4x4 Hire South Africa

As the most developed and “Western” country in Africa, South Africa not only offers some of the best 4x4 destinations in the world, it also offers a great variety in wildlife, nature and people. We’re not called the rainbow nation for nothing. If you are a complete novice at 4x4 holidaying it is probably a good idea to spend the first few days of your 4x4 trip in South Africa to get the hang of it.

The South African tarred road network is comparable to the best in the world, which makes it safe to drive on the South African roads at night, especially when driving on one of the major highways such as the N1, N2 or N3. If you have a choice, rather avoid driving at night on the rural roads of South Africa. Depending where you’re travelling, there can be wildlife, farm animals or people on the roads.

One of the most common questions we get from 4x4 rental clients are concerning crime. Unfortunately South Arica gets a lot of bad publicity because of the crime here. Much of the publicity is exaggerated, but one has to be careful when travelling in South Africa, especially in the urban areas. I’ve been living in South Africa my whole life and only my car radio was stolen back in 1997. Many people thing Johannesburg is a warzone, it is not true at all.

Ivory 4x4 Hire is based in Eastern Pretoria (roughly 35 minutes for Johannesburg International Airport), most travellers will follow one of the following routes from there:

• Johannesburg, Mpumalanga, Swaziland, Northern Natal, Southern Mozambique, Kruger National Park, Northern Gauteng and back. This is one of the most popular routes in Southern Africa for the following reasons:

1. You visit 3 countries
2. Swaziland is one of the last remaining Kingdoms in Africa
3. As a 4x4 rental traveller you get the opportunity to see a great variety of places including the National parks in Natal, the mountains of Swaziland, beautiful great St Lucia Wetlands, the tropical shores of Mozambique and the Kruger National Park.

• Drive North through the Northern Province into Botswana often visiting Pilansberg National Park, Marakele Nature Reserve, Blouberg Nature Reserve

• Head directly West to visit the Kgalagadi Trans Frontier Park in Southern Botswana. People often go through Mokopong Border post and head North towards Mabuasebube. From Mabuasehube it is no more than 120km to Nossob on the South African side of the park. At Nossob most people either head North to Mata-Mata to cross the border there into Namibia, or they head South to Twee Rivieren and back to Johannesburg.

• Lesotho is not such a popular destination for foreigners, probably because there is hardly any wildlife there, but the scenery is spectacular. Lesotho is a very popular destination for South African 4x4 enthusiasts. When in Lesotho a visit to Katse dam is an absolute must!!

These are just a few ideas of routes you can take from the Johannesburg area. I’m always amazed how quickly you find yourself in the wilderness once you leave the cities. You can literary drive for 45 minutes out of the CBD of Pretoria and see the big 5 on a game ranch. South Africa is such a great destination for travellers and the ideal country to hire a 4x4 and to explore at will.