South Africa Travel Guide

If you could visit only one sight in Cape Town than this would be it. Table Mountain is by far the city's number one attraction, a must see for all those visiting. As soon as you arrive in Cape Town you can spot the 3 kilometers (2 miles) long plateau dominating the landscape, a beautiful sight visible from almost every corner of the city. Table...

In the Africa cafe the food is very fine however a bit expensive. The waiter brings various dishes to the table what you really enjoy. The dishes are from all over Africa with very fine flavours. You will not leave hungry!!!!!!!!!!! The waitresses are dressed in traditional African clothes. The restaurant has many rooms and all have a different...

I first visited the Lion Park in 2010. I note that there has been one change since then and no doubt prompted by the fatal attack on an American tourist who had her car window open. They now put tapes across all car windows to help prevent people winding them down. As a keen photographer my choice of the 90 minute photographic tour in a customised...

The selection and performance of national anthems must be one of the most emotive of cultural issues. To my mind, national anthems are meant to be rousing and inspirational pieces of music that reflect a nation's sense of self image: however, it's all too easy for them to descend into the realms of worthy-but-dreary dirges burdened with...

The Big Five animals refer to the most difficult animals to hunt in Africa, a term that was invented years ago when hunting in Africa by Europeans was in vogue. Today, spotting the Big Five is the quest of anyone on a safari. The five animals are the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino, and elephant. I was fortunate enough on my safari to see all five,...

All of the major rest camps offer night and early morning game drives. For R100 per person (about $15 USD), you get a 3 hour tour of the surrounding park area back roads in an open-air bus, often spotting some wildlife that you might not see during the day. Things we saw on game drives that we didn't see on our own are: rhino, hyena and jackals. We...

Voortrekker Monument was build to commemorate the Voortrekker Pioneers and their Journey from the Cape colony into the Interior of the Country which is now called South Africa between 1835 and 1854. The Monument highlight mostly the events leading to the Battle of Blood river were scores of Zulu warriors were killed. There is a small museum inside...

Pretoria, unfortunately like most of South Africa, suffers from a high crime rate and it is not advised to be wandering on foot at night. You should limit yourself to high traffic neighborhoods and night and try not to show off wealth.

Apparently this is the most danger city I have ever visited, it has some 35 homicides per 100,000 residents compare to the 2 where I usually live and so we did not feel we need to explore this city too much.It was only a stop over between 2 destinations, our local host inform us exactly where we can go and where it is relatively safe. In short, if...

I always wanted to try my hand at Scuba Diving and now I can finally tick it off my bucket list after my Xmas road trip holiday to Durban! On our way there in our rented Honda CR-V, which was amazingly comfortable even though we were rather overloaded, we passed the Aliwal Shoel scuba diving site and decided why not. I've never been a great swimmer...

The Gary Player Golf Course at Sun City is generally rated in the top 5 in the country - When i was lucky enough to have a round on it, it was THE no.1 course in South Africa, and it's obvious why. The course is always in pristine condition, and it is very challenging, but not impossible. I shot 101 over 18 holes, which i think is fantastic (it...

Inside of Sun City is a fabled Hall of Treasures. Inside is untold wealth and an endless supply of money. Unfortunately it is the Casino that gets all this money. Statistically you will lose every game on offer. The main Gambling Hall is full of slot machines, video poker and other games designed to make the Casino richer. Las Vegas it’s not....

Be careful when driving through the townships, as goats & cattle generally think they own the roads! Also, beware of potholes - the monir roads are not maintained very well, and it's easy to damage a wheel if you're not careful.

KwaZulu-Natal's new Kamberg Rock Art Centre, now open to the public, will help visitors understand and interpret the more than 40 000 San Bushman images to be found in the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park.It is here that the "Rosetta Stone" of San art first provided archaeologists with the key to interpreting the symbolism of the paintings as spiritual...

with General Motors, Ford( now moved to Pretoria) and Volkswagen ( in Uitenhage) having assembly Plants , I am sure , as in the past, you'll be able to partake in a tour of the assembly plant.some years back, when VW began marketing cars in China, Jetta were manufactured here and exported by the shiploads to China, hese days in globalisation, the...

South Africa might be a dangerous country, so be careful.Signs like this one is everywhere around the country.

The Bloemfontein Tourist Centre is kind of a ‘One Stop Shop’ for Tourism. It has a large free car park and is located in a mall type set up. In the mall is food, toilets (pay), souvenir shops and several bus companies that use this as a bus station with links all over southern Africa. The staff of the actual Information Office are helpful and will...

Disused power stations are seldom pretty things, but some South Africans are beginning to view their lack of aesthetic appeal as a bit of a challenge.These cooling towers are located on the southern fringe of Bloem's CBD, en route for the Anglo Boer War museum. The weekend that we visited, the ANC was holding its centenary birthday celebrations in...

This is a much hyped big cat sanctuary/animal park. The animals/cats are kept in captivity!! We drove a long way to see this place and were thoroughly disappointed. It is a very badly kept place with very few caged animals. Total rip off!

This restaurant is bang opposite to the Information center in Mossel Bay. It serves delicious Chinese food. The service is great, the people friendly and ready to talk if you want to. They also do customised orders to the extent possible. Vegetable noodles and Fried rice. We were too happy with the food here. I enjoyed their Jasmin tea too!

On a recent trip to Oudtshoorn, I decided to make a trip to the Swartberg Pass. I've heard so many great things about this mountain, I decided to go and have a look myself at this national monument. I've also heard that it is one of the most beautiful passes in the WORLD!!!On my drive there, just before going up the mountain, I spotted a very nice...

Visit an Ostrich farm and also take a ride if it is ok with you. We went to a farm but decided not to ride the ostriches. Honestly speaking I did not like this visit to the farm much. Except for the fact that we got to know about what really happens.

Cape Vidal is more of resort area than a park. It has beautiful beaches where people like to sun themselves, kick the football around, fish, and snorkel. The dunes here run all along the coast and are 150 m high. The dune forests are facinating and have an abundance of interesting life in them. Look out for the rare Samango Monkey. There are also...

Hluhluwe (shlo-shlo-wee) is apart of the Kwazulu-Natal Park system and is located 15km West off of the N12. You can rent a car at Imperial rent a car and use St. Lucia Resort as a base to explore the park. If you don't like this cheaper and better option there are full day and half day tours of the area that can be booked at the backpackers or many...

Umfolozi is apart of the Kwazulu-Natal Park system and is 50 Km North North-West of Mtubatuba and about 80 from St. Lucia. It is really one park with Hluhluwe to the North. Both are connected by a corridor so the animals can move freely between both parks. You can rent a car at Imperial rent a car and use St. Lucia Resort as a base to explore the...

Only 45 min's from Jhb and you arrive in tranquillity. The Harties cableway was my first stop and all I can say is WOW... totally refurbished and World Class is all I will say. From the top of the mountain you can plan your day as you can see into 3 provinces. The dam and the mountains offer a special view and fantastic photographic opportunities....

(work in progress)The area just north of the Magaliesberg range is renowned for its fruit cultivation, so it's little surprise that the roads around Hartbeespoort Dam are lined with fruit sellers.This photo was taken in July, when citrus fruits, avocadoes and macadamia nuts were in season. The boxes of naartjies (a local variation on a satsuma...

The oil and water colour paintings by Sally Bekker at the Woodmill Art Gallery are top-class. I bought two paintings I just fell in love with! Go look at Shop 23 in the centre and grab a coffee after with live music. Was very relaxing. Sally is a well known Knysna artist who has held several solo exhibitions. She exhibits from the Woodmill...

The oil and water colour paintings by Sally Bekker at the Woodmill Art Gallery are top-class. I bought two paintings I just fell in love with! Go look at Shop 23 in the centre and grab a coffee after with live music. Was very relaxing.Sally is a well known Knysna artist who has held several solo exhibitions. She exhibits from the Woodmill Gallery....

Good food, reasonably priced. We had steaks, well cooked, and lemon meringue pie. It was a chilly autumn evening, and there was a welcoming fire in the grate. Rump steak. It was as good as rump steak can be.

One of the best places to go, we were toldIts a bar with dancing area and they also do great food and also have many tv's so its got everything you needSeating area outside too for summer nights and a pool roomfood is great, huge portions, 100rand for a steak and veg, chips and couple of beers!open til latelocated on the corner of the main square