South Africa - my wife and I are planning to Travel independently, is it reccomendable?

Wife is Argentinian, I'm Tunisian, so we know about 3rd world...however, never been to sub-saharan Africa, and we want to be in SA in August 2007, for 15 days. We travel a lot through South America with a Jeep and a map, getting one B&B at a time and very little planning... Is it reccomendable to do the same in SA?

ive never been to South Africa, but you should do your research.

South Africa is an extremely rich country, so i dont know what your talking about when you say you know about the "3rd world".

Ever heard of range rover? They are produced in South Africa.

You should have a lot of fun travelling through SA, as long as you take normal safety precautions. I do suggest that you do your research before you visit, we are a fairly large country and 15 days is a very short time if you do not have a plan.

If you want to know about any specific areas (ESPECIALLY KwaZulu-Natal - the province where I stay), drop me an email.

I hope you have a brilliant stay.

Yes, yes, yes. You will enjoy my country much more that way. I agree that 15 days ore not enough, but at least come and experience the various climates in South Africa.

Start with the options whether you want a "western" holiday (then go to the normal big cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg or Durban, or would you prefer a "South African" holiday (then go rural)

Yo are welcome to contact me at anytime. I will assist you as best I can.

produksie@yahoo.com

Oh, yes! You will enjoy touring a world in one country. And yes, 15 days is little for you to see South Africa. I live in one of the most sort out regions called the Garden Route (or South Cape). But to be fair to you, I suppress the temptation to say you must see the place. Unless you already plan to.

First, to your question: Yes it is safe but you surely must take precautionary steps like anywhere in the world.

I recommend that other than contacting fellow South Africans who posted above, you should read the attached websites. If you take advice from postings above, you would end up in big cities, so I'm not gonna talk about those cities. I would however recommend that you consider the Northern Cape (website attached). It is a vast area which is similar to Namibia and Botswana. So you would have a feel (geographic-wise at least) of being in those two countries while you would be in South Africa. You could also go to the likes of "The Big Hole" - the biggest open mine whole in the world; and "Augrabies Falls". That province is the most relaxed and you could easily get a place at B&Bs.

You can also try Mpumalanga - especially the lower escapment areas, but you can go as far as the Kruger National Park - see websites.

August is already hot in both these provinces and you'll enjoy your drive. But, hey, contact the guys who have offered assistance above. They could help you more.
Good luck!!!!


www.southafrica.net/
www.northerncape.org.za/
www.sanparks.org/
www.mpumalanga.com/

Absolutely!

No question that is the best way to see the country.

Most of the time you won't need a 4x4 the roads are good but it might be useful for height in game reserves and such.

a good time of year to go as well.

enjoy your trip

I would rather plan the holiday if it was me traveling for 15 days in South Africa. Some of the people who answered this question before me mentioned some very beautiful places. If I were you I would research South Africa on the Internet and plan what you want to see, so you have an idea of what direction you are gonna drive, and in which major city you want to start in. Also what are your major interests? Mountains, beaches, cities, nature parks, geological formations, "big five", culture, etc etc. I would plan my trip in South Africa according to interests. There is an incredible amount to see here, and if you don't think about what you want to see beforehand, you might end up disappointed.

Traveling in South Africa has two seasons: school holidays and the rest of the time. In the school holidays all popular destination are booked well before, and it will be very difficult to get a B&B if you haven't booked. The rest of the year, you wouldn't need to book in advance and you could have a more loose schedule. So I guess in August it would be OK not to book in advance. But it would probably be a good idea to book for Kruger Park, if that is a place you want to see.

Just stay away from Johannesburg (Gauteng).

If God was gonna give the world an enema... Johannesburg is where he would put the pipe.

The person who posted above saying that school holidays are always booked up is right... but the schools are open during the whole of August... Don't worry, it'll be fine for you to travel during this time. You don't mention where you would like to go, but here are a few places for you to travel to:

Sun City and the Pilansberg Game Park
The Kruger National Park
Table Mountain
The Garden Route
Wine Farms

Not sure where you'd like to go, but try this website:
http://www.southafrica.net/
You'll have to register to go on, but, in my opinion it's worth it!

Oh and also, even though August is supposed to be one of our "cold months" it is actually really hot!! Please take LOADS of water with you... oh yes, and one more thing, if you plan to go to the Kruger Natinal Park you'll need to take malaria tablets... Have fun and enjoy our country!!!

SA is made for road trips, man! While you're at it, also try Namibia and Botswana.