I am not a doctor and don’t profess to have any medical knowledge but we travel as often as we can to visit the Kruger and we lived for 10 years just outside the park and have never taken medication for the prevention of malaria. Neither have I had malaria. I cannot understand why so many tourists do not go to the Kruger for fear of contracting malaria. Mozambique is a high risk malaria area and yet millions of people live there, spending 1 week in the park which in my humble opinion is an extremely low risk area is surely less risky than say, tandem sky diving, shark cage diving, bungy jumping, etc. and yet hundreds of tourists do this every day !If you feel ill in the weeks after your visit just tell the doctor to test you. I have seen the preventative medicine and it’s side effects and in my opinion (non medical) rather don’t visit these areas than take the pills.

Sorry about the above but the Kruger is one of the best places in the world to visit and see wild life and I think people should be realistic about the risks. Accommodation is comfortable and in fenced camps but is self catering. However, in the main camps there are restaurants and shops so you don’t need to cook any meals. This is the real africa so don’t expect 5 stars, if this is what you are after go to the private lodges but expect to pay for it. You can drive yourself around the park in your own vehicles and the roads are well maintained and sign posted. You would have to want to get lost to manage this. The park is enormous so planning is essential but help is never far away. In the park people are extremely friendly and you would only have to ask for someone to assist. Cell phone reception is marked on maps that you can purchase.There are companies who specialize in taking tourists around but after your first exploratory trip you will probably elect to drive yourselves after you see how easy and much fun it is. I would suggest that you stay in the park to get the best out of your experience.

The best animal sightings would be the southern area of the park but we prefer the north because there are less people and better bird life.

Most camps now offer night drives and morning walks with rangers. If you can do this. This will be the highlight of your trip if you like nature. The rangers are very knowledgable and in tune with the bush.

There are flights from Nelspruit on the border of the park direct to Cape Town. There are also airports at Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa. All these airports have car hire companies.

We see and hear quite a bit about whales and whale behavior. We can tell you about whales and dolphins interacting, whales and seals playing together ( a baby whale) , mommy whale teaching her calf to jump, eating the foam caused by rough seas, scratching their bellies on the sand and swimming in the seaweed.
However the most frequently asked questions and normally by the people you really don’t expect it from is how do they mate and how big is the male’s private parts. We are no longer floored by this and can answer without batting an eye. I am reluctant to part with this information over the internet but can assure those who are concerned that the females are happy with the arrangement.
We have witnessed a desperate male trying to force an uninterested female , who was floating on her back) to succumb to his advances by actually jumping on her to try and force her to turn over but to no avail. Females are quite a bit bigger than the males and don’t have to be interested in a desperate male. He , exhausted, eventually gave up.
Whales can make the most interesting noises and if you are not used to it they can wake you at night. It sounds like they are blowing down a big hosepipe. We have heard some interesting variations, the one whale really got our attention, when he blew the sound physically hit us resonating through our bodies. We have never had this before or since. They also slap their flippers on the water and it can sound like a gunshot especially at night it is so loud. We have also learnt that although a whale dives before it jumps it does not dive to a depth and then swim upwards at speed to launch itself out of the water, it swims up to the surface and then just with shear power launches itself out and in a spectacular jump with tail strenght. This is some feat.

We took a quick drive out to Stanford just to get away for a couple of hours down to the sea via the Cape Nature area. Instead of going through the boom we turned left at the boom and went off down this road. It is a beautiful trip through the countryside with not a sign of another human being. This time of the year we were treated to displays of different wild flowers with startling colors. Took a few photo’s but did not really do them justice. The road is easy and quite long about 14 km’s approx. Towards the end you get the more sandy up and downhills. All 2×4 ’s please stop here. The road was quite spun up by some one who bust have been in a 2wd. We just walked up it on the way out with no spin at all. It is not really more than a grade 1 track but man is it beautiful and isolated just outside of civilization. What a  privilege ! I just could not think of living anywhere else. This looks like a great fishing spot and really nice to just have a picnic (no fires) . The track goes right onto the beach but we did not go the far I am pretty sure you are not meant to and the sand was pretty deep anyway. We spotted 2 caracal one after the other walking down the track and managed to photograph the one but not very well.

I watched Sky news to see what information was available to football fans and was a little shocked. South Africa was portrayed as a bit of a dump after watching the clips. Cities in South Africa are big and very first world and modern, you will only find Africa in the countryside. It was also reported that there is very little accommodation available etc. Here are a few facts that I am aware of.

Fifa have done their best to tie up all available accommodation but numerous establishments including us opted out of this. You will be able to find accommodation but you might have to search a bit.  If you cannot find anything then go through Fifa as they have kept a lot of accommodation on ice to be used through their agents. Check your prices out and compare the prices quoted to the normal seasons pricing. Accommodation is usually of a very high standard throughout the country but during this period there  may be chancers.

Distances in South Africa are big. To travel between cities following your team might be problematic because we just don’t have the infrastructure to transport these numbers around on top of our normal full internal flights. There will obviously be more flights and transport arranged.  I would suggest you make a holiday out of your trip and stay in an area exploring this in between matches and watching away matches on one of the big screens that will be available all over the place. You don’t have to stay in Johannesburg or Cape Town, for example, to get to the matches. The outlying areas eg Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Hermanus are not far out about 2 hours by car and there will be buses.

Travel agents that have not signed up with Fifa will have to find out who on the accommodation side etc have not signed up to arrange accommodation.

The quality of food and wine in the South Africa is very high so you will eat and drink well. Half the problem solved.

Where I do forsee a problem is Hired cars. I would suggest you arrange this as soon as you make any plans as I can see that this industry will come under pressure.

Hermanus is surrounded by wineries. I know you did Franschhoek and Stellenbosch but ours are different. These are much smaller, more intimate and hands on wineries. We have a valley where most are concentrated called “Hemel en Aarde” translated it is Heaven on earth. This valley is accessed about 2 km out of Hermanus self on the Cape Town side on the Colenso road. The wineries begin after the first km or so and continue for about 15 km’s on both sides of the road. Stop where you feel like and taste they are all good but some will appeal to your taste buds and some won’t. Prices differ and some are pricier than others but most are cheap if you buy in euro’s. One of our favorite’s is Beaumont wine at Bot River which lies on the N2 at the turnoff to Hermanus. On your way in or out try them. Most of this wine you will not readily find in supermarkets they have a select clientielle eg restaurants etc. This wine route will appeal to those who enjoy the countryside and magnificent views. The one restaurant on a wine estate is called Heaven probably because of the views.

Hermanus is the ideal spot for a holiday.

I must qualify this though, if you want shopping malls etc then Hermanus is not right for you.

Hermanus is about whales, surf, birding, hiking, coffee shops and outdoors.

We have whales from June to January but in numbers September to November. They come so close to the cliffs and beaches that you can virtually touch them. Watching a whale hurl it’s huge body completely out of the water in a series of spectacular jumps is mindblowing. The beaches are white sandy beaches and you don’t have to worry about crowds, sometimes you can be the only person on the beach. Surfing is also popular and at Grotto beach if the wind is right then you can watch kite surfers doing their thing. Birding , the whole area is good for birding from the lagoon to the mountain nature reserve bordering the town. There is also a trip down the river from Stanford to the lagoon which is very popular with birders and nature lovers. Hiking is one of Hermanus past times. People are always walking along the cliff paths which stretch for about 9 km’s along the cliffs and are ideal for whale watching or following a whale as it makes it’s way along the coast. The Fernkloof nature reserve bordering the town as a number of trails into the mountains. Coffee shops and restaurants everywhere.

We are an outdoor town and everything revolves around this , eg quad biking, horse riding, paragliding, cycling, shark cage diving, penguins at Betty’s Bay

Come and have fun but remember give yourself a bit of time otherwise you will run out of time.

Birding is very popular in Stanford and there always seems to be something on the go.

STANFORD GLENDOWER BIRD FAIR 01 – 04 October 2009

BirdLife Walkerbay are pleased to be hosting the sixth annual Stanford Glendower Bird Fair from 1st to 4th October 2009 and are delighted this year to be welcoming BirdLife Overberg who are joining us in co-hosting this auspicious occasion. Their involvement will add great value to the fair and will enable us to reach a much wider cross-section of the Overberg population. In addition their presence will add lustre to the fair and encourage a greater awareness of this unique avian event.

One of the highlights is going to be a presentation by Dr Anton Odendal on the Overberg Birding Route. He is highly regarded in his field and his planned publication will have a profound effect on avian tourism in the Overberg area. Apart from birding, the Overberg offers many unique attractions including fynbos, whales, sharks and many other areas of interest that collectively make the Overberg the place to be.

There is an array of interesting and well-informed tour guides along with a bit of light relief that includes free tasting of Glendower Whisky thanks to our generous sponsors. Prizegiving for our exciting photographic competition happens on Friday evening followed by a light supper and Angels on Horseback, a cabaret show fresh from On Broadway Theatre in Cape Town and the Grahamstown National Arts Festival.

On Saturday evening there will be a bonfire and informal braai on Boeredans Farm just outside Stanford.

We often take a drive here just for fun. It is about 40 mins from Hermanus so not far. This is not hard core 4×4 but we have pulled out a few people which is great fun and makes it even better for us. Something about 4×4 ing you love pulling other people out .  This is in a Cape nature conservation area so it does cost or is free with a Wild card. We drive along the tracks until we find a nice spot on the rocks to picnic or go for a walk and just relax. You can be entirely on your own here with just the seagulls and often whales lying just offshore behind the breakers. This is a very popular spot for fishermen and sometimes you do see the occasional surfer. Later we go right to the end through quite thick sea sand where we let our tires down, but this does entail pumping them up again. Not my favorite job. It is hard to believe the beauty of this isolated spot, so close to civilization but desolate. You can do the first bit with a Ldv but not through the sand unless you have 4×4, a 2 wd will not make it and I will have to pull you out. Not that I would mind !

This on on Helderberg farm on the Klein Helderberg road off the main road between Somerset West and Stellenbosch. The views are brilliant from the route. The tea garden is very run down and like somebodies backyard. I would not recommend it at all but the 4×4 track is ok for the proximity to the towns. It is just driving on farm roads with some loops thrown in which are challenging but I am not sure whether any skill is needed, just a 4×4 with low range. In the wet you cannot do the red route and then this would be a waste of time. If we ever did it again I would pack a picnic to have at one of the view sites. The farm is not well kept and a little untidy and this is unfortunately in your face the entire route. It took us about 1,5 hours at the most to complete.

It took us about 1,5 hours back to Hermanus.

Rossi’s restaurant- this is a really great relaxed family restaurant that I would say have very good value for money. You could describe as a pasta , pizza place but they do far more. I often order a steak and get one of the best steaks in Hermanus but their pizza is probably my favorite. Charmaine loves the tuna , cooked properly just seared on both sides, and the ribs. It is usually full of locals and this speaks volumes by itself. They are in the center of Hermanus in the road behind Woolworths.

Harbour Rock restaurant – this is our old faithful, good food, beautiful setting and just down the road. Probably the most popular restaurant with our guests because of the fantastic location. Looking out over the new harbor and whale watching boats. If the sun has not set you often can eat dinner watching whales jump while you have a sundowner and wait for your meal. Hard to put a value to this. They have a great selection on the menu from sushi to steak.

Cuckoo Tree – This little restaurant in the middle of town is open for breakfast, tea’s and lunches.  They do dinners on Friday and Saturday’s only. This is a family run restaurant with real food that is your home type cooking. Tasty, good food.  Lynn the owner has been in the food business for years and knows her stuff.

Barefoot cook restaurant – Different menu every day with a mouth watering menu every day. In the middle of town but not on the water front area. This is high caliber food definitely not mass produced and cooked and supervised by the owner herself. They open at about 10 o’clock every day except Sunday and Monday. Dinners on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Quayside Cabin restaurant – They are located in the new harbor virtually in the water where the fishing boats come in with their catch of the day. So yes the fish is fresh. The kitchen is an old container that has been converted and gradually as time goes by they have made the seating a little more comfortable luckily not losing the character of the restaurant. It feels like those days that you went to the docks and bought fish and chips and sat staring at the sea and boats. The fish is very good and ranks with the best in Hermanus but the setting and atmosphere is stunning.The service however leaves a lot to be desired. Not sure if it’s just us that they don’t like !

Miditterea restaurant – New menu and great views. We have had excellent feedback from our guests who also say it is very good value for money which is quite a compliment . They overlook the bay and have uninterupted views. Parking is easy as there is a parking lot directly in front of them. In season you will be able to watch whales while you eat as long as there is some light.

Fisherman’s cottage restaurant – this should be on your list. A very small family restaurant that serves really good food. Menu is always changing and portions are big. The quality of the food will blow you away. Highly recommended. They are in the center of town in the market square with parking all around them.

Heaven – restaurant up the Hemel en Aarde valley. We recommend this to our guests who are driving up our wine valley. It is on the Newton Johnson wine estate at the end of the made road so it is very convenient for lunch or a meal. It is only open during the day. The food is very good and of a high standard. Definitely not for a quick bite to eat and / or Hamburger. Not only the food but the setting is stunning with huge views of the sea, valley and lagoon. Be careful how you drive home the road is quite twisty.