South Africa

oscarbobbins

Eldest daughter is going to do some voluntary work in St Lucia, South Africa in the summer and we would like to visit her out there. Has anyone any recommendations for places to visit and how safe it driving around St Lucia/Durban?

richardw

Depends which bit you are driving into.

neilbond007

I worked close to Durban for a week about 5 years ago (was in Pinetown).
Drove to the city on the Friday afternoon and had a walk around with a colleague. All seemed very safe.
I would imagine the general rules of common sense come in to play... watch yourself at night. find out if there are any "no go" areas in the town etc

LesD

oscarbobbins wrote: »

Eldest daughter is going to do some voluntary work in St Lucia, South Africa in the summer and we would like to visit her out there. Has anyone any recommendations for places to visit and how safe it driving around St Lucia/Durban?

I assume you mean LA Lucia? This is an upmarket suburb to the north of the city.

My wife is from SA and says it is no worse for crime than any suburban area. However, the Durban city centre and beachfront areas are not recommended after dark.

Tanar_the_Dug

Agree with above.
lovely country, lovely people, just be careful and use a bit of common sense.
What are you looking for trip wise?
What are your interests?
Might be able to help.

Moonchild

LesD wrote: »

I assume you mean LA Lucia?

I presume she mean St Lucia Wetlands East of Durban.

It's a quite stunningly beautiful area, I spent a week between there and Durban and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi National Park which is inbetween them.

Really, really beautiful places. St Lucia (where we stayed) was massive sand dunes, empty beaches, went snorkelling (worlds most southernly coral reef - although a bit of a disappointment, but the sharks weren't!) and just chilled.

Like most places in South Africa, exercise caution at nighttime. The roads noticably deteriorated once you left Durban, and we stupidly drove at night - that one time only!

If you go, i'd recommend picking up a car in J'berg, driving south to Drakensburg, spending some time there before heading down to Durban and across to Hluhluwe for some amazing game viewing, and onto St Lucia. Off the beaten tourist trail, and very special places.

oscarbobbins

Yes I did mean the St Lucia Wetlands. Daughter is volunteering there for a month and it looks absolutely fabulous. OH is really keen to see the Battlefields and the charity people daughter is going with recommend local people to take us there. Just wanting advice on how safe it is driving around. Would also like to see Cape Town, but know that it is on the other side of the country. When looking at the brochures I seem to get a bit overwhelmed!! There is sooooo much to see and do, but have a limited budget and only 2 weeks. Thanks for all the replies

LesD

oscarbobbins wrote: »

Yes I did mean the St Lucia Wetlands.

In which case, forget my reply - have no knowledge of the place!

maxi_isa

My wife and I had a fantastic holiday based here in 2003.

We did the Drakensburg, Zulu and Boer war battlefields, the game parks and would recommend it all. We returned in 2005 to do the Cape area - again recommended.

We have relatives who live near Durban (Pinetown) and they remain very cautious and watchful about personal security. The risks in S Africa are higher than many other destinations.

The best place to research destinations, hotels, security etc is Tripadvisor.com - I wouldn't go anywhere new without using it.

Have a look at

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g312592-i9827-KwaZulu_Natal.html

Probably all of your questions are covered if you search using key words.

Hope this helps.