Here we will go through some of the important information tat you need to know to make the most of your incredible trip to South Africa! 

"Taxis" - in South Africa this means a white mini van usually with the South African colours down the side, these operate as an in between of a bus and a taxi and will have a general direction/route but not specific stops per say. These are everywhere and rule the road (they seem to abide by very different road rules compared to everyone else), watch out for them and give them space when you are driving as they will pull some butt clenching moves. Although I have heard of many expats and locals using these without issue, you need to be in the know so for a couple of weeks in South Africa I would generally avoid and Uber/hire a car. 

Uber - the easiest way to get around places especially Cape Town area. Uber is very affordable and easy to use. 

Public transport - they have buses and trains, and as with "Taxis" you need to be aware of your surrounding and have more local intel to use these.  

Hiring a car - Super easy to drive around most of South Africa, especially Cape Town and the Garden Route. Watch out for potholes when driving more rurally and I would advised against driving at night outside of the main tourist areas (if away from Cape Town and the Garden Route). They drive on the left hand side of the road.  

This very much depends on your trip and what time of year you are going. Check out the individual place pages for packing lists. Some essentials I would definitely pack if going anywhere in South Africa is the following:

• Debit card you can use abroad without fees- such as the Revolut card. The majority of places take card and even have stopped accepting cash, especially in the Cape Town area. 

• A jacket/raincoat - hopefully you wont need it but especially Cape Town can suddenly get very windy.

• Camera/decent phone camera - the whole country is stunning and you are going to want to take photos of it so this one is a no brainer. 

• The rest really depends on what sort of trip you are having so check out the destination pages. 

There is so much amazing South African food to try. With me being a vegetarian and my partner being a very heavy meat eater we've tried a lot of different food across South Africa. The South African diet is very meat focused but I never had much of an issue getting vegetarian food. As expected it was more difficult when you went more rural ... and having to specify that no meat also meant no chicken did get me a lot of perplexed looks. Make sure you check out our places to eat section in each destination section.

• Biltong - must for the meat eaters, comes in a whole variety of meat including kudu and springbok. 

• Chakalaka - spicy vegetable tomato based relish that they'll put with almost anything.

• Pap - a maize based carb that comes with a lot of food. If you want to be traditional eat it with your hands. don't just have this on its own.

• Roosterkoek - this is bread cooked over the fire and is usually served with butter, jam and cheese (which was my favourite) but you can get all different types. Think of it as a sandwich but way better. 

• Koeksisters - fried dough soaked in syrup or honey. A great sticky sugar rush.

• Malva pudding - this is comfort in a bowl, think apricot caramelised home comfort sponge cake. 

• Milk Tart - a yummy custard filled tart desert.

• Peppermint Crisp pudding - such a favourite with South Africans that you have to give it a go at least once. 

• Don Pedro - boozey ice cream milkshake, what more do you want. It's semi melted ice cream mixed with a shot of alcohol, I'd highlight recommend Amarula. 

• The ultimate food experience is getting yourself invited to a local South African's braai - this is their word for BBQ and they will argue about how different it is. After spending so long there, I have to agree. A braai can be anything from a planned event to "what shall we have for dinner? Shall we braai" and is a great evening spent cooking around a fire.