Driving in South Africa

[geist1223]

We are planning a trip to South Africa for May 2017. We plan on staying at several different times shares - Breakers and Jackelberry Ridge. Our plan was to fly into Johannesburg, spent the night, then drive to Breakers for a week, then drive to Jackelberry Ridge for a week, then drive back to Johannesburg to fly out (again spending night in Johannesburg).

A friend recently spent a week in South Africa. She highly recommended that we do not drive ourselves around. She said it was too dangerous. She said that many locals do not drive but hire Drivers or Taxis. She tends to be very cautious and a worry wart.

What expereinces have others had concerning driving around South Africa?

 

[rhonda]

Jan 2013 - we did similar to your proposal: Flew in to Johannesburg; spent the night near the airport; picked up a car the following morning; drove to one resort for a week (Falcon's Glen); drove to another resort area for a week (Burchell Bush Lodge); drove back to the airport. All was well.

Tips:

• Don't fetch the car on your arrival. Wait until the following morning so you are rested, 'reset' from the long flights and fresh.
• SA drives on the left. Keep the "driver" along the center divide! (If you find the driver along the road's shoulder -- you are in the wrong lane.)
• Update your GPS; buy the SA road module if needed and have it installed before you travel. BTW, question the GPS: we found ours was not particularly up to date. It once took us on a long-outdated, eroded path ... ignoring the fresh highway! Oh, my.
• SA drives *fast*!
• SA drivers expect you to pull over to let them pass. It is common to pull into the shoulder to let them speed by.
• After passing, SA drivers tap their brakes to "acknowledge" your curtesy in allowing them to get around you.
• Parking lots have "volunteer attendants." These "entrepreneurs" will wave you into a parking space and "watch" your car for a fee. Keep a few Rand available and ready each time you are parking in a public space. At first we were mildly put off by this practice -- but learned to appreciate the service -- especially when our car held all our worldly possessions while traveling between the two resorts.
• Watch where you park. Some entrepreneurs will wash your car where you left it and be waiting for your return. They will demand a hefty fee for their unrequested service. (Grrr. That caught us once at Pilgrim's Rest. Supposedly there were sufficient clues that our choice of parking location included the service -- but we missed those clues.)
• Ask your resort's host for tips regarding driving in each location. We would have been spared an ugly gesture if we'd known it was local custom to STOP for a monitor lizard in the road. (We didn't hit the monitor, it wasn't in any particular danger ... but it seems locals like to stop for the sweet critters.)

Go, do well, enjoy!

 

[Tomg]

Driving in SA was OK

We visited SA in 2011 with 4 weeks of timeshare. Picked up a car in Capetown, drove to the Garden Route, Durban, Krueger, then turned the car in and flew out of Jo-burg. A lot of driving, even for a month long trip. No real problems and only around Jo-burg was it scary at times. I would add to the previous advice, make sure you have a working cell phone and don’t drive at night. Good luck.

 

[geist1223]

Driving in SA

Thanks for the info. I have driven in Cancun, Cabo, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, France, etc. All with a stick shift.

 

[PaulT]

I echo what has been said already. We were in SA for a 2 1/2 week stay and drove the whole time. 1 week around Jo-burg & Pretoria and then we flew to Durban and spent another week there. We encountered no problems at all (except for a few wrong turns). The roads were in good shape and the drivers were courteous. The road signage could be better, but if you have a good map you will be okay. We didn't drive very much at night the 1st week because we stayed at Dikhololo (NW of Jo-burg) and is a pretty remote/rural area. The lack of night driving wasn't because of a fear for our safety. We just didn't want to take the chance of getting lost in the countryside at night. All-in-all it was a great trip and I enjoyed the flexibility of having a car to come and go as we pleased.

Just a word of caution. If you hear people refer to a "robot", they are talking about a traffic signal. Also, their "garage" is what they call a gas station.

 

[buceo]

What I did was a big mistake. We landed in Johannesburg and the next day I drove some 300+ miles to Sodwana Bay, 9hrs plus as I recall. Thank goodness it was not raining. That was two lane highway driving; huge trucks (having to pass), livestock and pedestrians, let alone a wide range of car velocities, all sharing the road. An awful drive, my mistake. Having a car, short round trip day trips, visiting the parks, all excellent. A long drive on an interstate maybe, but not what I did.

 

[ace2000]

Entered in error