Travel there is not easy. We came from Paris and spent almost a full day flying with a stop over in Doha, Qatar before we arrived. Going back was the same deal except we flew from Cape Town to Doha to Vienna to Amsterdam to Atlanta and home. It was LONG and tiring and parts were literally the Amazing Race and I didn't want to see an airplane for a long time after we got to Raleigh. But, South Africa was worth it! Plan to go for at least 6 days. If you can make the trip longer, do it! I recommend 10. You'll see I would have added another day or two to each of my highlights if I could have.
Cape Town is a good starting and ending point for a trip to South Africa. I'm sure Johannesburg is too, but we didn't visit Jo-burg, so I'll give you the Western Cape scoop.
Getting Around: Cape Town is a little different than European Countries in that I didn't notice much (if any) public transportation. We got a taxi from the airport to Ashley's flat near Cape Town City Center and luckily she had a car we were able to borrow to get around. Uber seems to be safe in Cape Town and our airport taxi was safe, but you do have to be careful. We did notice people everywhere we went who not only hired a car, but also hired a guide to go with them and show them the sites. Many of these "guides" ate meals with the families. We opted to do it on our own. Having a rental car is definitely a plus because you want to be able to get around to different areas of the Western Cape. Just know that most cars are manual and you're driving on the opposite side of the road. This is truly an experience!
Where to Stay: We were fortunate enough to save some money by staying in Ashley's flat on the nights we were in Cape Town, but there are beautiful hotels at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront that look fantastic. I also found some AirBnBs near the V&A waterfront that looked nice. Ashley wasn't too trusting of those, but they looked fine. When we stayed at the Game Lodge in Albertinia, we had accommodations there and we had a cute Bed and Breakfast in wine country for our few nights there.
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| Ashley's flat in Cape Town |
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| Our Bush Chalet at the Garden Route Game Lodge |
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| Centre-Ville Guest House in Franschhoek |
#1 Cape Point (and Cape of Good Hope):
Cape Point is part of Table Mountain National Park and is a full day's trip. I recommend going early in the morning so you beat the crowds. The drive from Cape Town is about 2 hours. We decided to hike from Cape Point down to the Cape of Good Hope. It's about an hour and a half long hike on the coast. You can drive to both places, but then you miss the beautiful views along the hike.
#2 Table Mountain (and Lion's Head-Signal Hill):
Table Mountain is the huge mountain in the middle of Cape Town. It looks like a table, hence the name. You can hike up to the top, or, I recommend taking the gondola up and you can always hike down if you don't get enough action at the top. Occasionally when the clouds come low, they slink down the side of the mountain (this is referred to as the table cloth). When this happens, it can be dangerous because you can't see in front of you. Sometimes if conditions are really bad, they close the gondola and you have to hike down, so be prepared.
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| Lion's Head...because it looks like a lion laying down. Signal hill is at it's tail. |
When in Africa, you must safari! The Garden Route Game Lodge was the spot recommended to us. It was a 4 hour drive from Cape Town, which is quite far, but it was the best game reserve in the shortest driving distance. Kruger National Park is the big one, but you have to fly to Jo-berg and then drive a ways to get there. At the Garden Route Game Lodge, you can stay in the lodge or in a chalet overlooking the game reserve. We opted for a chalet. It was beautiful! We were only there one night, but that included a game drive on the night we arrived, dinner, a game drive first thing the next morning, breakfast and access to the reptile house before we left. We took a "safari" in the states for our honeymoon, but I've never been so close to such amazing wild animals. This is the one moment I wish I owned an awesome camera. We did pretty good with our iPhone, but it could have been better! If you can stay more than one night, do it! They have spa services and a pool. I could have made this my home for a few days. Many of our animal videos have been uploaded to Kevin's YouTube page. Here's the lion, but feel free to browse them all and sorry in advance for the wind!
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| Animals from our first game drive |
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| Our second game drive the next morning |
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| Visiting the Reptile House |
The Western Cape has a great wine country: Paarl, Stellenbosch and the town where we stayed, Franschhoek. Wineries are abundant and the small towns with dutch influence are so quaint. I really wanted to ride the wine train during our visit to Franschhoek, but we were there right at New Years and it wasn't running. I would recommend it if you visit. You can hop on and visit 5-7 wineries without having to drive. Franschhoek is a safe enough town to walk on foot. Do keep your eyes open, but we found it safe. We stayed at the Centre Ville Guest House here. We had friends stay at Les Chambres Guest House and we had drinks one night at Klein Oliphant Hoek Houtique Hotel. All of these Guest Houses (Bed and Breakfasts) offer a room and a large breakfast served to you in the morning. Two nights was wonderful, but again, I could have stayed longer for sure.
Wine highlights for us were Babylonstoren and the Spice Route (which is a series of smaller shops with wine, food, beer, ice cream, etc). It's a beautiful area and you can't go wrong picking a winery here.
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| Beer tasting at the Spice Route |
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| Wine pairing at the Spice Route |
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| Relaxing in the shade and ice cream |
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| Walking around Babylonstoren after our tasting |
The Western Cape has some of the best beaches and most scenic drives in the world. Many car commercials are filmed along the coastline at Chapmans Peak. This, however, wasn't my favorite drive.
Other Highlights:
*Southernmost Tip of Africa- Since we were there, we couldn't drive past the Southernmost Tip of Africa and just skip over it, so we took a detour on the way to the Garden Route Game Lodge to visit the spot where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean, L'Agulhas. The water is a gorgeous bluish green. We climbed the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse and then raced to the game lodge, barely making it in time for our evening game drive. This is one of the spots I would have loved to stay and explore more. It's just a beautiful town.
*Bo-Kaap- This neighborhood in Cape Town is famous for it's brightly colored houses It's formally known as the Malay Quarter and is home to the oldest Mosque in Cape Town. I don't think this area is very safe, but the pictures of the houses are beautiful. If I'm ever back, I'm driving by, if only for a picture!
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| photo from google images |
*Sunset Champagne Cruise- My one regret in South Africa is not taking a sunset cruise from the V&A waterfront. Some of the cruises I found are aboard a pirate ship. What could be better? Most are 90 minutes and give a beautiful view of Table Mountain with the sun setting on the water. Add champagne...that's my kinda fun!
*Tour Robben Island- Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. There are tours that leave from the V&A waterfront for the island at least 4 times a day.
What to Eat:
*When in South Africa, have meat! My favorite dinner was at The Hussar Grill. There are many locations, but we visited the one in Camps Bay. A large steak dinner is equivalent to about $10 USD. The meat is good and it's cheap. You can also try ostrich or other game. I didn't, but where else can you enjoy that meat?
*Our meal at Two Oceans Restaurant at Cape Point was one of the nicer ones and so cheap!
Other tips:
*South Africa is not the safest. Ashley was mugged at an ATM when she first arrived. There are the standard pick-pockets, but then there are more serious crimes too. I would not visit an ATM unless it's in a bank or in a secure store. We visited a few that were in gas station/supermarkets (Woolworths). They were safe. When the residents live in buildings with security gates, guards, codes to get to different floors and bars on the windows, you know you're not in Kansas anymore. Make sure your hotel has security!
*When you leave your vehicle, don't leave anything out. Nothing visible, even trash. Put everything in your trunk. In the US, we ride around with CDs visible, drinks in the cup holders, umbrellas on the back seat, extra jackets stashed around the car. Those things in SA are an invitation for someone to break into your vehicle.
*There are many people below the poverty line that make up jobs to earn money. One of those occupations are "car watchers". Men will stand in parking lots and watch your car for you while you're in a store/seeing an attraction. It's customary to tip them for their "help". They may not be doing anything, or they may prevent your car from being broken into.
*Everything is at a much slower pace. Going to a meal is a 2-3 hour affair. There is no rushing in SA. And you have to ask for the bill when you're ready. You will never be presented a bill. South Africans would rather you sit at the table (hoping you might just want another drink or a dessert) than usher you out to wait on someone else. Their reasoning is that you are a paying customer, so they'd rather get more from you than potentially not have anyone to serve after you.
*Even with googlemaps, factor in an extra 30 minutes to an hour to get anywhere. Once you leave Cape Town and head East, the landscape changes, it becomes more desert terrain and traffic isn't always fast. Going through small towns can slow you down a lot! We found that out the hard way after making our pit-stop in L'Agulhas and almost not making it to our game lodge in time to make our evening safari.
*Your dollar will go a LONG way! The exchange rate for dollar to Rand is about 1:14 right now. It was about 1:17 when we were there last December. Everything is very reasonably priced and in turn VERY cheap for Americans. That should be motivation to visit!
*Always prepare for whatever you've planned to do to be cancelled. South Africans don't update websites. They don't answer phones. And when they want to close, they'll close without warning. We didn't have too much experience with this, but it's not unusual to arrive somewhere expecting it to be open, only to find it closed and no one to call.
Get yourself down to South Africa and check out the Mother City for yourself. You'll thank me!
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