Safaris and many more adventures in South Africa

[Flying mermaid]

In a nutshell, these townships were set up outside the city during the Apartheid as a place to relocate non-white people to

please, please not "non-White" - that really is Apartheid era lingo . I still have some "non-blacks only" stickers, that we plastered all over White only signs in Johannesburg, as part of a Nusas campaign in the 70s.

Apart from that - enjoying your report. we will be in Cape Town in September, so this is helping with planning.

 

[Mattg]

please, please not "non-White" - that really is Apartheid era lingo . I still have some "non-blacks only" stickers, that we plastered all over White only signs in Johannesburg, as part of a Nusas campaign in the 70s.

Apart from that - enjoying your report. we will be in Cape Town in September, so this is helping with planning.

Fair comment. I didn't really want to write it like that, but it is a historical term from the era I was writing about and that is how it was described to me on the tour. I have also added inverted commas in my original post - I must have forgot when posting this yesterday. I certainly do not mean any offence to anyone.

I don't profess to be an expert on South African history so will mostly try to avoid talking about political issues but I did feel it was important in this case as the creation of the townships is directly related to the country's Apartheid history.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Fair comment. I didn't really want to write it like that, but it is a historical term from the era I was writing about and that is how it was described to me on the tour. I have also added inverted commas in my original post - I must have forgot when posting this yesterday. I certainly do not mean any offence to anyone.

I don't profess to be an expert on South African history so will mostly try to avoid talking about political issues but I did feel it was important in this case as the creation of the townships is directly related to the country's Apartheid history.

The townships are an integral part of the history of the time and of course the Apartheid era is a pretty unique time. inverted commas are quite satisfactory - no offence, although seeing the term did make my skin crawl. Anyone who lived through those times and were active in working against Apartheid, would probably feel the same. It is a long time ago, but some memories don't fade. It took me 36 years before I could face returning to the country .

If you are planning a trip to the wine areas think about going to Babylonstoren for lunch. I saw an article by Neil Perry in one of the Qantas magazines and he was enthusiastic about it. We are going there for a wedding in September.

 

[Mattg]

We had a couple of favourite eating spots around town. Of course, we didn't get nearly enough time to try everything, but I think we found a gem in a delicatessen in Green Point called Giovanni's. This place was full of locals coming for a meal and a drink, and there were so many tasty, fresh meals available including curries, lasagne and various other hot and cold dishes.



(Unfortunately this photo was taken at night after they closed, so perhaps not the best...)


We also ate at Mama Africa's in the city. This was much more touristy, and slightly more expensive, but the food and atmosphere was also very good. We paid about $50 for full meal for both of us - which is cheap by Australian standards but probably the most expensive meal we'd had in South Africa so far. (That just gives you an idea of the value to be had here!)

As a starter I tried the crocodile kebabs with satay sauce, followed by a prawn curry for the main. I'm a bit unsure how "traditional" crocodile kebabs are, but at least they were quite tasty.

Possibly the highlight of Mama Africa's though was the live African music which got some of the crowd up dancing.

 

[Mattg]

If you are planning a trip to the wine areas think about going to Babylonstoren for lunch. I saw an article by Neil Perry in one of the Qantas magazines and he was enthusiastic about it. We are going there for a wedding in September.

Is that in Stellenbosch? We're actually heading there this morning so I will keep my eyes peeled.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Is that in Stellenbosch? We're actually heading there this morning so I will keep my eyes peeled.

It is a vineyard about 20km from Stellenbosch. Has organic gardens and a restaurant - the oldest vineyard in South Africa I think.

 

[BNEFlyer]

Great report so far! I went to Cape Town last year and absolutely loved it, it's such a diverse, beautiful city. I stayed in Green Point and went to Giovanni's a couple of times, wish there was somewhere like that in Brisbane.

And Stellenbosch was incredible too. I joined a wine tour which turned out to be one of the most fun days I've ever had!

 

[JohnM]

Great TR, as usual, mattg. Following along avidly.

I'm planning for a couple of weeks next June-July to drive a loop JNB-east coast-CPT-JNB through the middle as a precursor to a Madagascar trip, followed by a Kenya/Tanzania trip, I've recently booked.

 

[Imw]

We flew Syd to jnb in March 15 and was really hoping to see the ice but didn't happen for us! However I also didn't ask anyone times! Next time! My husband doing trip I three weeks but business not holiday so not sure he will look haha

 

[Mattg]

In Cape Town I also visited were the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens.





I really enjoyed Cape Town. My only regret was not staying longer as there is so much to see and do. Unfortunately I didn't get enough time to visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years. We also never did make it up Table Mountain. On our last day the cable car was running and the visibility was unusually excellent, but we simply ran out of time.

But I'll be back!!

 

[Mattg]

For Cape Town we had originally booked a hostel in Green Point. I got an email about a fortnight ago offering us a free upgrade to a 4 star boutique hote nearby called the Kingslyn Boutique Guesthouse, which was owned by the same owners as the hostel. We considered ourselves pretty lucky and were both very impressed. The ladies working there were very friendly, the room was comfortable and spacious and a full hot breakfast was included each morning for free. The location was pretty good too; it was tucked in a quiet side street but about 20 minutes walking from the V&A Waterfront and a half hour walk from the city.

This was their most basic room:



The manager Birgit said that she would be happy to offer a discount to any of our friends or family that stay there in future. So if anyone is considering staying there, you might want to mention that your friends Matt and Phil said they would offer you a discount.

 

[Mattg]

We have now left Cape Town and begun driving the Garden Route. We'll eventually arrive in Port Elizabeth, where we'll drop off our hire car and fly on to Durban.

For the first leg, we drove from Cape Town to Mossel Bay, where we spent a night.

After leaving Cape Town we stopped for lunch in Stellenbosch, which is surrounded by wineries. We didn't get time to do a wine tour (as much as I would have liked to!) but did spend a bit of time in town. It's a very nice place.





Near Stellenbosch we passed this place with some rather bizarre scarecrows on display:



From there we took the N2 through to Mossel Bay. The roads have mostly been well-maintained so far and there's also been some pretty spectacular scenery.





Just some observations about driving in South Africa. Firstly, there are a lot of speed cameras. Secondly, the drivers seem quite polite. Slow vehicles will usually pull off to the side of the road to let you pass. And if you do that for another vehicle it will usually flash its hazard lights as a way of saying "thank you".

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

As a driver I have been pleasantly surprised at the courtesy that has been shown on the roads along the garden route so far, where slow moving trucks pull over to the side of the road & allow faster cars to pass.

All faster moving cars always flash
the hazard lights for a few seconds to say thanks to those slower moving cars/trucks once passed.

I beginning to wonder the courtesy (or lack thereof at times) of the drivers back home in my home state of Victoria.
But the driving isn't over yet in South Africa, so I won't over evaluate too much

 

[Sprucegoose]

Our flight path:

View attachment 51736

And the amazing view of the Antarctic ice sheets:

View attachment 51737
View attachment 51738
View attachment 51739

The flight from Sydney to Johannesburg can be great for views of Antarctica due to it’s southerly flight path and also the fact that it’s an entirely day-time flight. But we were also quite lucky, as the plane doesn’t always fly far enough south.

If you ever fly on QF63, I can highly recommend a window seat on the left!

do you know how far south you were flying? Great TR btw

 

[Sprucegoose]

Fair comment. I didn't really want to write it like that, but it is a historical term from the era I was writing about and that is how it was described to me on the tour. I have also added inverted commas in my original post - I must have forgot when posting this yesterday. I certainly do not mean any offence to anyone.

I don't profess to be an expert on South African history so will mostly try to avoid talking about political issues but I did feel it was important in this case as the creation of the townships is directly related to the country's Apartheid history.

Good response to a sometimes emotive subject. History often gets a big blur from the political glasses we wear. Soweto is an abbreviation for just the point you are making and that is quite acceptable to refer to.

If you are interested in ANC history, they camped in Lusaka during their struggle. A city not forgotten by the majority.

 

[Mattg]

do you know how far south you were flying? Great TR btw

I seem to recall the pilot saying that we would fly as far as 65 degrees south.

 

[Mattg]

In Mossel Bay we overnighted at the Santos Express lodge, which is an old train that has been converted into a hostel.



The room:



Although the room inside the carriage was small, the bed was comfortable and I slept reasonably well once the children staying a few rooms down stopped running up and down the corridor and making noise.

There isn't that much to see or do in Mossel Bay, but there is a nice beach which the hostel overlooks. As we watched the sunrise from the hostel in the morning we even saw what we believe were dolphins (or possibly seals) frolicking gracefully in the water right by the beach.



Our only complaint about the hostel relates to something that happened when we checked out. We had already fully paid for the rooms in advance through Qantas Hotels (who seem to outsource to Expedia) but the receptionist then tried to tell us that we still owed 148 rand each (about $15). I have no idea where they came up with this amount as we had already paid. In fact, the listed price was only 175 rand and we had already paid about 200 rand each in advance to Qantas Hotels. Not once did we get a clear explanation of what the extra charge actually was. We checked the booking confirmation and as expected there was no mention of any extra amount to pay on arrival.

The receptionist eventually agreed not to charge the extra amount but only after Phil threatened to leave them some "scathing" reviews online. I still have no idea where they got that figure from but it was either a scam or due to incompetence or their part. Either way it left a bit of a sour taste on an otherwise good stay there.

 

[Mattg]

Today we drove from Mossel Bay through to Jeffreys Bay, which is just shy of Port Elizabeth.

We made a couple of stops along the way. The first was in a lovely town called Knysna. There we had lunch at a place called Olde's Pub & Grill. We were pleasantly surprised by the food and the value there. I tried a large eisbein (like a pork hock) with veges, which was delicious and it came to a grand total of 115 rand, or about $12.



We also walked down to the waterfront, where it all seemed to be happening. As well as some sort of marathon/fun run, the town was having an oyster festival. We didn't try any oysters as we'd just eaten - which is a shame as they looked really good and they were giving away 3 oysters plus a shot of tequila for 45 rand, or just under $5.







There was also some sort of game of canoe polo in action. I'd never seen this sport before. It seemed to be like water polo, except that the players are in canoes.

 

[Mattg]

After Knysna we continued towards Jeffreys Bay. Shortly after crossing into Eastern Cape province we drove over the Bloukrans Bridge, which is home to the world's highest bungy jump.







We pulled in with the intention of just taking a few photos and then leaving. We watched a couple of people jump from the bridge and honestly I thought it looked like fun. As we were about to leave we had a glance of the prices and I noticed that it was only 850 rand (about $90) to jump. I was tempted, and a bit of extra encouragement from Phil was all it took to make me decide to try out bungy jumping. So without further ado, I paid the 850 rand and got harnassed up!

Shortly afterwards I was walking out onto the bridge with a group of bungy jumpers ready to do the 216 metre jump.

That's me:



This was my first time bungy jumping and I really enjoyed it, although I'll admit that I got pretty scared at the moment right before jumping off when I looked down at the valley below!

I had no plans of doing anything quite like that today, but I'm glad I did! As one of the signs at the bridge so perfectly put it, "Fear is temporary but regret is permanent".

We're now in Jeffreys Bay where we are overnighting before continuing to Port Elizabeth tomorrow.

 

[Imw]

Wow! Amazing experience, one that I won't be replications!!! Loving all your reports! Married to South African who lived through Apartheid so very meaningful comments too.