“What’s your favorite country?”
Well, South Africa has been my answer since 2011. But, that was 8 years and 80+ countries ago. In 2011, I traveled to South Africa with my father and brother. We fell in love with the country. After returning from the trip, we fantasized about picking up and moving to Cape Town. For a while, I searched for jobs in the area and looked at real estate. Timing is everything, right? Unfortunately, at the time I was tied to Chicago in more ways than one. Eventually, one thing led to another and that dream started to fade. But, throughout the years, South Africa remained in my heart. After my father’s passing, my grandmother wanted to travel more and shared her dreams of someday visiting Brazil, Australia, and South Africa, among others. Of course taking her to all of these places over the next few years immediately became my priority. Since South Africa was going to be a repeat for me, I decided to add Lesotho and Mozambique to our itinerary. My grandma loved the idea and shared it with her friends. One of them expressed interest in tagging along on the trip. Before we knew it, we were making our way to my favorite city, Cape Town. But, the question remained—after all of these years and countries visited, would the feeling still hold true?
Day 1
We arrived at Cape Town International Airport in the early afternoon on Saturday, January 19, 2019. I booked a two-night stay at the 15 on Orange Hotel, located just a short distance away from the city center. Fortunately, Uber operates throughout the city, making getting around cheap and easy. Leaving the airport, I felt this undeniable feeling. I felt at home.
We only had three days in Cape Town—with two of them being half-days. So, we had to be selective with what activities made it onto our itinerary. After dropping off our backpacks at the hotel, we immediately headed to the city’s most prominent landmark and ‘New7Wonder of Nature’, Table Mountain. To avoid waiting in line, I purchased ‘Afternoon Adult’ return tickets online for the Aerial Cableway through Webtickets—the official website’s ticketing platform.
If you are not up for hiking, the five-minute cable car trip to the top of Table Mountain places you at 1,089 meters (about 3,573 feet) above Cape Town. Here, the 360-degree view of the city and its surroundings is simply breathtaking.
But, sitting and soaking up the view was not enough for me. As usual, I needed an adventure. While planning this trip, a fellow traveler suggested I abseil 112 meters (about 367 feet) down a cliff face with Abseil Africa. The one-hour experience got my blood pumping and adrenaline rushing through my veins.
We had some time to kill, so we stopped at Bo-Kaap (one of Cape Town’s most distinct neighborhoods) en route to Greenmarket Square (a historical square in the center of old Cape Town) for some coffee before heading to the V&A Waterfront for our dinner reservations at Karibu.
Day 2
The following day was our only full day in Cape Town. Prior to arriving in South Africa, I booked the ‘Private Cape Peninsula Tour’ full-day tour with Allie through ToursByLocals for that day.
Allie picked us up early that morning, and we immediately began the drive along the Atlantic Seaboard to Hout Bay, where we took a boat ride to Duiker Island.
Also known as Seal Island, the island is home to a colony of thousands of Cape Fur Seals.
Afterwards, we continued down the picturesque cliffside road of Chapman’s Peak Drive en route to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope at the southern end of the Cape Peninsula—one of eight protected areas in the region, jointly designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for the richness of its plant life.
Upon arrival at Cape Point, we hopped on the Flying Dutchman Funicular for a three-minute ride to the viewing point at the base of the lighthouse.
After lunch at the Two Oceans Restaurant, we headed down to the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope is situated at the junction of two major ocean currents, the cold Benguela along the West Coast and the warm Agulhas on the East Coast. It was long believed that the Cape of Good Hope was the southernmost point of the African continent. Per the Internet, that title actually belongs to Cape Agulhas, also in South Africa. When this point was established, the South African government was unfazed, changing the sign at the site to instead read “The Most South-Western Point of the African Continent”.
On the way back to Cape Town, we stopped at Boulders Beach to see the African penguins and passed by the colorful beach huts of Muizenberg Beach.
Day 3
My plan was to take Uber everywhere. But, Allie offered to take us around for approximately the same cost.
After breakfast at Truth Coffee Roasting (one of the best coffee shops in the world), we headed to Cape Town’s Constantia wine region. We stopped at Groot Constantia and Constantia Glen for wine tastings.
We had some time to kill before our late afternoon flight to Durban, so Allie suggested we rent a golf cart, ride around Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, and have lunch at the Tea Room. Why not? Situated on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch is internationally acclaimed as one of the great botanic gardens of the world. The Garden is massive. I would definitely recommend taking a golf cart around if you are strapped for time.
Day 4
After arriving at Durban International Airport in the late evening on the previous day, we headed straight for the Belaire Suites Hotel, where we spent the night.
Going on a safari was at the top of the list for my grandma and her friend. Checking off Lesotho and Mozambique was at the top of mine. So, I had to get creative. While planning this trip, I allocated three days to visiting Cape Town and four to Vilankulo. That left me with only three days to squeeze in a safari and a trip to the Kingdom of Lesotho. Strategically, Durban was the best choice—close to Lesotho and near a notable game reserve.
I booked the ‘Hluhluwe Imfolozi “Big 5” Game Reserve and St. Lucia – 2 Days/1 Night Safari’ with Tim Brown Tours for that day. Praised on the Internet, the company’s excellent reviews promised a great experience. We were privileged to have Tim Brown himself as our guide for the tour. Tim’s friendly, welcoming personality and energy radiated from the moment he greeted us in Durban. During the three-hour drive to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, Tim kept us informed with bits and pieces of the area’s history and other information. In between, we cracked jokes and laughed our way to the heart of the Zulu Kingdom. There was never a dull moment. En route, we stopped at a Cat Rehabilitation Centre outside of Hluhluwe for an opportunity to encounter and learn more about the fastest land mammal, the cheetah.
After interacting with some of the cats, we continued to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park—the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. We entered the park through the Memorial Gate, situated in the northern section of the game reserve, and made our way to Hilltop Camp where we would spend the night.
Upon arrival, we checked in to the lodge and had lunch on the terrace before heading out on a quick game drive with our own vehicle.
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park was much different than I had envisioned—nothing like the Serengeti, Maasai Mara, or Kruger National Park. We drove around for about two hours before heading back to the lodge to go on a three-hour open vehicle night game drive organized by Hilltop Camp.
With cameras in hand, we went searching for the “Big Five”—lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and buffalo. Unfortunately, we did not get lucky. We only saw a number of rhinos, buffalo, warthogs, nyala, and birds. This was my grandma’s first safari, and even she did not care to see these animals.
She wanted to see giraffes, elephants, and lions. Unfortunately, nature cannot be controlled. We drove around searching for animals until after sunset.
As the day turned into night, we lost hope and decided to throw in the towel. On the way back to the lodge, my grandma spotted a giraffe in the distance. What a perfect ending to the day.
Day 5
Tim really was determined to provide us with the best experience possible. So, we woke up at the crack of dawn for another game drive and our final chance to find the animals that we had not yet seen. We were on a mission. We could not leave without at least seeing an elephant. After several failed attempts at finding the lions that other groups had spotted that morning, we drove to another area of the park where we found herds of elephants, giraffes, and even baboons!
Satisfied with what we saw, we returned to Hilltop Camp for breakfast before checking out and leaving the game reserve for St Lucia and iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
The huge protected area along the coast of the KwaZulu-Natal Province was listed as South Africa’s first World Heritage Site in recognition of its unique global values. There, we took a two-hour boat cruise on Lake St Lucia for a chance to see hippos and crocodiles.
After lunch, we began the drive back to Durban, where we would spend the next two nights at Point Waterfront Apartments.
Day 6
Prior to arriving in South Africa, I booked the ‘Sani Pass Day Tour from Durban’ with Country and Coastal Touring. Early that morning, we left Durban and made our way to the town of Underberg, where the Sani Pass begins. There, we transferred into 4×4 vehicles and traveled up the pass, exiting South Africa at the bottom and entering Lesotho at the top [see post: Lesotho via the Sani Pass]. We spent some time in the mountain kingdom before making our way back to Durban for our last night in South Africa and leaving for Mozambique the following morning [see post: A Weekend in Mozambique].
Without a doubt, South Africa remains my favorite country in the world.
