South Africa Safari

Highlights of South Africa

• Cape Town
• Stellenbosch and the Winelands
• uKhahlamba-Drakensberg
• The Panorama Route
• iSimangaliso Wetland Park
• Madikwe and Pilanesberg
• The Garden Route

• • Table Mountain

    Rising to an altitude of 1,086 m, iconic Table Mountain sometimes basked in golden sunlight, other times swathed in a misty shroud …

    known as the tablecloth, dominates the city’s southern skyline. The ‘table top’, most easily reached by cable car, offers stunning views to reveal the geological drama of the Cape Peninsula.
    
    

    See Table Mountain through our lens!
  • District Six Museum

    The award-winning District Six Museum is arguably the city’s most engaging and poignant installation. Taped recollections …

    possessions and photographs donated by former residents evoke everyday life as it was in the cosmopolitan multiracial suburb of District Six prior to it being bulldozed by the apartheid government in 1966 and rezoned as a whites-only area.
    
    

    Discover the cultural value of District Six on this tour
  • Kirstenbosch

    Set on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, the 528ha garden is serviced by a network of well-marked trails passing through thematic …

    beds of indigenous flora – most notably a lush cycad garden, but also a fascinating collection of ‘useful plants’, and a conservatory containing succulent species typical of the arid Kalahari and Namaqualand.
    
    

    Summer concerts in Kirstenbosch
  • Bo-Kaap

    The Bo-Kaap (Upper Cape) is the spiritual home of the Cape Malay community, whose colourfully painted houses …

    include the Bo-Kaap Museum, a beautifully restored 1760s homestead that explores the history of this fascinating suburb.
    
    

    More about Cape Malay cooking in the Bo-Kaap
  • V&A Waterfront

    Reputedly the most-visited tourist attraction in South Africa, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is a vast harbour-front development …

    comprising 50-plus restaurants, hundreds of shops, and boats offering sunset cruises around Table Bay, where dolphins and seals frolic below the outline of Table Mountain.
    
    

    So, what’s the big deal about the V&A?
  • Robben Island

    Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Robben Island gained infamy as a site of the maximum- security block where Nelson Mandela …

    and other prominent anti-apartheid leaders were detained in the height of the struggle. It can be visited on a boat-and-bus excursion that leaves from Victoria & Alfred Waterfront several times daily and includes a visit to the tiny cell Mandela was required to call home for 18 years.
    
    

    Take a cultural tour to Robben Island
  • Groot Constantia

    The birthplace of Cape wine, the Constantia Valley houses some of the country’s most historic and beautiful estates …

    , among them Groot Constantia, centred on an original 1680s homestead now preserved as a museum.
    
    

    Experience Groot Constantia Wine Farm in 360
  • Cape Point

    Now part of Table Mountain National Park, the 77 km2 Cape of Good Hope protects the most southerly section of the Cape Peninsula …

    The main focus is Cape Point Lighthouse, which stands atop a precipitous windswept cliff that rises 250 m from the rocky beach below. It’s also good for fynbos endemics such as the Cape sugarbird and Orange-belled sunbird, while mammals include Cape fur seals and half-a-dozen antelope species, notably eland and bontebok.
    
    

    Watch Cape Point from a bird’s eye view
  • Boulders Beach

    Just five minutes drive south of Simon’s Town, Boulders Beach supports a permanent breeding colony of several thousand penguins …

    which can be observed strutting, surfing, squabbling and sunbathing from a network of boardwalks and viewing platforms.
    
    

    Spend time with the penguins of Boulders
  
  
  Experience more of Cape Town
• • Stellenbosch

    Established in 1679, South Africa’s second-oldest town Stellenbosch is named after its founder Simon van der Stel. Nicknamed Eikestad …

    (Town of Oaks), it retains a pleasingly time-warped Cape Dutch character whilst also hosting a lively selection of contemporary restaurants, cafés and shops. The Stellenbosch Village Museum comprises four restored houses – the oldest being the Schreuderhuis, one of the few buildings to survive the great fire of 1710 – representing different phases in the town’s development.
  • Lanzerac Wine Estate

    Founded on the outskirts of Stellenbosch in 1692, the scenic Lanzerac Estate is known for its stately Cape Dutch architecture …

    and for producing the world’s first commercial Pinotage (a red cultivar unique to South Africa) in 1959, and it includes a five-star restaurant and hotel.
  • Boschendal

    Set in a verdant valley flanked by the Groot Drakenstein and Simonsberg Mountains midway between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek …

    , the perennially popular Boschendal Estate was first planted with vines in 1685, and is notable both for its superb Cape Dutch architecture and Mediterranean-style picnics served on the oak-shaded lawn.
  • Darling

    Regularly known for its spring wildflowers and sleepy museum, the quaint town of Darling not only has its own wine route …

    but is home to the cabaret venue and supper club Evita se Perron (named after Evita Bezuidenhout, a politicised South African equivalent to Dame Edna Everage created by the cross-dressing satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys).
  • Spier Wine Estate

    The family-friendly Spier Estate might lack the ambience of its older counterparts, but an excellent range of activities and amenities …

    include a swimming pool, spa, playground, cheetah outreach programme, raptor centre, horseback excursions and two onsite restaurants. Thus making it an excellent family-friendly venue.
  • Vergelegen

    Founded in 1685 on the slopes of the Helderberg, Vergelegen (roughly translated as ‘far away’) is arguably the loveliest estate …

    anywhere in the Winelands thanks to its gracious manor house, octagonal garden and row of gnarled camphor trees planted circa 1700. The restaurant and award-winning wines are also exceptional.
  • Paarl

    The Winelands’ largest town, Paarl is redeemed from mundanity by the pearl-smooth granite dome of the adjacent Paarl (‘Pearl’) Mountain …

    reached on a footpath through the protea-rich slopes of the nature reserve bordering the town centre. The Taal Monument, built in 1975 to commemorate the centenary of Afrikaans’ recognition as an official language, lies on its lower slopes.
  • Tulbagh

    A recommended diversion for devotees of Cape Dutch architecture is modest Tulbagh, whose Church Street has been restored in …

    traditional style following a devastating earthquake in 1970.
  • Fairview

    Ideal for those travelling with children, unpretentious Fairview Estate combines a laidback farmyard atmosphere with …

    a superb deli serving a fabulous range of handcrafted cheeses and homegrown wines.
  
  
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• • uKhahlamba-Drakensberg National Park

    Africa’s largest protected montane wilderness-the 2,500km2 uKhahlamba-Drakensberg National Park extends for a full 200 km along the …

    border of KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho , and incorporates several dozen peaks with the highest rising to 3,000m. Its name combines the isiZulu uKhahlamba (“Barrier of Spears”) with the Afrikaans Drakensberg (“Dragon’s Mountain”). South Africa’s ultimate destination for high-altitude day walks and overnight hikes, the park is a hub of botanical diversity and some 15% of its 2,500 identified plant species occur nowhere else in the world.
  • Wildlife in uKhahlamba-Drakensberg

    Large wildlife includes baboon, eland, bushbuck, mountain reedbuck, grey rhebok and grey duiker, as well as 300-strong bird checklist …

    that is strong on cliff- associated raptors such as Verreaux’s eagle, Jackal buzzard, Cape vulture and lammergeyer, and also includes 20 species whose range is restricted to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.
  • Rock Art in uKhahlamba-Drakensberg

    An important repository of prehistoric rock art, uKhahlamba-Drakensberg contains at least 500 painted caves and shelters …

    where monochrome human figures and finely shaded polychrome elands share wall space with bizarre half-human-half-animal creatures known as therianthropes. Executed between 3,000 and 200 years ago, the art depicts the ritual trances experienced by shamans, and their complex relationships with revered animals. uKhahlamba-Drakensberg’s combination of rich biodiversity and prolific rock art has gained it recognition as one of only 35 ‘mixed’ natural and cultural sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
  • Amphitheatre

    No single feature encapsulates the mountains’ majesty quite like the Amphitheatre, a 5km-long, kilometre-high wall of burnished sandstone that dominates the skyline of Royal Natal …

    National Park. A must for keen walkers is the half-day Gorge Trail, which follows a pretty riverine gorge past natural swimming pools to the 949m-tall five-stage Tugela Falls. A feasible day hike from Royal Natal is the Witsieshoek’s Chain Ladder Trail. It’s the easiest hike to the top of the escarpment, and offers sensational views from the lip of the Tugela Falls as it crashes over the Amphitheatre. The ideal goal perfect for those who want to enjoy splendid submontane scenery without breaking a sweat, Champagne Valley is overlooked by a trio of distinctive high peaks – domed Champagne Castle, fang-like Monk’s Cowl, and freestanding Cathkin Peak. It also houses a great selection of golf courses, stables, shopping malls, craft factories and the like.
  • Giant's Castle

    Named after a 3,314m basaltic protrusion that stands at the convergence of the mountains’ northern and southern escarpments, Giant’s Castle Game Reserve is renowned for …

    its rock art, in particular the hundreds of superb images that adorn Main Cave. It’s also a good place to see the stately eland antelope and other large mammals and raptors. Didima Rock Art Centre contains life-size reproductions of several inaccessible rock art panels set higher in the mountains. Only 45 minutes’ walk away, the Lower Mushroom Cave is decorated with a wonderful scene of stick men evading a marauding leopard.
  • Cathedral Peak

    The striking 3,005m Cathedral Peak, which towers above the main escarpment like a squatted version of the cow horn alluded to in its traditional name …

    Mponjwane, is an attainable goal for a tough full-day guided hike from Didima. The undulating slopes of Kamberg support fair numbers of eland and mountain reedbuck. A three-hour round hike leads to the Game Pass Shelter, a superbly preserved rock art panel dubbed the Rosetta Stone in double reference to its significance in helping scholars ‘crack the code’ of shamanistic symbolism that underlies the prehistoric paintings.
  
  
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• • The Panoroma Route

    A popular add-on to Kruger safaris but also well worth exploring in its own right the so-called Panorama Route …

    is a loose circuit of mostly natural attractions associated with the towering cliffs that divide the highveld around Sabie and Graskop from the lowveld of the Kruger Park and Mpumalanga’s provincial capital Mbombela (formerly Nelspruit). A scenic and ecologically-varied region, its defining feature is the Mpumalanga Escarpment, a geological extension of the Drakensberg that rises sharply from the coastal plain (below 500m) to several peaks that top the 2,000 m mark. Although much of the region is given over to exotic plantations, significant tracts of indigenous forest remain, especially on steep cliffs, as do several areas of grassland studded with proteas and red-hot pokers. The region is notable historically as the site of South Africa’s earliest gold rush, one that proved to be short lived, as far richer seams of gold were discovered soon after in the vicinity of Johannesburg.
  • Lowveld Botanical Garden

    Well worth a stop if you pass through Mbombela, the 169 ha Lowveld National Botanical Garden, set on the …

    confluence of the Nels and Crocodile Rivers, is of equal interest to botanists and ornithologists. The rainforest section protects a vast collection of prehistoric cycads, while a bird checklist of 250 species includes Purple-crested turaco, Half-collared kingfisher and African finfoot.
  • Mac Mac Falls

    This 65 m Mac-Mac Falls is named after a pair of Scottish prospectors who camped above it …

    in the gold rush era. You can swim in the pool at the base of the falls, or continue by car for 2 km to the start of a 4 km day-trail to the little-visited Forest Falls.
  • Bourkes Luck Potholes

    Situated at the confluence of the Blyde (Joy) and Treur (Sorrow) rivers, the bizarre riverine …

    formation known as Bourke’s Luck comprise a series of deep cylindrical potholes created entirely by water erosion, and can be explored along a short network of paths and footbridges.
  • Blyde River Canyon

    The 25 km-long and 1.4 km-deep red sandstone Blyde River Canyon, protected within a 270 km2 …

    nature reserve is one of the largest and most spectacular features of its type on earth. It offers much to keen walkers and wildlife lovers, with the most rewarding of several day hikes being the Kadishi Trail, which leads through lush indigenous evergreen forest, inhabited by Vervet and Blue monkeys, to an impressive stalactite-like tufa waterfall. Look out for localised and endemic birds such as Knysna turaco, Narina trogon, Southern bald ibis, Cape vulture and Gurney’s sugarbird. One of the most scenic spots anywhere in South Africa, the Three Rondavels viewpoint gazes across the wide Blyde River Canyon – the river itself a blue ribbon hundreds of metres below – to a striking trio of outcrops that recall traditional thatched rondavels (round houses). The dank, cool chambers of the Sudwala Caves support some wonderful limestone drip formations and can be explored on regular guided tours that lead about 500 m deep into the subterranean labyrinth.
  • Pilgrim's Rest

    Pilgrim’s Rest mushroomed into life in 1873 following the discovery of a large deposit of alluvial gold.…

    The boomtown’s heyday was short lived, but it was later restored as a living museum evoking the gold rush era. Points of interest include the Anglican Church (built in 1884), the Methodist Church (1911), Catholic Church (1928), Old Police Station (1902), and the hilltop cemetery whose graves all point in the same direction, the one exception being an anonymous Robber’s Grave.
  • God's Window

    The finest of several viewpoints offering views along the R532, God’s Window offers a splendid … view over the edge of the escarpment …

    to the expansive lowveld more than 1,000m below, though its impact depends on very clear weather. The tallest single-drop waterfall in the region, the twin-stream Lisbon Falls plunges over a 90m stone amphitheatre whose base is accessible via a steep footpath.
  
  
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• • iSimangaliso Wetland Park

    South Africa’s third-largest protected area and oldest UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 3,320 square km iSimangaliso follows the Indian Ocean coastline …

    for a full 220 km north of Lake St Lucia (Africa’s largest estuarine system) to Kosi Bay on the border with Mozambique. It is easily the country’s most biodiverse reserve, incorporating five separate Ramsar Wetlands, a lush tropical mosaic of mountains, bushveld, palm groves, wooded dunes, grassland and coastal forests, as well as a 5 km-wide marine section that harbours Africa’s most southerly coral reefs. The faunal diversity of iSimangaliso (Zulu word meaning ‘something wondrous’) was encapsulated by Nelson Mandela, who described it as “the only place on the globe where the oldest land mammal (rhinoceros) and the world’s biggest terrestrial mammal (elephant) share an ecosystem with the world’s oldest fish (coelacanth) and the world’s biggest marine mammal (whale)”. Indeed, iSimangaliso can boast a higher count of vertebrate species than any other African conservation area with 129 terrestrial and aquatic mammals, 525 birds, 128 reptiles, 50 amphibians, and 991 marine as well as 48 freshwater fish. Despite this, while wildlife is abundant in parts, the stunning coastal scenery is at least as big an attraction as the game viewing.
  • St Lucia

    Jungle-swathed St Lucia Village, fringing the freshwater estuary for which it is named, stands at the far south of iSimangaliso …

    and is the park’s main travel hub.A contender for South Africa’s most wildlife-friendly settlement, it is home to plentiful hippos and crocs, as well as the likes of porcupine, bushbuck and warthog. The tropical birdlife includes African fish eagle, Trumpeter hornbill, Purple-crested turaco and Mangrove kingfisher. Popular activities include visits to an out-of-town crocodile farm and launch trips on the St Lucia Estuary.
  • Cape Vidal

    Set below forested dunes on a reef-shielded beach north of St Lucia, Cape Vidal is a superb beach that offers good low-tide snorkelling …

    and seasonal land-based whale and dolphin viewing. It also forms a vital seasonal nesting site for loggerhead and leatherback turtles.Halfway between St Lucia and Cape Vidal, the forested dunes around Mission Rocks are some of the world’s tallest and provide sanctuary to the secretive red duiker and localised blue monkey. Buffalo, rhino, elephant and possibly cheetah might be seen on the game-viewing loop to Lake Bhangazi.
  • uMkhuze Game Reserve

    The 400 km2 uMkhuze Game Reserve offers the finest game viewing within iSimangaliso. Home to elephant, buffalo, giraffe …

    and and elusive populations of leopard and cheetah, it is popular with wildlife photographers thanks to some well-sited photographic hides that attract a steady stream of nyala, kudu, zebra, warthog, white rhino and black rhino. More than 420 bird species include the localised Yellow-spotted nicator, Livingstone’s turaco, Neergaard’s sunbird and African broadbill.
  • Lake Sibaya

    South Africa’s largest natural freshwater body, Lake Sibaya is backed by tall forested dunes and supports around 150 …

    hippos along with a wide diversity of aquatic birds. Comprising eight lakes and a series of connecting channels that drain into the Indian Ocean through a sandy estuary, scenic Kosi Bay offers unusually calm snorkelling conditions and the opportunity to seek out 150 marine fish species on the rocky reef in the estuary mouth. The complex fishing traps set in the estuary by the local Thonga people represent a highly sustainable form of traditional resource management, since the estuarine fish are readily replenished from the open sea.
  • Sodwana Bay

    Africa’s southernmost coral reefs stand offshore of Sodwana Bay, whose Seven Mile Reef is ranked among the world’s most beautiful dive sites …

    with overhangs, drop-offs and mushroom rocks reaching around 20 m below the surface, and a dazzling array of colourful reef fish to be seen.
  • Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve

    St Lucia village is a convenient base for day safaris to the nearby Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve …

    providing refuge to all the Big Five, including the world’s densest populations of both white and black rhino . Other wildlife includes African wild dog, giraffe, zebra, impala, nyala, greater kudu, warthog, Vervet monkey and almost 400 bird species.Sharing its eastern boundary with iSimangaliso, the private Phinda Resource Reserve is KwaZulu-Natal’s most prestigious safari destination. All-inclusive packages with guided game drives in an open 4x4 are also certain to yield all the Big Five over the course of a two- to three-night stay. A dense population of habituated cheetahs allows for great close-up behavioural viewing. Not strictly speaking a private reserve, but effectively functioning as one, the 300 km2 Tembe Elephant Park is best known for its giant tuskers, but the rest of the Big Five are also present, and the birdlife is fantastic.
  
  
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• • Madikwe Game Reserve

    Situated in the blandly-named low-profile North West Province, these two relatively recently-created reserves have grown in popularity …

    in recent years thanks to their family-friendly location in a malaria free-zone and excellent Big Five viewing. Pilanesberg and Madikwe are quite similar in ecological terms, both being situated on the transitional zone to the moist eastern bushveld and the semi-arid Kalahari biome that extends into neighbouring Botswana. The usual safari favourites are supplemented by many dry-country species at the eastern limit of their range. However, two reserves cater to very different clienteles. Pilanesberg, only two hours from Gauteng, stands adjacent to the glitzy Sun City casino and resort complex and is geared primarily towards self-drive day and overnight visitors. By contrast, the more remote Madikwe is closed to day visitors and caters exclusively to the top end of the safari market, hosting a few dozen exclusive bush camps that offer plush accommodation and all-inclusive packages comparable to the private reserves bordering Kruger.
  • Wildlife of Madikwe

    Now entrenched as South Africa’s premier malaria-free safari destination, the 750 km2 Madikwe Game Reserve abuts the …

    Botswana border some four hours’ drive northwest of Gauteng. Flanked by the perennial Great Marico River, the reserve was established in 1991 following a government study that concluded it could be utilised more profitably and offer greater benefits to local communities as a conservation area than as an unproductive farm. Following an extensive program of reintroductions, it now offers an excellent chance of sighting three of the ‘Big Five’ – lion, elephant and rhino – while buffalo and leopard are also present, but scarcer. Common grazers include giraffe, zebra, greater kudu, springbok, Red hartebeest and tsessebe. It is also possibly the most reliable reserve in South Africa for encounters with the endangered African wild dog, and night drives frequently offer good sightings of the shy brown hyena and bizarre aardwolf. A checklist of 350 bird species includes several orthwestern specials, most conspicuously the Southern pied babbler (dubbed the ‘flying snowball’ for reasons that become obvious when you first encounter one) and the exquisite Crimson-breasted shrike, Shaft-tailed whydah and Violet-eared waxbill.
  • Pilanesberg Game Reserve

    Nestled scenically within a collapsed volcanic crater, the 550 km2 Pilanesberg Game Reserve supports game densities …

    similar to the likes of Kruger, and ranks as one of the best places anywhere in South Africa for close-up encounters with white rhino and elephant. Situated only two-hours drive north of Gauteng, it forms a realistic goal for time-pressed travellers looking for a malaria-free overnight safari destination out of Johannesburg or Pretoria. Large predator sightings are comparatively hit-and-miss, but odds of encountering lion or leopard - along with the strictly nocturnal brown hyena and aardwolf improve greatly if you join a guided night drive into the reserve. As with Madikwe, a checklist of 350 bird species includes several species that reflect its transitional location.
  • Sun City

    Established in 1976, Sun City is sometimes dubbed Las-Vegas-in-the-bush. While the massive casino at the complex’s heart just about …

    justifies this tag, it also doubles as a fun family- friendly destination boasting a fake inland beach called the Valley of Waves, two superb golf courses designed by Gary Player, and day safaris into the adjacent Pilanesberg.
  
  
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• • Storms River Mouth

    The Tsitsikamma sector of the Garden Route National Park protects a vast tract of indigenous forest along with a series of breathtaking cliffs …

    that rise 180 m above the breakers below. Highlights include the thrilling suspension bridge across the Storms River Mouth, and the 6 km Waterfall Trail, which follows the same stretch of rocky wave-battered shore as the legendary five-day Otter Trail.
  • Bloukraans Bridge

    A short distance inland of Tsitsikamma, the 215 m Bloukrans Bridge bungee jump is reputedly the world’s highest and …

    is a major attraction for many adventurers who are brave enough to face its intimidating drop.
  • Birds of Eden

    Family friendly Monkeyland is a private sanctuary offering refuge to more than a dozen species of monkey and lemur …

    all rescued from domestic captivity. The adjacent Birds of Eden is a massive free-flight aviary run through by a 1km walkway and suspension bridge. A third associated sanctuary Jukani is home to rescued lions and various other big cats and smaller carnivores.
  • Robberg Nature Reserve

    Set on the aptly named Baia Formosa (Beautiful Bay), the perennially popular resort town of Plettenberg Bay boasts one of the South Africa’s loveliest …

    and calmest urban beaches, along with a great selection of seafood and other restaurants. Adjacent to Plettenberg Bay, the towering cliffs of the Robberg Nature Reserve, home to large numbers of Cape fur seal, are circumnavigated by a stunning day trail from which dolphins, humpback whales and the endemic African black oystercatcher are often observed.
  • Knysna

    The charming town of Knysna, whose Holy Trinity Church might have been transplanted from a sleepy English village, stands on a pretty …

    lagoon hemmed in by a pair of sheer rock faces known as the Knysna Heads. Several quayside eateries specialise in fresh oysters cultivated in the lagoon and crafts beers such as those pioneered by the legendary Mitchell’s Brewery. Despite its genteel veneer, Knysna supports a thriving alternative scene whose annual highlight is the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival, a five-day gay pride event held every April or May.
  • Garden Route NP

    Sandwiched between beach and lagoon, the resort village of Wilderness flanks a sector of the Garden Route National Park …

    whose vast network of freshwater lakes and forested waterways form a genuine birdwatcher’s paradise. It can be explored along a network of six easy walking trails, each named for one of the park’s half-dozen kingfisher species, or by canoeing through a stunning forested gorge formed by the Touws River.
  • Oudtshoorn

    Set in the arid Little Karoo an hour’s drive inland, Oudtshoorn is was the booming centre of a lucrative trade in ostrich feathers in the late …

    19th century. The CP Nel Museum has good displays on the ostrich trade while a number of out-of-town ostrich farms offer travellers the opportunity to learn about, pet and ride these bizarre outsized birds.
  • Swartberg Pass

    In the scenic Swartberg (Black Mountains) north of Oudtshoorn, guided 60-minute trips lead deep underground through the …

    sequence of well-lit labyrinths of the Cango Caves, whose chambers are decorated by all manner of unusual limestone formations. An extended 90 minute ‘adventure’ tour into Cango Caves entails squeezing and clambering through crevices unsuited to the claustrophobic or seriously overweight.
  • Shark cage diving

    Mossel Bay is where, on 3 February 1488, Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to set foot on South African soil. Three years later, …

    it is where a stranded Portuguese navigator left an account of his misfortunes in an old shoe suspended from a milkwood tree that went on to serve as South Africa’s first ‘post office’ for decades. The post office tree still stands in the grounds of the Bartolomeu Dias Museum, but Mossel Bay is now better known as a base for caged shark dives and boat trips to the aptly named Seal Island.
  
  
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Travelling to South Africa

• Kruger National Park
• Western and Eastern Cape
• Gauteng, Kruger and the North
• Kwa-Zulu Natal
• Durban and the South Coast

• Kruger National Park

  Extending over a mind-boggling 19,485 km², the Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s largest and most iconic safari destinations, comparable in area to Wales or the state of New Jersey, and sharing open borders with several smaller private reserves as well as two transfrontier national parks in the form of Gonarezhou (Zimbabwe) and Limpopo (Mozambique). It vies with with Cape Town as South Africa’s top destination, attracting more than one million visitors annually, and the park itself is better suited to affordable self-drive safaris than any other major African park. By contrast, the exclusive private reserves that border Kruger, and ‘concession lodges’ that occupy exclusive enclaves within it, set the bar when it comes to all-inclusive luxury safaris in open 4x4 vehicles driven by expert guides.

  Set in the hot eastern lowveld, Kruger is traversed by several rivers and punctuated by a few hilly areas, but mostly it comprises flat savannah dominated by acacia trees in the south and mopane woodland in the north. A tally of 147 mammal species includes all the Big Five (around 40,000 buffalo, 13,000 elephant, 1,600 lion, 2,000 leopard and 7,000 white and 400 black rhino) along with other safari favourites such as cheetah, hippo, zebra, giraffe, warthog, baboon, Vervet monkey and a full 21 antelope species.

  Try this Big Five safari in Kruger

  The Nile crocodile is the most conspicuous of 114 reptile and 34 amphibian species, but the ethereal communal calls of the Bubbling kassina and other tree-frogs often provide a haunting aural backdrop to dusk waterhole vigils. Kruger is a magnet for bird lovers, with 517 bird species recorded, ranging from the spectacularly colourful Lilac-breasted roller and White-fronted bee-eater to several heftier species now rare outside of protected areas, among them the eyelid-fluttering Southern ground hornbill, the bizarre Secretary-bird, the massive Kori bustard (the world’s heaviest flying bird), the macabre Marabou stork, and of course the ostrich.

  • Highlights of the Kruger

    Thanks to its relative proximity to Gauteng, Southern Kruger carries the highest volume of safari goers. The far south offers the park’s most reliable game viewing: the surfaced H4-1 that follows the Sabie River from Skukuza to Lower Sabie often throws up elephant, buffalo, lion and even leopard, and is also a favourite with birdwatchers, while the H4-2 and associated dirt roads running south to Crocodile Bridge explore the park’s best rhino country.

    The focal point of the lightly-wooded savannah of Central Kruger, Satara stands at the crossroads of some superb game-viewing roads. Seasonal concentrations of wildebeest and zebra are reminiscent of the Serengeti, and it is the best place to look for cheetah and to see lion kills - the latter also often attracting jackals and hyenas. The aptly-named Olifants River is favoured haunt of elephants and it also often attracts immense herds of thirsty buffalo.

    Track the Big Five

    Wildlife viewing in the remote Northern Kruger is challenging, for while buffalo and elephant are conspicuous, lion, leopard or rhino encounters are rare. Balanced against that, the untrammelled north possesses a mesmerising wilderness feel, and hosts a great many localised bird species absent further south. Thulamela Heritage Site, on the south bank of the Luvuvhu River, protects the substantial ruins of a 16th-century Zimbabwe-style stone-wall royal village.

    The 240 km² Makuleke Contractual Park, which runs south from the Limpopo River as it runs along the border with Zimbabwe, was annexed to Kruger following the forcible relocation of its inhabitants in 1969. Restored to the Makuleke community in the 1990s, it is still managed as part of Kruger, and hosts two private lodges that offer much to keen birdwatchers or anybody seeking a genuine wilderness escape. An excellent place to seek out the likes of Pel’s fishing owl, Racket-tailed roller and Triple-banded courser, it also offers exclusive access to the spectacular Lanner Gorge and lush Fever-tree forest at Crooks Corner.

    Home to some of South Africa’s most lauded game lodges, the Sabi Sand Reserve was amalgamated from several now jointly-managed private properties in 1948. It shares an open boundary with southern Kruger, and expertly guided game drives in open 4x4 vehicles often throw up all the Big Five, as well as cheetah and African wild dog. The reserve also arguably offers the world’s best and most intimate leopard viewing. But while the game viewing is peerless, shared traversing rights with neighbouring properties.

    Immediately north of Sabi Sand, Manyeleti Game Reserve, whose Shangaan name means ‘Place of Stars’, was set aside in 1964 and now shares an unfenced 30 km eastern border with Kruger and supports a similar selection of wildlife, though poaching and low tourist volumes mean that game viewing isn’t quite up there with several of its neighbours.

    Named after the seasonal river that flows close to its southern boundary before crossing into Kruger, the private Timbavati Nature Reserve, created in 1962, and now unfenced along its border with Kruger, operates in a similar manner to Sabi Sand. Game drives don’t quite match up when it comes to leopard and rhino sightings, but since camps are more spread out, they tend to operate at a more relaxed and impulsive pace.

    Discover Timbavati

    The Kruger’s dozen-or-so privately-run Concession Lodges stand on individual enclaves of national park land where exclusive traversing rights have been awarded to the concessionaire. Much like the private reserves bordering Kruger, each concession hosts between one and three exclusive small camps that offer guests an upmarket package inclusive of expertly guided game drives in open 4x4s. However, the concessions are typically much larger than the private reserves, wildlife is less habituated to vehicles, and there is no cross-traversing with other lodges - the net result being that game viewing tends to be more erratic but the overall experience is arguably more holistically satisfying.

  • Practical information

    • Kruger is well suited to affordable self-drive safaris. A good network of sealed roads can easily be explored in an ordinary saloon car. The 20-odd rest camps offer inexpensive but comfortable accommodation, and most have grocery shops, filling stations and restaurants. In addition, an excellent selection of maps, guidebooks and other interpretive material is available on site.

    • Kruger-Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) lies within an hour’s drive of Numbi and Phabeni Gates. It is connected to Gauteng’s OR Tambo International Airport by several scheduled flights daily, and several car rental companies are represented there. For couples or families, it may be more affordable to rent a car out of Gauteng and drive, following the N4 east from Pretoria to Mbombela, or the N12 from Johannesburg/OR Tambo to connect with the N4 at eMalahleni (formerly Witbank). Allow five hours for the drive.

    • The private and concession lodges associated with Kruger offer a very different and somewhat more costly experience. Most exude an aura of safari chic, pamper clients with gourmet meals and service levels in line with a luxury spa, and include a guided evening and morning game drive in rack rate. These lodges are normally visited as a two- or three-night all-inclusive fly-in or drive-down package from Gauteng. You could also tag one night at a private reserve to the end of a self-drive Kruger safari – though be sure to time things so that you arrive at camp in time and leave late enough to do all game drives.

    • Kruger is hot and seasonally humid, with summer daytime temperatures routinely topping the 30°C mark (frequently 40°C in the north). The air dries out in winter, when nights can be very cold, and you’ll want plenty of warm clothing for evening and early morning game drives.

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• The Western and Eastern Cape

  Collectively protecting around two-thirds of South Africa’s phenomenal coastline, the country’s two most southerly provinces also incorporate several of its oldest and most characterful settlements. The main regional travel hub (and administrative capital of the Western Cape) is the city of Cape Town, which boasts an incomparable setting on the Atlantic coastline below the slopes of majestic Table Mountain. For nature lovers, the adjacent Cape Peninsula stands at the core of the world’s smallest and most botanically diverse floral kingdom, one that supports a wealth of endemic plants and animals, ranging from the beautiful King Protea to the endangered Cape mountain zebra and striking Cape sugarbird.
  
  Tour Cape Town and the winelands

  Further afield, some of the world’s finest and most scenic wine estates are concentrated around the historic towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. The clifftop resort town of Hermanus offers the world’s best land-based whale-watching, while the Garden Route is named for its lush vistas of scenic lagoons and beaches framed by tall mountains and evergreen forests. The garden route runs into the the Eastern Cape, a province that is less popular with international tourists than its western counterpart, but almost as rich in attractions. These range from the idyllic Wild Coast and surfing scene at Jeffrey’s Bay to the malaria-free Big Five game-viewing on offer in the Addo Elephant National Park and the National Arts Festival held in Grahamstown every July.

  • Highlights of the Western and Eastern Cape

    One of the world’s most scenic and culturally rewarding cities, Cape Town is the gateway to any number of fine swimming beaches as well as a magnificent mountainous peninsula that terminates at the sheer wave-battered cliffs of Cape Point.

    A perennially popular day or overnight excursion out of Cape Town runs inland to the Cape Winelands, where dozens of historic wine estates offer tasting sessions in characterful Cape Dutch buildings shadowed by spectacular mountain ranges such as the Simonsberg and Groot Drakenstein.

    Stretching for 200 km between Mossel Bay and the dramatic Storms River mouth, the Garden Route is lined with family-friendly Indian Ocean beaches, but its plethora of lakes, forests and mountains - many protected in the patchwork Garden Route National Park - offer rich pickings to hikers, birdwatchers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

    Set on the cliffs above Walker Bay 120 km southeast of Cape Town, Hermanus is an attractive town of cobbled alleys and relaxed seafood restaurants best known for offering some of the world’s finest land-based whale-watching. The season runs from Jun to Nov and peaks over Sep-Oct, when around 100 Southern Right whales and a smaller number of Humpback whales converge there to calve.

    Find out about whale watching in South Africa

    Protected within the recently created Agulhas National Park, the rocky headland known to the Portuguese as Cabo das Agulhas (Cape of Needles) is not only the southernmost tip of Africa, but also forms the semi-official divide between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. More than 250 ships fell victim to the jagged offshore rocks for which Agulhas is named prior to the construction of what is now the country’s second-oldest lighthouse.

    The West Coast National Park north of Cape Town is centred on the vast Langebaan Lagoon, a globally important site for marine birds, ten species of which breed there colonially. It is also renowned for its multihued spring wildflower displays, which usually take place over Aug-Sep.

    Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast is studded with scenic gems, ranging from arty Port St Johns on the Mzimvubu River mouth to the sea-eroded rock formation known as Hole in the Wall or EsiKhaleni (isiXhosa for ‘Place of Noise’). It is also the birthplace if Nelson Mandela, whose three-hut maternal home is preserved as a museum annex in the village of Qunu.

    Founded by the British immigrants known as the 1820 settlers, the well-groomed university town of Grahamstown is studded with Georgian and Victorian buildings, including an astonishing 40 churches. The 11-day National Arts Festival held here in early July is the premier event of its type in South Africa, hosting everything from Shakespearean plays to live African music and a multitude of street artists.

    Created in 1931 to protect the region’s last 11 surviving elephants, Addo Elephant National Park is now one of the country’s top malaria-fee Big Five safari destinations. Roughly 500 elephants roam the park, alongside naturally occurring populations of leopard, buffalo and greater kudu, and reintroduced black rhino, lion and spotted hyena. While Addo is ideal for self-drivers, several neighbouring private offer guided luxury safaris in game lodges comparable to those in Sabi Sands.

    Read our short guide to Addo

    The attractive Blue Flag beach at Jeffreys Bay is dominated by what many surfers regard to be the world’s longest and most perfect right-hand break: supertubes. Scintillating surfing aside, dolphins are frequently observed from the unspoilt coastline protected within the nearby Cape St Francis Nature Reserve.

  • Practical information

    • The main air gateway to the region is Cape Town International Airport (CTIA), which lies about 20 km east of the city centre and 35 km from Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands. An increasing number of international flights land at CTIA, and it’s also serviced by dozens of flights daily from Johannesburg, and domestic flights to all other major centres in South Africa.

    • Other important airports can be found at George (the largest town on the Garden Route), Port Elizabeth (capital of the Eastern Cape) and East London (gateway to the Wild Coast). Depending on how long you have to spare and where you want to visit, an excellent way to explore the region independently would be to fly into Cape Town, self-drive east as far as George, Port Elizabeth or East London, then fly back out. It is also possible to continue driving northeast of East London vis the Wild Coast and southern KwaZulu-Natal to Durban.

    • As South Africa’s most travelled province, the Western Cape offers a immense selection of overnight options, ranging from five-star city and boutique hotels to backpacker hostels and B&Bs. Overnight options in the Eastern Cape are also profuse and varied. Although it is usually straightforward enough to find a competitively priced room, rates rocket sky high, and booking is usually necessary, over the South Africa Christmas and New Year school holidays.

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• Gauteng, Kruger and the North

  South Africa’s major safari destinations are mostly clustered in the country’s northern interior. Foremost among these is the iconic Kruger National Park and bordering private reserves, which collectively protect a vast tract of low-lying bushveld that offers some of the finest Big Five viewing anywhere on the continent. Also very popular, particularly for those who want to avoid the slim risk of malaria associated with the Kruger, are the more westerly Madikwe and Pilanesberg Game Reserves, both of which harbour all the Big Five along with other safari favourites such as giraffe and warthog in the malaria-free North-West Province.

  Get the best of both Sabi Sands and Madikwe here

  The main air gateway to these fine reserves is built-up Gauteng, a province that accounts for less than 1.5% of South Africa’s surface area but supports a full 20% of the national population and generates an astonishing 10% of the entire African GDP. Bustling, chaotic and unapologetically commerce-driven. Gauteng - a seSotho name meaning ‘Place of Gold’ - exists purely because of the immense mineral wealth that lies beneath its soil. It is home to four of South Africa’s most populous ten cities, including the national capital Pretoria and megapolis of Johannesburg.

  Here’s what to do in Johannesburg

  Although its attractions may not be as immediate as those of, Cape Town or Durban for instance, the province does offer plenty of worthwhile sightseeing, from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Cradle of Humankind - one of the world’s most significant paleoanthropological sites, to the first history-making former ‘township’ of Soweto.

  • Highlights of Gauteng, Kruger and the North

    Quite simply one of the world’s largest and most rewarding safari destinations, the iconic Kruger National Park supports 147 mammal and 517 bird species, including substantial populations of all the Big Five. Included on of the most organised tours through South Africa, it is also an unusually straightforward goal for DIY safari-enthusiasts.

    The best known of those private reserves sharing an open border with Kruger, Sabi Sand is home to several bar-setting game lodges and camps offering all-inclusive Big Five safaris to an exclusive clientele. Expertly guided game drives in open 4x4 vehicles offers some of the world’s most intimate leopard viewing.The sheer escarpment that divides the sweltering lowveld of Kruger from the breezy highlands around Graskop can be explored on the Panorama Route, a loosely-defined road circuit that offers access to several beautiful waterfalls and viewpoints. Highlights include the restored goldrush village of Pilgrim’s Rest and the spectacular 1.4km deep Blyde River Canyon.

    South Africa’s premier malaria-free safari destination, Madikwe Game Reserve offers excellent Big Five viewing, with lion, elephant and rhino being particularly conspicuous. It functions much like the private reserves bordering Kruger, with an emphasis on guided game drives in open 4x4s, and is serviced by a couple of dozen small and exclusive all-inclusive bush lodges. A study in contrasts only two hours’ drive north of Gauteng, the Pilanesberg Game Reserve and adjacent Sun City pits another fine malaria-free safari venue against the altogether more hedonistic pleasures of Sun City, a massive casino complex that sports two superb golf courses and plenty of child-friendly activities.

    Have fun at Sun City

    Founded above the world’s richest gold deposits in 1886, Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest city and main economic hub. The vibrant social fulcrum of the country’s most culturally integrated and forward-looking province, it is also renowned throughout Africa as a shoppers’ paradise. Visitors from further afield won’t regret making the effort to explore the Apartheid Museum and the exhaustive selection of photographs, old newsreels and other imaginative displays documenting the rise and fall of the system of institutionalised racism for which it is named.

    The ‘township’ of Soweto – rather prosaically, an acronym of South West Townships – was the setting of many pivotal events during the anti-apartheid struggle. Guided tours lead past such landmarks as the poignant Hector Pieterson Memorial, whose 13-year old namesake was felled by the wave of police fire that initiated the Soweto Rising on 16 July 1976, and the Calabash- shaped FNB Stadium, which hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands. Soweto tours usually include a lunch break at one of its so-called shebeens - now legitimised hole-in-the-wall bars that thrived illegally under apartheid.

    Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, the paleontological treasure trove dubbed the Cradle of Humankind protects an ancient Karstic landscape whose wealth of fossils forms a unique record of the last 3-4 million years of human evolution. Its centrepiece is the Maropeng Visitors Centre, an award-winning and unusually child-friendly installation where self-guided tours start with an exciting boat ride through a subterranean waterway that takes you backwards in time, reproducing the volatile seismic conditions that shaped our planet’s geology. The nearby Sterkfontein Caves are where, in 1936, Dr Robert Broom discovered the first fossil confirming Darwin’s theory that humans evolved in Africa. Established in 1855, Pretoria - now part of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality - has long served as the administrative capital of South Africa. The avenues of the stately city centre are lined by jacarandas that bloom purple in October and century-old buildings. Foremost among the latter, the sandstone Union Buildings, designed by Sir Herbert Baker in 1913, is where Nelson Mandela’s presidential inauguration was held in 1994. Standing sentinel on the city’s southern outskirts, the hilltop Voortrekker Monument is an immense granite monolith built in the 1940s to commemorate the Afrikaner pioneers who trekked from the Cape to what is now Gauteng a century earlier.

    Set on stark baobab-studded granitic hills running down to the south bank of the Limpopo, Mapungubwe National Park is the site of medieval trading city that supported some 5,000 people in its 13th-century peak as a supplier of gold, copper and ivory to the Swahili Coast of East Africa. Guided tours of the archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, run every morning and an award-winning museum displays artefacts unearthed there. Elephant, kudu and klipspringer are regularly seen, and lion and leopard are also present.

  • Practical information

    • The terminus of most international flights to South Africa, OR Tambo International Airport lies on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg, about one hour’s drive from from Pretoria and two hours from Pilanesberg and Sun City. OR Tambo is also the most important hub for domestic flights, with several connections to the likes of Cape Town, George, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Kruger-Mpumalanga International Airport (for Kruger and the private reserves), as well as thrice-weekly flights to Pilanesberg. Self-drive is straightforward throughout and most major rental companies are represented at OR Tambo (and for that matter at Kruger-Mpumalanga International Airport) and there are also plenty of shuttles and taxis for those not being met by an operator or hotel shuttle.

    • Johannesburg and Pretoria are served by literally hundreds of city hotels. Most rustic out-of-town lodges, B&Bs and backpacker hostels. A fair range of similar accommodation can be found in most other towns the region. In game reserves, the choice tends to slit between all-inclusive upmarket lodges (Madikwe and Sabi Sands) and simple but well-priced rest camps (Kruger, Mapungubwe and Pilanesberg).

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• KwaZulu-Natal

  South Africa’s most ecologically diverse province, KwaZulu-Natal is flanked by two vast and very different but equally important and alluring UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the lush subtropical Indian Ocean coastline protected within iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the lofty 3,000-plus metre peaks of the hiker-friendly uKhahlamba-Drakensberg.

  Other attractions include the seaside city of Durban, the countless smaller beach resorts that flank it on either side, the top-notch Big Five game-viewing offered at the likes of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi and Phinda Game Reserves, and a wealth of historical and cultural sites associated with the Zulu nation for which the province is named.

  Try our midlands meander trip

  • Highlights of Kwa-Zulu Natal

    South Africa’s third largest city, the vibrant port of Durban stands at the hub of a 200 km stretch of Indian Ocean coastline endowed with an endless succession of perfect beaches.

    A magnet for hikers and ramblers, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site remarkable not only for its scenic beauty, but also for its botanical diversity, wealth of endemic birds, and prehistoric rock art dating back up to 3,000 years.

    KwaZulu-Natal’s most important Big Five destination, the 960 km2 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve was first accorded official protection in 1895, and formerly served as the royal hunting ground of King Shaka Zulu. The reserve has played a crucial role in the conservation of both African rhino species, and it now protects the world’s densest population of these endangered creatures. Other prominent residents include elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, impala, nyala, greater kudu, warthog and to a lesser extent lion and leopard. From mid-March to mid-December, four-night wilderness trails lead through a 300 km2 area closed to vehicular traffic.

    Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the coastal iSimangaliso Wetland Park incorporates five separate Ramsar Wetlands and a checklist of more than 2,000 vertebrate species, more than any other African conservation area.

    Fall in love with iSimangaliso here

    The Dhlinza Forest Reserve, bordering the small town of Eshowe, protects the country’s most accessible patch of mistbelt forest. Home to the diminutive Blue duiker and an interesting selection of forest birds, it is traversed by a 125 m aerial boardwalk that terminates at a tall tower offering grandstand views to the Indian Ocean.

    Sleepy Howick overlooks the spectacular 95m-high Howick Falls and offers access to the Karkloof Nature Reserve, which protects the country’s largest remaining stand of mist-belt forest. It is also the focal point of the Midlands Meander, which comprises a few dozen loosely-affiliated cottage industries ranging art and pottery studios to craft workshops and cheese producers. An imaginative sculpture comprising 50 steel columns marks the out-of-town Nelson Mandela Capture Site, the place where its namesake was arrested for anti-apartheid activities in 1962.

    The showy but exuberant cultural program at Shakaland provides an informative and enjoyable introduction to the culture of the province’s numerically dominant Zulu people.

    The 250 km2 eMakhosini Heritage Park protects the Zulu ‘Valley of Kings’ and includes such cultural landmarks such as King Shaka’s Grave, the reconstructed residence of King Dingane, and the Hill of Execution where the voortrekker party led by Piet Retief was slaughtered. It is also home to rhinos and other typical Zululand wildlife.

    Read about the Basotho shepherds of the Drakensberg

    The so-called Battlefields Route through the province’s northern interior comprises a number of important sites associated with what was the 19th-century Zulu-Boer and Anglo-Zulu Wars, and Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. These include Blood River, Isandlwana, Rorke’s Drift and Spionkop Hill. The inland city of Pietermaritzburg, founded in 1838 as part of a short-lived Boer Republic called Natalia, has been the provincial capital since 1843. Its pedestrian-friendly CBD contains several well-preserved Victorian buildings, among them the redbrick City Hall, the Railway Station, the former Supreme Court (now the Tatham Art Gallery) and the Voortrekker Msunduzi Museum.

  • Practical information

    • The main air gateway to KwaZulu-Natal is King Shaka International Airport, which lies 35 km north of the central Durban. It is connected to Johannesburg, Cape Town and many other large centres by several daily flights.

    • An alternative port of entry for the northern part of the province is Richards Bay, which is connected by daily scheduled flights to Johannesburg, and lies about one hour’s drive southwest of iSimangaliso’s St Lucia Village or Hluhluwe-Imfolozi. The usual car rental agencies are available at both airports, and airport shuttles and taxis are available to get you to Durban or elsewhere on the coast.

    • Travelling between Gauteng and Durban by road, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park lies about halfway between the two and makes for an excellent place to break up the journey for a couple of nights. Hotels, B&Bs and backpacker hostels are plentiful in most parts if the province. The provincial conservation authority also operates an extensive network of affordable and comfortable rest camps set in its various reserves.

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• Durban and the South Coast

  The most populous city and busiest port on the east coast of Africa, Durban is a vibrant and interesting city set in the municipality of eThekwini (a Zulu name meaning ‘Place of the Sea’). A substantial Indian population and sticky subtropical coastal climate combine to give Durban a slightly Asiatic feel, but the city’s main attraction is its fine beaches and sunny coastlines. The urban setting will appeal to those seeking a more down-to-earth, lived-in experience than one tends to associate with other beach resorts.

  Got 12 hours in Durban?

  Durban lies midway along the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, a 200 km stretch of subtropical Indian Ocean frontage stretching from the Tugela River Mouth south to the border with the Eastern Cape. This is South Africa’s most conventional beach holiday destination, a beach nirvana strung with palm-fringed expanses of broad white sand. Unlike Cape Town, the beaches around Durban cater mainly to domestic holidaymakers from landlocked Gauteng, and thus tend to get congested over school holidays and long weekends (especially around Christmas and Easter), but to be quiet at other times.

  • Highlights of Durban and the South Coast

    South Africa’s most resort-like urban beach, Durban’s Golden Mile is divided from the CBD by the pedestrianised OR Tambo Parade. Protected by shark nets and patrolled by lifeguards, the beach is ideal for swimming, sunbathing and surfing, though it can get very crowded during peak season.

    Stay at The Oyster Box Hotel

    The uShaka Marine World houses the largest aquarium in the southern hemisphere. Marine life is on show where dolphins, seals, sharks, rays and penguins are the main attraction. Attached to this child-friendly installation is the Shaka Wet ‘n’ Wild Waterworld, a family fun park that incorporates the country’s largest waterslide.

    Landmarks associated with Durban’s Indian population include the golden-domed Juma Mosque, the largest building of its type in southern Africa, and the less central Alayam Hindu Temple.

    The central Durban Botanical Garden includes fabulous collections of prehistoric cycads and rare orchids.

    Durban’s most ecologically important conservation area, Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve offers a rare opportunity to see mangrove dwellers such as the brilliant mangrove kingfisher and quirky mudskipper fish from a wooden boardwalk.

    The popular resort town of Umhlanga Rocks, 20 minutes drive north of Durban, is home to the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board, where lifelike replicas of various sharks and rays can be viewed along with an audiovisual display emphasising the importance of these oft-maligned creatures in the marine ecology.

    Ballito, 40 km north of Durban, is a thriving and well-equipped upmarket resort town with a 2.5 km long beachfront promenade and plenty of family friendly activities on offer. Its Willard Beach is ideal for swimming while Boulder Beach is popular with surfers.

    Carved by the Mzimkulwana River, the euphorbia-studded Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve is run through by several walking trails from which bushbuck, blue monkey and a vast array of colourful forest birds might be seen. White-water rafting and abseiling can be undertaken outside the reserve.

    A succession of wonderful beaches run along the 120 km stretch of coast south from Durban, among them Amanzimtoti, Umkomaas, Scottburgh, Port Shepstone, Margate and Ramsgate. Excellent snorkelling and diving opportunities are available at reefs and wrecks offshore of Amanzimtoti, Umkomaas and Shelley Beach.

    Protecting a forested river gorge on the Eastern Cape border, Umtamvuna Nature Reserve offers some lovely coastal and forest hiking, and it harbours various small antelope, along with a breeding colony of the endangered Cape vulture.

  • Practical information

    • Durban is connected to Johannesburg, Cape Town and many other large centres by several flights daily. All flights land at King Shaka International Airport, 35 km north of the city centre. The usual car rental agencies are available here, and airport shuttles and taxis are available to get you to the city center or elsewhere on the coast.

    • There is no shortage of hotels in Durban and the city is also serviced by many B&Bs and backpacker hostels. Hotels and resorts can also be found all along the coast flanking Durban, with Ballito and Umhlanga Rocks being particularly well endowed when it comes to stylish upmarket lodges.

    • Indian cuisine is well represented in Durban and good seafood can be had throughout the region.

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• Almost all visitors from abroad fly to South Africa. The main hub for international flights is OR Tambo International Airport on the outskirts of Johannesburg, but some carriers also operate international flights to Cape Town and/or Durban.

  The national carrier SAA, operates an extensive network of flights between Johannesburg and a large number of major cities in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and elsewhere in Africa.

  Most major international carriers operate direct flights between their home country and South Africa, among them Air China, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta, EgyptAir, EL AL, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad, Iberia, Kenya Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar, RwandAir, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, Turkish Airlines and Virgin Atlantic,. Particularly coming from a major European city such as London or Paris, there might be dozens of indirect options and you can save a lot of money by shopping around.

  It is also possible to enter South Africa overland from the neighbouring countries of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia, but you’d only be likely to do so as part of an extended overland trip through Africa.

  There are overland borders with the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland, the former surrounded entirely and the latter on three sides by South Africa. It’s highly unlikely anybody would enter South Africa directly via either of these small countries, but some itineraries pass through them (Swaziland in particular) in which case any visitor who requires a visa should apply for multiple-entry.

South Africa’s Top Attractions

• Big Five Safari
• Beach & Bush Holiday
• Birding Safari
• Romantic holiday
• Malaria-free safari
• Walking safari
• Photography safari
• Adventure holiday
• Foodie holiday

• Big Five safari holidays in South Africa

  For many first time visitors to Africa, a top priority is ticking off the so-called Big Five: lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino. South Africa offers many excellent opportunities to do this, and it is the easiest place in Africa to see rhinos, since it supports more than 90% of the continental population of these endangered creatures. It is also the African country best suited to self-drive safaris.

  South Africa’s top Big Five destination is the Kruger National Park, which extends over almost 20,000 km² to form one of Africa’s largest and most iconic safari destinations. Kruger is home around 40,000 buffalo, 13,000 elephant, 1,600 lion, 2,000 leopard, 7,000 white rhino and 400 black rhino. For those who can afford it, great alternatives to Kruger are the exclusive private reserves that border it, and ‘concession lodges’ that occupy enclaves within it.

  South Africa boasts many other world-class safari destinations, among them the malaria-free Pilanesberg and Madikwe Game Reserves northwest of Johannesburg.

  See all our big five safaris

• Beach and bush safari holidays in South Africa

  South Africa is an ideal location for a beach and bush holiday. Time permitting, best perhaps to split the ‘bush’ and ‘beach’ components. For the former, try the Kruger National Park and associated private reserves for a great chance of ticking the Big Five, or almost-as-good but malaria-free Madikwe and Pilanesberg Game reserves northwest of Johannesburg. For beaches, it would be hard to beat the Garden Route (best in the southern summer) or KwaZulu-Natal south coast (good in winter too). For a shorter best-of-both-worlds holiday, no better candidate than the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, with a night or two’s diversion to nearby Hluhluwe-Imfolozi or Phinda.

  See all our beach and bush safaris

• Birding safari holiday in South Africa

  South Africa is a superb bird watching destination. The national checklist comprises around 840 species, and includes the world’s largest bird (ostrich) and what is reputedly its bulkiest flying species (kori bustard) along with a dazzling variety of birds of prey, ranging from the largely terrestrial secretary-bird to the charismatic African fish eagle and macabre Lappet-faced vulture. It also supports a dazzling array of colourful bee-eaters, turacos, parrot, rollers and waxbills.

  There are several sites in South Africa where a moderately skilled birder could tick 100 species in a day. Foremost among these – and an excellent overall introduction to African birds - is the Kruger National Park, though some would argue that it is outranked by iSimagaliso Wetland Park. But rewarding birdwatching can be enjoyed anywhere in South Africa, even in the suburbs of Cape Town and Johannesburg.

  Of particular interest to visiting birders are the 35 species more-or-less endemic to South Africa (some have a range extending into the small bordering kingdoms of Swaziland and Lesotho) and several other near-endemics with a range that extends a small way into Namibia and/or Botswana. Good sites for these localised species include the Western Cape, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg and Pilanesberg/Madikwe.

  Avian variety is greatest in the southern summer (Nov-Mar) when several resident species assume a colourful breeding plumage and dozens of migrant species arrive from Europe or elsewhere in Africa. Several good regional field guides can be bought at any decent bookshop in South Africa.

  See all our birding safaris

• A romantic getaway in South Africa

  South Africa is a wonderful destination for honeymoons and romantic holidays, especially for those who want to mix up the romance with outdoor pursuits such as game viewing and walking.

  If it’s bush luxury you are after, look no further than a lodge in a private reserve (for instance, Sabi Sands, Madikwe or Phinda), many of which have honeymoon suites and can arrange romantic gaslit dinners on a private terrace or deep in the bush.

  Another popular venue for honeymoon and romantic breaks is the super-luxurious Sun City complex, which lies just two hours’ drive from Johannesburg and borders the excellent malaria-fee Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

  Ideally, pair up your bush break with a few days at a coastal resort such as Umhlanga Rocks and Ballito in KwaZulu-Natal, Plettenberg Bay and Knysna on the Garden Route, or even Cape Town itself.

  Finally, no self-respecting foodie should miss out on the Cape Winelands, which host some of South Africa’s finest, most gracious and most romantic restaurants and wine-tasting ve

  See all our romantic safaris

• Malaria-free safari holidays in South Africa

  Although malaria is a major travel concern in much of Africa, it has a very limited presence in South Africa. Indeed, more than 95% of South Africa, and most of its major attractions, are entirely free of malaria. There are only two exceptions. The eastern lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, which includes the Kruger National Park and associated private reserves, is classified as moderate risk.

  Then there is coastal KwaZulu-Natal, north of Richards Bay, which is regarded to be low risk and includes iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve. Transmission in these areas is more-or-less confined to the rainy summer months. Most other safari destinations in South Africa are malaria-free, notably Madikwe and Pilanesberg Game Reserves, and Addo Elephant National Park. There is also no malaria in other popular areas such as Cape Town, the Cape Winelands, the Garden Route, Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg and Johannesburg.

  See all our romantic safaris

• Walking safari holidays in South Africa

  South Africa is a great destination for keen walkers. Hundreds if not thousands of day trails have been marked out countrywide, many within easy reach of cities such as Cape Town or Durban. The country also supports a superb network of overnight hiking trails ranging from easy one-night excursions to more arduous five- or seven-night mountain treks. The Garden Route is particularly well suited to walkers. It supports any number of coastal and montane day walks ranging from 5 km to 20 km in duration - none finer perhaps than the clifftop trail through Robberg Nature Reserve.

  South Africa’s ultimate walking destination is the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, which offers opportunities for both casual ramblers and experienced and properly equipped hikers. Guided multi-day wilderness trails operate in the Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, but must be booked well in advance. Shorter unguided nature trails, typically up to 10km in duration, can be found in many minor reserves that lack dangerous wildlife. If you plan on walking a lot, bring suitable footwear and a few pairs of thick socks. A walking stick can be useful in more hilly areas or trails with loose rocks underfoot.

  See all our walking safaris

• A photography safari holiday in South Africa

  South Africa is a highly photogenic country, especially in the summer months (Nov-Apr) when the air is least hazy and landscapes are at their greenest. The coastline and mountains all make great subjects, but the country’s most popular venues for photography are its game reserves, with their magnificent array of wildlife, which tends to be better for photographing during winter.

  For dedicated photographers, it’s worth weighing off the pros and cons of a guided safari in a private reserve such as Sabi Sand, or a self-drive trip in a public one such as Kruger. Private reserves are generally a lot more costly to visit, and guides tend to focus strongly on the Big Five rather than less glamorous but equally photogenic subjects such as birds and antelope. In addition people with long lenses may find the seating arrangements in the open 4x4s to be rather crammed unless they arrange private game drives in advance.

  On the other hand, most private reserves offer far superior sightings of lions, leopards and other photogenic predators that you can hope for in public reserves. Also, the ability to drive off-road means you can stick with the subject for longer, and usually get far closer to it and line up better.

  First-time safari goers should also be aware that wildlife photography requires faster and higher-magnification lenses than most other subjects. The ideal lens combination would be a zoom that goes up to 300 together with a fixed 400, with a fastest f-stop of 4 or better, 2.8. A beanbag upon which to rest your lens to minimise the risk of camera shake is a vital accessory. To save weight you can travel with an empty bean bag and fill it up with rice or something similar upon arrival at your destination.

  See all our photography safaris

• An adventure holiday in South Africa

  South Africa is a brilliant destination for adventurous travellers. Hard to beat, in fact. Depending on your tastes, interests, age and level of fitness, activities on offer range from week-long rafting excursions along the Orange River as it follows the border between the Northern Cape and neighbouring Namibia, to multi-day coastal hikes such as the world-famous Otter or Oystercatcher Trails. Mountain biking in the remote montane heights of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg is a highlight, as is an overnight guided wilderness trail looking for wildlife and camping wild in Big Five reserves such as the Kruger National Park or Hluhluwe-Imfolozi. Whilst the Garden Route is renowned for its paragliding courses.

  Other popular one-off adventure activities range from caged shark-diving in Mossel Bay and diving the coral reefs off Sodwana Bay to the world’s highest bungee jump (215m) off the Bloukrans Bridge and abseiling off Cape Town’s Table Mountain.

  Longer adventure activities such as hiking trails, rafting trips and wilderness trails should definitely be booked well in advance in order to build your itinerary around the dates.

  Adventure travellers should pack sensible outdoor clothing as well as waterproof clothing (trousers and jackets) and appropriate walking shoes or hiking boots, It would also be advisable to check if any specialist clothing and gear is required to bring from home.

  Day activities such as bungee jumps or caged dives can usually be arranged on the spot, or with a day or two’s warning. Probably the best part of South Africa for tackling a wide array of adventure activities on to your itinerary is in Cape Town and the Garden Route.

  See all our adventure safaris

• Foodie holidays in South Africa

  South Africa’s larger cities have thriving culinary scenes and visitors will find the quality to be very high and prices very affordable by international standards. A celebrated facet of South Africa’s cuisine is the superb variety of good, affordable wine produced mainly in the Western Cape. Cape Town and the nearby Cape Winelands are rightly renowned as the culinary capitals of South Africa, and would form the obvious starting point of any foodie tour of the country.

  Seafood is particularly recommended anywhere along the coast, while excellent venison can be enjoyed in the vicinity of the Kruger National Park. Oudtshoorn in the Karoo region is famed for its lean, free-range ostrich meat (and eggs), while Durban excels when it comes to Indian restaurants, the latter usually offering a good vegetarian selection.

  Don’t forget to try some of the several dishes that are more-or-less unique to South Africa. ‘Cape Malay’ specialties include sosatie kebabs (a variation on the Indonesian satay) and a fruit-sweetened baked mincemeat dish called bobotie. Spicy boerewors ‘farmer’s sausage’ is an integral component of any casual braai (barbecue) countrywide, while biltong is an air-dried strip of salted and spiced beef or game meat reminiscent of American jerky.

  See all our foodie holidays

What type of traveller are you?

• Couple
• Solo
• Family

• A South African holiday as a couple

  Most parts of South Africa are suited to couples. However, it’s easier for couples to arrange tailormade private safaris and transportation to major areas of interest with the tour operator. Many couples opt to visit areas like the Garden Route, Kruger Park and iSimangaliso, which are ideal for romantic interludes. There are few regions in the world that are as romantic as South Africa because of the vast options, landscapes and tourist regions on offer. If you and your other half are looking for a setting steeped in romance and adventure, look no further than South Africa.

  Get some wedding inspiration here

  Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve in the Kruger National Park is spellbinding with a veritable feast for the eyes and a number of secluded locations to explore.

  One of the best destinations to visit as a couple in South Africa is the imposing mountain ranges and countless hiking trails of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg. Here the escarpment is a series of wall-like buttresses that are combined with glorious waterfalls, grasslands, rivers and forests. It’s simply one of the country’s most spectacular spaces.

  Couples who tend to gravitate towards more active holidays, will be enticed by canoeing - a fun way to immerse yourself in your surroundings and spend time together. The Orange River is South Africa’s longest river - it rises from the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. Canoeing along the Orange River at various places makes for an incredibly memorable, shared experience.

  • Highlights

    Couples tend to gravitate towards more rural attractions than solo travellers for example. A few days spent in the Kruger National Park or similar would be an ideal starting point, followed possibly by some time exploring the coast between Port Elizabeth and the Cape.

    Compare the Garden Route to Kruger National Park

    Travelling as a couple also presents unique opportunities to explore South Africa’s more remote and less travelled regions like the Karoo the Northern Cape or the parts of the West Coast. Exploring sites of significance like the SALT telescope in Sutherland or the West Coast National Park by bicycle from a perspective of a couple can be truly memorable.

    Of course, it goes without saying that the Cape Winelands offer couples some of the most romantic and easy-going interludes. The options are endless and the wines are world-class.

    Although most couples are happy to spend plenty of time alone together, it can be fun to break things up with the odd night out. Many of the game lodges arrange social excursions, alternatively you can whether there are any options for a night out in the area.

    Take a look at these romantic lodges

• Solo travelling through South Africa

  Most parts of South Africa are suited to solo travel. Locals are very friendly, and will often go out of their way to make single travellers feel at home. Cape Town in particular is suited to those who relish urban attractions, whether it be museums, galleries and theatres, or bars, nightclubs and live music venues.

  Private game reserves are probably better suited to single travellers who have a healthy budget - everything is arranged by the lodge beforehand. National parks and other public sanctuaries tend to offer a more hands-on, personalised service.

  For the more adventurous solo travellers, opting for a self-drive safari in one of South Africa’s prolific game reserves or national parks should be top of mind if sighting wildlife is on the bucket list.

  Explore the Garden Route on a Royal Enfield

  Inbound flights within South Africa are relatively well-priced - making getting around easier because South Africa is a big country and travelling this way tends to be safer and saves time. It’s perfect for the solo traveller.

  Solo travelling in South Africa is ideal because of the accessibility to and from major tourist hubs, transport nodes and well demarcated signage. Not to mention the amazing people that you will encounter - South Africans are renowned as some of the warmest ‘hosts’ in the world.

  Safety and security is generally top of mind for the solo traveller, so considering small group tours may be a great option if safety is a concern. This allows you the opportunity to meet fellow travellers in a friendly atmosphere - tours range from 11-14 days, or 3-4 days if you’re not that keen on spending all your time with other people.

  It’s important to note that often there are not single supplements at many of the safari camps in South Africa, outside of peak safari season (typically July-October) and some camps have no single supplement at any time of the year. Solo travelers requesting a walking safari may have a hard time in that regard because most walking tours are arranged on group basis. However, it might be worthwhile asking your lodge whether you would be permitted to join an existing group.

  • Highlights

    Solo travellers tend to gravitate towards more urban attractions than couples. Cape Town is a must for solo travellers, and it is a good base for exploring the gorgeous Cape Peninsula and Winelands. Many solo travellers prefer not to self-drive, which makes it difficult to explore areas like the Kruger Park and Garden Route unless you join an organised tour. Private game reserves such as Sabi Sand and Phinda are particularly well-suited to solo travellers.

    At a more luxurious level, most private reserves operate group game drives and many also encourage guests to dine together, which makes it easy for solo travellers to mingle.

    In the middle range, solo travellers seeking personalised attention should consider booking into small B&Bs and other owner-managed lodges rather than larger and more institutional hotels.

    There are no risks specific to solo travel in South Africa, but single women in particular should apply the usual common sense precautions such as not walking alone in cities at night, and avoiding deserted beaches. Additionally, it is advisable to notify family and friends of your whereabouts during travels.

    Stay safe in South Africa here

• A family holiday in South Africa

  South Africa is probably the most family-friendly destination on the continent. South Africa is a beautiful destination for a family holiday and the children are sure to love it too. There is so much to do and see in the country with children in tow - especially if covering long distances is not an option for parents with young children. South Africa is also relatively cheap by European and American standards and falls within the same time zone as Europe. Additionally, South Africa is mostly malaria-free and therefore the risk of contamination in most of South Africa’s game reserves and national parks is non-existent.

  OUr recommended spots for family fun

  Family safaris are regarded as the best in South Africa. There are many lodges and game parks that cater specifically for children (not all of them do though, so it’s good to do your homework in this regard). Game drives where children are ‘educated’ about the bush in a fun and interactive way are a highlight. Having said that, family safaris are excellent for self-drive or DIY safaris and tend to be easier on the budget.

  Find the most family-friendly spots in the Timbavati

  If you do opt for a self-drive with a rental car and touch down in Johannesburg at OR Tambo International Airport, then be sure to include the Sterkfontein Caves and the Cradle of Humankind on your itinerary. It’s is highly educational and fascinating for children to learn about evidence of the earliest civilisations in the world. The Maropeng Museum provides a great mix of hands-on activities for kinds and informative exhibits for grown-ups.

  • Highlights

    Africa is one of the world’s best safari destinations for families. It’s mostly malaria-free and offers excellent infrastructure and relatively good road networks. There are also a number of parks that offer self-drive safaris, making it ideal for families wanting to holiday in the African bush.

    See our Cape to Kruger family safari

    Amongst the best family-friendly parks is Pilanesberg National Park in the North-West province. Not only does it neighbour the famous Sun City entertainment resort, but it’s malaria-free, an easy two-hours’ drive from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and hosts the Big Five.

    Addo Elephant National Park is not only overflowing with elephants, the rest of the Big Five can also be sighted in the park. The beauty of the park is that it’s close proximity to the coast, allows families to see whales at the right time of the year. Once inside the park, there are a number of excellent, affordable camps and self-catering options with good roads. \The Kruger National Park is the crown jewel in South Africa’s wildlife crown and is the most accessible - an easy four-hour drive from Johannesburg makes it a great option for families. Within the park itself there is an abundance of affordable accommodation options which are surrounded by the Big Five. Madikwe Game Reserve in the North-West is also 100% malaria-free and is regarded as South Africa’s best private game reserve. They cater for families of all sizes and ages, with their “Jungle Drives” for children under the age of four and the “Children’s Safari” for slightly older kids. The latter teaches them about the bush, how to track and use bush medicine.

  • Practical information

    Parents of children under 18 should be aware that they will be required to show each child’s Unabridged Birth Certificate upon arrival in South Africa. If the child is travelling with one parent, a Parental Consent Affidavit or equivalent document from the other parent is also required.

    When preparing your trip to South Africa, it is advisable that you limit travelling time and only stay in two-three different hotels or lodges over say a two-week holiday.

    Parents of younger children should check whether their hotel offers babysitting services.

    Some private game lodges place a lower-end age restriction on children, while others specifically cater to younger children and provide them with alternative activities when adults are on game drives. Check this when you make a booking.

    Self-drivers with children should avoid overambitious itineraries. Distances in South Africa are far longer than you might be used to at home, and children might quickly become bored or carsick.

    It is not advisable to enter malarial areas such as the Kruger Park and adjoining private reserves with young children; better to stick to non-malarial safari venues such as Madikwe or Pilanesberg.

What type of traveller are you?

• Budget
• Value-for-money
• Luxury

• Budget safari holiday in South Africa

  
  

  South Africa is well-suited to budget travellers. There are backpacker hostels and affordable B&Bs as well as self-catering options in all major centres. There are also very affordable and well-equipped campsites, usually with hot water in the ablution blocks and electricity. For transport, car rental agencies such as Drive South Africa is a great and affordable option for car rentals uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route. Good and very affordable coach services run along these and most other trunk routes. Although restaurants in South Africa are very affordable by international standards, the cost of eating out three times a day will add up, and you can save a lot of money by self-catering and buying ingredients and drinks directly from supermarkets and liquor stores.

  Try our African Safari Cost Calculator

• Value-for-money holiday in South Africa

  An excellent option for those who want to travel in reasonable comfort whilst keeping down costs is to self-drive some or all of the time. Rental cars can be arranged in all major centres (as well as at all airports) and roads are generally up to international standards, though potholes are increasingly prevalent in smaller towns. The Kruger National Park ranks as Africa’s ultimate DIY self-drive safari destination, thanks to its good network of (mostly surfaced) roads and well-equipped and affordable rest camps, but similar facilities are available at most public major public reserves including iSimangaliso, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, Pilanesberg, uKhahlamba-Drakensberg and any number of less publicised places. South Africa is a destination that caters to all budgets, offering something special that is sure to meet your expectations. The level of three or even four-star graded establishments is generally higher than that of European standards for example and therefore you are able to travel on a more restricted budget.

  Try our African Safari Cost Calculator

• Luxury safari holiday in South Africa

  A must-for for anybody with a taste for bush luxury is a stay at one of the small and exclusive camps or lodges set in private reserves or concessions such as the Kruger concessions, Sabi Sand, Madikwe, Phinda and the vicinity of Addo Elephant National Park. Typically these lodges combine chic African-themed accommodation with world-class cuisine, fine wines, attentive staff and most importantly, thrilling game drives led by expert guides in open-sided 4x4s. A three-night stay at any given lodge or camp is probably ideal. Elsewhere, the likes of Cape Town, the nearby Cape Winelands and Garden Route are studded with small but superb boutique hotels that combine five-star service and amenities with individualistic decor.

  The most comfortable way to travel on a luxury holiday would to fly between major centres, and then to arrange airport pick-ups and drop-offs, as well as any required outings, with the lodge or hotel you book into. When it comes to wining and dining on a generous budget, South Africa is a real treat. Any good tour operator can put together a package of this sort for those who don’t want the bother of arranging it themselves.

  Try our African Safari Cost Calculator

What type of traveller are you?

• Practical
• South Africa vs Namibia
• South Africa vs Botswana

• • Visa requirements and fees

    All visitors must present a passport upon arrival at their port of entry. This must be valid until at least 30 days after the end of their intended stay, and must have at least one blank page to accommodate entry and exit stamps.

    Technically, visitors should also have a return or onward ticket, and be able to demonstrate access to sufficient funds to cover day-to-day expenses for the duration of their stay, but these requirements are seldom enforced.

    Visas for stays of up to 90 days are not required by holders of the following passports: Australia, Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania (90 days per year), United Kingdom (including Guernsey and Jersey, Isle of Man and Virgin Islands, and British Overseas territories), United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Visas for stays of up to 30 days are not required by holders of the following passports: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Gabon, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Jordan, Lesotho, Macau, Malaysia, Malawi, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Peru, Poland, Seychelles, Slovak Republic, South Korea, Swaziland, Thailand, Turkey and Zambia.

    Holders of other passports must organise a visa in advance, and require at least two unused pages for endorsements. For those planning an air or road excursion from South Africa to another neighbouring country, a multiple-entry visa is required.

    A strictly enforced new ruling aimed at curbing child trafficking requires that all children under 18 show an Unabridged Birth Certificate upon arrival in or exit from South Africa (or, if a visa is required, when they apply for that). If the child is travelling with one or neither parent, a Parental Consent Affidavit or equivalent document from the absent parent(s) is also required.*
    
    *Please note that while every effort is made to keep information regarding visa requirements updated, we cannot be held liable should this information change at the time of travel. It is advised that you contact your consulate general to enquire about visa requirements before your intended travel.

  • Medical requirements for South Africa
    • Malaria is absent from most parts of South Africa, and it is nowhere as prevalent as it is in much of equatorial Africa. Exceptions are the eastern lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, which is classified as a moderate-risk malarial area, and coastal KwaZulu-Natal north of Richard’s Bay, which is regarded to be low risk.
    • Transmission is more-or-less confined to the rainy summer months. For this reason, travellers who intend to visit the Kruger National Park and/or adjacent private reserves from September to May are advised to take antimalarial drugs, and visitors to iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi might also consider it. Several such drugs are available and it is best to seek advice from a doctor or travel clinic a few weeks before
    • It is also advisable to take all reasonable precautions against being bitten by the nocturnal Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit the disease. Wear a long-sleeved shirt, trousers and socks in the evening, apply a DEET-based insect repellent to any exposed flesh, and sleep under a net, in an air-conditioned room, under a fan, or with a mosquito coil burning.
    • Travellers with young children or who prefer not to take medication could consider visiting one of several malaria-free safari destinations, for instance Madikwe, Pilanesberg or Addo, in preference to the Kruger National Park.
  • Health care in South Africa

    Although South Africa has a public healthcare system, it is underfunded and understaffed, and facilities tend to be overcrowded, with some 20% of the country’s doctors employed to serve around 80% of the population. By contrast, private medical facilities compare favourably with anywhere in the world, and also tend to be affordable.

  • Medical emergencies in South Africa

    If no other assistance is at hand, call a medical emergency service. The government-run emergency number for ambulances in South Africa is 10177. Private 24-hour national emergency and ambulance services include ER24 (084 124), which is linked to a private network of 50-plus MediClinic hospitals, and Netcare 911 (082 911). The police flying squad can be reached at 10111.

  • Lodges in South Africa: the dos and don’ts
    • Cover up when on safari; closed shoes are a must (or at least open shoes that fasten tightly).
    • Consider neutral-coloured clothing when in the bush.
    • it down to preserve noise pollution and respect fellow safari goers.
    • Notice the small things. While sighting the Big Five in South Africa is a must, noticing the smaller details will make your experience that much more enriching.
    • Don’t get too close to the wildlife - the power of nature is formidable and should be respected at all times.
    • Take a pair of binoculars if you want a good close-up of wildlife while still maintaining your distance.
    • Protect yourself in terms of insects and viruses. Always check what vaccinations you need.
    • Understand how game drives work. Private lodges offer game drives for guests (anywhere from 4-10 people). There is generally a chance for a coffee break in the morning and sundowners in the evening.
    • Rangers are usually in radio contact with other vehicles and allow the other the courtesy of enjoying a sighting before making it known to the rest of the vehicles.
    • Pack the right kit for a safari.
    • Keep children entertained with an animal checklist when on game drives.
    • Sit in the middle of the vehicle. This gives you the best of both vantage points.
    • If you are a keen birdwatcher or photographer then you may want to consider a private vehicle - just be sure to comply with the game lodge rules, i.e. never get out of your vehicle.
  • South African food and tipping

    Restaurants operate on a similar basis to those in Europe or North America. A 10-15% tip to the waiter is standard, depending on the quality of service. At hotels, it’s usually easier to sign drinks and meals to the room than to pay cash, but you could still leave a tip for an individual waiter or bartender, or add one to the bill before you sign it. Hotel porters usually expect a tip of around R10 per item of luggage. On organised tours, most tips are handled by the guide, but it is customary to tip to the guide and/or driver at the end, usually as a group rather than on an individual basis. Upmarket lodges and camps that operate on a full-board basis generally have a tip box at reception. Tips will usually be distributed between all the staff, a system that seems fairest to backroom workers in a country where hotel staff is very poorly paid. In game lodges that offer guided game drives, any guides, drivers and trackers should be tipped. Many such lodges have guideline in the rooms; failing that ask management for a directive. South Africa has strict foreign exchange regulations so best tip in rands rather than hard currency.

• South Africa vs Namibia

  South Africa and Namibia stand out as two of the few countries in Africa truly suited to self-drive travel. Both also have excellent safari opportunities, self-drive or otherwise, in the form of Etosha National Park in Namibia, and Kruger National Park (among others) in South Africa. In most other respects the two countries are very different. Namibia is of greatest interest for its dramatic desert landscapes, most famously the stunning red dunes of Sossuvlei, and for the overwhelming sense of space one might expect of the most thinly populated country in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa is a more family-friendly and varied destination than Namibia, and generally more affordable too. There is nothing in Namibia to compare to historic South African cities such as Cape Town or Stellenbosch (though the remote German-influenced port of Luderitz tries its best). And while Namibia does boasts a long and scenic Atlantic coastline, it is for the most part too barren and windswept to qualify as a conventional beach holiday destination comparable to South Africa’s Garden Route or KwaZulu-Natal.

  See all Namibia safaris

• South Africa vs Botswana

  Botswana is a more pure wildlife destination than South Africa. Its main safari reserves, for instance the Okavango and Chobe, are less accessible than their South African counterparts, far wilder in feel, and tend to cater more to high-cost, low impact fly-in tourism. Botswana thus offers more of an overt wilderness experience than anything in South Africa, but it is not well suited to budget-conscious travellers, or to DIY self-drivers in the way that Kruger or Pilanesberg are. South Africa is a more family-friendly and affordable destination than Botswana, and it has a far greater variety of attractions - there is nothing in Botswana to compare to historic South African cities such as Cape Town or Stellenbosch, or to the lofty heights of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, and it is a landlocked country with no coastline whatsoever as compared to 2,500km of coastlines in South Africa. South Africa is also the only country in Africa to boast several malaria-free safari destinations.

  See all Botswana safaris