Vaccinations to enter South Africa
Indice
If you are wondering if it is safe to travel to South Africa, the answer is that, generally, it is. However, we must be aware that we are not in Europe and we have to follow a series of recommendations.
If we don’t do anything crazy, touring the best places in South Africa will be a very rewarding experience. In this sense, we must also differentiate the tourist areas of South Africa from the rest. These tourist areas are generally much safer than other less visited places.
Even so, we cannot forget that we are in an African country where there is a significant percentage of the population living in poverty in marginal areas. Avoiding these areas or not driving at night, for example, can help us to avoid scares.
One of the first things you need to know is that in South Africa people drive on the left. If it is the first time you are going to do it, you may find it a bit complicated. Also, it is not like Namibia or Botswana, there is a lot of traffic.
In safaris you can drive on your own perfectly well. Parks like the Kruger or the Addo Elephant Park, have roads enabled to make the safari with your private vehicle. On the other hand, if we want to go cross-country or to some of the more remote areas, we can only do it with a guide.
A visa is required to travel to South Africa
What we indicate below is the information of what we believe to be essential, but each trip and destination needs to be studied in detail to check that we did not forget anything important before starting the adventure.
But let’s develop this a little more and although we can say that South Africa has a temperate climate that reminds us of the Mediterranean climate, with mild and rainy winters and warm and sunny summers, but this always depends on the altitude and the area in which you are, as being a country with so large this can vary.
European Union citizens do not require a visa to enter South Africa for stays of less than 90 days and the passport must be valid for at least 30 days from the day of entry into the country and have two blank pages.
To enter Swaziland it is necessary to have a valid passport with a minimum validity of 3 months from the day of entry into the country and must have at least 3 blank pages. Visas are issued at the borders.
Requirements for travel to South Africa from Venezuela
Each country has the sovereign right to decide who can enter its territory and who cannot. A visa is an authorization that enables the visa holder to proceed to the Republic and report to an Immigration Officer at the port of entry to the country for the purpose of assessing his/her ability to meet the (entry) requirements as stipulated in the Immigration Act 2002 (Act No 13 of 2002) as amended.
Passports / travel documents must have at least 2 unused pages available when presented to an Immigration Officer. All travel documents must be valid for at least 30 days after the date of departure from the Republic of South Africa.
Holders of passports/travel documents from countries that are exempt from the visa requirement (see: http://www.dha.gov.za/index.php/immigration-services/exempt-countries) for a specified period and in respect of the purposes for which the entry visa may be issued e.g. vacations, business meetings or in transit must comply with the following requirements prior to entry into the Republic:
Embassy of South Africa in Colombia
I want to clarify one point: this mini guide is ideal for those who travel to South Africa on their own because that is what I did. I did not pay for a travel agency to put the route together for me, but I let the destination itself do it for me during the 22 days of the trip.
This will depend on your country of birth. For example, I am Chilean and I only needed my passport to travel there. For many countries it is not necessary to apply for a visa if you will stay in the country for less than 90 days (3 months).
This is one of the most frequent doubts for those who visit South Africa, especially if they come from Latin America. Most of the trips from this part of the continent have a stopover in Sao Paulo (Brazil), so the yellow fever vaccine is mandatory. And when I say it is mandatory, it is real. I was asked for the vaccination certificate when I was about to board the plane to Johannesburg and if I had not had the famous paper, I would not have been able to take the plane. So do not take this point lightly.