I moved to the world’s best value holiday destination – I spend £200 a month on rent & work 4 hours a day at the pool
DRIVING to her job as a swimming coach, Brit Natalie Webb marvels at the view from her car window – as giraffes and zebras stroll past.
It’s just one of the perks Natalie has enjoyed since moving from the UK to South Africa – where her rent is a third of the price and her home is twice the size.
Cape Town and the surrounding South African coast consistently gets voted among the world’s cheapest holiday destinations, and reclaimed the crown last year in both Which? and the Post Office Travel Money’s Long Haul Holiday Report.
Natalie moved from Manchester to sunny Kloof in the suburbs of Durban, several hours along the coast from Cape Town.
Talking to Sun Travel, Natalie revealed: “I rent a two-bedroom cottage with lots of space on a beautiful property with gardens for £200 a month.
“If I paid the price I was paying in the UK, which was £600 for a one-bedroom flat in Manchester, I could get a four-bedroom house with a private garden here.
“I still convert a lot from rand to pounds and when I do the weekly shop it still surprises me just how affordable it is.
“Everything is cheaper and you’re just able to live better.”
Born in the UK, Natalie, 54, spent much of her late childhood and early adulthood in South Africa after her family emigrated before she moved back to England.
Then she headed back to South Africa in 2017, where her job as a swimming teacher has seen her travel to work through game reserves every morning.
Starting over again
Born in Walsall, West Midlands, Natalie spent her early years in the North of England with her parents and brother.
Natalie said: “When Margaret Thatcher came in as Prime Minister in the 1980s, my mechanic dad lost his business and decided we needed to get out of the country.
“Long story short, he applied for us to go to Australia and South Africa. South Africa came back first with a visa so, as a family, we emigrated over.”
Natalie’s life completely changed at the age of 11 when her family moved to Johannesburg and she now has dual South African and UK citizenship.
She added: “We’ve become a family of travellers. My brother’s travelled all over the world, I suppose he couldn’t stay put, so he’s in America now.
“I’ve got a step-sister in Australia and my family in the UK. So we’re all over the world.
Shorter hours in the sunshine
Natalie has taught swimming for the past 18 years.
She said: “Back in the UK, I was working in a leisure centre as a lifeguard and a swimming teacher. Sometimes I’d start at six in the morning and finish at two or three.
“I would do a week of early shifts and then the next week would be late. So I would teach and cover other staff when they were on holiday – it was endless.”
Since moving back, Natalie has secured a job as a swimming teacher at an all girls’ private school where they teach children from 18 months to 18 years.
But what she really loves about her job is the free time – and she’s even cut down on her hours at work because of the lower cost of living.
Natalie explained: “Now I start work at 12 and finish at four or five o’clock. Some days earlier, obviously in the winter time, there’s less work. I’ve got all this time in the morning, the whole evening to myself and almost all my weekends are free.
“Everyone works here, but your leisure and your life is worth more. I’ve come back here and I’ve got a lot more time and I’m happier.”
Cheaper and more cheerful
According to Numbeo, the cost-of-living domestically is 112 per cent cheaper in South Africa than the UK, with eating out, rent and childcare all costing less – and Natalie can attest to that.
She told us: “The cost of living is a lot cheaper – from shopping, to petrol to cars, it’s everything.
“If my partner and I went out for dinner I say that would cost us around R250 which is around £10 – that’s a full meal with drinks too.
“We don’t eat out all the time. I don’t think any country is cheap to eat out. But we’ll go out once a week or once every couple of weeks, we’ll take the kids and grandkids out too.”
Moving for love
Another reason Natalie moved back to South Africa from the UK was for romance.
She told us: “It’s quite the story, so my daughters’ father and I got married and had children quite young, then divorced around 20 years ago.
“But when my eldest daughter got married in 2023, one thing led to another, and we’ve started our life together again.
“We share grandchildren now too and he was a big driving force in me coming back to South Africa.”
Best of Britain
There are some aspects of in the UK that Natalie does miss though.
She told us: “There is no public transport here, so if you don’t have a car in this country, you can’t get around.
“We’ve got Uber but we don’t have the transport system you have in the UK. You can’t just hop on a bus or a train into town. You need to have a car in this country, otherwise you won’t get around – South Africa isn’t very walkable.
“Something else I miss about the UK is its efficiency – you can do anything online. The internet isn’t overly quick here, but it has improved a lot.
“A while ago in South Africa, you would wait six to eight weeks for your passport and queue outside the home office – it was a nightmare. Now there’s a booking system and it’s a lot quicker.”
Natalie added: “When I think of the UK, I think of vibey beer gardens, and we don’t have those here.
“We don’t really have theme parks either. So when I go back to the UK with my family, we’ll go in the summertime so I can take them there.”
Watch out for wildlife
For anyone wanting to visit South Africa, Natalie has some suggestions.
“Definitely visit Cape Town, it’s all beautiful with the winelands and Table Mountain.
“You’ve also got National Parks and safaris – that’s what everyone wants to do. Where I used to work, I’d drive through a game reserve.
“I would feed giraffes and zebras on my way to work, and there are hippos roaming around. We’ve got wild monkeys everywhere too.
“You actually have got to keep your doors and windows closed because the monkeys come in and take all your fruit.
“We have to do that at the school too because the monkeys will take the fruit from the children’s lunchboxes.”
Something else Natalie recommends for any visitors is exploring the Garden Route in the Western Cape.
The long stretch of coastline runs from Mossel Bay to the Storms River and is known for its incredible views.
Around 200,000 British expats live in South Africa and for anyone considering making the move, Natalie says go for it.
She adds: “It’s a pretty simple process as far as I’m aware, a few of my friends have done it and it wasn’t a difficult. We welcome Brits with open arms too.”