Why South Africa: South Africa is celebrated for its magnificent and diverse landscape, and the quality of her wildlife viewing. South African guides enjoy an enviable reputation and are acknowledged to be amongst the best in the world.
Capital: Johannesburg
Getting there: There are regular flights from the UK to Johannesburg and Cape Town every day of the week, most are overnight flights arriving into Africa the following morning. The flying time from London to Johannesburg is approximately 11 hours and from London to Cape Town 11 hours and 30 minutes.
Time: GMT plus two hours
Try not to miss: The Kruger National Park, a vast region of rolling plains interspersed with mopane woodland and riverine forest that is hope to all of the continent’s Big 5, as well as a selection of exclusive and private reserves found on the periphery These include Sabi Sands, one of the best places in the world to watch wild leopards, the Madikwe Game reserve, which is home to both black and white rhino as well as a pack of endangered wild dogs, and the Thorneybush Game Reserve.
Cape Town for her cutting edge hotels, fine cuisine and lovely climate during the English winter, not to mention the surrounding winelands. Visit nearby Hermanus between June and November to watch the whales or cage dive amongst great white sharks. Mossel Bay marks the start of the famous Garden Route, which shadows the Southern Coast all the way to Port Elizabeth, passing through a scenic landscape of sensational beaches, forests and lakes as well as the historic settlements of George, Kynsa and Plettenberg Bay.
On the opposite side of the Cape and approximately one thousand miles to the North, Rocktail Bay in Kwa-Zulu Natal lies within a private concession of the Maputuland coastal forest reserve, a unique World Heritage Site where loggerhead turtles emerge from the Indian Ocean each summer to lay their eggs amongst the sand dunes. Activities here include world class diving on pristine reefs. Kwa-Zulu Natal is also home to Fugitives Drift the setting for internationally acclaimed battlefield tours.
Phinda Reserve is a special favourite of ours, a small gem of a reserve in unique sand forest environment close to Richard Bay that is home to rare indigenous wildlife where our guests can track rhinos and enjoy walking safaris.
Visas: No visa is required for visits of up to 90 days for UK citizen but there are strict requirements for children travelling to and from South Africa:
Two parents travelling with children (under the age of 18 years) will need to show the child’s Unabridged Birth Certificate (UBC). (This does not need to be translate)
One married parent travelling with a child will need to show the UBC and either a Parental Consent Affidavit (PAC) from the parent not travelling or a letter of special circumstances, or a copy of Court order in terms of section 18(5) of the Children’s Act, 2005, authorising a minor to enter or depart from the Republic in the absence of parental consent of either parent
Widowed parent travelling with a child will need to show the UBC and a death certificate of deceased parent.
Children travelling with family friends will need a UBC, PCA, copies of parents passports, and contact details of parents.
Airlines will forbid children to fly without the correct documentation. We recommend that you speak to the South African Embassy if in any doubt.
Please contact us to discuss your own unique, tailor-made itinerary
