With the Northerly Humpback Whale migration in full swing the Raggy Charters team and our guests in are being treated to some spectacular displays of aerobatics in the Bay (Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth, South Africa)… writes Raggy Charters manager Jake Keeton. The sheer number of whales that are currently passing our coastline is astonishing. This […]

Designer, photographer, chef and ideas man Bruce Marais, a born-and-bred Capetonian who now lives in Morocco, had heard all the stories about Johannesburg. So when friends encouraged him to go take a look, he didn’t really know what to expect. Led through downtown and its fringes by Kennedy Tembo, Bruce was taken aback – in […]

It’s official! New Zealand travellers to South Africa no longer need a visa to visit SA’s beautiful shores! Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced Thursday that nationals from four of the seven countries for which he granted visa-free status during his Budget Vote speech will now officially be able to travel to South Africa without […]

Large-scale protest action in Hong Kong has led South African Airways to cancel its flights between Johannesburg and the Chinese city, where the growing pro-democracy mass action has shut down the main airport, one of the busiest in the world. There were two SAA flights, one in either direction, scheduled for today. In a notification […]

We all know how beautiful South Africa is, but many of us don’t get to see the stunning landscape from above. Here – thanks to businessman and SAPeople contributor Stan Sanetra, who flies between the Western Cape and Gauteng each week – are aerial pictures from the passionate photographer that show the beauty of SA […]

Almost seventy tourism safety monitors will patrol Table Mountain from today, the Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said at the launch of the programme. It comes barely two weeks after a Ukrainian tourist hiking above Hout Bay was murdered. The initiative is a partnership with SA National Parks, the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, SA […]

It is rare that anyone landing in New York gets to fly right over Manhattan, Central Park, Wall Street, and all its iconic neighbourhoods, but South African expat Bruce Marais, arriving from Montreal, Canada, was treated to that view last week as his plane circled slowly above it all. Plus it was a clear day, […]

If you live in Johannesburg and are planning to take your family to Disneyland for Christmas, you may be disappointed. The wait for US visas just got a lot longer. In June the US Mission in South Africa encouraged all SA residents planning a trip to the US to apply for their visa as early […]

South Africa’s Tourism Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, says she would like to reassure international tourists that it IS safe to travel to SA and that “their safety remains top priority for the South African government”. The Minister pointed out to international tourists that with regards to recent incidents (the brutal murder of a Ukrainian hiker in […]

JOHANNESBURG – Barely two days before Ukrainian visitor Ivan Ivanova was stabbed to death while hiking in Cape Town, the Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said the government was paying attention to the issue of safety in the country that had been raised by potential visitors. Kubayi-Ngubane told the Real Estate Development Summit on Friday last […]

A new facility that rehabilitates wild animals that have been injured or abandoned, with a view to returning them to the wild, has been opened at Shamwari Private Game Reserve, outside Port Elizabeth. At the R5 million (or $350,000) facility, the animals are treated before being released back to the wild, Shamwari said in a […]

The question most people ask when we meet them somewhere on our travels through the vast dry Karoo region of South Africa is: “How do you find your stories?”… writes Chris Marais from KarooSpace. Those who read our Karoo books and our regular features in SA Country Life magazine and various other publications want to know what sets us […]

Late last year SAPeople ran a competition with South African Airways for a return trip for two from Heathrow, London, to South Africa. The lucky winner was Lucy Vaughan (and her boyfriend whom she surprised). SAPeople spoke to Lucy this week on her return from her holiday to SA… What made you enter the competition […]

CAPE TOWN – British Airways would remain the only airline flying a daily flight between London and Cape Town for the time being, according to Wesgro, although the agency was in regular discussions with other airlines to fly to the city, according to CEO of the Western Cape’s tourism and trade body Tim Harris. A […]

CAPE TOWN – The publicity for the world-famous Mount Nelson hotel – “an oasis of calm within Cape Town’s beating heart” – must have seemed like a cruel joke yesterday after a group of men stormed the lobby and robbed staff and holiday guests, and broke jewellery displays to steal the contents. In an emailed […]

No matter how fabulous a South African expat’s life is abroad, there’s still nothing quite like a holiday back home… whether it’s once a year or once a decade. To fly home with SAA and catch up with family and friends over a lekker braai, watch the sun set in an African sky, and marvel […]

Imagine walking through a lush tropical forest. You hear a rustle overhead, and a half-eaten fruit plops onto the trail. You lock eyes with a howler monkey, before he gives a soft grunt and moves higher into the trees. These magical, fleeting connections with a wild animal can be the highlight of a holiday. Wildlife […]

On July 16, one of the most luxurious trains in the world, the South African Rovos Rail, set off to make the first-ever passenger train trip from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. It is the second major journey across Africa that the private rail company has launched in its 30 years. The train journey […]

A French couple has been forced to resign from their jobs at a supermarket in France after their trophy pictures – of hunts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Tanzania – went viral. The photos, which had been taken back in 2015, show the couple with dead animals, including a leopard (which would’ve cost over $7,000 […]

A new luxury game lodge in South Africa has been long-listed for an international design award. The lodge – Cheetah Plains – was designed by ARRCC with décor by OKHA in the Sabi Sand South Africa. ARRCC, which has been selected to compete in the 2019 Dezeen Awards in the Hotel and Short Stay category, […]

New Zealanders can pack their bags and head to South Africa with ease again! The new South African Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, announced today that New Zealand tourists can once again visit South Africa without needing to get a visa first. Former Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba had withdrawn visa exemption for […]

The World’s Best Vineyard 2019 competition, held in London this week, has announced that the Vergelegen wine estate in Somerset West, in the Western Province of South Africa, is Africa’s top winery. “We are absolutely delighted by this award,” said Vergelegen CEO Don Tooth. “The Vergelegen team is committed to building South Africa’s reputation as […]

As many travellers between Johannesburg and Durban know, there is a quaint little church that is situated in Van Reenan (Free State) at the halfway mark. It looks beautiful in the spring, summer, autumn and even winter (see below). This weekend filmmaker Richard van Schalkwyk stopped on his way to KZN and took some footage […]

One of the scariest elephant charges in Africa ever is going viral on social media at the moment. Watch below. The video was uploaded by Kuiseb Delta Adventures, which offers quad bike and 4×4 tours in Namibia… but it’s not sure who actually filmed the video or where. What is certain is that is was […]

South Africans are exploring their own gorgeous country like never before! According to South African Tourism (SA Tourism), domestic holiday trips rose by 59.7 % in the first quarter of this year (January to April 2019). Thanks to an SA Tourism marketing campaign enticing South Africans to travel their country, the period this year showed […]