What to do in South Africa – apart from the conference?
May 4th, 2006
SA is the only country in Africa which, like Australia in Asia, does not follow the educational and financial cycle of the northern hemisphere. SA follows a calendar cycle with the major holiday times in December (summer break) and July (winter break).
For this reason August is prime tourist time for non-South Africans as the game parks and the tropical coast line of Kwazulu-Natal are not taken up by locals. There are an enormous number of game parks in SA, but visitors should seriously consider Kruger Park. No less than 5 days from Johannesburg is required to enjoy Kruger.
From a weather point of view August is the most optimal time of the year. In the north it is not too hot for game viewing and as the winter draws to a close the vegetation is sparse and the possibility to see animals increase. In the south there are still occasional cold fronts with heavy (Mediterranean type) rains but mostly the air is crisp and very clear.
To do game viewing a tour may be taken, but ultimately the best game viewing experience requires that a car be rented. There is no serious game viewing possible in the vicinity of Cape Town. Johannesburg is the starting point for such activities.
Below are the websites for SA Tourism, Lonely Planet, SA National Parks Board, Kwazulu-Natal Parks Board, Cape Town, Western Cape Province Tourism.
http://www.southafrica.net/index.cfm?SitePageID=8470
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/africa/south-africa
http://www.sanparks.org/
http://www.kznwildlife.com/
http://www.cape-town.org/
http://www.tourismcapetown.co.za/
What to do in Southern Africa ?
Put together, the countries of Southern Africa offer the most incredible scenery in all the world.
Here are the unique destinations: the Namib desert in Namibia, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Bazaruto Island (incredible coral reefs) in Mozambique, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia (the world’s most voluminous falls), the Luangwa valley in Zambia, the Chimpanzees in Rwanda, the Serengeti plains and Ngorongoro crater in Tanzania, Mount Kilimajaro in Tanzania.
Entry Filed under: South Africa