Skills books › Camping for Beginners in South Africa

How to plan your first camping trip in South Africa

Plan the trip around the weakest member of the group and the worst likely weather. A plan that works for the youngest child, the oldest grandparent and a rainy night works for everyone.

Choose an easy place

For a first trip, pick a campsite that is:

• close: a drive of two to three hours, so that you arrive rested;
• well run: clean ablutions, level stands and someone on site to help;
• easy: a short walk from the car to the stand, with shade and water;
• interesting: a river, a pool, a short walk or animals, so that children have things to do.

Choose a kind season

• Summer: good at the coast and in the mountains. Watch for Highveld thunderstorms and lightning, and heat in the Lowveld and Karoo.
• Autumn: settled weather across most of the country, with cooler nights inland.
• Winter: pleasant in the Lowveld and on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. Expect frost on the Highveld and in the Karoo, and rain in the Western Cape.
• Spring: good almost everywhere, with wind at the coast and the first storms inland from about October.

The weeks just before and after school holidays are cheaper and quieter, and the best time for a first trip.

Plan the journey

• Leave early, so that you arrive with at least three hours of daylight. Pitching a tent in the dark for the first time is the commonest first-trip misery.
• Check gate times if the campsite is in a park.
• Stop every two hours or so.
• Check whether a normal car can reach the campsite.
• Save the directions and phone number so that you can read them without a signal.
• Pack heavy things low in the boot, with nothing loose in the cabin.

Borrow, hire or buy?

For a first trip, borrow or hire most of the gear.

• Borrow or hire: the tent, gas stove, cooler box, chairs and table.
• Buy: foam mats, which are cheap and useful for years, and a headlamp for each person.
• Assemble yourself: a first-aid kit.

A warm sleeping bag matters more than anything else. Do not cut costs on a sound tent, warm bedding, a working stove, first aid or water.

Practise at home

Pitch the borrowed tent in the yard before the trip, check that every pole, peg and rope is there, and light the stove. Finding a missing pole at home costs nothing. Finding it at the campsite at dusk ruins the evening.

Plan for the people

• Young children get cold and tired quickly and must be watched near water, fire and roads.
• Older relatives need a level stand near the ablutions, a stretcher and warm bedding.
• Pack enough medication for the trip, and a little extra.
• Give everyone a job, including the children.

In a group, agree before the trip which costs are shared and how they will be paid.

Tell someone your plan

Give someone at home the campsite's name and phone number, who is going, when you expect to be back, and when they should worry. Send a message when you arrive and when you leave.

Write a kit list

Tick it off as you pack: shelter, sleeping, kitchen, clothing for the warmest and coldest weather, light and power, safety, and paperwork and money. After the trip, note what you forgot and what you never used.

This guide is based on Chapter 2 of Camping for Beginners in South Africa, which includes a full kit list.