Trip Advice: South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana

Preface: The following information was submitted to me in 2000 by a traveler named Alexander. Having been to South Africa and Botswana in 2008, his tips and warnings still hold. The photos are mine.

I lived in Southern-Africa, including South-Africa, until 1995, and traveled the whole area extensively. Also, I visited South-Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, and Botswana last April.

There are many group-travels available, but this is mostly info for individual travelers.

Getting there:

The price for air-tickets varies strongly, and one has to look around. 

We found a Chinese travel agency in Toronto and paid Canadian $1,150 for the round trip with Dutch airline. Plus, we arrived in Johannesburg are were allowed to depart from Cape Town.

Hostels:

South-Africa and Swaziland: I am sort of a backpacker, so we stayed in international hostels for about CDN$10 per night per person (its a bit of a myth that they only have bunk sleeping). 

Mostly, we had our own bathroom. Usually, we booked the same day, but not always, and we were never turned back.

One can benefit from hostels also by meeting other international travelers, and we made friends from all over the world. 

Also, since their interest is not in doing business, information on places they had been to can prove very valuable.

I don't quite see the difference in comfort between BB and hostels, but there are plenty of small family-owned guesthouses.

Botswana and Namibia:

Hotels can cost CDN$100 and over, but they also have guesthouses and hostels.

Car rental:

Originally we thought to book from Canada but did not get good offers, so we booked through a Johannesburg hostel and rented an insurance-wise fully covered small Toyota hatchback for Rand 250 per day with unlimited kilometers.

Weather:

April and May are excellent months to visit the area.

Usually, the summer rains are over (we had two days of rain shortly after our arrival and then sunny weather for three weeks), and the temperatures are around 22 to 27 degrees Celsius.

May evenings tend to be cool, and having a sweater or jacket on hand is advisable.

Scenery and Parks:

Although most parts are semiarid bush veldt, there is still an enormous diversity: South-Africa's southern and eastern Cape and Swaziland are partly very lush. 

Botswana and many other parts are dry, but one can experience outright Sahara-like desert in Namibia, mountains in many parts of South Africa, including some snow on the top of the Drakensberg (Dragon-Mountains) near Lesotho, and savanna in the Karoo.  

Nature lovers will get their fill.

Western South Africa is uninteresting.

Visiting the Kruger National Park is simply a must, but it requires a few days' stay and patience to find all the animals, as they are not on display. 

We saw elephants, rhinos, hippos, leopards, cheetahs, and the rest. The lions eluded us, but we only stayed there for one night. 

The park is well-run, and one can stay in bungalows or camp. Restaurants and picnic areas are plentiful.

The signs "Do Not Leave The Car" should be taken seriously. Every park is safe if travelers adhere to the rules.

The roads are excellent, and the whole park is accessible by any 2-wheel drive.

However, for people like me, Kruger is a bit too tame.

I lived in Botswana for a while and worked in the Chobe National Park, where I helped out conducting tours for individual travelers.

This park is the real Africa but requires a 4-wheel drive.

Sunsets at the Chobe River are second to none, and in the morning on can watch herds of 40 to more elephants.

Incidentally, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor remarried at the Chobe Lodge (very expensive in the range of CDN200 per night and upwards).

Attached are the Moremi Game Reserve and Savuti, which is lion country, and the Okavango Swamps, also a must, if one is in the area.

Staying in tents at night is safe as long as the tent is kept closed(!!!), i.e., zip-up!

No animal will break into a closed tent.

The main problems of city slickers are that they walk too fast in the bush. Under normal circumstances, no animal, including lions, will ever attack a human being.  

Yes, there are snakes, but, if you walk at leisure and give animals time to get out of your way, they will do so.

If Namibia is on the menu, one can find some flora nonexistent anywhere else. 

An extremely and ruggedly beautiful country.  Interesting are the Namibia Desert in the South the Fish-River Canyon, but every other part is a unique experience too.

South-Africa-What cities to visit and to stay away from:

After experiencing a traumatic past, parts of South-Africa are experiencing severe economic problems that are most visible in the Rand area (Greater Johannesburg), with up to 50% of Africans unemployed. 

It is the world's crime city number one and neither safe during the day nor at night. The inner city is an absolute "NO GO" at any time, and, frankly, nothing is missed.

[Editor's Note: In 2008, I did a few small, organized day tours in Johannesburg to visit the Apartheid Museum, Soweto township, and the top of Africa's tallest building. While it is still dangerous, I recommend a day or two to explore if you're passing through.]

Since international flights end in Joh'burg, it cannot be avoided entirely, but one should make arrangements to be picked up from the airport. 

There is a tourist office in the arrival hall where one can book a room from hostel to hotel, and even hostels pick up their guests. 

There are also car rental agencies, but I suggest to rent a car once you are at the hotel; i.e., one can get a better price.

Coming from North-America, it takes two nights to get there, and one night on the return flight. 

There is nothing to see in Joh'burg, so one night might be amble enough.

Durban used to be a fine city, but it is no longer safe there either. 

Not as bad as Joh'burg, I don't advise taking evening walks.

Although one has to be careful in any city (meaning don't be the obvious tourist and so invite mugging) Cape Town, East London, Port Elizabeth are as safe as any city in North-America; and they are beautiful, especially Cape Town with its rich history showing in its architecture.

All 3 of them are on the coast, and their beaches are second to none.

Interesting inland cities are Pretoria, Ladysmith, Pietermaritzburg, and Rustenburg (near Sun City and Lost City).

If in Namibia visiting Windhoek with its German colonial architecture and "Still" German Beer gardens, Swakopmund with the same to offer, but in the Namibia desert, plus the coast, is a unique and unforgettable experience.  

Both cities are safe, as is the rest of Namibia.

Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, is extremely dirty, overpriced, safe, except for stealing, and there is nothing to see.

Swaziland's cities of Manzini and Mbabane are safe and interesting, as is the whole country. 

As a kingdom, it has a lot of traditional lifestyles to show, which one cannot experience in South-Africa anymore, except on the "Tourist-Stage." 

Simply, although an island within South-Africa, Swaziland is beautiful, definitely worth a visit, and within less than a day's drive from Joburg.

One country, another island within South-Africa, I purposely left out is Lesotho, although the Dragon Mountains cover all of it, it has been in turmoil for twenty years.  In my humble opinion, it is not worth a visit. 

[Editor's Note:  In 2008, I enjoyed a day trip into Lesotho via the Sani Pass and would recommend a few days or nights there.]

Definitely, worthwhile visiting are typical Afrikaner towns (Dutch) in the Cape and in Natal. They are, likewise, a unique experience.