Visit South Africa
... for the trip of a lifetime! This stunning country has so much to offer and so many places to see but whether you are going for the Wildlife, the Weather or the Wine, this is as good a place as any to start.
We are here to open your eyes to everything this wonderful country has to offer whilst at the same time, keeping everything as simple as possible. We do not sell holidays, we just want to help you design your own.
Please remember that this Site is under new ownership and we shall be adding content continually as the weeks go by, through our affiliations with some of the major Travel Service Providers for the Country.
Make a start by looking at what some of the Big Cities have to offer, courtesy of Lonely Planet. We used to struggle to keep this information up-to-date for ourselves, but they do a much better job.
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Cape Town
The Portuguese are recognised as having been the first European visitors with the arrival of Bartholemew Diaz in 1488. The Dutch came much later, in the 17th Century but they decided to stay and duly established the first settlements in the Cape.
Much evidence of their presence still remains in Cape Town but since the early 20th Century the British were predominant, until of course the exciting events of 20 years ago when Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the politics of the region was changed for ever.
Table Mountain is the picture perfect back-drop to this vibrant city.
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Johannesburg
This is a young city. It is hard to believe there was nothing here until the discovery of gold in 1886, which sparked a mass migration of people from all over the world seeking to make their fortune in this chaotic new settlement. The population exploded and Johannesburg soon became the largest city in South Africa as well as the business capital.
A lot has happened to the city in recent years, inner city crime and neglect have resulted in the large-scale migration of businesses and commerce away from the Central Business District to the more affluent northern suburbs
But as well as business, it has grown to become as a centre for learning and entertainment for all of Africa.
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Durban
Durban was first sighted by Portuguese navigator, Vasco da Gama at Christmas in 1497, whilst searching for a route from Europe to India. He named the area "Natal", which means “Christmas” in Portuguese.
Modern Durban dates from 1824, when a party of British soldiers arrived from the Cape Colony and established a settlement on the northern shore of the Bay. They were granted a strip of coast by the Zulu King Shaka and the area was formally annexed by the British in 1844
The sugar cane industry was established soon afterwards, labourers were imported from India to work the plantations and now Durban has the largest Indian population outside of India.