Driving over 4000 kilometres from the top to the bottom of South Africa is an awesome road trip, that on paper seems doable in 17 days but in reality there is so much to see that even double that amount of time is not enough.
17 days was all we had though (which is still a pretty decent amount of time) so it meant some long days of driving punctuated with inspiring nature, unique wildlife and just one or two (or maybe more) bottles of wine.
The Basics
In the same time as Europe and just 10 hours away, jet lag does not exist and SA could easily be a short week’s holiday.
Driving in South Africa is pretty straight forward, main highways are good and safe (although when it says ‘Hi-Jack Area’ don’t stop for a selfie but just put your foot down!)
Minor roads can get a bit bumpy, but nothing a standard family car can’t handle (although a 4*4 could come in handy some of the time). Do beware of speed bumps, often unmarked and stretched across a road with a 100kmph speed limit ready to test your suspension and tyres!
Signs are in English and getting around is all quite easy…but it’s always good to learn a few local words beforehand to help you on your way.
Food is scrumptious, high quality, plentiful and cheap…even roadside stops such as Ocean’s Basket are a highlight.
And the wine is superb, often too easy to overindulge with a bottle of wine in a restaurant being about the same price as a glass is back in Europe…if only Matt didn’t have to drive all the way!
As always the freedom of a car is glorious and will give you many options to dive off-route whenever you feel like. So with the ‘robot’ turning green we are off on our tour!
Blyde River Canyon & Hazyview
Flying in to Jo’Burg we only spent time to see the infamous hi-jack signs and really started our tour to the north east and the awesome Blyde River Canyon Area.
Home of the Three Rondavels – 3 mountains with tops like traditional African homes, set by a deep canyon full of emerald and gold colours.
The Bourkes’s Luck Potholes, sounds like a dodgy stretch of road, but is in fact the continuation of the canyon above
into a deep and narrow point where the river has bored depressions into the canyon walls to create some stunning shapes and visuals
God’s Window & Pinnacle Rock aptly named for a heavenly panorama that lays out before you.
With gorge, pinnacles and waterfalls to marvel at.
and even outdoing God’s Window was the ‘Wonderview‘ (about 2km north of its celestial competition).
Enjoy the rest of the drive into Hazyview that lives up to its name with an airplane like view from up high.
Kruger National Park
Hazyview is the jump off point for the most famous of South Africa’s National Parks, and rightly so, at nearly 20,000 km2 and packed with wildlife.
A savanna type park with a few trees and rocks for the animals to hide amongst criss-crossed by roads for them to show themselves!
We started our tour at early o’clock (5.30am) with African Safari Adventures, with a robust, souped up Land rover, fit for twelve but all for us.
Pack warm clothes as it can be rather chilly at this hour of the morning. Then settle back and watch the show unfold…
as with most public parks in SA traffic has to stick to the roads, it feels restrictive but there is still plenty to see buffalo, elephants, impala, rhinos,
giraffes crossing,
and we were rewarded with the rare sight of a leopard with her cubs playing in the rocks.
As the day wears on and the weather warms up, the animals tend to get a bit sleepier and less visible, so set your alarm clock early if you want the best sights.
Hluwhuwe National Park & St Lucia
Our route then took us into Swaziland – but we’ll save that for another blog – exiting to the south of that country into Zululand and our second National Park of Hluhluwe.
With EuroZulu tours it was another early start to catch the animals having breakfast as we pushed through the park, more undulating than Kruger, with golden grasses and green treas.
Rhinos up close
and many, many others – Giraffe, Zebra, baboons and even smaller sized game – spiders, insects and lizards.
A nice touch here is a mid morning lunch stop where you can step out of the transport and be amongst the wild
…although be warned!
With tours getting done around 2pm spend the afternoon across in St Lucia where you can pick up a boat into the estuary to go Hippo spotting.
They are everywhere along this stretch of water lurking under the water, ears twitching and yawning wide.
Matt used to think Hippos were quite cute and cuddly, but being Africa’s biggest killing machine we were also treated to their callousness when a bull attached and killed a baby hippo that strayed in its path…be warned!
Durban to Drakensberg
Durban makes for a good pit-stop on your way down south.
A pretty beach area where you can wander to the end of the pier to watch the surfers playing in the waves.
Rested and fed you can start to head into the mountains and Drakensberg. As you make your way up the winding valley and you want a guaranteed sighting of lions then stop off in Natal lion park.
A rehabilitation park for lions rescued from circuses where you can drive through with your doors locked and windows rolled up.
And getting up this close makes you realise why!
Further along you will come to Howick and its impressive waterfall.
Take time to hike down to the foot of the falls for a light shower.
Further into the beautiful mountains, with roads getting smaller and smaller, meandering as if there was no destination.
Until we finally reached our destination of the Drakensberg Resort where hiking is the activity…with the snow capped mountains of Lesotho in the distance.
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape had us visiting Mbotyi, through East London and into Addo for its Elephant Park.
We got to enjoy a few beach spots, first at Mbotyi River Lodge that was set on a beautifully wild stretch of coastline
and with the Fraser Falls to hike to for a distant sight.
Further south to Crawfords Beach Lodge (past East London) that was a real treat to stay at with it’s New England beach vibe and a sumptuous dinner.
Addo Elephant Park was a main sight for…elephants! Although we had already seen many through the prior national parks we still met folk who got their first sightings here.
Very green and hilly the park is also home to much other wildlife…ostrich, jackals, antelope and warthogs.
You can also do a night tour, and if you think spotting animals during the day can be tricky then night safari puts it into context. Still when a big bull elephant angrily comes up to the vehicle then you’ll have plenty to see!
To the north of the park you can visit the Barefoot Addo Elephant Lodge, in a beautiful setting where you can get up close to elephants.
Sadly we could only stay for a quick visit during the day, but a return trip will definitely be on our list to stay longer.
Western Cape
Our drive along the Western Cape had us experiencing the nature of Knysna, the adventure of Oudtshoorn, the colonial wine capital of Stellenbosch and finishing with some extreme diving with sharks in Gaansbai.
Tstsikamma and Knysna
Tsitsikamma national park is not your big game type park, but rather more for exploring the outdoors on foot. A marvelous coastal hike (around 6km) that has you clambering across rocks
and scaling suspension bridges.
Close by is Bloukrans Bridge, where you’ll find the world’s highest commercial bungee jump (a mere 216 metres up!)
We jumped past this option and instead joined Tsitsikamma Canopy Tours to zip through the canopy of the surrounding forest.
Heading along the coast be sure to take the route via Nature’s Valley as its a beautiful drive and will give you the chance to get your feet in the sand where Grootrivier meets the sea.
A night in Knysna will reward you with some beautiful sunsets and a bit of deserved R&R before moving on.
Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn is a great little place to visit to do a number of weird and wacky things, well worth the detour away from the coast and into ostrich land.
You’ll find huge flocks of these giant birds along the roadside. Highgate farm is a great place to get up close and learn everything you will ever need to know about these oversized avians. Where you can feed them:
Test out how strong their eggs are
go for a crazy ride
before seeing the local races in action.
A bit further down the road are the Cango Caves, we thought just your usual tourist cave stop that provided an adventure tour but for all ages and no special equipment needed…
Starting like most cave tours, a slightly humid stroll, but soon getting into narrower and narrower spaces, with many of them named after things belonging to the Devil (coffin, workshop, kitchen, chimney…you name it!).
The tour finishes by sending yourself through the Devil’s Post Box (!!), a slot just 27cm high that requires you go feet first and with a lot of hope.
Definitely for the adventurous only, and probably one of the best cave tours we have ever done.
Stellenbosch
Vastly different from the rest of south Africa that we had experienced so far – colonial homes, white picket fences and manicured lawns, a blissful place to enjoy good food and great wine.
Our visit was too short to visit a winery, but we did get the chance to take a quick drive around the area.
We probably had our best meal of the trip (which is saying something) at Oppie Dorp, great steaks, perfectly matched wine and attentive service.
Gansbaai
One last stop along this stretch of the Western Cape and we had saved the most exhilarating until last…Shark cage diving!
We took our tour with Great White Shark Tours who looked after us perfectly for the morning – from the safety briefing (“don’t try to pet the shark!”) to dropping into the frigid waters of the Atlantic (around 7 degrees) and getting our up close meeting.
The sharks are big and mean looking, but also a wonder to see, and for them to see us…and think what a tasty snack we look like!
The Cape of Good Hope
Heading down the Cape from it’s namesake city and you’ll find a number of nice stop-off along the way; the colourful beach huts of St James’ beach
The little denizens of the Boulders Beach penguin colony (actually next door at Foxy beach)
Just be careful with your toes if you are wearing flip flops, as penguins under the boardwalk may want a little snack!
Whilst here you may also see a Rock Dassie – oversized rodents with devilish eyes who are more concerned with their leafy lunches than a camera pointed in their face.
Onto the Cape – often misrepresented as Africa’s southern-most point (it’s actually 150 kms to the east at Cape Agulhas) and where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet (again the meeting point fluctuates between here and Agulhas).
Nonetheless its an iconic spot that juts out into the sea and when you are here, you really do feel like you are at the end of the continent.
As you head back to Cape Town take the Atlantic coast road for a breathtaking drive and the extremely picturesque Chapman’s Peak.
Cape Town
The perfect end point to a glorious road trip through this beautiful country. A chance for us to do a bit of city touring – open top busses
Lunch by the harbour at the Victoria and Alfred waterfront
The Company’s Gardens
and of course up to Table Mountain for a bit of hiking and striking views of the surrounds.
Our base whilst here was the first-rate 2inn1 Kensington; a perfect boutique guest house in the shadow of the mountain that as well as a beautiful main house
and great rooms also came with your own mobile phone and attentive staff to sort out all your needs whilst here…
plus the daily sundowners were a nice treat.
So with that we shall raise our glasses and say goodbye to South Africa, ready to return soon! Enjoy!
