Australians love South African holidays

South Africans, like Australians, hear the call of the sea and pack local beaches in the summertime.

They share summer's beach culture with Australians. So, it's no surprise when rainbow nation tourism officials announce surging numbers of Aussies are taking African beach holidays. The Australian dollar's strong - making this inexpensive destination even cheaper.

Exploring its rich cultural mix and scenic attractions are year-round activities. However, summer isn't prime time for eyeballing wild animals in famed game reserves such as Kruger National Park.  While animal-viewing remains reasonable, conditions are sometimes wet with washed out roads. In South African game reserves, winter is high season (though climatic conditions vary in other African countries).

But the beach is a different story. Summer crowds make a beeline for South Africa's superb beaches.

From Cape Town in the far south (where some beaches cluster on the Atlantic Ocean side and others face the Indian Ocean) to the east coast's Durban and beyond - with Port Elizabeth and East London in between - are dozens of memorable options.

Here's some of the best:

CAPE TOWN

Clifton: South Africa's most glamorous beach is a 10-minute cab ride from downtown. Skimpy designer swimwear, high-fashion sunglasses, a well-toned body and loads of attitude are de rigueur at this see-and-be-seen chill-out zone for self-styled beautiful people where the beach is a series of coves.

Camps Bay: A white-sand strip a few more minutes' drive, similarly oozing affluence but not as crassly as at Clifton. Good restaurants thrive nearby. Regulars include surfers (as at Clifton) and families with kids. Be warned: the Atlantic can be chilly.

Sea Point: Between Clifton and the city, this isn't really a beach at all (though there's a swimming pool). It's more hang-out territory for seafront promenading. Sea Point has many restaurants (with particularly good seafood ) and bars along with vibrant nightlife.

Blouberg: Also an Atlantic beach, it's far less pretentious than Clifton. Splendid Table Mountain views attract professional photographers. Popular for swimming and surfing, its water is wonderfully cool on hot summer days.

Muizenberg: Faded grandeur lingers from 1960s trendiness. A long white-sand strip, with gaudily-painted "beach huts", still attracts big weekend crowds. On the Cape Peninsula's warmer-water False Bay side, Muizenberg has charming Indian Ocean neighbours: St James, Fish Hoek, Hout Bay (a fishing village renowned for swimming and kayaking) and Kalk Bay (with calm water and shallow tidal pools in a family-friendly setting).

Boulders: Alongside False Bay's Simonstown naval base - with quaint pubs, art galleries, souvenir shops and an English seaside ambience - is the Boulders, home of an African penguin colony which waddles ashore at dusk while watched from tourist boardwalks. By day, gigantic smooth-surfaced rocks create sheltered coves.

Strand: "Strand" is Afrikaans for beach. This 5km False Bay white-sand strip is reminiscent of Queensland's Surfers Paradise. A 40-minute drive from downtown, it's one of the safest near Africa's southern tip. Water sports include kayaking. Beginner surfers are numerous. The next beach, curved Gordons Bay, also pulls large crowds.

Hermanus: Whale-watching (of Southern rights) draws June-December crowds. An all-year lure: cage-diving among great white sharks. The less daring choose from several operators offering shark-spotting trips. One recent boatload watched a frenzied fish leap from the water with a seal in its jaws. Other Hermanus diversions: seal colonies, beach horse-riding. Several beaches entice swimmers; nearby Onrus is arguably the Cape Town area's number-one surfing destination.

DURBAN

Margate: South of Durban (127km), this tranquil holiday choice has abundant accommodation in all price categories. Swimming, body-boarding, surfing, fishing and undemanding beach-lazing are lures in a hideaway less frenetic than Durban itself.

North Beach, South Beach: Durban is one of the few cities boasting downtown beaches. Cross hotel-studded O.R. Tambo Parade to reach the Golden Mile's band of sand - just beyond footpath vendors of Zulu handicrafts.

Suncoast Beach: Nearby Suncoast is decidedly trendier than its downtown rivals. Some call it Durban's best. Tropical Durban - with weather similar to southern Queensland's - promotes year-round swimming but beaches do get chilly in winter.

Umhlanga Rocks: Ten minutes' drive north is an up-and-coming district with hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and a beach liked by South Africans and tourists. Families congregate at calm areas. Surfers insist Umhlanga is unrivalled along KwaZulu-Natal province's coast.

La Lucia: Between Durban and Umhlanga Rocks is La Lucia with pristine beaches, safe Indian Ocean swimming and reasonable surfing. Upscale suburbia, it's a winner for diverse cheaper-than-Australia mall shopping. (Only electronics are more expensive.)

PORT ELIZABETH

Humewood Beach: Among many Algoa Bay beaches in and near Port Elizabeth. it attracts locals, solo travellers, holidaying couples and families with children. It's safe for swimming and recommended for surfing (which aficionados describe as reasonable rather than outstanding).

Bluewater Bay: A suburb of car-manufacturing Port Elizabeth, this beach is handy for city workers who throng here before or after work. to the city. Both swimming and fishing are evident during my weekday visit - with many people sprawled on the sand (some with laptops). Surfing isn't a drawcard here.

Blue Horizon Bay: 45kms from Port Elizabeth, this Indian Ocean area is awash in worthwhile choices including Maitland Beach (with 5kms of coastal dunes), Hobie Beach (great for body-surfing), Paradise Beach (with hotels, shopping and uncrowded sands) and Pollock Beach (with sheltered, shallow rock pools trapping sea life at high tide; I've beachcombed happily here, hopping between rocks and peering into rock pools - a pleasant postscript to several hours' snorkelling). A good side-trip is Addo Elephant National Park, a pachyderm habitat with other beasts also roaming free.

EAST LONDON

Orient Beach (in suburban Quigney), Nahoon Beach (where surfing contests are regularly held) and Gonubie Beach (25kms north, with a boardwalk across indigenous vegetation) are this laid-back Eastern Cape city's best.

And then there's Coffee Bay, also on the Wild Coast.

Coffee Bay: It's an East London-area gem, arguably South Africa's supreme surfing spot and a flourishing tourist destination (particularly for backpackers). Some lodgings offer transfers for the 197kms from East London. There's surprisingly little at Coffee Bay where rolling green pastures slope towards the sea - except splendid beaches, glorious surf, numerous backpacker lodgings, upmarket B&Bs and good tourist hotels, along with several restaurants.

Attackers Kill Five Foreign Tourists in Ethiopia

Unknown attackers killed five foreign tourists in Ethiopia's northeastern Afar region, state television reported Tuesday. The foreigners, whose nationalities were not immediately known, were killed on Monday in the remote region bordering Eritrea, Ethiopian Television said, citing the defence ministry.

A German foreign ministry official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said they were probing reports that German nationals could have been victims of the attack. "Reports of an attack on tourists group with German citizens in Ethiopia are being followed up. The German foreign ministry and the German embassy are working with determination to clarify the matter and the fate of the German citizens," the officials said on phone from Berlin.

The tourists were in a group and other sources reported injuries and kidnapping. The Afar region, an unhospitable desert with shallow salty lakes and chains of volcanoes, is reputed to be one of the hottest place on earth and known for hominid fossil finds. In 2007, a group of European nationals were kidnapped in the region, but later released by rebel group that captured them.

Ethiopia, which often accuses its arch-foe Eritrea of backing rebels fighting the Addis Ababa regime, accused Eritea of supporting the group behind the 2007 kidnapping. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bitter territorial war between 1998 and 2000 and are still deeply at odds over their border.

ECONOMIC CRISIS AFFECTS AFRICA TOURISM INDUSTRY.

There has been a huge impact on the tourism industry resulting from the on going economic crisis around the world which has led to a decline in the number of foreign tourists who are coming into the country for the holiday by 15% compared to the records of booking s for the previous year.  This crisis has tremendously affected so many of Kenyan’s potential markets like Italy but the led to an increase in the number of domestic tourists  increased more than 20% and reached 100% when compared to previous year  where majority of the local hotels were fully  booked by the local residents from  Nairobi, Mombasa and many other parts of upcountry.

According to the reports from the tourism fraternity, it is showed clearly that the number of arrivals from foreign countries was about 85% reducing from 100% as it has always been since 10 December.  An Italian Consulate based in Malindi Roberto Marci said while addressing the Star that the prevailing condition was too bad in the past when the arrivals were between 60% and 65% and only got better 10 days back.

Macri said on phone while at a resort town that the tourism industry is at medium level since the number of visitors had suddenly dropped considering the records from the previous year they had 100% of the hotels fully booked at around the same period of time. He added that the international market operating at medium levels of 85 per cent yet used to be at 100 per cent and had just improved a few days like 10 days from the 60 % which was too low for the sector.

The Consulate said that there is only one person from Italy who has visited the resort town and that is non other than the famous Billionaire Flavio Briatore as well as H.E. Madame P. Imperiale the ambassador to Italy. Kenya managed to get a sum of Sh73.6 billion shillings from the tourism industry in 2010 which is Sh26.4 billion below the Sh100 billion target income forecast by players.  The tourists coming in by air and sea is 1.1 million this year 2011 leading to a positive change of 15.1 % from 952, 481 visitors of 2009 though was still below their target of 1.2 million visitors they had expected.

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