Is Baz Bus on your Bucket list – it should be!

Baz Bus is a convenient and flexible way to travel within South Africa. This Hop-on Hop Off service is excellent for independent Travellers keen to meet other like minded travellers.

On the Baz Bus route we travel mainly along the coastal route with shuttle links to inland towns and villages.

South Africa is a diverse nation offering scenic landscapes, awesome adventure activities and countless cultural experiences.

Here is a bucket full of ideas to do along the route.

Hike up to Table Mountain and enjoy spectacular vistas or take the cable car ride to the top! It is one of the new 7 wonders of Nature!

Book a Cape Peninsula Day Tour with Baz Bus with tour highlights including a visit to Hout Bay, Boulders Beach Penguin Colony and hikes in the Nature Reserve to the top of Cape Point and the most South – Western Point of Africa.

During Whale Season Here you have the rare opportunity to spot whales breaching in the bay. Hermanus is the best land based whale watching spot in the world.

Try Shark Caging and get your adrenalin going!

Visit the Kruger National Park and Experience game viewing at its best. It is one of the few places on earth where wildlife can be seen in such great variety and at such close quarters. Baz Bus offers a Wildlife Safari packages!
Visit Hogsback which is a magical world of mountains and forests.

Wild Coast is one of South Africa’s most remote stretches of shoreline which is home to some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in the world.

Hike in the magnificent Drakensberg Mountains.

Attempt the Bloukrans Bungy which is 216 metres high and one on the highest in the world

Do a cultural tour and enjoy spending time in the local communities.

Happy Travels!

Visit to Elundini Creche in Dunoon – community project!

On Wednesday, 7 February 2013, we visited this disabled creche in Dunoon!

his has been a long term project of ours and it has been great to have participated in the improvements via contributions and see this crèche grow to where it is today.

It now has 3 classrooms to house over 70 children including many disabled kids with specific disabilities. Indy the principal showed us around each classroom explaining to us the different age groups and activities the teachers were doing with the kids.

There is also a good sized play area, kitchen, sleeping area, ablution facilities ablution facilities (which Baz Bus helped to build) and a combi bus (which Baz Bus made a contribution to the purchase). Indy is now in the process of purchasing the land from the city council which will be a great achievement for her.

The children were so excited to receive their goodie bags and we had another successful morning spent with these amazing children!

Visit to Community Project Thursday 7 February 2013

 Babes Creche

Our visits to the crèches coincided with the beginning of the school year for both crèches.

At Babes Creche there were 80 children mostly toddlers and some babies which Harriet has taken on. It was delightful to see the happy children eagerly awaiting us. The property consists of 2 classrooms which houses the children according to age groups. One is a basic wooden structure and the other a proper concrete classroom extending to the road.

She desperately needs to erect a proper fence in front of the property as the existing one is just a makeshift fence made of wooden planks. This will allow the kids more freedom to play outside of the classroom. They are also in desperate need of ablution facilities as the children use buckets outside the classrooms. Harriet has done an amazing job of pushing forward with her dream to educate the children and get them ready for school and her commitment to improving the school is evident.

The Union of Jewish Women are working closely with Harriet to realise some of the challenges that she is facing by raising awareness and getting sponsorships and donations so that she can get proper ablution facilities and fence in play areas for the children. To this effect Baz Bus has contributed a substantial donation to these causes.

We made up gift bags for the children filled with delicious goodies and custom made gift bags with stickers to hand out to the children. The stickers were meant to be used as an interactive activity with the children and which they thoroughly enjoyed. What a well behaved bunch of toddlers and it was great to see that they are all well trained in not littering. Each child threw their wrappers in the bin after they had finished eating!!

Children have such pure joy no matter what circumstances in their lives so we always come away from these visits feeling the love.

The Famous Five!!! – Wildlife in South Africa

South Africa is famous for its wildlife and it’s a thrilling experience to spot the Big 5 on a wildlife safari! South Africa’s bushveld is still home to large numbers of mammals.

The Kruger National Park is home to all of the Big Five, as are other major reserves in South Africa. Kruger is home to 147 mammal (including the Big 5), 114 reptile & 502 bird species. Kruger National Park is the same size as Israel, Wales or Netherlands and contains different vegetation types that attract different animals to different areas of the park.

The Chobe National Park in Botswana is also a great way to see a variety of wildlife such as elephants, antelopes and sometimes lion, hyena and wild dog. Therefore as much time is spent on game drives as possible, so that there is a better chance of seeing different animal and bird species

We have a number of Wildlife Safari and Adventure Packages to suit your adventurous spirit.

Enjoy BIG savings by buying a package!

Here are the famous five! Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Leopard and Buffalo

Wool donation from Coast to Coast for Babes Educare Centre in Du Noon!!!

Babes Educare is a pre school run by Harriet and her helpers. Harriet is a woman with a big heart. She has a small structure next to her home where she houses 75 kids. The age range is from 2 – 4 yrs of age. The kids are well looked after and get fed by her twice a day. The crèche times are from 6am to 6pm.

We have adopted this project and visited them in August and stocked them with educational boxes that the helpers can use to educate and teach the children. We also bought blankets for all the children. Each child received a food pack and a toy pack which they thoroughly enjoyed. Harriet also needed a pot which she can use to cater in bulk for the children and we also took a pot through to her after the visit!

The Union for Jewish Women, whom we have a partnership with, supplied knitted beanies for each child. Geoff from Coast to Coast joined us on the day and was touched and wanted to contribute in some way. As the children are always in need of warm clothing for the winter season and early spring he donated wool to the Union of Jewish Women. They will distribute the wool to knitting groups who will knit jerseys and scarves for the children.

Thanks Geoff!!!

Baz Bus Ticket Options!

We have the following ticket options available:

1. Travel Passes

2. Hop-on Hop-off Tickets

 3. Day Tour

4. Wildlife Safari and Adventure Packages (see seperate blog post for more information)

5. Volunteer Packages (see seperate blog post for more information)

 Travel Passes

With this ticket you can travel on Baz Bus in any direction you want and as often as you like within 7 days. You decide where you want to stay along the route. There are over 180 hostels to choose from in over 40 cities, towns and villages along the route. Your Travel pass starts on the first day of your travel and is valid for 7 consecutive days. This is a great option for those travellers who do not have a lot of time!!! An additional R70 Fuel Levy will be added to all tickets prices over R650.

 We also offer a 14 day or 21 day pass.

 Hop-on Hop-off Tickets

With this ticket option, you can travel in one direction until you reach your final destination. There is no time limit on your ticket! All tickets can be purchased for a one way or return.

We have 3 popular ticket types and below is important ticket information:

Cape Town to Port Elizabeth :

Your ticket has UNLIMITED TIME so you can take as long as you want to get to your final destination. You decide where you want to stay along the route and how long you want to stay for. There are over 180 hostels to choose from in over 40 cities, towns and villages along the route. An additional R70 Fuel Levy will be added to all tickets prices over R650. Why not start in Cape Town and travel in one direction to Port Elizabeth or alternatively start from Port Elizabeth. The minimum recommended travel is 4 days but you can take as long as you want!!!

Cape Town to Port Elizabeth (return):

Why not start in Cape Town and travel in one direction to Port Elizabeth and RETURN back to Cape Town or alternatively start from Port Elizabeth. The minimum recommended travel is 8 days but you can take as long as you want!!!

Cape Town to Durban ticket :

Your ticket has UNLIMITED TIME so you can take as long as you want to get to your final destination. You decide where you want to stay along the route and how long you want to stay for. There are over 180 hostels to choose from in over 40 cities, towns and villages along the route. An additional R70 Fuel Levy will be added to all tickets prices over R650 .Why not start in Cape Town and travel in one direction to Durban or alternatively start from Durban. The minimum recommended travel is 9 days but you can take as long as you want!!!

Cape Town to Durban ticket (return)

 Why not start in Cape Town and travel in one direction to Durban and RETURN back to Cape Town or alternatively start from Durban. The minimum recommended travel is 16 days but you can take as long as you want!!!

Cape Town to Johannesburg / Pretoria:

Your ticket has UNLIMITED TIME so you can take as long as you want to get to your final destination. You decide where you want to stay along the route and how long you want to stay for. There are over 180 hostels to choose from in over 40 cities, towns and villages along the route. An additional R70 Fuel Levy will be added to all tickets prices over R650 Why not start in Cape Town and travel in 1 direction to Johannesburg / Pretoria or alternatively start from Johannesburg / Pretoria. The minimum recommended travel is 10 days but you can take as long as you want!!!

 Cape Town to Johannesburg / Pretoria (return)

Why not start in Cape Town and travel in one direction to Johannesburg / Pretoria and RETURN back to Cape Town or alternatively start from Johannesburg / Pretoria. The minimum recommended travel is 20 days but you can take as long as you want!!!

You can also choose smaller tickets which are also available – all you have to do is choose a starting and ending point.

Don’t forget the following important information for your trip:

Overnight Stops: Our buses only run during the day i.e. they leave Cape Town in the morning and arrive in Port Elizabeth in the evening. Port Elizabeth and Durban are compulsory overnight stopovers.

Shuttle Services: Some of the locations shown on the map are only accessible through the use of Shuttle Services which link to our route. Shuttle services run independently to Baz Bus and need to be pre-arranged by the traveller. Shuttle costs are payable to the hostel offering the service. Shuttle costs are not included in the Baz Bus ticket. View list of shuttle services.

 Accommodation: Baz Bus only collects and drops off passengers from backpacker hostels that are on the Hostel List. Accommodation costs vary from hostel to hostel. The ticket doesn’t include the cost of the accommodation.

Day Tour

This is a really fun way to see the Cape Peninsula! Vitalise your body and feed your mind with guided commentary, fabulous scenic cycling and easy hiking. After picking you up from your accommodation, we continue along the Atlantic Seaboard to Hout Bay harbour checking out the Twelve Apostles Mountains in the background.

Our enthusiastic guide will let you in on the “who’s who” of the Cape Peninsula while you travel the scenic route to Cape Point. Once in Hout Bay, an optional boat cruise to visit the Cape Fur Seal colony on Duiker Island comes highly recommended (Approximately R60.00). Otherwise browse around the harbour and check out the local crafts. Enjoy some cookies and juice and take in the breathtaking views along Chapman’s Peak drive (subject to road conditions). Put the flap back into your flippers with a visit to the endangered (and very entertaining) peng
uins at Boulders Beach in Simons Town. The locals protected them and the colony grew. Now the site is a state park. The locals sometimes wonder if it has been a blessing or not. Penguins rule the beach and tend to be late night party animals!!

The exhilarating downhill cycle through the free roaming wildlife of the Cape Point Nature Reserve helps you to work up a healthy appetite. A healthy, energy boosting picnic lunch will be served at a lunch stop in the reserve. After a delicious picnic enjoy a leisurely stroll to the South-Western most point of Africa. The spectacular Cape Point Nature Reserve will put you on a natural high for the rest of the week!

Enjoy BIG savings with our new Baz Bus Packages!!!

Baz Bus Packages for the Independent Traveller with a Spirit of Adventure!!!

Baz Bus has introduced fresh and exciting Wildlife Safari and Adventure Packages and excellent Volunteer Package options. Simply choose a package and enjoy BIG savings as prices are greatly reduced. There are 8 package options to suit your budget and interests.

Wildlife Safari and Adventure Packages:

These packages consist of a Hop-on hop-off ticket from Cape Town to Johannesburg or Pretoria (alternatively start from Johannesburg) plus an exciting Wildlife Safari and Adventure tour of you choice.

We offer these 4 options:

Hop- on Hop- off & 4 day Kruger National Park

 Hop- on Hop- off & 4 day Kruger National Park & 3 day tours

Hop- on Hop- off & 7 day Chobe National Park & Victoria Falls

Hop- on Hop- off & 11 day Kruger NP & Chobe NP & Victoria Falls

Volunteer Packages:

These packages consist of a Hop-on hop-off ticket from Cape Town to Johannesburg or Pretoria (alternatively start from Johannesburg) plus a ‘once-in-a-lifetime” volunteer project of your choice. Choose your project, how long you want to stay and when you want to travel.

We offer these 4 options:

Hop- on Hop- off & Wild Coast Schools Project

This project works with rural schools. Be part of the necessary teacher training and make a difference!!!

Hop- on Hop- off & Wildlife and Conservation Project

 This project offers you the chance to learn and promote outstanding conservation practices.

Hop- on Hop- off & African Angels Crèche Project

 This project offers you a chance to work with the “Angels” in a crèche and provide extraordinary opportunities for disadvantaged rural African children.

Hop- on Hop- off & Horse Trail and Horse Rehabilitation

This project offers you the opportunity for hands on voluntary work with the animals at a working horse farm and becoming part of the day to day life of a tourism trail business and a horse rehabilitation centre.