South Africa Travel Guide

Wildlife is exceptional.

Wow. South Africa exceeded all of my expectations. The people were amazing and being on safari and seeing these amazing animals in the wild exceeded my already high expectations. Incredible place. I'd go back in a second.

I was very pleased--off the plane in less than 24 hours and I saw all the Big 5--can't beat that!

An amazing collection of animals in a very natural setting

South Africa is the world in one country.

Kruger Park is easy to get to from Cape Town. While I haven't safaried in other areas of Africa, I can't imagine a better experience!

In our group we had a lot of bird lovers. They had the trip of there life. For me the beauty of the nature and the animals was really sensational. South Africa was a trip full of highligts.

South Africa harbors the most incredible variety of habitats in the same country, with the highest standards of accommodation and experiences anywhere on the continent. Its excellent infrastructure make access to wildlife areas quick & easy, saving precious time & money to concentrate on the essentials: wildlife & nature.

Can view well over 70% of all lands animals in South Africa, the weather and scenery is breath taking. People are knowledgeable about their surrounds and friendly.

A world in one country - from berg to bush to beach to battlefields - with friendly people.

South Africa offers the international tourist a wide range of national parks and game reserves across it length and breadth for tourists to experience game viewing in which everything from the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo) not to mention hippo, crocodile, cheetah, zebra, wildebeest (gnu) and a vast array of different breeds of antelope, including springbok and impala may be seen. The parks are also present a paradise for serious bird watchers. Coupled with this, whales and dolphins may be seen respective either lazing not far beyond the breakers in the oceans or surfing in on the waves and cutting away just before they break on sandy shores of rocky coves. The National and Game Parks have very different characteristics depending where they are located in the country, ranging from semi desert in the Karroo, Mountain Zebra, Camdeboo and Gemsbok National Parks, to the grass and bushveld mosaic in the Kwazulu-Natal Parks of Hluhluwe-Mfolozi, Mkuze, Tembe and Pinda to the bushveld of the Kruger National Park with its flanking upmarket private parks of Sabi Sand, Londolozi, MalaMala, Thornybush, etc., to the grasslands set amongst the yellow sandstone crags of the Golden Gate National Park, to the grassland of the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Trans-frontier Park straddling KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho and with its Yellowwood scarp forests on its steep south facing slope valleys.
The scenery of the country ranges from the pristine white sand beaches and knarred, twisted and buckled mountains of the Western Cape, dating from when the Falklands were torn from the African continent (then Gondwanaland), to the stark and serene beauty of the Karoo with it unique vegetation and iselbergs, to the majestic basalt topped mountains of the high Drakensberg (+- 3000 metres)with their deep valleys with crystal clear waters, to the subtropical forests of KwaZulu-Natal coastal belt, to the bushveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo which stretches the length of the Kruger National Park – a reserve larger than many countries. And yet this is not even half of it!
The climate, in Northern hemisphere terms, is nearly always pleasant. A winter’s day is generally warmer than a summer’s day in Europe. Rainfall generally occurs in winter in southern Cape with the rest of the country experiencing the majority of its rainfall in summer, and then it is often short and sharp where after the sun comes out again. It is not for nothing that South Africans generally prefer a braai (barbeque) any day to a formal inside meal.
A variety of accommodation is available for tourist from the most luxurious (and expensive) to the good clean but reasonably priced; be this within the national parks, along the highways and byways, or in the international cities of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
Food to suit most, if not all tastes, is available throughout the country. To many locals eating out is a national pastime so finding a suitable restaurant should not be a problem! Many of the parks however require the tourist to bring in their own food as only limited food is available in the park. Best to check beforehand! With the odd exception, the local water may be drunk without any fear of after affects. Bottled water is however available for those who would rather not take the chance.
South Africa is served by an excellent infrastructural network with freeways or motorways in and beyond all the major cities; high class roads link them and offer the opportunity for those that would prefer to self drive with hire cars from Avis, Budget, Tempest and others. Major and International Airports serve the country and is by far the easiest and quickest way to travel around a country as large as South Africa. Apart from South African Airways and British Airways, there are budget airlines such as Kulula, Mango and One Time where a considerable saving may be made. While there are Greyhound and other bus services, this is perhaps the least favoured means of travel. There are however many tour bus company, both large and small, which the tourist may utilise if they are less adventurous and would prefer to leave their direction and choice of accommodation to others.