South Africa is a vast country. There are 1,398 km between the city of Johannesburg in the north to Cape Town in the south . That’s a steady drive of over 16 hours, or two days with an overnight stop. Some people arrange internal flights to save on the hours of driving although in our opinion a self-drive holiday allows you to see much more of the scenery of South Africa and it’s absolutely beautiful in all rural areas. South Africans are used to driving long distances, often because they have to. And there are such long distances between cities. One lasting memory of a driving holiday in South Africa is the wide open spaces backed by mountains and extensive views.

South Africa is a wonderful country for a touring holiday because the main roads are good quality with little traffic making it a pleasure to drive. British visitors would be delighted to know that driving is on the left. Car Hire is easily arranged. The doors on hire cars automatically lock when you start the engine as a security precaution. On the occasions that we visited South Africa we found the security situation exaggerated. We did not feel threatened at any time, the ‘Rainbow People’ of all shades were equally courteous and friendly.

There is poverty and people will ask for money in various ways. There are so called parking attendants who watch your car when you park it in towns and cities. On your return you pay them a few rand, say 2-5 depending on duration. The official parking attendants wear a tabard. Consider it a payment for parking - it’s less than you would pay back home and helps prevent theft. You are also usually rewarded with an enormous smile and a thank you. You don’t get that back home either.

You may also encounter teenage boys hanging around supermarkets who will tell you that they’re hungry. As someone who has purchased food and given it to these ‘hungry’ boys, I can tell you from the expression on their faces that it was not food that they were hungry for. There is hunger in South Africa and the best way of giving, should you wish to make a difference, is to donate some money to one of the charities that works with street children.

Johannesburg and Cape Town are the two main airports that visitors fly into with Cape Town currently being the more popular.