When it comes to ticking the travel boxes, South Africa meets just about every expectation – from landscapes to seascapes, adrenaline junkie activities to beach lazing, rain-heavy forests to deserts, mountain ranges to extraordinary wildlife encounters. To assist you with your travel plans, here is our Essential Travel Guide to South Africa …
THE DOWNSIDE
The still relatively new democracy is not a country without issues. Despite the comparatively nonviolent end to Apartheid, under the leadership of Mandela, the country’s gap between rich and poor has widened, and crime and HIV are endemic.
THE UPSIDE
The South African people are amazingly friendly and easily accessible. If you’re in a queue with South Africans expect to chat about the virtues of Zuma, the perceived levels of crime, rugby, cricket, soccer, latest movies and local soapie sub-plots. The country has no one national identity. In fact, it is more often divided by class than race and is a hodge podge of sub-cultures that tend to group by ethnicity (but not always), and tribal groups.
We highly recommend a bit of prep work about South Africa before you arrive; our reading and movie lists are a good place to start.
Here is our Our Essential Travel Guide to South Africa
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
1) A valid passport
2) One blank page in your passport (at least)
3) Visa – free 90-day visa for Europeans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans
4) South African Rand
5) Return ticket
6) Full unabridged birth certificate for children under 18 travelling with parents (with details of both parents)
7) A smattering of Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa will go a long way, although just about everyone speaks English
8). Prebook your Accommodation – this is essential especially during peak holiday season
WHERE TO GO
Johannesburg
The Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill, inner-city renewal precincts (Maboneng, Newtown, Fordsburg, Braamfontein), the ‘burbs (Melville, Parktown, Greenside, Rosebank, Parkhurst)
Cape Town
Table Mountain, Robben Island, District Six Museum, beaches (Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, Fish Hoek, Boulders Beach, Muizenberg), Woodstock, Kloof Street, Bree Street, Kirstenbosch, Cape of Good Hope
Kruger National Park
Home of the Big 5 with luxury lodges, game drives and plenty of space
Durban
Golden Mile, surfing beaches (Addington, North beach, Umhlanga, Ballito) and a rich Zulu culture
Garden Route
Densely vegetated landscape with lagoons, forests, desolate beaches, Tsitsikamma, the Outeniqua mountains, Knysna, the Wilderness, Plettenberg Bay
Soweto
Bungee jumping, bicycle & tuk-tuk touring, shebeens, shacks & Vilakazi Street
Drakensberg
The Amphitheatre, Tugela Falls, San Rock Art, Mnweni Valley, Cathedral Peak Valley, Giant’s Castle, Injisuthi, the Grand Traverse
Blyde River Canyon
The canyon, God’s Window, the Three Rondavels, Panorama Route, Klein Drakensberg escarpment, Weeping Face of Nature
Wild Coast
Hole-in-the-Wall, Coffee Bay, Mkambati Nature Reserve, Qora Mouth, Morgan Bay, Port St Johns, Cintsa
Stellenbosch
University town, historical walks, Cape Dutch architecture, wine tasting, art galleries, good food
Franschhoek
Foodie heaven, Huguenot Memorial Museum, wine farms, art galleries
Hermanus
The southern right whale (July/August), cliff-side viewing, great white sharks, wine
Wilderness
Sheltered lagoons, old-growth forests, white sands that stretch forever, bird-rich estuaries, camping, paragliding, hiking
Addo Elephant National Park
Over 600 elephant, the Zuurberg mountains, Sundays River Valley, Sundays and Bushman’s rivers, Alexandria Dunefield, African penguins, Cape fur seals, southern right whales
Karoo
Semi-desert heartland, towns like Oudtshoorn, Graaff-Reinet, Nieu Bethesda, Sutherland, the Mountain Zebra national park, AfrikaBurn, farm stalls, the Nama Riel
WHEN TO GO
Any time of the year, it just depends where you go. Most travel guides to South Africa will tell you to avoid the subtropical, more humid parts of the country (KZN), and the desert regions (Richtersveld, far Northern cape), during December to March (summer), The winters are the secret months when regions like Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KZN are fantastic. And spring and autumn are beautiful wherever you are. See “The Ultimate Travel Calendar: Your Guide To The Best Places For Every Month Of The Year“.
SOUTH AFRICAN TRAVEL GUIDE BUCKET LIST
| Climb Table Mountain | Do a Kruger Park safari |
| Take the ferry across to Robben Island | Explore Kirstenbosch |
| Swim with penguins at Boulders Beach | Drive the Garden Route |
| Visit the Apartheid Museum | Tour Soweto |
| Swim Durban’s beaches | Overlook Blyde River Canyon |
| Hike the Wild Coast | Visit the Winelands |
BIG FIVE SPOTS
• Kruger National Park
• Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve
• Marakele National Park
• Shamwari Private Game Reserve
• Pumba Private Game Reserve
• Dinokeng Game Reserve
• Madikwe Game Reserve
• Sabi Sands Game Reserve
• Amakhala Game Reserve
• Addo Elephant Park (Big 7)
• Pilanesberg National Park
SAYINGS TO USE
• Hello – Molo (Xhosa), Sawubona (Zulu) Howzit (everyone else), Môre (Afrikaans)
• Goodbye – Hamba kakuhle (Xhosa), Hamba kahle (Zulu), See you!/Bye! (everyone else), Totsiens (Afrikaans)
• Thank you – Enkosi (Xhosa), Ngiyabonga (Zulu), Thanks, hey! (everyone else), Dankie (Afrikaans)
• How are you? Unjani (Xhosa & Zulu), Howzit (everyone else), Hoe gaan dit? (Afrikaans)
• How much is this? Yimalini (Xhosa), Okuningi yilo (Zulu), Hoeveel kos dit? (Afrikaans)
SOUTH AFRICAN FOODS
• Boerewors – farmers’ sausage
• Pap – cooked, porridge-like corn
• Potjie – meat and any number of vegetables cooked slowly in a three-legged pot on the coal
• Bunny Chow – half a loaf of bread, hollowed out and filled with a bean/meat curry
• Samoosa – triangular savoury pastry filled with spicy meat or vegetables
• Babotie – a Cape Malay specialty of spiced mince with a savoury custard topping
• Biltong – dried meat
• Morogo – wild spinach cooked with onions and tomato
• Chakalaka – a spicy relish
• Koeksister – a plaited, syrup-infused doughnut
• Melktert – a milk pudding pie
