel near the airport. We were offered (and accepted) an upgrade to lie-flat seats on the CPT to IST flight. Therefore, we were able to get some decent sleep on the flight and only needed a nap once we arrived at the hotel.

I spent several hours trying to match up flights, rental cars, and a place to stay. Most of the flights were booked or were out of SAW the other airport in Istanbul. I could have driven from Istanbul to Antalya, but that would have been an 8-hour-plus drive.  With my current eye issues, bright sun and headlights can cause issues with driving. Therefore, that was not an option for a long drive. I continued searching and found several flights that would work, but seat availability was limited and I was not fast enough to grab a ticket.

Saying Good-bye

We went to the airport to check in my wife, our daughter, and her boyfriend for their flight. They were all checked in and the flight was leaving in under 3 hours. I still didn’t have plans. They were ready to go through security and go to the gate. At this point, I decided to cut my losses and went to the ticket counter to change my ticket so I could join them on the same flight. Unfortunately, it was not what I wanted, but I didn’t have a lot of options left.

So I changed my ticket and joined them at security after checking in. I had about 90 minutes to spare, which to me was cutting it close. That is why you see the high costs for flight changes and upgrades. Actually, the changes and upgrades were much higher than the original airfare and accounted for about 36% of the total trip cost. However, the lie-flat upgrade was 100% worth it.

My Itinerary (actual points along the road trip)

Istanbul, Turkey

Cape Town (Strand)

Durban (Zinkwazi)

Cape Town (Strand)

Wellington

Paarl

Cape Town (Strand)

Tulbagh

Cape Town (Strand)

Istanbul, Turkey

Budget (estimated 2 people)

Budget (estimated 4 people)

Grand Total for Turkey and South Africa $10,115

Posts

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Videos

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