South Africa Safari

Everything You Need To Know

South Africa remains to be one of the dreamiest places in the world. People flock to this country not only for that African safari experience but also for that tropical vacation, satisfying food coma and well, recently, the 19th FIFA World Cup.

Where is South Africa?

South Africa is huge. Visitors are advised to be familiar with the location of the place they’re visiting so that they can make an entry to the closest international airport and easily travel to their destination. Most tourists fly into Johannesburg through Oliver Tambo International Airport. However, there are 90 airports in South Africa, 3 of which are the major international airports that accommodate over 70 international carriers.

Oliver Tambo International Airport, most commonly known as O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) or sometimes referred to as Johannesburg International, is the primary gateway used by many tourists. It sits in the heart of Kempton Park (Ekurhuleni), Gauteng in South Africa, just 30 to 45 minutes away via car from the city center of Johannesburg and 30 minutes to an hour from Pretoria.

The other world-class international airport that’s second busiest in South Africa and third in the entire continent is Cape Town International Airport (CPT). Then there’s also King Shaka International Airport (KSIA), which serves as the primary hub to Durban.

For travelers who wish to visit only Kruger National Park, South Africa holds two domestic hubs that service the park directly. You can choose the more popular route and fly to Nelspruit through Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMI) via a connecting flight or you can also fly into Skukuza Airport (SKZ).

Additionally, South Africa has 8 ports wherein 2 are international ports that accept cruise ships from all over the world. These ports are situated in Cape Town and Durban.

Where is South Africa?

As its name suggests, South Africa is located in the southernmost part of Africa. It shares land borders with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Mozambique and surrounds the enclave kingdom of Lesotho. It has 9 provinces and 20 cities covering some of Africa’s most popular cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nelspruit, Durban, and Port Elizabeth.

Several carriers fly to Namibia but only a number are direct international flights. The main gateway for tourists is Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH), which is located in Windhoek.

A multitude of weekly flights is available from London to Johannesburg and Cape Town, which travels for 11 hours and 12 hours respectively.

  • For direct flights to Johannesburg: British Airways, South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic
  • For direct flights to Cape Town: British Airways and Virgin Atlantic
  • For indirect flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town: Lufthansa, Air France, Ethiopian, KLM, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines

You have multiple ways to travel straight to South Africa from Europe. Direct and indirect flights are countless and they usually have a daily and weekly schedule.

  • Amsterdam to Johannesburg: daily non-stop flights via KLM (10 hours, 50 minutes)
  • Amsterdam to Cape Town: daily non-stop flights via KLM (11 hours, 20 minutes)
  • Amsterdam to Durban and Nelspruit: Kenya Airways, Lufthansa and British Airways offer one- to two-stop flights. You can also check Emirates and SWISS for a trip to Durban.
  • Paris to Johannesburg: daily non-stop flights via Air France (10 hours, 40 minutes)
  • Paris to Cape Town: non-stop flights via Air France are available 5x/week (11 hours, 30 minutes)
  • Paris to Durban and Nelspruit: Air France, SWISS and Lufthansa offer one- or two-stop flights. Also check Ethiopian and British Airways as they also offer flights to Nelspruit.
  • Frankfurt or Munich to Johannesburg: non-stop flights via Lufthansa and South African Airways (10 hours, 50 minutes). During summer in South Africa, Lufthansa also offers flights from Frankfurt to Cape Town, and Air Berlin offers flights from Munich to Cape Town.
  • Zurich to Johannesburg: daily non-stop flights via SWISS (10 hours, 40 minutes)
  • Istanbul to Johannesburg: daily non-stop flights via Turkish Airlines (9 hours, 50 minutes)
  • Istanbul to Cape Town: daily non-stop flights via Turkish Airlines (11 hours, 10 minutes)
  • Istanbul to Durban and Nelspruit: one-stop flights are offered by Turkish Airlines, South African Airways and Egypt Air. Also check British Airways for a trip to Durban, and Qatar Airways and Emirates to Nelspruit.


Other countries that offer one-stop flights to Johannesburg include Rome, Athens and Dublin. Carriers include Lufthansa, KLM and British Airways.

Flights to South Africa from the United States are quite limited, a tad steeper price-wise and the schedule frequently change. Only 2 airlines operate and fly directly to South Africa:

  • South African Airlines:
    • New York City (JFK) to Johannesburg – daily non-stop flights; 17 hours; leaves in the morning and arrives in Johannesburg around 8AM the next day
    • Washington DC to Johannesburg – daily non-stop flights; 17 hours; leaves late in the afternoon and arrives in Johannesburg in the afternoon the next day
  • Delta Air: Atlanta to Johannesburg -daily flights; 16 hours; leaves Atlanta early in the evening and arrives in Johannesburg late in the afternoon the next day


There are also several available flights to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport in Nelspruit via United Airlines. Flight routes start from Newark, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, Denver, Boston, Seattle, Vegas, Dallas and Miami.

The only non-stop flights from Asia to South Africa are from Hong Kong and a few hubs in the Middle East.

  • Hong Kong to Johannesburg (13 hours) via South African Airways or Cathay Pacific
  • Dubai to Johannesburg (9 hours, 40 minutes) via Emirates or South African Airways
  • Tel Aviv, Israel to Johannesburg (9 hours, 10 minutes) via El Al Israel Airlines


Cairo, Egypt to Johannesburg (8 hours, 15 minutes) via Egypt Air

Direct flights to Johannesburg are offered by 2 airlines:

  • Qantas – travels from Sydney for approximately 11 hours
  • South African Airways – travels from Perth for approximately 11 hours and 5 minutes

Domestic airports in South Africa receive charter flights as well as cross-border flights from other countries in the continent. Self-drive options and overland safaris are also available, with some border posts open for 24 hours: Zimbabwe, Namibia and Lesotho. Other border posts operate on normal working hours and some extend until midnight.

How Much Will It Cost ?

The flights cost differ depending on your travel dates, country of origin and destination. It may also vary depending on how early you booked your flights. Round trip flights to Johannesburg from the UK are about £500 to £750; from Amsterdam about £400 to £700; from New York about USD690 to USD900; from Hong Kong about USD4500; and from Sydney about AUD1300 to AUD1500.

Check the airlines and also check out other air travel sites like Skyscanner and FareCompare for exact fares and promos.

Wildlife In South Africa

With 299 mammal species, 858 bird species and a wildly diverse and dazzling landscape, South Africa remains to be a top African dream destination. It has a fauna that is beyond any doubt nothing short of spectacular. It is known to be the home of the Big 5: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and buffalo. It is also the only country where you can find unique mammals like the Cape elephant shrew, spectacled African dormouse, Cape mountain zebra, riverine rabbit, golden moles, and blue antelopes.

Top Destinations in South Africa

Why South Africa Over The Other African Safari Destinations ?

The reasons could be endless. Well, we all know how stunning the landscape and how widely diverse and abundant the wildlife is. Aside from the exquisite game parks and private reserves, South Africa boasts a number of the best urban beaches in the world. It has excellent diving and snorkeling spots, year-round sunshine and beaches with a magnificent view, like Camps Bay Beach which is surrounded by the marvelous Twelve Apostle mountains. It is also like a huge playground as it has ample of activities available for you — from diving to mountain hiking to whale watching, horseback riding, wine tasting, safari touring and even paragliding.

South Africa also has a very good infrastructure. It holds international airports with world-class standards that accommodate various international flights daily has a network of national highways, has ATMs readily available, and mobile network and Wi-Fi signals are good. Also, South Africa is more affordable than the very busy East Africa.

If you are a foodie, South Africa will also not disappoint. In fact, it is a haven to sample the world’s best cuisines. They have excellent restaurants all over Franschhoek – a foodie’s paradise, Johannesburg and Cape Town. You can also tour around their wine lands in Cape Town and sample award-winning wines.

Possible Tourism Barriers

  • Infrastructure is not so good when it comes to public transportation. There’s a metro train in Johannesburg that serves a few places and a minibus in Cape Town but other than that, there’s nothing.
  • Fenced private game reserves and national parks.

When Is The Best Time To Go ?

It really depends on what you want to see and do. If you are after the safaris, safari condition in South Africa is basically excellent all throughout the year. Weather-wise, April-May and September-October are best when the temperature is pleasant and rains are rare. However, travel experts suggest traveling between May and September. This is the dry season and vegetation is not lush so animals can be easily spotted and a lot of them even gather around waterholes and rivers.

If you are after a beach vacation, the best time to go is from late January to the end of April when the weather is perfect for that golden glow.

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Here are Safari parks you can choose from

Top Parks in South Africa

Kruger National Park

This world-renowned park is located in the northeastern part of South Africa, within the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It is one of the world’s largest parks covering a vast 19,485 km² area with several rivers and nine wilderness trails. It is most famous for being the headquarters of the Big 5 and for being the park that holds most large mammals compared to any other park in the continent. Kruger National Park also hosts 147 species including some endangered ones, plus over 517 bird species.

Table Mountain National Park

Referred to as Cape Peninsula National Park in the past, Table Mountain National Park is Cape Town’s national park. A big chunk of it sits primarily in the metropolitan area and it stretches from Signal Hill down to the Cape of Good Hope. It is widely known for the most iconic landmark of South Africa, Table Mountain. The park is also globally recognised as one of the richest floral regions in the whole world.

Garden Route National Park

This park is fairly new but is quickly becoming the quintessential conservation area in the country. It spans a massive area of 121,000 hectares and covers the famous Krysna estuary as well as the Wilderness lake. More and more visitors are being lured into this stately park as it tenders to a ton of activities for tourists and locals alike. Hiking and biking trails, camping sites, canoeing, diving, and forest trails are a few of the things it offers.

Addo Elephant National Park

A top-rated wildlife conservation park, Addo Elephant National Park sits in Addo, South Africa just near Port Elizabeth. With its recent expansion, the park now covers the iconic St Croix and Bird Island. It is, very obviously, renowned for its delightful sight of massive herds of African elephants that usually come near vehicles within just a few meters away. Wildlife in Addo Elephant National Park doesn’t limit to the big-eared mammals. They have one of the most diverse wildlife in South Africa, with lions and spotted hyenas as the most common predators seen daily.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve

Situated at the heart of Zululand, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve remains to be one of the parks in Africa with the richest history. Back in the days, Zulu kings come to this park to hunt, making it the oldest game park in the whole of Africa. Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve has a prime game viewing that also hosts the infamous Big 5 and a prolific birdlife.

Mapungubwe National Park

Mapungubwe National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is situated by the Kolope River in Limpopo. It has a scenic landscape, rich flora and fauna, notably majestic stone structures and a hint of mystery that makes it a must-visit natural attraction. The highlight in this park is the view from Mapungubwe Hill where you can see 3 countries meet: South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.

Augrabies Waterfall National Park

In Northern Cape, South Africa, this beautiful park offers a majestic view of the Augrabies Falls, a 183-feet waterfall on the Orange River. A lot of decks and viewpoints are available for visitors who wish to marvel at its glorious scene. Aside from this wonderful sight, the park also has diverse wildlife with about 46 mammal species and 188 bird species. Kudus, elands, zebras, springboks and light-coloured giraffes are their most common dwellers.

Golden Gate Highlands National Park

True to its name, Golden Gate Highlands National Park boasts of a vast golden, orange-hued scenery with breathtaking views of the Maluti mountains. It is nestled near Lesotho in Free State, South Africa. Commonly seen around the park are zebras and elands and about 100 bird species. Also, this park has been one of the most favorite spots of paleontologists all over the world as dinosaur eggs and skeletons have been found in this park.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park

Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park is a wildlife preserve between South Africa and Botswana. It is highly known for its red sand dunes, dry riverbeds and sparse vegetation that guarantees prime game viewing. Honey badgers and meerkats are commonly found in the area as well as raptors snake eagles and vultures. Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park is also considered a prime spot for predator viewing.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Located in KwaZulu-Natal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Africa’s largest estuary. It has a unique ecosystem that supports spectacular wildlife, 526 bird species and Africa’s highest concentration of crocodiles and hippos.

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