The first thing that you must prepare to steel yourself
against is the challenge of being confronted by so many
smiling faces!
I know that you will be very hard pressed to find one of
these within a 20 km radius of Heathrow (unless it is on
the face of a drone operator!), but whenever I return to
this part of the world I am reminded how soon everyone
is to smile and laugh in this region.
The second surprise might be that for many people this
will not be the Africa they were expecting.
This region has modern highways and infrastructure, very
upmarket and up to date hotel accommodation, road
signs in English (mostly - although beware of the local
minibus taxis who generally ignore all of these!) and menu
options and food that most visitors will recognize.
The region has all of the usual transport options,
although the train service is not what it could be and its
use should be avoided as a rule, unless you have selected
one of the specialist options such as the Blue Train.
Golfers generally travel with their golf clubs, so public
transport options are generally not effective anyway
and there are plenty of self-drive and highly professional
transfer companies from which to choose.
On Mauritius, with the narrow winding roads, I prefer
to arrange a pick-up with the golf course (if I am playing
away from my vacation resort’s own course) or let the
hotel arrange something for me.
Given the climate in Southern Africa, the lifestyle is very
much geared to the outdoors.
This is not surprising as through the year the region
averages sunshine during about 75% of all the daylight
hours. This means that outdoor activities and functions,
from a braai (barbecue) to alfresco dining, are de rigeur –
as is sunscreen and insect repellant.
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Destination Golf .TRAVEL
Don’t panic - hot climates = insects, so the need for
repellant is not as bad as it sounds!
The heat is manageable, as the majority of vacation
properties and private homes are fitted with air-
conditioning and fans or both, as are the hire cars, hotels,
restaurants and shopping centres.
First timers should really use a tour package for some, if
not all, of the sections of their itinerary, so that transport
will not be an issue.
I mention this because during a first, or even a second
visit to any new country (or region), it is often both more
efficient and cost effective to book transfers, excursions
and tee off times through a professional tour operator or
similar.
If you are reading this then it is likely that you will be
contemplating or planning a golf and or family vacation,
so if nothing else using a tour operator will leave you free
to do what you came for - to be on vacation!
South Africa’s regions are as different from each other as
one could imagine, except for the ubiquitous sunshine of
course!
At Destination Golf Travel we are working closely with
our golf club resort and venue partners, in Southern
Africa, and international tour operator partners, to
develop a series of tours to make access even easier to
this fantastic area in Africa and its wonderfully diverse
regions.
These will range from the Royals’ Tour, which as the
name suggests will start (and finish) in Gauteng at Royal
Johannesburg & Kensington, before moving on to take in
the country’s three other Royals in Durban, Port Alfred
and Cape Town.
Both Royal Johannesburg & Kensington and Royal Durban
will play a central role for tours in KwaZulu-Natal and
Gauteng respectively.