Travel tips

It is nice if you have your own rental car to drive around, especially for camping it’s much more comfortable, but if you can’t or don’t want to drive, just take the BAZ-bus.
If you’re travelling alone, the BAZ-bus is probably the cheapest option. If you’re two people or more, we’d recommend you to rent a car, since it is much cheaper if you can split the costs- even for the two of us, it was cheaper than the BAZ-bus.
The roads in South Africa are usually in great shape, apart from a few potholes once in a while. A “normal” car will get you almost everywhere and if there is one thing you will learn in Africa- it’s what a car can take.

The best and cheapest way of getting around in the cities is UBER. For this you need internet, so it would be a smart idea to buy a SIM-card and load some airtime and data on it (it’s not expensive). You can get one in Vodacom-shops or in any other phone-providing shops. The first UBER-drive is free!

There’s also local minibus-taxis, which are incredibly cheap. However, bus stations are a popular place for robbery and mugging, so be careful.

South Africa is great for backpacking, there’s lots of backpacker’s hostels and cheap campsites.

We would definitely recommend you to camp, just buy a cheap tent somewhere and profit from much lower prices!
If you download the app ‘iOverlander’ you’ll find tons of campsites.

There are also great deals on Airbnb or Couchsurfing available in South Africa. We used Airbnb in Johannesburg and Cape Town, but during our roadtrip, we often had no internet, so we preferred camping.

While planning our trip we thought “yay African food, they’ll sure have vegan options”
Nope.
South Africans eat meat what seems like at least three times a day. They have their braais (BBQs) every day and before you smile at that (if you’re a meat-eater): we met lots of meat eaters who couldn’t stand meat anymore after spending a couple of weeks in South Africa. Why? Because there’s meat with meat, not meat with vegetables or bread or a salad and at some point, it just gets too much.
Anyway: For all the vegans and vegetarians (and also for people travelling on a budget), we’d definitely recommend to cook your own food.

Soy mince is to be found in every small store no matter how far away from towns and in the big supermarkets, you’ll even find varieties of plant-based milk, lots of meat replacements (Fry’s family) and if you’re lucky like us, vegan Mayo and cheese :-)

Also, if you’re craving pizza: Debonair’s Pizza has very good ones and if you order them without cheese, they won’t even ask twice and are nice enough to put more vegetables and tomato sauce on your pizza.

PS: vegetarian food such as rice and beans and vegetables, is quite common amongst the poorer locals, however, as a tourist it can be hard to find, since there’s no street food-vendors (at least we saw none). Supermarkets also serve vegetarian food in their take-away section.

Changing money in South Africa is a bit complicated. The process to change Swiss Francs to Rand took us about 30 minutes and we had to fill out a huge form. Oh, and don’t forget to bring your passport to the bank!
There’s ATM’s everywhere, so the easiest way of getting money is to get cash.
Credit Card payments are possible in most Supermarkets and also on bigger campsites (or in hostels etc.)

South Africa is not the safest place to travel.
Don’t be afraid- but be alert and don’t trust people who want to carry your luggage or show you around. Also we wouldn’t recommend you to go out at night in places like Cape Town and Johannesburg, unless you’re in a group.
Walking around with an expensive camera is also not the smartest idea- but we’re sure you can figure that out yourself.

Be careful when getting cash from an ATM! Check if somebody is waiting behind you and stow your money away safely, once you’ve got it.
In unsafe areas we would recommend you to choose an ATM with security (there’s often security guards).

-Blyde River Canyon
-Wild Coast
-Sweni Walking trail in the Kruger National Park
-Elangeni Resort
-Hogsback (Away with the Ferries Backpackers)
-Watching the sunset on Table Mountain
-hiking up the Lion’s head
-bush babies monkey sanctuary

-Donate to anti-poaching organizations (especially when visiting the Kruger Park)

-If you want to see animals, visit sanctuaries

-meet locals and talk to them to learn about South Africa’s history. It’s much more revealing than visiting museums

Please don’t support activities that exploit nature and/or animals, such as:

-cage diving with sharks (they’re usually attracted with blood or dead animals but are not allowed to eat. This is very frustrating for the sharks and makes them aggressive, causing stress and disorder)

-riding ostriches (riding animals is in general not the best way to enjoy your spare time. Ostriches are birds and are not domesticated, so riding on them causes stress. Also most places -no matter if they own horses, donkeys or ostriches- dispose of their animals as soon as they are too old or weak to be ridden)

-fishing (apart from the cruelty inflicted on the animals itself, fishing means also taking food away from people who really need it)

-petting lions and other predators (in order to keep these animals calm, they are sedated and as soon as they are not useful anymore, they’re put down or sold to trophy hunters)

Although it is possible to go from place to place by the local minibus-taxis, only very few tourists do it, since it doesn’t give you the chance to see everything there is to see and lots of places worth visiting are outside of towns and hard to reach without a car.

Renting a car cost us about double of what we had paid in South Africa, so we only rented one for two weeks.
However, two weeks is a very short time to travel Namibia- even if you don’t wreck your car in the middle of the desert, like we did.
Oh, speaking of which: When a sign on a sand-road says 100km/h: Drive about 60km/h ;-) – at least if you got a two-wheel drive like we did…

There are backpacker’s hostels in towns like Windhoek and Swakopmund, but apart from that, we would definitely recommend you to camp, because often when you’re out in the deserts, camping is the only affordable way of finding a place to sleep.

Special tip: If you drive to the Skeleton Coast park shortly before it closes, they’ll let you camp at the entrance and use their toilets for free ;-)

Food is about the same as in South Africa: Braais with meat, meat and meat.
Since we already recommended you to camp, we would definitely recommend you to cook your own food. It’s way cheaper and for vegetarians often the only way.
Supermarkets are stacked with everything you might want, though lots of it is imported from Germany, which isn’t very ecological.
Remember to always have enough water with you! You never know what happens and in the worst case you could end up having an accident or bursting a tire in the middle of the desert with nothing to drink.

Even though tap water is supposed to be drinkable in Namibia, we wouldn’t recommend you to do so, since it could give you diarrhea…

Same as in South Africa: There are ATM’s in the towns, but often you can only pay with cash at gas-stations, so we’d recommend you always have a sufficient amount of cash with you.

Namibia is supposed to be very safe, you can even see people riding bicycles (something you don’t see often in South Africa).
However, this does not mean you should be careless.

We were tempted to do some wild-camping, but then we decided against it. You never know who you might encounter in the desert.

-Fish River Canyon
-Dune 7
-Brandberg
-Skeleton Coast
-Cape Cross (Seal Colony) *hold your breath
-having a bonfire on an almost empty campsite underneath the stars
-Swakopmund

-Drive carefully

-Enjoy the emptiness of the deserts

-Bring sunscreen and water

-Look at the stars

-Plan enough time

-Wreck your car in the desert (you might get a sunburn)

We had our South African rental car, when driving through Swaziland, which is definitely great if you want to just explore the country and enjoy a roadtrip. However, we met people in Swaziland who were travelling by local buses, so it’s possible ;)
The cheapest option are the minibus-taxis.

There’s some backpacker’s hostels spread across the country, but there’s also campsites and guesthouses you’ll find on iOverlander.
We found a local hostel called Sobantu Guest Farm, which we can definitely recommend!

Food is a bit cheaper here than in South Africa.
You’ll find everything you need in the big Supermarkets and there’s food in the hostels and lodges, both local and western.
A must are the vegetable and fruit markets! Don’t forget to stop there and enjoy a huge avocado ;)

You can pay with south African rand, but there is a local currency (Lilangeni), which has the same rate.
There’s ATM’s in the towns.
Most hostels don’t accept credit cards, so remember to bring enough cash.

Compared to South Africa, Swaziland seems very safe. However, since it’s quite a poor country, take care of your belongings when walking around and always make sure your car is properly locked when you leave it in a parking lot.

-Hiking in Ezulwini Valley
-Driving around in the country (it’s beautiful!)

-Smoke Swazi Gold

-Buy handicrafts on the markets

-Say anything negative about the king when talking to a local

If you don’t have much time, it’s better to have your own car.
There’s a very good tar road which leads through most of the country, so getting around with a normal car is no problem. However, the roads around Lesotho are very bad. So, to get into the country, you can either cross the Sani-pass, for which a 4-wheel drive is advised, or you take one of the other dirt roads that lead to the borders. The roads are incredibly tough, but our low-clearance, 2-wheel rental car managed, so yours will, too.

If you have more time and are feeling fit, ride a bike :-) Lesotho is absolutely great for mountain-biking.

There’s not too many options and the ones that exist are rather expensive. They’re also comfortable though and since they’re community-based, you’ll support the locals by staying in them.

We stayed in the Malealea-Lodge and in the Semonkong-Lodge.

There’s mostly small local “Supermarkets”, but you’ll even find Soy-mince there ;)
Remember to buy some snacks when driving around, since the distances between the villages are huge (mostly because you have to drive around the mountains)

Chances of finding an ATM are rather small, so better bring enough cash into the country.
Like in Swaziland, you can pay with South African rand and the local currency (Loti) has the same rate.

Lesotho is very safe. Most of the locals live with their sheep and cows like they used to live hundreds of years ago, so they won’t be very interested in stealing anything from you.
However, as always: Be as alert as you would be in any other place. Carelessness is never a good idea, no matter where you are.

-Driving around
-Malealea Village
-Listening to a local concert in Malealea

-Hike and bike

-Take pictures of the mountains

-Dance with locals

-Litter! You shouldn’t litter anywhere of course, but in Lesotho, it’s absolutely unforgivable

-Give anything to begging children, ask the parents first

We thought Botswana would be extremely expensive, since that’s what the Lonely Planet says, but we actually spent way less here than in the other countries we visited.
The local public transportation is very reliable and cheap, so we’d definitely recommend you to take the buses instead of renting a car.
They also cover all areas you might want to see.

We heard that campsites would cost a fortune, but again, we were positively surprised. If you don’t have to plan ahead, simply look at some local guesthouses and you’ll find many cheap options.
Also, if you camp in a backpacker’s, you won’t have to pay too much.

As already mentioned, there’s local street vendors, but there’s also Debonair’s pizza in the towns and Supermarkets are stacked with everything you might want (like Soy milk )
Food in the lodges will be expensive, so we’d advise you to check the town first for restaurants.

ATM’s are available in all towns.
As already mentioned, if you refrain from the big tourist lodges and don’t rent a car, you’ll be able to travel cheaply.
The local currency is Pula.

Botswana did well and chased the invaders out of their country, so no one was able to steal their treasures and now the economy is doing quite well. You’ll see that the locals are rather wealthy, people are dressed very fine and are often carrying laptop cases with them.
A local also told us that since land is very cheap in Botswana, many locals own up to four houses.

Since Botswana is a rather wealthy country, the safety is very good and you don’t have to be more alert than usual.

-Mokoro-Safari in the Okavango Delta
-The Old Bridge Backpackers
-Volunteering in Ghanzi ;-)

-Talk to locals about Botswana’s history

-Take a bus ride through the Kalahari Desert

-Enjoy the amazing and beautiful wildlife

-Order a vegan burger at the Old Bridge Backpackers (you’ll get a small beetroot pattie without buns and some lettuce and it’s also quite expensive) But hey: at least they offer one ;-)

There’s buses and shared taxis, but that’s about what we can tell you…

Victoria Falls is extremely touristy, so prices are incredibly high. Definitely expect that you’ll have to spend more here…

What really annoyed us was, that despite the high prices, credit card payments were not accepted, so we had to always have a big amount of US-dollars with us.

We do however recommend the Shoestrings Backpackers! It’s a very cool and youthful place with a great bar area to hang out in.

Victoria Falls mostly offers western food, since apparently, most tourists aren’t too keen on trying out anything local. We think that’s a shame, but well…

You have to pay with US-dollars in most places. The local currency is Zimbabwe-dollars and nowadays, the rate is the same as US-dollars (as long as you’re IN Zimbabwe).

Due to the financial issues of the country, the government changes the currency quite often.

You can also get old Zimbabwe money as a souvenir, but they often sell one bill for like 15 USD…

At the time we were in Zimbabwe, all ATM’s were not working, so take as much money with you as you plan to spend.

Zimbabwe’s not very safe to travel, so always be alert.
In touristy places such as Victoria Falls, however, security is quite high.

-The Victoria Falls (obviously!)
-Walking over the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe
-Walking to the “Big Tree” and along Zambezi river

-Bungee Jump off the bridge

-River Rafting

-Zip line

We did neither of the two, since it was too expensive for us, but we heard it’s great.

-Get tricked by street vendors. They think all tourists are very rich, so they’ll try to make you pay way more than what’s normal

The best way of getting around is by bus. There’s different offices and different buses, and people will try to sell you the tickets quite aggressively, so it’s probably best to inform yourself and decide which company you want to take beforehand.
The buses work, but they’re usually not on time.

There’s backpacker’s hostels in the bigger towns and apart from that, you’ll always find cheap local guesthouses or campsites.

In Livingstone, we stayed in the Jollyboys Backpackers, which we loved! It’s very big and inviting and every Sunday, they host a movie night with free popcorn :D

In Lusaka, we had planned to stay in Lusaka Backpackers, but it was full, so we stayed in a local Backpackers, just around the corner (of which we unfortunately forgot the name).

In Chipata, we’d recommend you Dean’s Hill View Lodge, a very nice Lodge that looks rather like a Backpackers and also has a campsite.

People all over the country sell food on the road, so whenever your bus stops, try some of the local food, such as fresh peanuts, fried corn, hand-cooked chips and so on…

There’s also big supermarkets in the towns.

The local currency is Zambia Kwacha.

There’s ATM’s in the towns and they work ;)

Zambia is rather safe, you can stroll around town and you’ll meet friendly and helpful people everywhere.

-Roadtripping through the country
You can also go on safari or see the Victoria Falls in Livingstone, but since we’d already done that, we skipped it.

-Buy 3kg of fresh peanuts for about 1 dollar

-Talk to locals

-Enjoy the lush landscapes and buy fresh fruits from the markets

-Spend too much on paintings… Everybody has “made them themselves” and you’re always the “first customer”... Sure

We travelled by bus to Lilongwe and then again by bus to Mzuzu, where you have to change to a minibus taxi to get to Lake Malawi.

However, from Lilongwe to Mzuzu, there was only one major bus company which was supposed to be a five-star company and the ticket prices were very high, but in the end, we had no seats in the bus and had to stand for about 5 hours.

If you want a seat, you’ll have to throw a piece of clothing or your bag through the window of the bus to reserve one. That’s how the locals do it.

Also, despite being extremely friendly in general, the locals are incredibly aggressive when it comes to getting on the bus. Some people will literally pull you out the door when you’re trying to enter, so be prepared for some shoving and pushing.

About the only place to stay in Lilongwe is Mabuya-Camp, a very nice and inviting Backpackers with a big Campsite and good food.

In Mzuzu, there’s the Mzoozoozoo Backpackers, also very recommended.

We then stayed in Butterfly Space in Nkatha Bay, a rather rustic lodge with drip-toilets and not always working electricity, but you’ll get free water (if it’s working) and the place is right next to the lake and extremely beautiful.

Our most beloved place was Mango Drift on Likoma Island.

Malawi was the first country where food is so cheap, that even we switched from cooking our own meals to eating at the local restaurants or even in the lodges.
Usually (as vegetarian) you pay about 4 or 5 dollars for a meal and the local food is great with lots of vegan options, such as chapatti, beans, rice, Nsima (mais-porridge), guacamole and lots of vegetables.

The local currency is Malawi Kwacha, which despite having the same name as the Zambia currency, has a totally different rate, so be careful to calculate it right or you’ll end up spending too much money ;-)

There’s ATM’s in the bigger towns, however, in Nkatha Bay for example, there were only two machines and they were both not working when we were there, so bring enough cash to the more rural areas.

Malawi definitely earns the name “warm heart of Africa”. It’s very safe and the locals are extremely helpful and friendly and will always want to talk to you and become friends.

Even though officially, Malawi is supposed to be a poor country, we don’t really agree, since many locals live like hundreds of years ago with their animals and fields and they trade food for food and also for money, BUT they use their own rates, which makes the prices drop extremely in rural areas.
They may not have a lot of money or may not be officially employed, but they have enough food and seem to be very happy with their lives.

-Likoma Island!
-Mango Drift on Likoma Island
-Butterfly Space in Nkatha Bay
-Diving in Lake Malawi

-Take the ferry to Likoma Island

-Bring enough cash to Likoma

-Take the dugout-canoe challenge in Mango Drift and win a free drink

-Meet locals

-Go diving in Lake Malawi

-Go snorkeling in Lake Malawi

-Beware of Bilharzia (a disease you can get from swimming in Lake Malawi)

-Take a small and instable boat to take you to the ferry if you want your luggage to remain dry

-Take the medication for bilharzia as a prophylaxis (some locals recommend that), since it’s a kind of antibiotics and you’ll only support the development of resistant bacteria.

There’s buses that’ll take you everywhere. Like in Zambia, people will try to sell you the tickets quite aggressively and they will try to charge you more than the locals, because they assume you have more money.
They can be quite persistent while doing so and you’ll often end up paying to avoid getting into trouble.

The buses aren’t the best and if one isn’t full, they will load all passengers onto another bus where often some people don’t even get a seat.
But hey, in the end, you’ll reach your destination.

The local minibus taxis here are called Dalla Dalla’s and especially on Zanzibar, you should definitely take them to save money.

Apparently, getting around by train is also very recommended, but we didn’t do that.

Since Tanzania is very touristy, prices are higher and there’s often only hotels available. However, in Mbeya we found a decent hotel where we only paid 10 dollars for the night.

In Dar Es Salaam, one of the cheapest options are YMCA and YWCA, but they’re not very clean and comfortable.

On Zanzibar, prices are even higher, even dorm beds cost 30 to 40 USD! Bargaining is the trick here and we were able to get the price of a double-room down to 35 USD.
If you hafe internet access try to get an Airbnb or Couchsurfing place.

The food is also more expensive, especially on Zanzibar and they almost only serve western meals. We would recommend you to avoid the food that is sold in the lodges and rather go to the local villages, where you’ll find cheap local food.

Like already mentioned, people try very aggressively to get a lot of money from you. Don’t just pay without at least trying to bargain, however, you’ll often end up paying anyway because you never know what will happen if you don’t.
Taxi drivers actually threatened to kick us out of the car if we didn’t pay what they wanted. The locals are used to rich tourists who’ll pay everything without even questioning and they set these high standards for the rest of us, who are travelling on a budget.

There’s ATM’s in towns BUT: on Zanzibar, the ATM’s are only in Stone Town, so if you’re for example going to Paje, you’ll have to get enough cash in advance. (Or you take a Dalla Dalla back to Stone town, which takes long though)
Like in Victoria Falls, people often don’t accept credit card payments, so you have to carry a whole lot of cash with you.

The local currency is Tanzanian Shillings, but in touristy areas, you can also pay with USD.

Most locals are very friendly, but many are used to getting money from tourists, so they’ll try everything.

We didn’t feel very safe when we refused to pay more for a bus ticket and then the staff got very aggressive and in the end, a local bribed them for us and explained that it was safer that way. (we gave the money back of course)

Don’t carry your valuables with you when walking around and always be alert.

-Stone Town
-Paje Beach, Zanzibar
-Originals Teddys Place

-Enjoy a cool beer on the beach in Zanzibar

-Take a Dalla Dalla to Stone town

-Buy nice spices and fabrics

-Look at the stars on Zanzibar

People also recommend diving on Zanzibar, but the prices are extremely high, so we didn’t do it.

-Go snorkeling with dolphins. What is sold as an activity which is supposed to be fun for both humans and dolphins, is actually 5 boats chasing after dolphins and the animals are completely stressed out and unhappy. We’re so glad we overslept that!

From Tanzania to Kenya, we took a minibus-taxi, which is called matatu here.
There are also other buses, that range from low-price and low comfort up to high comfort and security- and not even to a much higher price. We read very bad reviews on the Simba-company, so we chose the Modern Coast and were absolutely pleased.

Around Nairobi, UBER finally exists again! If you’re staying in one of the surrounding areas of Nairobi, there is also a very cheap train, which is always on time and has high security standards, so we’d definitely recommend you to take it to go to town in the morning (7 and 9) and in the evening.
It doesn’t depart throughout the rest of the day though, so we’d recommend to take a matatu or an UBER.

Traffic is horrible in and around Nairobi and going to town will most likely take you an hour, even if you’re very close.

Since we stayed in Nairobi for almost a month, we chose an Airbnb-apartment in Imara Daima.
However, there must be lots of cheap possibilities and we doubt you’ll have trouble finding one.

In Namanga, we stayed in a comfortable local guesthouse (but again we forgot the name, sorry!)

In Naivasha, we stayed in Fisherman’s Camp, one of the few cheap options. We chose a Banda in the Top Camp, since it’s about half the price of the ones down at the lake.

Since we stayed in an Airbnb, we usually cooked our own food and went to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the local markets, something we definitely recommend you to do!

In Nairobi, we especially liked the Java-House, a restaurant chain that’s a bit more expensive, but still a lot cheaper than restaurants in Europe and they have lots of vegan and vegetarian options, such as burgers and Burritos and sandwiches.
Oh, and you can get all coffee-drinks with soy milk!

Soy milk is something that doesn’t seem to be very common in Kenya, we only found it in one supermarket: Choppies.

The local currency is Kenyan Shillings, which has a different rate than Tanzanian Shillings.

Prices in touristy areas are rather high, but you can save a lot of money if you use couchsurfing, Airbnb and Uber or stay in areas with less tourists.

Nairobi is supposed to be the most dangerous city in Africa and you usually only hear bad things about it, some people even call it Nai-robbery.

Since the terrorist attack some years ago, the government has improved the security massively and we felt very safe when walking through the city. There are police officers everywhere and they search you and your bags at the entrance of the supermarkets.
We didn’t go out at night though and we also didn’t take our valuables with us- except when necessary. Just be alert and you’ll be fine.

-Java-House
-Lake Naivasha
-Riding a bike through Hell’s Gate National Park
-Going on safari in Amboseli National Park

-Ride a bicycle through Hell’s Gate National park

-Hike through the gorge in Hell’s Gate National park

-Walk around in Nairobi

-Go to Mombasa (We didn’t have time for it, but everyone says it’s wonderful!)

-Visit Nairobi National park

-Watch hippos at Lake Naivasha

-Visit the city market in Nairobi

-Give up too fast when applying for a visa in Nairobi, you actually have to bargain for it

The best way of getting around is taking the big buses for far distances and the matatus for closer areas. You can also take the cheap motorbike-taxis, but like anywhere else, they’re not really safe.

We stayed in the Backpackers Hostel in Kampala, which is very nice and close to the city center.
They also have their own booking office and offer a full package gorilla tracking, with a driver who takes you from Kampala to the Bwindi National park.

There are also other backpackers and cheap guesthouses to be found.

In the backpackers, where we stayed, they mostly served western food, including delicious pizzas, which they made without cheese for us.
It’s hard to find cheap local restaurants around, though. But there are quite a lot of street food stands nearby.

The local currency is Uganda Shillings and the rate is quite low.

There’s ATM’s in the bigger towns and usually many different kinds, so you should always find one that’s working.

In general, Uganda is cheaper than Kenya, so we bought most of our souvenirs here :)

Uganda is very safe, especially compared to Kenya. You should still be alert though. People don’t tend to armed robbery, but there are pickpockets in the towns, so be careful when walking through crowded areas.

-Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi National park <br />(it’s ridiculously expensive and a once-in-a-lifetime thing, <br />but the money helps conserve the gorillas, so it’s good to treat yourself to it)
-Our roadtrip through the country <br />(Uganda offers lush landscapes with hills and lots of banana trees, it’s beautiful!)
-Shopping in Kampala (especially the fabrics)
-The equator

-Visit the gorillas

-Buy souvenirs

-Enjoy the landscapes

There are also lots of other activities you can do, such as river-rafting, but most activities are very expensive

-Run away when a gorilla charges you