First trips run Cape Town and the Winelands for a week, then fly north for three or four nights in Kruger. Add the Garden Route if you want a road trip, or Durban and the Drakensberg for warm water and mountains. March to May and September to November hit the sweet spot: dry, open bush, a mild coast, and rates below the December peak.
2 South Africa city guides
Fun fact
South Africa recognises twelve official languages. Eleven were written into the 1996 constitution, and South African Sign Language was added in 2023.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityThe parks are one part of it. Cape Town is a coastal city with a mountain through the middle, the Winelands are farm country, and the Drakensberg is hiking terrain. Most trips mix two or three of those.
The realitySeasons run opposite to Europe and the range is wide. Cape Town winters are wet and windy, and Highveld nights in June get cold enough to want a jacket in the game vehicle.
The realityTwelve languages are official and isiZulu is the most widely spoken at home. English is the common ground in business, signage and tourism, so you will be understood everywhere you travel.
The realityMost of the country carries no malaria risk at all. The Kruger lowveld is seasonal, and the Cape, the Winelands, the Garden Route, Addo and the Kalahari sit outside the zone entirely.
The realityCrime is real and concentrated, and it calls for what any large city asks: stay aware after dark, use ride-hailing, keep valuables out of sight. Millions of visitors a year travel here without incident.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Greet before you ask. A hello and a how are you comes first, and skipping it reads as brusque.
- A braai is a gathering, not a barbecue. If you are invited, bring something for the fire or the table.
- Tip around ten percent in restaurants, and a few rand to the car guard who watched your parking space.
- Ask before photographing people, especially on township and rural village visits.
- Now-now means soon and just-now means later. Neither one means immediately.
- Keep a torch and a power bank to hand. Load-shedding still cuts the power on a published schedule.
Famous South African faces
Nelson Mandela
Desmond Tutu
Charlize Theron
Trevor Noah
Siya Kolisi
Miriam Makeba
Christiaan Barnard
Nadine Gordimer
Oliver Tambo
Steve Biko
Thuli Madonsela
Gary Player
Ernie Els
Caster Semenya
Chad le Clos
Francois Pienaar
Wayde van Niekerk
Hugh Masekela
Johnny Clegg
Black Coffee
John Kani
Neill Blomkamp
Sharlto Copley
William Kentridge
Esther Mahlangu
J.M. Coetzee
Alan Paton
Elon Musk
Patrice Motsepe
Albert Luthuli
Helen Suzman
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Tyla
Max Theiler
Allan Cormack
Must-try South African food
Potjiekos
A cast-iron pot stewed slowly over coals, never stirred.
Biltong
Air-dried spiced beef, cut thick or shaved fine.
Gatsby
A long roll cut four ways, Cape Town after midnight.
Vetkoek
Fried dough split and filled with curried mince.
Malva pudding
Warm apricot sponge under hot cream.
Rooibos
Redbush tea from the Cederberg, grown nowhere else.
Amarula
Cream liqueur made from the marula fruit.
Bobotie
Spiced beef mince baked under a set egg custard.
Chakalaka
Spiced vegetable relish that goes beside almost everything.
Pap and wors
Maize porridge with a coil of farm sausage.
Boerewors
The coiled farm sausage that defines a braai.
Sosaties
Skewered lamb with apricot and curry spice.
Braaibroodjie
Cheese, tomato and onion toasted over the coals.
Shisa nyama
Buy the meat at the counter, grill it in the yard.
Cape Malay curry
Mild and faintly sweet, built on spice with little heat.
Denningvleis
Lamb stew soured with tamarind.
Tomato bredie
Slow lamb and tomato stew out of the Cape kitchen.
Bunny chow
A hollowed half-loaf filled with Durban curry.
Kota
A quarter loaf loaded with chips, polony and atchar.
Samoosa
Triangular fried pastry, a Cape and Durban standby.
Melktert
Cinnamon-dusted milk tart, cold from the fridge.
Koeksister
Plaited dough soaked in cold syrup.
Peppermint crisp tart
Caramel, cream and crushed mint chocolate.
Pinotage
South Africa’s own red grape, crossed at Stellenbosch in 1925.
Umqombothi
Sorghum and maize beer, brewed at home.
