SOUTH AFRICA TRAVEL
INFORMATION GUIDE
We are so pleased that you are planning a trip to South Africa and particularly the Addo region in the malaria-free Eastern Cape province. This section includes travel information that we hope you will find helpful in planning your trip. Please contact us if you have questions or require additional details.
South Africa is a diverse and beautiful country
South Africa has the world’s richest floral kingdom, which produces brief but bright and colourful flowering season. You can enjoy the flowering season in the spring months of August and September, when specialist flower viewing trips are run and almost every small town has a flower show.
As well as a vast variety of endemic and migratory birds, South Africa is also home to one-sixth of the world’s marine species along its 2954 km of coast.
The infamous Big 5
Most visitors to South Africa go in hope of seeing the infamous Big 5 Animals – which consists of Lion, Buffalo, Leopard, Elephant and Rhino – in their natural habitat, you can consider yourself very lucky if you see 3 or 4 of these and it is very rare to see all 5 in a single visit to one of the many game reserves in area, but it is possible at the nearby Addo Elephant National Park. In fact, not only can you see the Big 5, you can see the Big 7 Animals.
Useful travel information
South Africa has more species of wild animals than Europe and Asia put together.
- The world’s largest land mammal – the African elephant
- The world’s smallest mammal – a shrew the size of a human fingertip
- The world’s tallest mammal – the giraffe
- The world’s fastest mammal – the cheetah
- The world’s heaviest reptile – the leatherback turtle
- The world’s largest antelope – the eland
- The world’s largest bird – the ostrich
- The world’s heaviest flying bird – the Kori Bustard
- 900 species of birds -10% of the world’s variety on 1% of its land area
- 6000 different spiders
- 175 varieties of scorpion
- 100 different snakes
Police Emergency | 10111 |
Ambulance & Fire Emergency | 10177 |
National Sea Rescue Institute | +27 21 434 4011 |
AIDS Helpline | 0800 012 322 |
Emergency Contraception Hotline | 0800 246 432 |
Flight Information Hotline | 086 72 77 888 |
LifeLine Counselling Line | 0861 322 322 |
Malaria Hotline | +27 82 234 1800 |
Medic-Alert | +27 84 194 4444 or +27 21 461 0000 |
Netcare911 | 092 911 |
Poison Hotline | +27 21 931 6129 |
Snake/Scorpion/Spider Bite Hotline | +27 21 931 6129 |
Baz Bus | +27 21 439 2323 |
Local Telephone Directory Assistance | 1023 |
International Telephone Directory Assistance | 903 |
Tourist Information Hotline | +27 83 123 6789 |
South Africa does not change its clocks during the year, and there are no regional variations within the country. South African Standard Time is (+2) Greenwich Mean (or Universal Standard) Time, (+1) Central European Winter Time, and (+7) USA’s Eastern Standard Winter Time.
The banks are open from 9am to 3.30pm (Monday – Friday), and 8.30am to 11am on Saturdays. All major credit cards can be used in South Africa, with American Express and Diners Club enjoying less universal acceptance. In some small towns, you may find you’ll need to use cash. You can’t purchase fuel with a credit card. You can pay road tolls with MasterCard or Visa.
Tipping is common practice in South Africa for a range of services. In restaurants the accepted standard is around 10% of the bill, although sometimes a gratuity will be included (often in the case of a large party). It is also appropriate to tip taxi drivers, tour guides and even hairdressers. If you park a car in a populated area such as near a shopping centre, street security guards will usually ask whether they can watch over your car and in return should be paid a small fee – anything from two rands upwards.
Value-added-tax (VAT) is charged on most items. Foreign visitors to South Africa can have their 14% VAT refunded (value of purchases exceed R250.00). VAT is refunded at the point of departure provided receipts are produced.
There are 11 officially recognised languages, most of which are indigenous to South Africa. English is spoken everywhere you go. English is the language of the cities, of commerce and banking, of government and official documents. All our road signs and official forms are in English and service staff will speak English.
South Africa enjoys a temperate and pleasant climate, with warm sunny days most of the year. The seasons of the southern hemisphere are opposite to those in the northern hemisphere so our Summer runs from November to February, when most of the country is characterised by warm to hot weather.
We have a warm sunny climate and you should wear sunscreen and a hat whenever you are out of doors during the day, particularly between 10am and 2pm, regardless of whether there is cloud cover or not.
Summer | mid-October to mid-February |
Autumn | February to April |
Winter | May to July |
Spring | August to October |
South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world so please take precautions if you are planning to have sex. Condoms are readily available and many establishments provide these free of charge.
Medical facilities in cities and larger towns are world-class, but you will find that in rural areas the clinics and hospitals deal with primary health needs, and therefore do not offer the range of medical care that the large metropolitan hospitals do. Trained medical caregivers are deployed round the country, so help is never far away.
Most water is safe to drink from the tap in South Africa. However, the tap water at Chrislin African Lodge is not safe to drink as it straight from our farm dam and is not treated. We provide a jug of drinking water in each fridge for guests. Bottled water can be purchased from our restaurant.
The Eastern Cape is a malaria free region.
New Year’s Day | 1 January |
Human Rights Day | 21 March |
Good Friday | Friday before Easter Sunday |
Family Day | Monday after Easter Sunday |
Freedom Day | 27 April |
Workers Day | 1 May |
Youth Day | 16 June |
Women’s Day | 9 August |
Heritage Day | 24 September |
Day of Reconciliation | 16 December |
Christmas Day | 25 December |
Day of Goodwill | 26 December |
If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday following becomes a public holiday.
All visitors to South Africa must be in possession of a valid passport in order to enter the country and in some cases, a visa.
The South African government also requirement all children under the age of 18 to produce an unabridged birth certificate when entering and departing South Africa.
Children travelling without both parents will also need an affidavit.
Please check with your airlines for further information.