South Africa ABD and Robben Island???

[kaseyC]

In September, we are doing an Adult Exclusive South Africa ABD to celebrate my middle daughter's graduation from college. Very excited. (2 down,1 to go) We are arriving almost two days early and want to tour Robben Island. Do we need to book the ferry and tour tickets in advance or can we purchase them once we get there. Since we have almost 2 full days before the ABD activities begin, any recommendations for other activities and/or restaurants would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

[fosterkittymom]

In September, we are doing an Adult Exclusive South Africa ABD to celebrate my middle daughter's graduation from college. Very excited. (2 down,1 to go) We are arriving almost two days early and want to tour Robben Island. Do we need to book the ferry and tour tickets in advance or can we purchase them once we get there. Since we have almost 2 full days before the ABD activities begin, any recommendations for other activities and/or restaurants would be greatly appreciated as well.

We went last June and also arrived two days early. We purchased our Robben Island tickets the day we got there for the next day. I have read it sometimes books up, so you may want to purchase them early. We went to the Two Oceans Aquarium, visited the diamond museum, took a ride on the Cape Wheel, and spent most of our time around the V&A Waterfront. Take some time to shop at the Watershed and the food market right next door for local items. There are lots of good restaurants. The only name I can remember was the Quay 4 Tavern.

 

[chuff88]

Hey, I'm kind of piggybacking on this because I'm looking at a 2024 South Africa ABD and the reality of the cost of flights is hitting me like a ton of bricks. Do either of you have suggestions for how best to minimize that cost?

 

[kaseyC]

Flights are expensive especially if you are trying to avoid multiple connections. I decided that fewer connections and a shorter travel time was priority. I found a price I was comfortable paying on United. I could've booked something less expensive with 2 or more connections and 2+ days of travel time. We fly from Raleigh to Dulles to Cape Town. Our return is Johannesburg to Newark to Raleigh. I also believe the flights may have been a bit less than normal because the Washington Dulles to Cape Town route was new for United, it just started in Nov. of 2022, I believe.

One of the things I did to monitor flights was to set up alerts with Google flights and Kayak.

 

[WeLoveABD]

For those who have been to Robben Island, what did you think? We have most of the first day on a South Africa trip (Tauck) on our own in Cape Town, and taking the ferry and tour looks very worthwhile. Thanks for any feedback!

 

[jimmymc]

Hey, I'm kind of piggybacking on this because I'm looking at a 2024 South Africa ABD and the reality of the cost of flights is hitting me like a ton of bricks. Do either of you have suggestions for how best to minimize that cost?

What city are you starting in? The cheapest way to get there will probably be leaving from a big east coast city and connecting through Europe. For me, this means a road trip to Toronto or Chicago, which I've been able to save multiple thousands on tickets by doing.

You can also look at doing something like a Southwest flight to a bigger city, spending the night, then taking a separate round trip from there to South Africa. Spend a night again when you return, then take the second leg of that Southwest flight back to your hometown.

 

[sayhello]

What city are you starting in? The cheapest way to get there will probably be leaving from a big east coast city and connecting through Europe. For me, this means a road trip to Toronto or Chicago, which I've been able to save multiple thousands on tickets by doing.

You can also look at doing something like a Southwest flight to a bigger city, spending the night, then taking a separate round trip from there to South Africa. Spend a night again when you return, then take the second leg of that Southwest flight back to your hometown.

This is what I did to get to New Zealand last month. It was insanely expensive to get from Columbus, OH to New Zealand, and required 5 legs each direction. So, doing some research, I found most of the flights ultimately went through San Francisco. So I looked into flying directly from SFO to Auckland and back, and it cost like 1/3 of the price of what it would cost from Columbus. So I booked that. Then I booked a United direct flight from Columbus to SFO for the day before the flight to NZ, and booked an inexpensive hotel right across from the airport (that had a free breakfast and a free shuttle). I did the reverse going home. It was actually *really nice* having that break and being able to sleep and shower and feel refreshed before hitting the next leg of the trip. And I still saved thousands of dollars.

Sayhello