Top 10 Activities

#1. Take a Safari Tour
Book a safari tour in Kruger National Park. The Southern tip of the park is around 4 hours drive from Johannesburg or you can take a short flight to get there. This enormous park is an estimated 2 million hectares. You can hire a four-wheel drive and roam around on your own, or you can take a guided tour and experience some game drives to see some truly unique African wildlife.

#2. Visit Cape Town
Cape Town is a stunning city set in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The city is vibrant and exciting with plenty of night life, great shopping and plenty of other cultural attractions. The Table Mountain gives the city two distinct different climates. While one side might be windy, the other side is sheltered and sunny. This makes for some amazing beaches along the coast.

#3. Visit Durban
Durban is a lovely sub-tropical beach location, ideal for surfing enthusiasts and families alike. The city is marvelously multi-cultural, a strangely successful blend of African, Indian, English and Colonial influences.

#4. Kalahari
The northern Cap boasts the Kalahari and is all about the vast savannah grasslands, desert sands and immensely open spaces. It's far from empty though. The stunning beauty of the Kalahari is so understated that it's breathtaking in its simplicity. This is the ideal place to see plenty of birds and small game in a very natural environment. Take the guided four-by-four trail drive to be sure you see the best this stunning part of the world has to offer.

#5. Drakensberg
South Africa is an amazing blend of so many different landscapes, but Drakensberg is truly unexpected. This dramatic mountain range is actually capped with snow through winter, but is clad in the most glorious emerald green at other times of the year. The cascading waterfalls and lush forests are an unexpected treat. The resorts on and around the mountain range are excellent.

#6. Ride an Ostrich
Take a trip out to Oudtshoorn in the Karoo where ostrich farms are everywhere in this part of South Africa. Book yourself some ostrich riding lessons and see if you can race against the professional ostrich jockeys.

#7. Boulder's Beach
While there are some stunning beaches in South Africa, Boulder's Beach is known for its penguin colony. The cute critters will happily waddle over to sit on your towel or join you in the ocean as you swim. They'll frolic around you happily as they try to get a good look at you.

#8. Visit the Elephant Sanctuary
There are 3 elephant sanctuaries operating in South Africa and all three will allow you to ride, feed and groom the elephants. Perhaps the easiest to reach is the elephant sanctuary in The Crags at Plettenberg Bay. The other two are much further north up the cape.

#9. Monkeyland
The Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary is the world's first multi-species primate sanctuary. There are plenty of walking safaris you can take around the park and guided tours through the various sections of the park.

#10. Canoe Down the Orange River
The Orange River originates in the Drakensberg Mountains and winds through scenic mountain views down through desert landscape and on to the Atlantic Ocean. If you're planning a canoe trip, try to plan for a spring trip when the entire desert regions around Namaqualand come alive in a riot of color as the area is blanketed with wild flowers.

back to top

South African Cuisine

Biltong

Biltong is a cured meat originating from South Africa. It's typically made from beef, game meats and ostrich.

Bunny Chow

Bunny Chow is a South African dish made from hollowing out a loaf of bread and then filling it with curry.

Boerewors

Boerewors is a popular sausage dish in South Africa. .

Mealie pap

Pap is a porridge dish made from ground maize.

back to top

Best Time To Visit

South Africa boasts a sub-tropical climate and is famous for the sheer amount of sunshine it receives most of the year, however it tends to be somewhat cooler than other countries at similar latitudes (such as Australia) simply because it's higher above sea level.

While the temperatures can become warm in summer with an average of around 86F (30C), summer is often heralded by afternoon thunderstorms. Winter in South Africa is characterized by dry, sunny days and cold nights with average temperatures during the day of around 70F (22C).

When you're searching for the best South Africa travel deals, be sure to consider how the weather will affect your plans.

back to top

Travel Shopping

No matter where you travel in South Africa, it's possible to find carved wooden animals, drums, bowls and other souvenirs as reminders of your visit. There are so many uniquely attractive things to choose from that you'll be spoilt for choice.

The best part about shopping in South Africa is the currency conversion rate. It's generally very favorable for any visitor exchanging hard currency for their local Rand, so you're bound to find plenty of bargains simply because of the benefit of the exchange.

All of the larger cities and towns have shopping malls with plenty of stores and outlets to choose from. Keep your receipts for everything you buy as you may be able to apply for a refund on the 14% VAT as you leave the country.

back to top

Festival Events

South Africa is the festival continent. There are so many festivals to choose from, ranging from musical, religious, cultural, harvest and so many others that you'll always find something and somewhere to join in the fun.

Woodstock:
Throughout November, South Africa's youth music and lifestyle festival boasts every genre of music, from rock, pop, hip hop, contemporary and more. This is the largest annual music festival in the country.

Cape Town Festival:
Held in Muizenberg at the end of February, this celebration of multiculturalism is a diverse celebration of arts, culture and heritage. The festival features dance, arts, drama and performances throughout the festival.

Hermanus Whale Festival:
Through September Hermanus comes alive to celebrate the return of the Southern Right whales to Walker Bay. People and businesses adorn themselves and their stores with green, white and black for the four day festival and thousands of visitors flock to the coast to enjoy the music, comedy shows and whale watching.

Durban International Film Festival:
The end of July sees Durban's International Film Festival. The festival offers more than 300 screenings of movies from all around the world.

back to top

Basic Afrikaans Phrases

South Africa has 11 official languages, however one of those languages is English, so you should be able to make yourself understood fairly easily. Zulu is the most common language spoken, followed by Xhosa.

Here are some basic Zulu phrases

Hello - Sawubona

How are you? - Unjani?

Thank you - Ngiyabonga

Good bye - Sala Kahle

How much is this? - Kubiza malini?

back to top

Explore South Africa

View Larger Map

back to top