Embassy's Tourism Newsletter - March 2013

AUTUMN IN SOUTH AFRICA
Autumn in South Africa (mid-February to April) offers in some ways the best weather. Very little rain falls over the whole country, and it is warm but not too hot, getting colder as the season progresses. In Cape Town, autumn is fantastic, with hot sunny days and warm, balmy nights which many people spend at outdoor cafés.

NORTHERN CAPE'S NATIONAL PARKS
Autumn is an ideal time to visit the Northern Cape's wonderful national parks, and enjoy animal tracking adventures with the Kalahari Bushmen. During summer months, temperatures here can get unbearably hot. Click on the links below to see photos of the parks.
> Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
> Augrabies Falls
> Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
> Namaqua National Park
> Tankwa Karoo National Park
> Mokala National Park

OTHER GREAT ACTIVITIES
If you love hiking, autumn is also the ideal time as temperatures are not too hot or cold. For instance, the best time to hike in the Drakensberg mountains is April - May. Hence, we suggest that you check 7 of the most memorable hikes in South Africa. If you prefer to dive with sharks, October - May is your best bet when the warm current brings many shark species to this part of the coast. Listed here are some of the operators that organize shark cage diving tours.

SINGLE VISA TO VISIT KRUGER AND RETURN TO MOZAMBIQUE
According to an article published by "Expresso" newspaper on Monday, Portuguese tourists who wish to visit Kruger Park and then return to Mozambique can now do so with a single visa as long as they have a return ticket to Portugal. Even so, travellers from Portugal will need to apply for a Mozambican tourism visa BEFORE travelling.

More information

EASTER IN SOUTH AFRICA
Easter is almost here. For this reason, we've collected a couple of useful links for you to plan your holidays in South Africa:
> 11 great Easter events around South Africa
> Last-minute budget bush breaks for Easter
> Kruger visitors urged to book early during the Easter period>/span>
> 20 places to go Easter egg hunting
> Easter recipes

EVALUATION OF THE EMBASSY'S BROCHURE
We already have the results of the questionnaire we sent you about our Portuguese digital brochure on SA tourism. By the way, thank you to the 143 people who completed it! A very high percentage (97%) was satisfied/very satisfied with the brochure and 100% felt it was useful/very useful for people who want to visit South Africa. Regarding the information provided, 96% said it made them want to visit the country and 89% that it changed their initial perception positively. Finally, nearly all (95%) think we should create more digital brochures. So we will soon!