Not only does the weak Rand mean that a holiday to South Africa represents truly great value, but many hotels and safari lodges are running some unbelievable promotions, even over the Easter period.

We have pulled together a selection of special offers that are running over Easter, although space is limited everywhere and we would not expect all these offers to be available for long.

You can either browse the list of available offers and ask us to check availability for you, or alternatively ask us to suggest an Easter safari or holiday for you.

We are pleased to be able to introduce 2 more special offers…and this time they are for a couple of Cape Town’s most popular hotels.

The offer starts with 4 nights for the price of 3 at selected Southen Sun hotels in Cape Town for travel before the end of March, and then changes to give 3 nights for the price of 2 from April until the end of September.

The participating hotels are Southern Sun The Cullinan and Southern Sun Waterfront in the V&A Waterfront area, and the Cape Sun in the city bowl area.

These offers represent really good value for money, and we are certain that the hotels in the V&A Waterfront area of the city will prove to be especially popular.

We have updated our special offer pages in order to ensure we are best able to help people navigate their way around the influx of new offers on safari lodges that we have recently added to our site.

The main page for the special offers on african safaris now has quick links to the most popular special offer searches (Kruger National Park Offers, Eastern Cape Offers, and Sabi Sands Offers), and we have also included the top offer in each region on the main overview page for that region. 

The detailed offer pages for each region now include links back to the main overview page as well as a link to help you find more offers that might be of interest.  For example, the Kariega Game Reserve Offer page includes a link to all of the special offers on safaris in the eastern cape.

We have more special offers to add in the next couple of days, so we will keep you updated as these come on stream!

With sterling having slumped dramatically against the US$ and Euro over recent weeks, many UK holidaymakers have had second thoughts about travelling to the states or skiing in Europe this winter.

There is some good news for anyone looking to get away from the cold this winter though: the South African Rand (ZAR) has fallen even more sharply than sterling due to the collapse in demand for raw materials from South Africa’s mining sector.  This means that whilst last year visitors were getting around ZAR13.5 to the GBP, in recent weeks this has been as high as ZAR19.0 to the GBP and is currently sitting at around ZAR 15.0 to the GBP.

The net impact of this is that a ZAR 1,500 room would have cost £111 in 2007 now costs £100 - a saving of 10%!  Contrast this with the position with US$ prices where a US$200 room would have cost £100 last year and now costs over £130 (a 30% increase), and we can see why last minute booking to South Africa have been so strong over the last month or so.

There are also a lot of special offers available at the moment, including offers for the December /January period and these can offer savings of over 30% on the published price, which when combined with the preferrential exchange rate makes them look very attractive indeed!

There is still some availability over December and the Christmas & New Year Period, and anyone looking to get away in January currently has a wide selection of places available and several special offers to choose from.

In order to get the most from your safari budget there are a number of number of key points to keep in mind.

Find A Good Inexpensive Safari Lodge
Staying at a lodge will give you a better chance of seeing big game at close quarters than you will have on a self-drive safari, therefore we would always recommend staying a night or two at an inexpensive safari lodge if you can afford to.

The quality of food, lodges, guides, and wildlife can vary greatly amongst less expensive lodges, and you should always take care to get independent advice from a good safari specialist or a travel forum.

Nothing is guaranteed, but with some budget safari lodges starting from around £80/$150 per person per day in the low season (including accommodation, and 3 meals, 2 games drives, and a guided walk each day) it is a very attractive option for the serious wildlife enthusiast on a budget.

Go In The Low Season
If you are flexible on your dates, and your safari is the main reason for choosing Africa for your holiday, then consider going in the low season if you can - prices at most safari lodges are up to 30%-40% cheaper over this period and this is also arguably the best time of year for game viewing in the Kruger area (animals are more reliant on rivers and waterholes as it is the dry season, and therefore easier to find…they are also easier to see as the vegetation is not as thick).

Look Out For Low Season Special Offers At Safari Lodges
For people looking for a serious bargain on a safari lodge and Cape Town holiday, keep an eye out for special offers where a discounted stay at a safari lodge also entitles guests to free accommodation at a Cape Town hotel or elsewhere. These are generally only available from the more expensive lodges in the low season (May - September) but do offer exceptional value.

Drive Yourself In A National Or Regional Park
This is definately the least expensive option, however it is important to be realistic about what you might see on a self drive safari - you will be restricted to the road network, have to find the animals yourself, and also have to identify the species and their behaviours for yourself - if animals are 200 meters away from the road and you are not sure what they are because you cannot see them clearly this can be very frustrating!

Self-drive can be great fun, and is certainly less expensive than staying at a lodge, however many budget-conscious travellers will spend a night or two in a relatively inexpensive lodge before venturing out on their own.

You can read more about all of these topics in this article.