We're looking for an Easter destination (and have been trying to go to CPT for a while)...how about Capetown? We'd spend a week there around the middle of April. Is that a good time to visit? Will it be impossible to find a hotel? The weather? Thanks for your thoughts on this!

Hello Paige,<BR><BR>In a nutshell visiting Cape Town in mid April is a good idea. The weather should be mild, the tourist boom will be coming to an end thus meaning less visitors, shorther lines to visit places and ease in making reservations everywhere. Furthermore you will not have any problems finding accommodation as long as you book early.<BR> <BR>Hope this helps.<BR><BR>Selwyn Davidowitz<BR><BR>

Selwyn, I heard that things get very hectic around Easter because of the school holidays at that time. Are the sights in So. Africa, such as Kruger Park unbearably crowded? Thanks for your advice.

Susan,<BR><BR>You are correct when you say that it is school holidays during the Easter period and this does affect crtain tourist attractions. In the past I have not experienced horibble crushes at places such as Table Mountain etc which are the most popoulated areas over Easter. As far as the Kruger park is concerned this area is not my patch of expertise and I would hope that Karen or Traci might be able to help with an answer.<BR><BR>Selwyn Davidowitz

Question: Is the Easter school holiday the week before or after Easter? We're disembarking a cruise ship, in Capetown, 3 days before Easter and we're planning a couple of days there before going on a 5 day safari. How much of a problem will it be?

Hello Traci or Karen, Could you kindly let me know how much the Easter holiday affects visiting parks such as Krueger in South Africa? Also, as Irving asked, are the holidays the week before or after Easter? Thanks.

Hi all<BR>The school holidays in Easter this year are earlier then usual. The dates differ between the inland and coastal schools, with one starting a week earlier and the other finishing a week later. The long and short of it is that (combined) the schools close on 20 March (the 21st is a public holiday and remember that the Cricket World Cup final is on the 23rd) and open again on 8 April. The easter weekend is 18/19/20/21 April. The sum total of all this is that I don't think that many people will be taking leave over easter because they will need to take quite a bit of time off in order to get away. Given this, I don't think Cape Town or the Kruger will be particularly busy. Kruger might be busier than Cape Town because it's only a few hours drive away and therefore worth going for a long weekend.<BR>The biggest problem and issue around traffic over Easter is that it is the time for the annual gathering of the Zionist church in the northern province. My advice to any visitors (and South Africans!)planning on being in SA over this weekend is avoid driving or being on the road in the Northern Province. There is something akin to an exodus to Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg) with many overloaded busses and the major roads are very, very dangerous.<BR>To stress my point - I will not do ANY long distance driving on any roads leading to or from the area over this period.

Thanks, Selwyn and Traci!