BootsnAll Travel Community

My husband and I are off to Africa!! We are ready to buy flights and would love to get some advice on where to fly in/out of and how long to give ourselves (although we will make sure the flights have flexible dates). The earliest we can leave is the start of April and we have to be back home (Sydney) by mid October.

We were originally planning on flying into Nairobi and out of Johannesburg travelling mainly in Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Obviously the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated a lot since we started planning so we are now wondering if we should try and fly out of Livingstone instead, or an alternate overland route to Johannesburg/Cape Town? We are also planning on going to Rwanda at the beginning so debating whether to fly straight there, or travel overland from a bigger hub?

In addition we are planning two/three weeks in Tonga at the end September/beginning October to try and swim with whales. (We went this year and it rained the whole time, but the people were so friendly and it was a great trip so we want to go back).

So, do you think we are better off buying round the world tickets? Or buying an open jaw return to Africa, with seperate tickets to Tonga (about $500 per person plus tax). Buying more specific flights now, or stick to major hubs and buy the others if we need to?

Obviously we are trying to get the best deal for our money as this is part of a much longer trip, and we don't want to spend all our money in Africa!!

Thanks for any help/advice you can give.

that sounds awesome!!

i have a friend that flew into south africa and overlanded to tanzania, so the route you are thinking is do-able. she didn't go to zimbabwe. i hear a lot of good things about mozambique, if you're looking for a detour.

we were advised to not go into rwanda by land. instead, we flew there via kenya airways from dar es salaam, with a layover in nairobi. so as for flying straight there or going overland from a bigger hub, i would say you should fly tehre. i think most international flights to kigali will be routed through nairobi anyways.

hope this helps!