South Africa or Namibia?
The practical differences, drawn from our own write-ups rather than from a brochure. We are not going to tell you which is better - they are different trips. What follows is what actually changes between them.
Places written up here 337 58
UNESCO listings among them 17 2
Cost level Mid-range Mid-range
Busiest month in our write-ups September June
Currency Rand (ZAR) Namibian dollar (NAD)
Plugs and voltage C, M, N - 230 V D, M - 220 V
Everyday languages English, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and more English
Driving side left hand side left hand side
Region Southern Africa Southern Africa
Capital Pretoria Windhoek
South Africa
Eleven languages, staggering landscapes; braai fires and safari dawns bookend the days.
What we have written up
- Addo Elephant National Park national park
- Afrikaans Language Monument monument
- AfrikaBurn festival
- Algoa Bay Islands island
- Aliwal Shoal dive site
- Amarula liqueur
All 337 places in South Africa →
Worth knowing before you go
- Cards work nearly everywhere; keep small cash for tips
- Load-shedding power cuts may pause things - locals have apps tracking it
- Wine-country tastings cost pocket change by world standards
Namibia
Reserved but courteous; greetings matter, distances are vast, and everything runs on unhurried order.
What we have written up
- Arnhem Cave cave
- Brukkaros Mountain volcanic crater
- Bwabwata National Park national park
- Cape Cross Seal Reserve beach
- Cheetah Conservation Fund research centre
- Dune 7 dune
Worth knowing before you go
- The Namibian dollar is pegged 1:1 to the South African rand, and rand is accepted everywhere
- Cards work in towns and lodges - carry cash for rural fuel stops, markets and tips
- Shops keep early hours, roughly 08:00-17:00, with Saturday afternoons dead in small towns
Counts describe this site, not the countries: "places written up here" means how many pages we have finished, and it keeps growing. Currency, plugs and languages are practical facts and change rarely; check anything visa-related with the relevant official source before you book.