STREET MAPS
South Africa has very good roads in most parts of the country that are usually well sign-posted making most areas easily accessible by car. See the sites below to get more information, also refer to the travel section.

MAPSTUDIO	Mapstudio - A local mapping company that has both a web site and also supplies a full range of road maps for South Africa. These are available at all CNA outlets country wide.
OTHER MAPPING SITES	MapQuest - Worldwide mapping service.

WEATHER 
Generally South Africa has excellent weather for climbing - warm & sunny. This allows for year round climbing in most parts of the country. Only a few areas get snow during the winter months, these being Lesotho, areas in the Free State, Natal and the Cape. Lesotho is the white area in the province map above between the Free State & Kwa-Zulu/Natal, not being part of South Africa (You may need a passport) The Drakensburg range of mountains in Lesotho and on the Lesotho/Natal/Free State borders get good snow and there is usually even isolated ice in the mountains.

LOCAL SERVICES	SAWB - South African Weather Burea Wunderground.com - Local Weather service covering many towns. WeatherScape - Weather site hosted by Iafrica.
ABROAD	Yahoo Weather - Deatiled weather for South Africa.   CNN Weather - CNN's Weather site for Africa.

TRAVEL & TRANSPORT 
You should find good roads throughout South Africa in most areas with cars being the preferred mode of transport. Trains travel throughout the county as well but are not recommended around the cities. Taxis are expensive and not always safe either. Busses are are usually a good choice too. To get between the main centres (Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban) you would most likely be best off with taking an airplane. Dont forget we drive on the left hand side of the road! Our speed limits on most highways are 120km/h and 60km/h in most residential/city areas. If you decide to travel by road get a map book from any CNA , they are in almost every town and shopping centre.

AIRLINES	SAA - South African Airways - the biggest airline within South Africa. British Airways - South African Interest (Comair) Kulula.com - Budget local airline service.
CAR RENTAL	We have the usual Avis, Hertz etc. to be found mainly at the airports.   Campers Corner - Hire of Campers (RVs), 4x4s etc.
BUS/TAXI/TRAIN	Elweirda Busses - Tours & busses accross South Africa.   South African Railways - Train services within South Africa. They are fine too but avoid the major city stations.  Mini Taxis are perhaps best avoided but there are good inter city bus services.  Normal taxis are very expensive and there is almost always a better mode of transport.
TRAVEL AGENTS/INFO	Stop in at any of the major shopping centres or airports and you will find several Travel Agents. See this page for a good selection.

GENERAL INFORMATION 

Don't forget to browse through the topics on our home page for further information. Below are a few sites that may come in handy if you are planning a trip to sunny South Africa.  Accomodation is usually available at most of the climbing areas - see the Crags & Routes section for the areas you plan to visit. Be careful of access, many areas are privately owned - Please dont litter and bury your turds under much earth and far from the rivers. Washing yourselves with soap and your dishes in the rivers/streams is not taken kindly too - we need to drink that water!

 

ANIMALS	Many people think of Africa as an area with lions, hyenas, rhinos & elephants roaming around. Well, we do have them but mostly in game reserves. In outlying areas (usually where we climb) there are the odd leopards but they stay well hidden. You are bound to see many baboons who generally will not attack unless threatened or provoked, if they do you had better be climbing in the 30s (8a/5.14) in order to escape them since they also climb pretty hard! There have been a few cases of dogs attacking baboons and the humans and dog being killed in the process. They attack as a group and have very large teeth! In some rivers there are a few crocodiles & hippos that can outrun you for a short stretch - so watch out.   The smaller creatures are often more dangerous. We have mosquitos that carry maleria in the north eastern parts of the country (Mpumalanga). Waterval Boven is just out of the danger area (1999). In many of our rivers we have litle snails that carry bilharsia. Both maleria & bilharsia are very bad diseases that usually stay with you for life and should be treated quickly. Ticks are abundant and some carry what we call Tick Bite Fever. Always check yourself for the ticks, especially the tiny ones that love to crawl all the way up your legs. We have our fair share of bees & wasps, the wasps like our overhangs and dont exactly welcome us as we climb on by.   Snakes , yes, plenty. We have many snakes including the lazy pufadder that often stays where he/she is and refuses to budge. The usual scorpions and spiders are around too but are usually more painful than dangerous, the brown scorpions with smaller nippers are the nasty variety.   Our famous Magaliesberg monkeys love sharing your lunch even by ripping it out of your pack. We have some crows that have learnt the same skill too. Of course the rats, mice and some other smaller creatures also enjoy our food & gear. Not to forget the two-legged variety, muggings around crags are scarce but petty theft is high in most areas, always ask a few of the local climbers.  We have many very beautiful animals and birds and a trip to the Kruger National Park or one of the other parks is highly recommended. Hope we didn't scare you too much.
PLANTS	Yes we do have flesh eating plants. They reek of rotten flesh and have pretty flowers, found mostly in the Cape. Not to worry, they prefer insects. Our favourite is the stinging nettle which comes in two varieties, the creeper & the tree. Touch any suspicious looking leaves to check if they sting or not. We have a few very posinous plants such as the naboom cactus - thus eating plants can proove deadly. There are actually a few edible plants with excellent fruit but Ill not describe them here, ask the locals and then let your 'friend' try them first.
ODD DANGERS	There are a few other things to beware of, the Aggro Johannesburg Drivers, the greater mini-bus taxis, the inebriated road-crossers and the trespasser-hating farmers.