South Africa Transportation Tips by MichaelFalk1969 Top 5 Page for this destination

Driving in South Africa

A concept you have to get used to: In SA you facilitate overtaking by temporarily evading across the yellow line which marks the sideline of the motorway. (Depending on a free sideline, which you should check!) If you are going to overtake and somebody lets you by crossing the yellow line, you flash your warning lights once to say "thank you".

I read some postings about how bad South Africans drive .. I cannot confirm this information. On the contrary. The drivers I met on the road were very disciplined, kept their safety distance, kept their speed limits and didn`t even use a horn.

People walking on the road, jaywalkers, cattle and wild animals on the road are a risk, especially in rural areas. As you can see in the photo.

South Africa keeps the motorways spotlessly clean .. we rarely saw any trash on the road, like a can of coke or plastic bags. They employ people to clean the road on a regular basis. Quite impressive.

There are some toll roads, like the Chapmans Peak Drive or the Zululand part of the N2.

Parking: Self-appointed Car Guards watch over your car while you are away. They expect a small donation between 5-10 Rand. These are really poor people trying to make a living, so you should be generous.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Car/Motor Home

Driving in National Parks

A normal car will usually suffice for south african national parks; you probably won`t need a 4WD. It is not always easy to spot animals in the parks from the car as the vegetation is high and even an elephant can vanish completely from sight a few meters distance from the road. So be patient and drive slowly.

Keep in mind that even bug beetles have right of way! They are so big you can easily spot them from a car.

By the way I didn`t arrange the turtles on the photo to have a better shot. They just came along naturally. No animals were harmed while shooting this photo.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Car/Motor Home