South Africa (incl. Lesotho & eSwatini (former Swaziland)

South Africa (RSA) situated on the southernmost of African continent. For its beauty it is called All world in one country.

RSA is bordering with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and its coastline with the extend of 2500 km is with 2 great oceans: Atlantic and Indian. You would be surprised to see developed infrastructure, good road system, modern industry and well working bank system, and of course well established tourism industry and good service levels. As tourist please consider visiting our main tourist attractions sucj as Cape Town, Garden Route, Blyde River Canyon and Kruger National Park. And it is not all. Still to see and taste South African wines made in Winelands, white sandy beaches, whales in Hermanus, Peaks and waterfalls of Drakensberg and much more.

Size:           1 200 000 square km

Capital:       Pretoria (Tswane - new name)

Main cities: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Nelspruit

Languages: 11 official languages of main population groups of the country - english, afrikaans, ndabele, zulu, xhosa, swazi, sesotho, northern sotho, tswana, venda, pedi. Mostly used in a country - english, afrikaans (old dutch) and zulu.

Population: About 52 million

Currency: R1 (Rand) equals to 100 cents. Notes - 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 Rands

Main domestic product: Mining of deposits of Gold, Platinum, Diamonds, Uranium, different metals, Coal, Agriculture and cattle, machinery manufacture, car manufacture, wine making, tourism.

Export: Gold, diamonds, uranium, coal, fruits and vegetables, motor cars.

Climate: Tropical and Subtropical. Summer from October to March with average temperatures 27-35 °С. Winter from June till August with average temperatures 10 - 15 °С

Time zone: 1 hour ahead of Grinwich

Visa: For most of European countries and USA Visa to RSA is not required.

Credit cards:VISA, MASTER CARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, DINERS accepted everywhere and it is safe to pay with credit cards.

Foreign Exchange: In RSA you can not use foreign currency in shops. Please exchange your currency to South African Rands. The offices of Foreign exchange are presented in all airports and in main shopping centers..

Tips: In RSA is common to pay tips. In restaurants 10% of the bill, to porter around 1 $ per piece of luggage, to your private guide around 10-15 $ per day and to bus driver of yourr tourist bus is around 2-3 $ per day per tourist.

Electricity: 220 Volts with 3 pin round south african plug. In all hotels you can find 2 pin plugs and adaptors.

Drinking water: The water in RSA in all metropolis areas is of good quality and can be drinkable out of the tap. Just check with safari lodges in National parks if water they use from the wells is suitable for drinking.

Car rental: In RSA is driving done on left side of the road. Speed limit in towns is 60 km per hour and on highways is 120 km per hour. For car rental you will need to present your drivers licence and your credit card. Rental locations are presented in the main areas and in all cities of the country. It safe to rent a car here in South Africa.