South Africa is world famous for its beautiful outdoors and sunny weather and locals and visitors often opt for days outside and holidays in Game Reserves. For those who love activity-filled holidays and travelling, South Africa has many nature and game reserves which are ideal for the hiker, 4 x 4 enthusiast and lovers of animals, birds and nature! Examples of these are:

Addo Elephant National Park with plus-minus 500 elephants and game such as rhinos, buck and many bird species. Situated in the Eastern Cape, near Port Elizabeth.

Augrabies Falls National Park comes with stunning waterfalls and rhinos, is an 820 sq km nature reserve and hugs both sides of the Orange river – offering gorgeous hiking and mountain biking.

Bontebok National Park which conserves the rare Bontebok in the small Western Cape Reserve.

De Hoop Nature Reserve with 60,000 ha of dunes and reserve, offering sights of the Southern Right Whale, a magnificent 200+ bird species, eland, zebra and bontebok.

Giant's Castle Game Reserve is a mountain park, great for hikers, in the southern Drakensberg where the Cape and Bearded vulture breeds.

Golden Gate National Park is a mountain reserve with beautiful sandstone and Bushmen paintings, zebra, eland and wildebeest observed from trails loved by hikers and mountain bikers.

Ithala Game Reserve offers its visitors plenty of game on its 30,000 ha of savannah, plateaus and river valleys.

Karoo National Park is a nature-lover's paradise of 32,000 ha with springbok, kudu, klipspringer and tortoises.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park offers excellent lion viewing in the malaria-free 20,000 sq km desert reserve.

Kruger National Park is world-renowned for its game count of 147 mammals, over 500 bird species and 20,000 sq km bushveld of exquisite beauty.

Madikwe Game Reserve at the Groot Marico River on the border to Botswana with savannah, mountains and all big game species.

Mapungubwe National Park is situated on the Limpopo River and has cultural plus archaeological importance.

Marakele National Park in the Waterberg area of the Limpopo Province where the Cape Vulture breeds. Excellent 4x4 trip.

Mkhuze Game Reserve with game such as giraffes, zebra and blue wildebeest, nyalas and kudus, birds and a mere 5 hours from Durban.

Mountain Zebra National Park is protector of the Cape Mountain Zebra, situated near the Karoo town of Cradock.

Ndumo Game Reserve in Northern Zululand is a stunning 10,000 hectare game reserve with wetlands, lakes and grassland, hippos and crocodiles.

Pretorius Game Reserve is an African savannah around a dam offering game viewing and hosting rhino, buffalo and giraffe.

Richtersveld National Park is a stunning mountainous area with desert vegetation and excellent 4 x 4'ing.

Royal Natal National Park sits at Mont-aux-Sources (3280) where you will find streams with waterfalls and stunning trails for hikers and mountain bikers.

Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park with its lagoon and dunes, swamp forests and mangroves, the richest bird and fish life, crocodiles and hippos. Paradise to nature- and animal lovers, bird-enthusiasts and fishermen.

Table Mountain National Park is stunning with fynbos, buck and birds, streams and waterfalls and gorgeous trails for hikers and mountain bikers.

Tembe Elephant Park is situated in Northern Zululand, with 30,000 ha of sandy bush land, elephants and other plus great 4 x 4'ing.

Tsitsikamma National Park is a hiker’s paradise, offering 80 kilometres of coastline at the Storms River, a rainforest and waterfalls.

Umfolozi and Hluhluwe Game Reserve is known for excellent game viewing with many rhinos, giraffes, elephants, lions, leopards and buffaloes. Only 2 to 3 hours drive from Durban.

West Coast National Park is a must for its rich bird life - sometimes over 100,000 migratory birds. The lagoon and swamp plains offer great canoeing and hiking opportunities.

Wilderness National Park is another great water bird reserve with lagoons and lakes, rivers and swamps.

Fortunately one doesn't have to go to a reserve or park to view the natural South Africa. All towns and cities have fantastic Green Belts and are surrounded by well maintained natural land. Both Cape Town and Bloemfontein has nature reserves in the centre of their CBDs! While Johannesburg and Durban are both famous for their national botanical gardens. Small Namaqualand towns attract thousands of visitors each year for the smallest of flowers, growing in such abundance that it is often all the eye can see.