Accommodation South Africa Regions

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ACCOMMODATION SOUTH AFRICA REGIONS

The Cape Winelands are a major tourist attraction in South Africa. Infact South Africa could stand as a tourist attraction on the quality of its wines alone. Wine production in South Africa dates back to 1659, seven years after Jan van Riebeeck set up a Dutch base at Table Bay. An extract from his diary reads "Today praise be to God, wine was pressed from Cape grapes for the first time."

DRAKENSBERG

The Drakensberg mountain range is situated along the southeast coast of South Africa. These spectacular Drakensberg Mountains are a challenge for adventure seekers and a heaven for wildlife lovers. Extending from northeast to southwest for around 1125 km, the Drakensberg is part of the Great Escarpment and the main watershed of South Africa. The local Zulu name for Drakensberg is Quathlamba or ‘The Barrier of Spears’, an accurate description for Drakensberg that rises over 3000 metres in height. It is an important region for adventure activities like mountaineering, camping, bird watching, river crossing, trout fishing, and many more such activities.

GARDEN ROUTE

Heavily promoted and heavily scented, the Garden Route runs along a beautiful bit of coastline in southern Western Cape, from Still Bay in the west to just beyond Plettenberg Bay in the east. The narrow coastal plain is well forested and is mostly bordered by extensive lagoons which run behind a barrier of sand dunes and superb white beaches. Inland, the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma Ranges, which are between 1000m and 1700m high and crossed by some spectacular road passes, split the coast from the semidesert Karoo.

Backpackers are well catered for, with plenty of hostels in hot competition to make sure you have a good time and stay as long as possible. The hostels also make it feasible for those on a budget to stay during the peak summer season, when prices at other places soar. Still, you'd be advised to book ahead whether you're staying in a hostel or an upmarket hotel. If you're looking for a base, the best bet is Knysna, closely followed by Plettenberg Bay.

The Garden Route has some of the most significant tracts of indigenous forest in the country including giant yellowwood trees and many wildflowers as well as commercial plantations of eucalypt and pine. The weather is kind year-round and noticeably wetter than elsewhere; the highest chance of rainfall and grey days is from August to October.

The area is a favourite for all water sports and. A wide range of activities is offered, from diving and sailing to bungee jumping and quadbiking. There are some tacky developments dotted along the route, but you can steer clear of the worst of it, and hostel accommodation isn't too hard to find. Some of the quieter places are Mossel Bay, Herold's Bay and Buffalo Bay.

GREEN KALAHARI

Africa has many faces, among them a face that bears unlikely and impossible contrasts, a face that is often covered by clear, cobalt blue skies. Such a place is the Green Kalahari, a living desert, and an accessible and affordable destination that promises a feast for the senses, with the vibrant town of Upington as the gateway to this land of contrasts.

KAROO

The hot dry Karoo in South Africa has a sparse barren landscape, where the main economic activity is wool and meat from hardy Karoo sheep. The Karoo pleatau actually covers much of South Africa but we will concentrate on the area where the visitor can find some interesting little towns to visit. The British flag flying village of Matjiesfontein is a national monument in its entirety, and was once a Victoran health retreat as well as a base for Anglo-Boer War British soldiers.

The wide streets of Graaff-Reinet have more National Monument buildings than any other town in the Karoo and is a delightful oasis in the scrubland. Nearby is a most spectacular natural wonder known as the 'Valley of Desolation', where the ground falls dramatically away, and strange dolomite pinnacles rise like rockets from a launching pad. Nieu-Bethesda is home to the strange Owl House - an unusual collection of sculptures and lifetime’s work of an eccentric artist.

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

The world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. Established in 1889 to protect the wildlife of the South African Low veld, this national park of nearly 2 hectares, is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies.

The reserve is home to an impressive number of species - 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. Among the mammal species are the Big Five - lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo and white and black rhino.

NAMAQUALAND

Namaqualand, on first impressions, is a harsh, relentless, arid wilderness. Surface water is practically non-existent and subterranean water is brackish and hard to find. Namaqualand hides much of her treasure, which is great mineral wealth , with large copper deposits and rich diamond diggings on a hundred kilometres of its coastline. Gem-stones, gypsum and sillimatite are also mined. And here in this desert, one of the most remarkable wonders of nature occurs. In the spring, from mid-July to the end of September, provided there has been sufficient winter rain to create the right temperature, the spring flowers give the world its most beautiful botanical spectacle. The famous flowers of Namaqualand are of a wide variety, but principally saisies of many colours, red Gazanias, purple Cineraria, orange and black spotted Gortevia are a few of the species.

NORTH COAST

The North Coast of KwaZulu Natal South Africa refers to the coastline north of Durban. The North Coast boasts spectacular beaches, seamed by tropical vegetation. The coast is backed by endless sugar cane plantations and part of it is nowadays also called Sugar Coast which stretches from Umhlanga Rocks to the Tugela River mouth.

The Natal North Coast is a major destination for holiday makers from Gauteng (Johannesburg and Pretoria) and accordingly there is a huge variety of hotels, holiday resorts, caravan parks and guest houses.

PANARAMA ROUTE

The Panorama Route is one of the most beautiful and popular travel destinations in South Africa. It leads through the rugged mountain range of the northern Drakensberg in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The Panorama Route passes the north-eastern part of the Great Escarpment, the inland plateau declines abruptly and steeply and opens up fantastic views of the plains of the Lowveld a thousand metres below. This view is most reliable in the dry winter months. At other times the spectacle is often impaired, since the escarpment is a barrier for the clouds coming from the east, rising at this point and bringing a lot of rain. The most spectacular stretch of the Panorama Route is the Blyde River Canyon. From many well-positioned vantage points one has a view of the 33 km long gorge, which starts at "Bourke's Luck Potholes" and ends at the "Three Rondavels". The Potholes are very impressive rock formations that were shaped millions of years ago by erosion. The bizarre swirl holes developed when the once rapid river carried masses of sand and debris.

SOUTH COAST

The South Coast region in KwaZulu Natal is that special part of the east coast of South Africa which stretches from Durban to Port Edward. The South Coast is no longer a closely guarded secret but has become a major tourism and holiday destination with its pristine beaches, wildlife and high standard of holiday facilities.

WEST COAST

The West Coast in Western Cape in South Africa welcome you with golden wheat fields to coastal villages. The friendly, peaceful atmosphere of the West Coast surrounds you like a whale's song and nature greets you with awesome splendour. The people, strong and proud. Real people. They know hard times but always feel blessed by Nature's bounty. Their respect for the sea is evident in the tales they tell. It is their life, their bread and butter. Snoek season arrives and barefoot children offer to 'vlek' (gut and clean) your fish for 50c. At the end of the day they proudly take home their earnings or buy a well deserved ice-cream. Then they wait for their fathers to return from the sea. The West Coast includes towns like Langebaan, Saldahna, Lamberts Bay, Alexander Bay, Strandfontein and Elands Bay

WILD COAST

The Wild Coast remains a relatively untouched paradise in South Africa. An eco-haven with the feel of a true African coastline, this rocky stretch, where waterfalls tumble into the sea, is the pearl in the crown of the Eastern Cape. The Wild Coast consists of onspoilt stretches of coastline, open spaces and pristine forest areas provide an opportunity for the adventure traveller to discover a variety of leisure options guaranteed to make holiday memories.