With tourist rates for the South African Rand now appearing to have stabilised (at least for the moment) at around R14.5 = £1.00, visiting South Africa has become even better value.

The Rand is a very volatile currency, however at the time of writing the rate is R14.65=£1.00, and this compares to an average of R13.50=£1.00 in 2007, R11.45 = R1.00 in March 2006, and R10.60=£1.00 in March 2005.

So what does this mean for visitors to South Africa? Well, a 5 night stay for 2 people at the fabulous Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town would cost R13400 in May – that is £915 at today’s exchange rate, but would have been £1264 at the March 2005 exchange rate – a saving of £349!

The same holds true for the safari lodges which also work out to be much cheaper this year compared to previous years. A 3 night stay for 2 people at Exeter Leadwood in the Sabi Sands Reserve would cost R21720 this coming May – that’s around £1483 at the current exchange rate compared with £2049 at the March 2005 rate – a saving of £566, or 27%.

The same holds true for everyplace in South Africa, from the great value guest houses of Cape Town, the Winelands, and the Garden Route, right the way through to the 5* hotels and safari lodges.

There is an argument for saying that there has never been a better time to go to South Africa, and with the low season rates starting in a few weeks time there are certainly some real bargains to be found.

We are pleased to confirm that we now have a free phone (Toll Free)  number for our clients to use in South Africa. The new South African number is 0800 981 420, and our contact numbers are now:

UK local rate phone: 0845 838 2450
UK local rate fax:       0845 838 2451

SA Toll Free phone:  0800 981 420

Rest Of World:           +44 1932 268230  or  +44 845 838 2450

We have added new photos to a number of 4* and 5* hotels and guesthouses in the Cape Winelands:

Franschhoek Country House & Villas
Grande Roche Hotel
Lanzerac Manor
Le Quartier Francais
Summerwood Guest House

For most people the idea of spending the night under canvas surrounded by the sounds of the African bush brings to mind the romance of a bygone age of adventure.

Fortunately there are dozens of tented safari camps all across South Africa where it is possible to recapture this magic.

From Bayethe Lodge (Shamwari), Lalibela Tree Tops Lodge, and Gorah Elephant Camp in the Malaria Free Eastern Cape, up to Savanna and Hamilton’s in the Greater Kruger Park there is some outstanding 5* tented accommodation available with many ‘tents’ boasting air conditioning, luxury bathrooms, and even private plunge pools!

For guests travelling on a more modest budget, lodges such as Gomo Gomo and Kwa-Mbili offer less extravagant accommodation, however the large tents all still have proper double or twin beds and ensuite bathrooms…it’s still along way from most peoples idea of roughing it!

Our top 10 tented camps in South Africa are:

1 ) Bayethe Lodge
2 ) Tree Tops Lodge
3 ) Mkuze Falls Tented Lodge
4 ) Gorah Elephant Camp
5 ) Gomo Gomo Game Lodge
6 ) Savanna Private Game Reserve
7 ) Hamilton’s Tented Camp
8 ) Chapungu Luxury Tented Camp
9 ) Kwa-Mbili Game Lodge
10 ) Entabeni Wildside Tented Camp

This listing is ranked on the number of nights guests have spent at each lodge based on recent bookings made by Travel Butlers.

Travel Butlers are delighted to announce  a photo competition that we are running in association with SA Wines Online where you could win one of 3 cases of South African wine. 

Each year we are sent hundreds of photos by people whose holidays we have helped to organise, and rather than leave them to collect metaphorical dust on a forgotten computer somewhere we have decided that we should share them with visitors to our website and offer prizes for the 3 very best pictures.

The competition is open to anyone who booked their trip through Travel Butlers, and the closing date for entries is 31st May 2008.

Entries will be published on our web site, and we will be judging the competition and notifying the winners in June – the 3 best pictures will each win a mixed case of 6 premium South African Wines with a value of £60.

About SA Wines Online – get a £10 discount on your first order.
Shortlisted as Decanter Online Wine Merchant for 2007, SA Wines Online has the largest range of fine South African wines in the UK. You will find your favourites all in one place and have them delivered directly to your door anywhere in the UK.

Get a £10 discount on your first wine order at: http://www.sawinesonline.co.uk/.

We have added new photos to several of the safari lodges that we feature in the Greater Kruger Park area.

The lodges with updated photos are:

Gomo Gomo Game Lodge
Gwalagwala
Honeyguide Khoka Moya
Honeyguide Mantobeni
Kirkman’s Kamp
Little Jock
Tinga Game Lodge

With the school half-term holidays only a few weeks away, and Easter following on shortly afterwards, we thought this would be a good time to look at the most popular safari lodges for families visiting South Africa’s malaria-free regions.

A quick glance at the listing below show that the game reserves in the Eastern Cape (Kariega, Kwandwe, Lalibela, Shamwari, and Amakhala) are particularly popular with families, and safari lodges in this area take the first 7 spots. This highlights the great appeal of South Africa’s most popular family holiday route  which is a few days in Cape Town, followed by some time exploring the Garden Route Coastline and a safari in one of these malaria free reserves.

The remainder of the top 10 is made up with lodges in the Madikwe reserve up in the far north of the country on the border with South Africa, and somewhat surprisingly no lodges from The Waterberg area feature at all despite it’s convenient location just a couple of hours outside Johannesburg.

The Kruger area and KwaZulu-Natal are both considered low-risk malaria areas and are therefore excluded from this listing.

The full listing is:

1 ) Kariega Lodge
2 ) Kwandwe Ecca Lodge
3 ) Mark’s Camp
4 ) Long Lee Manor
5 ) Woodbury Lodge
6 ) Amakhala Safari Lodge
7 ) Leeuwenbosch
8 ) Little Madikwe
9 ) Jaci’s Tree Lodge
10 ) Madikwe River Lodge

This listing is ranked on the number of nights children under 12 have spent at each lodge based on recent bookings made by Travel Butlers.

We have updated our Kruger Park pages to include more photographs for many of the rest camps in the park.

These camps are for visitors who wish to drive themselves around the park, and you can see where the camps are on our map of Kruger, and read more about on a self-drive safaris here.

If you are interested in a fully inclusive guided safari in Kruger, you can read more about the safari lodges in the Greater Kruger park here.

The camps with updated pictures are:

Balule Main Rest Camp
Bateleur Bushveld Camp
Berg-en-Dal Main Rest Camp
Letaba Main Rest Camp
Lower Sabie Main Rest Camp
Mopani Main Rest Camp
Olifants Main Rest Camp
Orpen Main Rest Camp
Pretoriuskop Main Rest Camp
Punda Maria Main Rest Camp
Satara Main Rest Camp
Shimuwini Bushveld Camp
Shingwedzi Main Rest Camp
Sirheni Bushveld Camp
Skukuza Main Rest Camp
Talamati Bushveld Camp
Tamboti Tented Camp

The Waterberg has been described as South Africa’s best keep secret. Its rugged beauty, together with its diversity in plant and animal life, has led to the development of the Waterberg Nature Conservancy, an amalgamation of conservation areas covering more than 150,000 hectares.

The safari lodges of the Waterberg are an ideal safari destination for visitors to South Africa who will be arriving or departing through Johannesburg, or spending some time at Sun City. The Waterberg is also a malaria-free area, making the lodges a great choice for families and others who want to enjoy the African wildlife without the worry of taking anti-malarial precautions.

After a period where the weather over much of South Africa was cool , wet and blustery,  and there was severe flooding in some areas such as the Garden Route, it appears that normal service has been resumed just in time for the Christmas and New Year peak.

Cape Town is due to enjoy clear skies and temperatures with highs of around 25°C for the next couple of days with this rising to a blistering 35°C on Saturday. 

On the Garden Route the picture is milder (22°C – 26°C for the next three days), but again no rain is forecast, and in Kruger the outlook is 26c for today and Saturday, and 29°C for tomorrow (Friday).

You can find more weather forecasts on our South Africa Climate and Weather Forecasts page.