South African provinces don’t come any more South African than KwaZulu-Natal: typifying its mother country’s diversity, ‘KZN’ ticks off beaches, battlegrounds, mountains, surfing and safaris in an unrivalled tourism CV.
Durban is its biggest city, but most visitors arriving here immediately leave to explore the well-developed beaches on either side. Those seeking wilderness must keep going north to the Elephant Coast, a tropical spit of sand stretching all the way to Mozambique. Snorkelling, turtles and scuba-diving are brilliant here.
Inland is traditional ‘Zululand’, villages and towns where ancient tribal cultures survive. Most impressive is the reconstructed beehive-hut capital of Ondini. These gentle Midlands were the scene of bloody scraps between the Zulus, Boers and British, and some of the key Battlefields including Isandlwana and Rouke’s Drift are easily explored.
Also here is the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park amongst other private reserves including Phinda and Thanda Private Game Reserves, with the Big Five present and correct, and further west begins the Drakensberg, South Africa’s premier mountain range and paradise for hikers, horse-riders and anglers.
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This home from home safari villa has 4 double en-suite rooms, beautifully decorated with gorgeous living areas, private pool, viewing deck as well as a private vehicle and ranger / tracker. Sole-use only, Phinda Homestead makes a sensational family safari experience.
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Beautifully positioned between the forest and the sea, family friendly Thonga Beach Lodge is the place to be for an adventurous, relaxing but incredibly action packed holiday. Turtles, dolphins, birds and sub-tropical fish take centre stage here. A diver, bird-lover, sun-worshiper, marine enthusiasts idea of heaven.
The Best of South Africa Travel map displays the locations of the destinations and accommodation that we have selected and visited; for each item, hovering over or clicking the marker will display a short summary and photo of that place or hotel, and hotel pricing. Follow the links in the info box to the full page listing which has much more information.
Note that the online map offers both a satellite view (click satellite in the top right) and, for some locations, a street level view (Drag the person in the top left onto the map). These let you explore the country; and when you wish to explore in person, or if you have any questions about the places you see, give our staff a call, or request a quote. Our staff regularly visit the places and accommodation that we feature.
When you book a holiday with us we will provide full driving instructions for reaching your accommodation, where necessary; these can be used by yourself, or you could enjoy the luxury of a driver. Alternatively we will arrange private (car rather than coach) transfers for you; helicopter transfers are also possible for some destinations.
An amazing trip to South Africa
My adult son and I recently returned from an amazing trip to South Africa organised by Ash of Best of South Africa. It was a tailor made holiday staying in two different game reserves - Etali in Madikwe and Mhondoro in Welgevonden. A couple of days before we were due to fly BA announced their pilots were striking and our …
