This was Linda Kash's last Ernest film. She was also in Ernest Rides Again and Ernest Goes to School. All three times she played a different character.
This is the last time Ernest would dress up as Auntie Nelda. He first dressed up as her in Ernest Saves Christmas (1988).
There was a scene where Renee is drifted away on a raft and Ernest has to jump in and save her. When they were setting up to do the scene, a crew member warned director John Cherry that there were candiru in the water. Candiru is a microscopic parasitic fish that, when attracted to the smell of urine, can swim up a man's penile stream, lodge itself in and start sucking blood. It is extremely painful and requires micro surgery to remove. Cherry then got rid of the scene.
This film and Ernest in the Army (1998) were shot back-to-back in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, respectively, between November 1996 and April 1997. Emshell Producers were doing pre-production on 'Army' while they were shooting 'Africa.' After production on 'Africa' concluded, there was a week down and then they went right into production on 'Army.'
This Ernest film has been on DVD four times. First Look Studios released it on October 1, 2002. Mill Creek Entertainment re-released it on October 31, 2006 as part of the "Ultimate Ernest" and "Essential Ernest Collection" DVD box sets. Image Entertainment released it on June 5, 2012 as part of "Ernest's Wacky Adventures Volume 2" which features Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album (1983). Image re-released it on October 1, 2013 as part of the "Ernest Triple Feature" along with Ernest Goes to School (1994) and Ernest in the Army (1998).