Are you planning a trip to South Africa?
Here's everything you need to know before you go.
Hey, it's Phoebe with Matt behind the camera and on this channel,
we share with you all our tips and experiences to help you travel well.
South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa.
It is home to over 60 million people and three capital cities
Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfontein.
It is famous for its incredible scenery,
gorgeous coastline, abundant animal life, and fantastic food.
As Aussies, we didn't need a visa to visit South Africa for up to 90 days,
but it's a really good idea to check the official government website
before you go to make sure you're up on your visa requirements.
There are 11 official languages and English is one of them.
So as long as you speak enough English to get by, you should be fine.
Now, we found the locals love to involve us in the local language.
One of our amazing local guides she was getting us involved in the term yebo.
And every time we would agree with her, we would taste some great food.
She was like, How is it we like yebo!
Now there are some really cute South African-isms to look out for.
Just now is sort of like, I'm coming to your house or I'm leaving just now.
When did you leave? Just now.
That's like sort of whenever I get around to it.
No rush now.
Now is immediately I'm coming to pick you up. Now.
Now they say shame.
And that might be if you do something
cute, maybe see a cute little granny or you say something sweet.
They might be like, Oh, shame.
It's like a really cute sort of an empathy thing.
It's the same with is it?
That can be like an expression, sort of like you might tell a story and be like,
Oh, I got this on sale for $5.99 They'll be like is it!.
Don't worry they're not questioning you like is it?
Another one I love is they call the traffic lights robots, which is so cute.
And one to keep your ear out for is lekker.
That means good.
The local currency is the South African rand.
Now to help us figure everything out while we were there,
I have the free app XE currency downloaded to my phone
and I have South African rand downloaded so I can use it offline.
South Africa's seasons are the same as they are for us in Australia
and New Zealand.
You have your cold months in the middle of the year
and your warmer months at the end than the start of the year.
Now we have visited twice, once in May and once in July,
and we slightly preferred our May visit just because it was a little bit warmer
and typically in May to September
is going to be your peak time for spotting great animals.
Both times we visited and all the places we have visited, we have had a local guide
and or driver with us and I highly recommend you do the same.
You learn and you experience so much more and you feel so much more connected.
So we have had a few different guides and I'm going to make sure we list
the contact details for every single guide we've had in the comments below
or the description below. So check that out.
And if you do book them,
let them know that we sent you because they will absolutely love that
Before our first visit to South Africa, we were really nervous about safety.
We'd heard a lot the stories, we'd seen a lot of things,
and so we were very scared once we got there and we were with our guides
and we started going out and listening to them and having our own experiences,
we started to relax.
The second time we visited, we had no worries whatsoever
because we knew what to expect and we knew what to do.
All I can do with you
is share my personal experience and it has been nothing but positive.
And that's because we've always had a guide or driver with us
and we have listened to them
and we haven't done things that we wouldn't do when we travel anyway.
Like walk off in the middle of the night, get raging drunk,
I think just exercise that common sense approach,
listen to your guides and follow those basic safety things
and hopefully your experience will be just as wonderful as ours was.
We've been to South Africa twice and on both visits we went for around 7
to 9 days and managed to do a safari, a visit to Cape Town and Johannesburg.
But South Africa is huge and those are only three places you can visit.
We've done two safaris on our trips to South Africa and each one offered
something different. Our first one was mind blowing.
We flew from Cape Town, Skukuza Airport to do a stay with Lions Sands
River Lodge, and the game drives took place on the Sabi Sands
Game Reserve, which is right next to the Kruger National Park.
The key thing to note about this area is its free range.
It is absolutely huge. It is National Park.
I was nervous that we wouldn't see all the animals.
We wouldn't see the Big Five within the first day.
We'd seen so many of them. It wasn't even funny.
So if you're worried, don't be.
Chances are you'll see everything.
Now Lions Sands River Lodge is incredibly luxurious.
The service is second to none.
The accommodation is stunning, the food is spectacular.
I cannot recommend it highly enough and I'm so glad that was our first safari
experience because it lived up to everything I had ever wanted it to be.
A second experience was also amazing,
but this one we flew from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit and from there
we were picked up by the guys
from the Kapamaa Buffalo Camp on the Kapama Private Game Reserve.
So the key thing here is
it is fenced and all of the animals are contained within it.
Don't worry, don't picture something small.
It is an absolutely huge area now.
Kapama again, everything is inclusive.
The staff are fantastic, the grounds are gorgeous.
The accommodation here is these old world luxurious
safari tents and they have this gorgeous bathtub.
Either one, you would be so happy with them.
They're amazing experiences.
So we'll have those both linked below for you.
If you are going in that May to September peak period, make sure you pack
lots of layers.
We found it's been very cold in the early mornings
and the late evenings when we're on our game drives.
A couple of other things you might want to bring with you.
Make sure you've got plenty of sunscreen, maybe a really good hat
you can jam on your head and stick on there
if the sun's going to be out so that it doesn't go flying off when you drive.
And most importantly, guys, I want to talk about safety
because this is a question I get asked a lot.
Are the animals, a.k.a
the lions, going to launch at you when you come up to them in the car?
No, they're not. It's going to be fine.
I was really scared, too, but the guides explained to us that
these animals grow up around the cars and the people.
They get used to seeing it.
Whatever they tell you to do, just listen and you will be totally fine.
We had two vastly different experiences when we visited Cape Town
the first time, I guess because it was our first time,
we were more focused on the history of Cape Town, the history of South Africa,
and it was also raining.
The second time we went.
It was suns out. It was so fun.
Everyone was feeling summery and happy and outdoorsy
and it just changed the whole energy for us.
With that great weather, we were able to explore the coastline more.
We were able to go out and do more day trips,
and it gave us a chance to really experience Cape Town properly.
And one of the things that blew
me away about Cape Town was how beautiful the coastline and the scenery is,
how gorgeous the people are, and how delicious the food is.
Prepare yourself to eat a ton of good food.
It is just so good. Again.
Our first visit to Jo'burg was focused
more on the history side of it and when we came back a second time
we were able to go, All right, we've seen the history, we understand it.
Let's just have a really great time.
If you are going to Jo'burg, expect it to be a really big city.
You're going to have to drive a fair bit to get to lots of different places.
My favorite place to go in Jo'burg is Soweto,
and you should absolutely go there with a local guide.
We got to do an awesome tour with our guide.
You know,
she took us to Nelson Mandela's house and then we tried traditional African food.
It was so tasty.
And then we go to kind
of walk around the streets and visit some of the local shebeens or local bars.
And that for me is the heart of Jo'burg.
That connection and laughing with the locals
and just getting to know them and having a great time.
There is so many different cuisines to try.
I have to insist that you find somebody who can hook you up with some local
African food.
There was so many things I got to try in Soweto
that I had never tried before, and it was delicious.
You know, we got to see Bunny Chow being made
and we got to see not eat, but see Mogodu Mondays, which is where they take
the unfavorable cuts of meat like tripe and trotters and feet
and claws and snouts and hinds and all kinds of things.
And they turned that into delicious dishes.
I didn't eat it, but I had a great time watching other people get stuck into it.
And of course, South Africa is famous for biltong,
great beer braai which is their answer to a barbecue.
But it's done with like this special, like,
coals and wood stuff that gives the mate this really amazing flavor.
And of course, Pinotage, incredible wine.
So we combined all of that.
We did a tour with the guys at Kiff and Kombi Tours.
They took us on a beer and biltong to it. It was epic.
Like I said, both times, we visited in May and July and is typically being cooler.
During the daytime I found myself wearing summer dresses and sandals,
but once that sun started to go down, I really needed to bundle up
a little bit for the jacket on, rug out, get a little warmer.
So I kind of packed a mix of everything.
I had some hiking boots, jeans, jumpers and jackets, especially
for the safari portion and then for Cape Town and Jo'burg.
I had more summer dresses or long dresses with things
I could put over my shoulders.
So Layers
is really going to be your best friend and as always, make sure you are sun.
Say, if you want to have your sunscreen, your hat, I recommend you pack
some really comfortable shoes because you're going to be on your feet all day.
It's going to be worth it because it's awesome.
So if you want to see more guides
from our adventures, we filmed a whole bunch from those trips.
You can check those out here on YouTube.
We will have them linked in the description below for you.
And if you found this video useful at all, you could use the Super Thanks feature
or you can simply book your accommodation, activities, anything
using our affiliate links
and we will earn a small commission at no extra cost for you.
Now with that, that brings this week's episode to a close.
I really hope you have enjoyed it.
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I say it twice.
I hope you have a great weekend
and I will see you with a brand new episode next week.
Love ya!