South Africa holidays offer once in a lifetime experiences and memory making opportunities to enjoy breathtaking scenery and wildlife.
Commonly referred to as ‘The Rainbow Nation’, South Africa complements its hallowed nickname with the promise of vibrant cultures, extraordinary natural beauty and a significant dose of the African spirit you won’t find on any other continent.
Africa’s most developed nation, South Africa presents the ideal introduction to this astonishing continent, offering a tempting blend of untamed and wild natural splendour with contemporary and exciting urban settings.
Come to South Africa to discover Cape Town’s laidback lifestyle, chase the notorious ‘Big 5’ on an unforgettable game drive through Kruger National Park, feel soft sands between your toes in Durban and trace spectacular vineyards and valleys on the picturesque Garden Route... South Africa blends the best of Africa in one exceptional destination.
Key Highlights of South Africa
If you would like to know more about Travelbag’s excellent tailor-made holidays to South Africa , call us on and speak with one of our friendly and knowledgeable travel experts.
The South African summer will warrant the packing of shorts and light coloured loose clothes wherever you are in the country. Travelling in summer will mean you will be exposed to many a sunny day and therefore caps, collared shirts, sunglasses and sun cream are essential to protect your eyes and skin.
At other times of the year South Africa can become quite cool -- very cool in the evening -- so you will want to make sure you have some jeans and thick jackets packed so that you are not caught unawares.
If you are planning to go on safari it is essential that you remember your binoculars for viewing the animals that remain far away, and you could even help the driver when he is trying to spot the coveted Big 5! Also, pack a good quality camera so you can avoid disappointingly low quality pictures and preserve your adventure forever.
Remember to ask your doctor whether you should be taking malaria pills on your trip and definitely remember to pack them if it is recommended.
Being in the Southern Hemisphere South Africa’s winter is May to June with its summer falling from around mid-October to mid-February. The strength of the seasons depends on where you find yourself in this varying country.
In Cape Town the summer months bring temperature highs of well over 30°C but the low humidity ensures this never becomes unbearable. Winter is a time of contrast, as while the sunny days average at around 20°C, the nights can produce single digit temperatures.
Located 5,731 feet above sea level, Johannesburg provides temperatures slightly lower than Cape Town. You can still expect warm summer days and balmy summer evenings but do not be surprised to be reaching for the warmer gear at other times of the year.
Kruger National Park is a world renowned safari park in the north-east of the country. Here you will find a more subtropical climate with hot and humid summers. Summer is also the rainy season so expect some downpours but reap the benefits through rivers and watering holes bursting with life.
By Caroline Hurry
Blessed with unparalleled botanical beauty, South Africa has Big Five parks, wilderness areas, marine reserves, forests, mountains, rivers, and rich biodiversity. Why not combine game watching with a city holiday, starting in Cape Town, Durban, or Johannesburg?
If you have less than a week for a safari, do it in style. Smaller reserves might be the better game plan, offering close encounters of the wild kind with off-road excursions and accommodation that spans self-catering to Five Star with bush spas, private pools, huge bathrooms, gourmet food, and guided walks.
From Cape Town, hire a car. View the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from the Rhodes Memorial, Table Mountain, or Cape Point. Smell the roses in Kirstenbosch Gardens or swim with the penguins at Boulders Beach before winding up the Garden Route via the Cape wine lands to enjoy a safari.
Alternatively, head up the whale coast for Hermanus, Overburg, Walker Bay, and Gansbaai, best places for viewing Southern Rights and jagged-toothed sharks.
Craving something drier? Further north of Cape Town – 710km (442 miles) from Johannesburg – the 37 256 km2 Transfrontier Kgalagadi (Land of Thirst in the San vernacular) is home to rare black-maned lion, brown hyena, and some of the last Bushmen on Earth. On transcendental guided walks that reach out to your primitive roots, these San people show visitors how to stitch loincloths using acacia thorn and plant fibres, rub sticks to spark fires, turn ostrich egg shells into water coolers, or sharpen poison darts.
The evolution of mammals from reptiles is recorded in stone all over the arid Karoo – a vast swamp some 500 million years ago. Here, you can walk over rocky dinosaur footprints, fondle the vertebrae of 250 million-year-old dicynodonts, or examine some of the world's most important stone-age sites with petroglyphs and rock engravings, done by the earliest hunter-gatherers.
Surrogate Jersey cows suckle orphaned wildebeest and buffalo calves and you can bottle-feed zebra. Volunteers are welcome at the Born Free Foundation, which nurtures once abused lions and leopards in their natural habitat. Discover why lions must never be castrated – “their manes fall off” – and how to blow a kudu horn, the original vuvuzela.
You’ll find riverine luxuriance – including 1000-year-old Leadwoods – and the highest concentration of leopards in the 65,000-hectare private Sabi Sands Reserve. All lodges here hark back to colonial times when a typical day for the adventurer included hacking through buffalo thorn, hunting lion, skinning kudu, or dispatching puff adders. Libidinous leopards entrance tourists with their seductive beauty. You don’t get wilder than this!
Go out on a limb. Bark up the right tree. Tree houses in the Limpopo Province and Kruger Park offer the ultimate “Me Tarzan, You Jane” fantasy in Big Five territory. Become one with the savannah from your lofty perch under a celestial canopy as the chortle-barks of grazing hippo and the high pitched hoot of a Scops owl punctuate the Sabie River’s murmuring lullaby. A waning moon will illuminate the naked, white torsos of knobthorns stripped by elephants. Expect joyful harmonies of hyena celebrating the hunt and resident genets to clean your dinner plates. Expect the unexpected!
You’re more likely to encounter wild dogs in Madikwe than anywhere else. With fewer than 3 600 in the world, these “painted dogs” are to be found splashing in the Marico River at sundown, before embarking on the evening hunt, trailed by hyena and assorted scavengers. Most Madikwe lodges are family-friendly – children go on game drives and guided nature walks – and volunteerism projects include rhino notching and wild dog collaring.
Viewing game from horseback on guided rides is another great way to become one with the wilderness. The Waterberg offers great access to wildlife via open plains and canter-friendly woodlands, while Addo Elephant Park also has excellent horse trails.
In Kwa-Zulu Natal, proximity to stunning coastal reserves makes the 56,800-acre Phinda Reserve the perfect place to mix beach and bush. Home to cheetah, black rhino, and 415 species of bird, at this living tapestry of woodland, grassland, wetland, and rare sand forest, you’ll learn which plants you can use as a toothbrush and what to do on meeting a lion. “Don’t run, or you’re dinner!”
Fret not. Armed guides escort guests along wooden walkways to their sleeping quarters. Volunteerism opportunities include rhino tracking, elephant population monitoring, and hyena research.
Established in 1895, Hluhluwe–iMfolozi is Africa’s oldest Game Park, famous for bringing the white rhino back from the brink of extinction. Explore the 960-km² area with a hired car, but keep an eye open for dung beetles and potholes. Volunteer opportunities involve surveys of wild dog, cheetah and leopard.
The duration of your stay is more than 60 days, but don't worry that's fine. We just want to make sure you get the best possible price.
To book this Long Stay Holiday please call one of our specialist advisors
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