12 Tips & Tricks When Traveling to South Africa
1. Layers, Layers, Layers: Even though temperatures can easily hit over 90 degrees during the summer and 80 degrees in the winter, they can drop significantly to the 40s and 50s in the morning and evenings. Layering a warm jacket or sweater over t-shirts and tanks can help in keeping warm for those morning and evening night safaris.
2. Consult with Your Family Doctor: Immunization shots such as tetanus and malaria pills are highly insisted upon particularly if your lodge is in a malaria area. Guests traveling to a game reserve like Shamwari on the Eastern Cape of South Africa are in a malaria free zone.
3. Check Your Passport: Visiting to South Africa requires two completely empty pages in your passport alongside each other. For avid globetrotters, you can add additional pages to your passport for a nominal fee.
4. Extra Battery with International Adaptors for Cameras: For all those pictures that you will take while on your safari excursion to see the “Big Five”—lion, elephant, rhino, buffalos, leopard, and other fauna make sure you pack adapters for voltage 220v round three pin plug. You don’t want to have your camera die on you with no way to recharge.
5. Comfortable Shoes: For those bush walks or even riding on elephants for your safari excursion, comfortable shoes are a must! Many of the private lodges offer a vast array of activities to view the flora and fauna. Canoeing, gyrocopters, riding ATV’s, golf, shooting ranges, and more require you to be able to move comfortably and safely! Camp Jabulani and Shambala Game Reserve offers elephant back safaris as well as walking safaris.
6. Bring a Swimsuit: Most lodges in South Africa boast a cool swimming pool to help keep the heat at bay during a hot afternoon. Make sure you bring that two-piece out while lounging at the main pool or at your own private plunge pool.
7. Books, Music While Flying: The flight to South Africa tends to be a journey itself but is worth it for this once in a lifetime experience to see the wild bush in Africa. Make sure you have something to entertain you while on the flight over. Most airlines heading to South Africa offer the latest movies to help ease the time in the air.
8. Donations: Many of the game reserves do an incredible amount of community work at under privileged schools, thus any donation of old clothes, stationary, pens, pencils, etc. would be well appreciated. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve and the Bushman Company have many ongoing community projects that help support the local school communities.
9. Driving: It is highly recommended to hire drivers while visiting South Africa as they drive on the other side of the road as in the United Kingdom. Please keep in mind the minimum age is 21 to hire vehicle.
10. Currency: In South Africa, the currency is the South African Rand. Make sure to exchange your dollars for the rand to bring home a souvenir.
11. Sunblock & Insect Repellant: A must when out in the African bush.
12. If Time Isn’t an Issue: You can avoid jetlag and stretch your legs by breaking up the 19 hour flight by flying to London for a one night stay. From there you may take a direct flight to South Africa where you will arrive feeling refresh and well adjusted to the time difference.
—Montgomery Communications for LuxurySafariExperts.com
Photo of white lion courtesy of Sabona/Montgomery Communications
