South Africa Tourism & Travel Guide - Places to see in South Africa

South Africa Tour & Travel Guide - Places to See in South Africa

Kruger National Park

Lying in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga province, Kruger National Park is the size of a small country (we’re not kidding! Think Wales or Israel) and one of the largest national parks in the world covering an area of almost twenty thousand square kilometres. If that wasn’t enough, Kruger is now also part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park that links it with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique. With an incredible array of terrain and wildlife, it is also famous as the studio where the epic Battle of Kruger video was shot. With four different types of vegetation, over five hundred species of bird and nearly a hundred and fifty mammals, it is virtually impossible not to spot wildlife here. Unfortunately, this also means plentiful spotting of humans especially in South Kruger. The northern part is less crowded and more rewarding for bush and wilderness fans. The park has an extensive network of sealed roads and comfortable camps, but if you prefer to keep it rough, there are also 4WD tracks as well as mountain bike and hiking trails. It is possible to traverse the park using your own car, private safari operators or even on foot. For hikers, nine different trails are on offer. Some are overnight and last several days in areas of wilderness virtually untouched by humans. There are plenty of organized activities inside the park including daily guided walks, daily game drives (both at sunrise and sunset as well as night drives), bush braais and mountain bike trails. Somewhat incongruously, Kruger even offers visitors the opportunity to play golf on a nine course drive, should you (for some incomprehensible reason) wish to do so. Kruger has a daily fee for entry and exit. Should you wish to stay inside, there are a number of different rest camps and two bush lodges inside that are run by SANParks (they allow online booking).These camps have different accommodation types: camping, huts, bungalows, cottages, etc. In addition, there are also exclusive private lodges inside the park that are usually more expensive. Getting to Kruger is quite easy – the drive is around four hundred kilometres from Jo’burg and takes around 3-4 hours.

Pretoria and Johannesburg

So you’ve seen District 9 and read Andre Brink. Sure, Jo’burg or Jozi as it is called more often, has a deserved reputation for street crime and its razor-wire edged boundaries do nothing to dispel that impression but that in no way should deter you from exploring its delights. From the historic lanes of Soweto to the upmarket malls of Sandton, Jozi is undoubtedly the pulsating hub of South Africa. Go pub-hopping or eat authentic South African food in Old Melville, try spine tingling peri-peri chicken at Melrose North or sniff the bouquets at the Soweto Wine Festival in September. The twin city of Pretoria is a half hour drive by car and walking along its jacaranda-lined colonial streets is a great experience. A short way away from Pretoria lies the Tswaing ('Place of Salt') Crater - one of the best preserved meteor craters in the world. To the west of Pretoria you can head out to Hartebeespoort Dam for a day – a very popular picnicking spot with the locals.

Cape Town

Easily the gem in South Africa’s glittering crown, most South Africans would argue that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. With the fabled Table Mountain providing the most glamorous of backdrops, gorgeous beaches fringing it, and not one but two oceans lapping its shores, Cape Town has it all and more. Still thinking of what to do here? You’ll be spoilt for choice. Of course, homage must be paid to the mountain (in reality a thousand metre high plateau) surrounded by steep cliffs and flanked by Lion's Head to the west and Devil's Peak to the east. The summit can be accessed either via cable car or a two-hour hike and offers unparalleled views of the city and the coastline. For the more adventurous, abseiling options also exist. Another great place, especially for those on a family vacation, is the Two Oceans Aquarium so called due to the two oceans - the Atlantic and the Indian meeting at the southernmost tip of South Africa. The Aquarium includes a Predator Exhibit with sharks, rays and loggerhead turtles as well as displays of over three thousand sea creatures such as giant spider crabs and crayfish, eels, jelly fish, penguins and other ocean denizens. Another great family option is Boulders Beach, a sheltered sandy beach that forms part of the Table Mountain National Park. The real attractions however are the residents – a population of penguins that wander the beach. And if you just can’t do without that shopping fix, visit Green Point Market on Sunday, a giant open flea market selling everything from African jewellery to musical instruments, pottery, sculptures etc. Another interesting visit, close to Cape Town, is Robben Island, located just off the coast. Famous for being where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were held during the apartheid period, tours from Cape Town run several times a day. Getting to Cape Town is easy – there are regular flights from Jo’burg. Alternatively, you can take the sleeper train. Chugging out of Johannesburg’s suburbs on the Trans-Karoo Express on an overnight journey is an exhilarating experience. Coming by bus or even driving down are also options and the distance from Jo’burg is around 1,400 kilometres. While in Cape Town, it is best to hire a car as you can get to most of the main sites of interest within a couple of hours in a private vehicle.

Drakensberg

Fancy seeing the world’s second highest waterfall or traversing eight kilometers of mountain land that belongs to no country in the world? After Table Mountain, the picture of the Drakensberg Range is probably the most famous one used to promote South African tourism and justifiably so. Towering basalt mountains that encircle the mountain kingdom of Lesotho (a separate country, by the way, whose borders fall entirely within South Africa), huge national parks and unspoilt wilderness areas make it an awe-inspiring place for a visit. As with much of South Africa, behind the wheel is the best way to explore the Dragon Mountains. Roads are tarred and for the most part well maintained and signposted. If walking is your thing, the Amphitheatre located in Royal Natal National Park in north Drakensberg offers spectacular hiking opportunities both around and on top of the theatre itself. If you’re staying in the Park, you can also take a two day hike or a one hour drive to a gate near the top. Another great hiking trail leads to the Tugela Falls (yes, the second highest in the world – what? The first is Angel, of course). Central Drakensberg is no less awe-inspiring with its massive Giant’s Castle Game Reserve, the largest national park in the area. Northwest of Giant’s Castle is the Cathedral Peak wilderness. South Drakensberg is less developed and consequently less crowded but possesses the most magnificent tracts of wilderness. Get down to Sani Pass (the drawbridge, so to speak, to mountainous Lesotho) and drive your vehicle (only 4WDs allowed) across eight kilometers of no-man’s land between the South African check post at the top and the Lesotho one at the bottom of the pass. In winter you could even ski your way from one country to another by skiing three hundred metres down the slopes of the pass.

The Garden Route

The Garden Route is perhaps the most internationally renowned South African destination after Cape Town and the Kruger National Park, and with good reason. The sheer range of topography and wildlife that can be found within a few hundred kilometres is amazing. The very name of the route comes from the verdant, diverse vegetation as well as the gorgeous lagoons and lakes that dot the area. Sandwiched between the Tsitsikamma Mountains and the Indian Ocean and stretching from Mossel Bay in the west to just beyond Plettenberg Bay in the east, the Route offers a humongous range of activities. You can hike in forests, bike through wildlife reserves, commune with monkeys, laze around on pristine white beaches, go bungee jumping or canoe in lagoons. While the largest city and administrative centre is George, the towns most commonly used as bases are Knysna and Plettenberg. The ecosystems of the area are so varied that they span no less than ten nature reserves as well as playing host to coral reefs, dolphins, seals and a host of other marine life including the endangered Southern Right Whale that comes there to calve in the winter and spring. Although the best way to explore the Garden Route is by car, you can also travel on Africa's last remaining passenger steam train, the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe.

Durban

With the largest population of Indians in South Africa, finding chicken curry in Durban is a breeze. The famous beachfront as well as the city interiors with their colonial buildings could pass for Mumbai but for all that, the city also has a distinctly African feel. One of the world’s best surfing destinations, Durban is perfect for that beachcomber vacation. Swim, surf, canoe, snorkel, dive or just hang out on its picture-postcard-yellow beachfront. Determined guide-book holders can conscientiously check out the City Centre or the Kwa Muhle Museum, also called the Apartheid Museum but the cry you’ll hear most often in Durban is likely to be “surf’s up!”

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