Geeky Traveller

Seven Tips on Visiting South Africa

by admin on August 14th, 2006

Someone recently emailed me to ask about some tips about travelling to South Africa, which I did in 2004. Here are some pre-Flickr photos. These were kind of off-the-cuff, but I guess they highlight what I took away from that trip:

1. This blog post expresses my frustration around not understanding how safe I was. I wasn't worried that I was not safe, but rather that I was worried that I was worrying too much, if that makes any sense.
2. Definitely go to Kruger National Park. That's one part of the country where the aforementioned issue isn't a problem. Assuming you understand the threat signifiers of an African elephant. But seriously, it's an extraordinary place.
3. Equally extraordinary are private game reserves. The one we went to was mind-buggeringly expensive, and we could only afford it because my stepmother secured the major discount for being a South African. I'm sure there's a sliding scale of these reserves, but it's a different experience than the public game park. If you're going all this way, it's worth going to one.
4. If you're planning on taking a lot of photos of animals, bring the biggest, best zoom lens you can afford and are willing to carry. The 'best' part is important because you'll often spot them in low light, and the cheaper lenses fail miserably here (I know, I own one).
5. Frankly, Cape Town and Johannesburg didn't do much for me. The latter is apparently quite unsafe, and the former (while beautifully situated) felt like a slightly sad version of Vancouver. I really enjoyed the smaller towns we went to, which were Arniston (a tiny fishing village) and Hermanus (a charming coastal town).
6. Before Costa Rica and South Africa, I was skeptical of guides. Take advantage of them, as they'll provide great local information and may be some of the only opportunities you'll have to talk to black people (a difficulty I had with my whole trip). I'm not talking about big groups, but in many locations you can secure affordable local guides.
7. The flight is killer. My stepmother has done the trip many times, and she always advises going west, through London (arg, Heathrow!) as opposed to east. If you can spend even two nights in London, it's worth doing, as the whole thing is something like 40 hours in the air. I trust, by the time you'll leave, water will be back on the permitted items list.

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