Wilson's Warf, Durban, is popular among locals
Accredited specialist tourist guides cover a wide range of areas and interests, from safaris and game viewing, to sport, natural attractions and adventure activities. (Did you know that South Africa has the highest commercially operated bridge bungee jump in the world on the gorgeous Garden Route.
Tourist guides can be found for more than 30 languages from Arabic to Yoruba, but remember, nearly everybody understands and speaks English.
Need to know
Here is some need-to-know information that will help you to better sell South Africa.
How to get to South Africa
More than 70 international airlines fly into South Africa’s world-class airports from all over the world. There are also African airlines that have regular routes in and out of South Africa to the rest of the continent.
South Africa’s seasons
South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, so it’s summer here when it’s winter up north. Travellers can usually find fantastic bargain prices in the low (winter) and shoulder (spring and autumn) seasons.
- Spring: September, October, November
- Summer: December through March
- Autumn: April, May
- Winter: June through August
Bonnievale in the Western Cape. Image courtesy of Karen Kleingeld
What’s the weather like?
Great. Average day temperatures in summer range from a minimum of 15°C (59F) to a maximum of 28°C (82F). In winter, average day temperatures are 19°C to 23°C (66F to 73F). Cape Town winters tend to be wet and windy, but a winter beach holiday in Durban or on the KwaZulu-Natal coast is fine as average temperatures hover around the 26°C mark. Winter in Mpumalanga and Limpopo is dry and cold at night but sunny and warm in the day, perfect for spotting game because the vegetation is low and game is forced to drink at waterholes.
What about crime?
Advise your client to take all the usual precautions that he/she would in any foreign country, such as locking valuables away, not wearing expensive jewellery, keeping to tourist-friendly areas, and locking car doors and windows. Guides or accommodation hosts will put your client in the relevant local picture and alert them if necessary.
