Cape Town Safari Tips

What you should know about Safaris and Game Drives in South Africa

When you are planning to "go on safari" in South Africa, my Cape Town Safari Tips will give you some useful tips and hints to have a great time in and around Cape Town South Africa.

Come prepared and enjoy the beauty of this country like we did on our recent trip to the Krueger National Park.

South Africa’s landscape and wildlife have got so much to offer: “Going on safari” that is visiting Game reserves and National Parks is just one of the major attractions of South Africa for locals and expats, but surely a major draw card for tourists.

We had some great days at various Safaris in South Africa, so here are my top safari tips for your game drives around Cape Town and the Western Cape and further up country.

Here are my Cape Town Safari Tips

• Get a Wild Card: The Wildcard will come very handy when visiting South African National Parks and Reserves (SANParks)during your stay. With a Wildcard, which is the loyalty program of the SANparks, you will gain free entry for many game reserves nationwide. With a residency permit you get a reduced rate, while international visitors have to pay the highest rates, but the card is of real good value if you use it for six visits already. Here my Cape Town Safari Tips: In Cape Town you can get free entry at Boulders, which is the “Penguin Beach” in Simons Town and at the Cape of Good Hope as well as in the West Coast National Park. More info about the card, rates and availability.

• Rise early: The gates at Kruger park for example open as early as 5.30am in summer. As there is a limit in numbers of day visitors at the various entrances (currently 500 day visitors) you will have to be queuing up at the gates at least 30mins before opening of the gate to get access for the day. We know for sure as Malelane Gate to the Southern Kruger Park already closed at 7am for the day! So ring the National Park or Game Reserve before and ask when they open their gates to day visitors.

• Take binoculars: For the best game spotting and viewing game in the distance take a good pair of binoculars. Here in Cape Town you can get a variety at Cape Union Mart, Cape Storm and other Outdoor Stores. Make sure they are sturdy though, as you will not have much fun if the thing flaps after a couple of game drives or is scratched by sand easily. So invest in a good protective cover too.

• Invest in a Guide Book: Buy a Field Guide Book at the entrance gates to the game park or nature reserve. National Parks always have some excellent guides and checklists for sale at the park’s gates. In good guide books there are lots of explanations about the reserve, the best view points for wildlife viewing and wildlife checklists. And to keep kids busy when there is a more quiet time around lunch time get to the waterholes or birdhides to see the wildlife, kids can colour in and tick animals they have already encountered. In good bookshops or the visitor centers of the National Parks, you will find also other kids’ guide books about birds, mammals and vegetation which also come in really handy to keep the little ones entertained.

• Malaria: If you visit certain parts of South Africa like Kwa-Zulu Natal or the Kruger Park you should take Malaria prophylaxis as precaution especially in the rainy season which is summer in Krueger Park. Always wear light colored long sleeved tops and full length trousers at night and spray yourself with insect repellent. A very efficient one is called “Tabard” which you will get also at outdoors stores in South Africa.

• Take lots of water: For a relaxed day of game viewing, which will start quite early and usually last until closing of the gates at around 6pm you should take a picnic basket with drinks and some goodies with you. There are some rest camps in most of the game reserves, where you can find nice restaurants and self-serve coffee shops, but as you are not allowed to get out of your car outside these safe visitor enclosures, you should be prepared to have some snacks and lots of water in your car.
I hope you enjoyed my Cape Town Safari Tips. Please also have a look at my other pages regarding Great Game Drives in and around Cape Town.

Should you have any tips or questions regarding Cape Town Safari Tips, please contact me.

This page was extracted and updated from the ExpatCapeTown Newsletter edition of October 2009.

You can get more great Cape Town Insider Tips, when you subscribe to my monthly ExpatCapeTown Newsletter here.

If you want to see some of our pictures we took at various safari, please

visit my Safari Photo section here.

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