"Republic of South Africa / Republiek van... " a South Africa Travel Page by aldo007

WELCOME to my South Africa (a.k.a. Suid Afrika - Ningizimu Afrika - Afrika Borwa - Iningizimu Afrika - Afrika Dzonga - Aferika Borwa - Afurika Tshipembe - Umzantsi Afrika - Iningizimu Afrika) page, dedicated to my home country.

I was born down at the coast in Port Elizabeth, but moved to the capital Pretoria (yes that’s right, NOT Cape Town or Johannesburg) in my eleventh year. I haven’t been everywhere, but I’ve been to some of the best spots around. A mild to warm climate (to very hot) all year, makes SA a great year-round destination. Snow (not a lot) up in the Drakensberg in winter, a 2800km coastline with some of the best beaches in the world and anything from deserts, bush, veldt and forests inland, truly makes South Africa “A world in one country”, as the SA tourism board says.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES:
English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

VISA INFO:
Nationals from Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Chile, Cyprus, Ecuador, EU Nationals, Gabon, Guyana, Hong Kong (SAR), Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Korea (Rep. of), Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Macau (SAR), Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, San Marino, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovak Republic, St Helena, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe are exempted from a visa. Note that the lengths of stay may differ for the above (i.e. a 30 / 60 / 90 day stay) and this should be checked out with the South African embassy / consulate. For a list of these in your country, please visit:
http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/south_africa1.htm

SOUTH AFRICA's favourite beers are probably Castle Lager (5% vol) and Black Label (5.5% vol). Both are made by South African Breweries (SAB). SAB also makes Hansa Pilsener (4% vol), Lion Lager (4% vol) and Castle Light (4% vol). SAB also makes Amstel Lager and Heineken under licence, as well as Hofbrau. In some pubs you might find Mitchell Brewery products (from Knysna) on tap. Namibia Breweries' products are also widely available. My favourite, Windhoek Lager, contains 4% alc. vol. and I can thoroughly recommend it. Other products fom Namibia Breweries include Tafel Lager, Windhoek Special, Windhoek Export, Windhoek Light (2% vol - and approved by the Heart Foundation!) and Urbock. They also produce a Hofbrau, as well as as Beck's and Holsten under licence. Expect to pay about $5.50 - $7.50 for a case (24 x 330ml) in a store and $0.50 - $0.90 each in a pub, nightclub or restaurant. The licenced beers are normally a bit more expensive than the local varieties.