South Africa

South Africa

South Africa

When to travel here depends – warm summer-like weather is found in December and January, spring weather in March through November etc. In the summer the game reserves will be greener and the beaches more inviting but wildflowers are best in the spring. But whenever you go you will be astounded by the diversity and beauty of this county. We did this trip in September to take advantage of somewhat cooler temperatures and lower crowds.

Length: about 3 weeks

Transportation Flights and rental car.

Best guide books: Lonely Planet and Fodor’s South Africa.

Day 1 – Arrival

  • Fly into Johannesburg
  • Fly to Cape Town
  • Pick up rental car – we used Avis and worked out great
  • Drive to and stay at Vineyard Hotel (about 20 min drive)
  • Dinner at hotel

Day 2 – Drive to Cederberg area

  • Drive to Clanwilliam (about 2h 40m)
  • Check in Cederberg Ridge Wilderness Lodge
  • The lodge offers activities so depending on what time you arraive they can arrange a guided hike or other activities
  • Stay at and dinner at lodge (1/2)

Day 3 – Cederberg area

  • Activities from lodge (Cederberg Wilderness) – we recommend Biedouw valley and Khoisan rock paintings. Other options include the Niedwoudtville area – but check with the lodge as to offerings for the day you are there. We found they were quite flexible in arranging what you’d like to do / see.
  • Stay at and dinner at lodge (2/2)

Day 4 – To West Coast National Park and Cape Town

Day 5 – Cape Town

Day 6 – Cape Town – Table Mountain and Robben Island

Day 7 – Cape Town loop drive to Cape Vinelands

Day 8 – Franschhoek area

Day 9 – Franschhoek area

Day 10 – To Swellendam via Stellenbosch

  • Huguenot Museum Franschhoek
  • Drive to Stellenbosch (27m)
  • Walking tour Stellenbosch (9:00 or 11:00)
  • Kannonkopf winery
  • Drive to Swellendam (2h 15m) Dinner and Stay Schoone Oort Country House (1/1)

Day 11 – Swellendam to Congo ostrich farm and Congo caves then Kynsna

  • Drive to and visit Cango Ostrich farm (2 h 39m)
  • Drive to and visit Cango caves (14 m)
  • Continue to Kynsa (2h 5m)
  • Dinner: Sirocco
  • Lodging : St. James of Knysna (1/2)

Day 12 – Knysna and Buffalo Bay beach

  • AM boat tour of Knysna lagoon
  • Garden of Eden walk
  • Drive to Knynsa heads
  • Drive to Buffalo beach
  • Drinks and dinner at Drydock
  • Lodging: same place (2/2)

Day 13 – Garden route – Tsitkamma National Park

  • Plettenberg Bay (39m)
  • Storm River suspension ridge walk (57m)
  • Big Tree walk (16m)
  • Drive to Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) (1 h 51m)
  • Stay and dinner at Hacklewood Hill (1/1)

Day 14 – Drive to Kwandwe

Day 15 – Kwandwe

  • AM and PM game drive
  • Lodging and food same place (2/2)

Day 16- Fly to JBerg

  • AM game drive
  • Drive from Kwandwe to Port Elizabeth airport and return rental car (2h)
  • Flight to Johannesberg
  • Pick up rental car and drive to Pretoria (41m)
  • Stay at Castello di Monte (1/1)

Day 17 – Pretoria to Madikwe

Day 18- Safari

  • AM and PM game drive
  • Stay and eat same place (2/3)

Day 19 – Safari

  • AM and PM game drives
  • Stay and eat same place (2/3)

Day 20 – Madwike to JNB

  • Drive to JNB airport and drop car (4 h 10m)
  • Fly home

Detailed Itinerary

This trip has a couple of internal flights but is a mostly car based trip. Note: because of crime concerns it’s imperative to avoid driving in townships and best to avoid much driving at night. Major highways seem to be fine, however. (Just watch for people walking along the side of, or even running across the motorways).

Note: It is a long flight to South Africa (11 hours from Europe) and even longer from the US (30 hours from the US west coast – so plan your dates accordingly.

Day 1 – Arrival

Arrive at OR Tambo International airport and pick up your bags, pass security and head to the attached and nearby domestic terminal to check in for your flight to Cape Town. It’s a couple hour flight to Cape Town. From Cape Town, pick up your rental car and head about 20 minutes to lodging. We ended up getting in in the late afternoon and after 30 + hours of travel did not plan much. The Vineyard hotel is really nice with lovely grounds, a great view of Table Mountain, and great food and service.

View from Vineyard Hotel

Day 2 – Drive to Cederberg area

It’s a pretty easy 2 hour 40 minute hour drive to Clanwilliam where the Cederberg Ridge Wilderness Lodge is located. The Cederberg region is very pretty with interesting rock formations and remarkable wildflowers in the spring. The lodge is really lovely and we highly recommend it. On arrival you can just settle in or speak to lodge staff about an afternoon activity after lunch. You will eat all three meals at the lodge for the next couple of days. We took a very nice hike after lunch to a hidden valley that had been settled back in the 1700’s and had a lovely stream and ruins of previous settlers houses. Settlers arrived in this remote area back in the late 1600’s / early 1700’s. After dinner, be sure and go outside to check out the amazing night skies, and enjoy your fireplace in the room.

View from Cederberg Lodge
Cederberg mountains

Day 3 – Cederberg area

Plan your day’s activities with the help of the staff. We headed out after breakfast with a guide who drove us through the Cederberg mountains to the Sevilla Khoisan Rock art trail about 30 minutes from the lodge. From here there is a 5km walk to 9 rock art sights – with pictures dating from a few hundred to 8000 years old. The San were the original inhabitants of the area and the rock art is really remarkable. The trail is a little uneven and rocky but is not difficult.

San rock art

After a picnic lunch the guide will (in the wildflower season) drive you to the Biedouw valley, where you may see some of the most spectacular fields of wildflowers you can imagine.

In the afternoon return to the lodge for a drink, dinner a soak in the enormous tub in the room and bed.

Day 4 – To West Coast National Park and Cape Town

After breakfast, head a couple minutes down the hill to Clanwilliam and the Rooibos Teahouse, right along the road from the lodge as you get to town where you can learn about and taste Rooibos (“red bush tea”), unique to the Cederberg area (apparently no-one has ever been successful in getting it to grow anywhere else in the world, though not for lack of trying). The tea is caffeine free, slightly naturally sweet and is said to have several health benefits- definitely a must-try while you are here.

From Clanwilliam it’s a not very interesting 2 hour drive to the West Coast NP . As you get near the park , you’ll see signs for the north or west entrances. We’d head to the north one for a great view of the lagoon as you enter the park and a shorter drive. From the entrance your goal is to continue another 45 minutes to the Postberg area of the park (only open during wildflower season) for more spectacular wildflower views – though unlike further north in the Cederberg area you will be sharing the park with a lot of other people.

Postberg area of West Coast National Park

From here, continue another hour to Cape Town. For Cape Town lodging there are several options, but we really enjoyed staying at the South Beach Camps Bay Hotel in the Camp Bay suburb with its amazing sunsets, beach views and restaurants and cafes. Good alternative locations include the V and A waterfront area with lots of shops and cafes and safe evening strolling as well. If in Camp’s Bay one night be sure and grab dinner at Codfather or Uber to or one of our other Cape Town restaurant recommendations.

Day 5 – Cape Town

Cape Town is nestled in a bowl underneath Table mountain and is a very attractive city with uniquely colorful houses in the Muslim Bo Kaap neighborhood, shady green Company’s Garden (originally a vegetable garden for the Dutch Easy India Company), and interesting and diverse architecture. There are a lot of great restaurants and colorful markets. However, crime can be a problem in parts of Cape Town so start off your visit with a walking tour orientation, keep your phone in your pocket, valuables out of sight and don’t walk around the central business area late at night. Getting around town is best by Uber (generally preferred over cabs) Despite these (pretty much normal for many large city) precautions, Cape Town is a delight.

A good way to avoid driving and parking in Cape Town is to use the Hop on Hop off bus tour, which conveniently stops in Camps Bay and the V and A waterfront. Get a two day ticket. The circular red line visits most of the sites in Cape Town proper – with narration and stops downtown where there are walking tours of historic Cape Town or the picturesque Bo Kaap neighborhood. Check at the bus office for tour timing – generally they alternate one after the other. We recommend do both. For lunch, get some recommendations from your walking tour guide.

At some point you will want to go up Table Mountain, but the cable car can be stopped by wind, and it’s not worth it if cloudy at the top. If calm and clear go today (carpe diem) take the bus up to the cable car bus stop, get off and queue for the cable car – – if planning on tomorrow do both walking tours today. Check the weather and decide. It is generally calmer and less cloudy in the mornings, but the lines for the cable car – even with recommended online ticket purchase, can be much longer in the mornings.

Looking from Bo Kaap neighborhood down to Cape Town

Other attractions in town (with time) include the District 6 apartheid museum and the Two Oceans Aquarium, among others so it’s easy to spend another day in the city.

Consider grabbing the hop on bus back to Camps Bay for dinner at Mantra Cafe for some amazing sunset views or grab an Uber to one of our other Cape Town restaurant recommendations

Day 6 – Cape Town – Table Mountain and Robben Island

Reserve tickets for Robben Island, a UNESCO world heritage sight, in advance. Grab the Red Line Bus toward the V and A waterfront and get off at stop 2 (just AFTER the V and A waterfront stop) – at the Silo Hotel. From here it is a short walk to the Clock Tower, which is where the Robben Island boats leave from. It’s worth a quick visit to the Nelson Mandela Gateway museum before or after your boat for some further apartheid / Robben Island history.

It is about a 45 minute cruise from the Cape Town pier to Robben Island. on embarkation you will be directed to a bus and have a short drive around to sights on the island – be sure and check out the views back to Cape Town and Table Mountain from the stop along the shore. After the bus you will be taken to the detention facility where you will continue on foot, guided by a former Robben Island apartheid prisoner to hear about conditions under detention. You will see Mandela’s tiny cell and learn about the harsh conditions prisoners endured. The whole tour including the boat ride takes about 4 hours.

Cape Town from Robben Island
Robben Island prison

On return to Cape Town grab some lunch at one of the numerous restaurants at the V and A waterfront. We opted for one of the many choices at the Time Out Market where you can choose from one of 13 kitchens representing the best of local Cape Town food.

After lunch grab the Hop On bus to the Table mountain stop and the cable car to the top of the mountain. You can hike it up or down but for safety concerns only go with a group of 4 or more (muggings have occurred). We opted to just ride the cable car up and down. There are also varying length walks around the top as well as several cafes and places to get a drink. The views are spectacular in all directions.

Cape Town from Table mountain
Dassie’s (Rock Hyrax) on Table mountain. Camps Bay in background to the right.

Grab the hop on hop of bus back to Camp’s bay. It’s a short Uber ride back downtown for dinner at the Grub and Vine or one of our other Cape Town restaurant recommendations.

Day 7 – Cape Town loop drive to Franschhoek / Cape vinelands.

Head south this morning to Chapman’s Peak drive. This spectacular toll road drive goes along under the “twelve apostles” mountains before heading over the mountains. Continue to Simon’s Town with Victorian architecture then a short distance to Boulder’s Beach where there is a resident African Penguin population.

If you have time and inclination you can drive another half hour to the Cape of Good Hope, but we recommend instead heading a half hour back up the coast to the spectacular UNESCO world heritage Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens, as they are enormous (1300 acres) and deserve at least a couple of hours. The unique flora of South Africa is spread out along the east slopes of Table Mountain.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

After you roam the gardens, hop back in the car and head to Franschhoek (1h 4 m depending traffic) in the Cape Vinelands region. Settle into your lodging, then walk to dinner at Epice for an amazing culinary experience.

Day 8 , 9 – Franschhoek area

The Cape Winelands area has been cultivated with grapes since the mid 1600’s, but it was only after French Huguenots arrived in the 1680’s that wine really became successful. Franschhoek means “French corner” and is where the Huguenots originally settled. (Before they arrived it was known as elephant corner for the herds of elephants here – now long gone). The largest and most famous town in the area is Stellenbosch and the whole area produces excellent wines. Many people visiting the area opt for Stellenbosch, which is a university town with a long history, but we opted (and recommend) Franschhoek, which is a very cute village with magnificent scenery, a unique wine tram, and some great restaurants. 

Franschhoek Valley

The wine tram runs several routes, allowing driving-free access to many of the area wineries. There are several routes – some served historic tram and some by convenient bus, The price is quite reasonable to avoid having to drive and taste. Most of the wineries have places to get food and lovely grounds.

Winery in Franschhoek Valley

You cannot go wrong with any of the wineries but ask your hotel for their favorites. In particular we’d recommend being sure to visit Klein Goederust (former wine farm labor family  – now owns the winery), Holden Manz (gorgeous end of valley, or Dieu Donne (high on ridge, amazing views). If you take a couple of days in this beautiful relaxing valley like we did, you can sample quite a few and choose your own favorites.

For dinner choose from Allora or one of our Franschhoek  restaurant recommendations.

Day 10 – To Swellendam via Stellenbosch

Start your morning by stopping by the small Huguenot Museum in Franschhoek to learn about the French Huguenots and their history in the area before heading over the hill to Stellenbosch (27 m). Stellenbosch in quite a bit larger than Franschhoek but also has some nice historic architecture. You can grab a walking tour at 9 or 11 to learn more. There are even more wineries in the Stellenbiosch area – we stopped at Kannonkopf, one of the more famous ones in the area. 

Huguenot Museum

From here head east to Swellendam (2 h 15m), which makes a convenient stop on your way to the garden route. Despite being on the dry side of the mountains, as you near Swellendam you will see rolling hills with wheat fields. There are some historic buildings in town, and great accommodations in the Victorian Schoone Oordt country house. Be sure and enjoy dinner at the hotel.

Day 11 – Swellendam to Ostriches, Cango Caves, then Kynsna

The next day you will continue 2h 37 m east to the town of Oudsthoorn. Oudsthoorn became rich in the 1870’s from Ostrich farming when ostrich feathers were all the rage in fashion. The ostrich industry collapsed in World War 1, but the sandstone palaces built from ostrich wealth can still be seen in town.  Ostriches are still farmed in the area, and we suggest a stop at the Cango ostrich farm to learn more about these odd birds 

From the ostrich farm it is a short drive to the impressive Cango caves. For the brave, not claustrophobic, and skinny you can take an adventure tour where you climb shimmy and slide through passages. The saner standard tours leave on the hour, and we thought were plenty impressive.

From Cango caves drive over the mountains 2 hours to St James of Knysna, where you will spend the next couple of nights. For dinner take the short drive into town for dinner on the water at Sirocco. 

Day 12 – Knysna and Buffalo Bay beach

Kynsna (pronounced nisna) is on a large lagoon in the heart of the Garden Route – so named because of the forests along the way, but even more famous for beaches. If you are staying at the St James talk to them about their free and relaxing boat cruise around the upper lagoon where you will likely see many varieties of birds as well as seals playing in the water.

Kynsna lagoon

Getting back to the hotel, hop back into the car for a short drive to the Garden of Eden walk (about a 3/4 mile walk) –  watch for a small parking area on the left side of the N2 road as you head toward Plettenberg bay  A boardwark gives you a nice walk to sample the indigineous forest and some giant yellowwood trees, From here hop back in the car and drive back to Knysna and then to the nearby he Knysna heads – large sandstone headlands / cliffs that mark the entrance to the lagoon. You can also opt for a boat ride through the heads to the ocean.

Knysna Heads

After that, head a few miles north to lovely Buffalo beach for good swimming and beach relaxing.

Buffalo Beach

Try Drydock for dinner and drinks

Day 13 – Garden route – Tsitkamma National Park

Today you will continue your journey east along the garden route. First stop is Plettenberg bay. The west end is the more developed end but the whole bay is a long expanse of sand. However, do pay attention to whether it is safe to swim as there are quite a few great white sharks along the beaches of this coast. If you have time whale watching boats leave from the central part of the beach.

Stop in the east end of the bay for some nice views back over the beach without the developments.

Note shark warning flag
Plettenburg beach from east end

Leaving Plettenburg continue east. arrive at the entrance for Tsitsikamma National park and follow signs for Storm’s River suspension bridge. The road leads down to a wild coast with some cabins you can rent overlooking the water. There is also a nice 1.5 hour round trip walk to a suspension bridge at the mouth of the Storms River. Mostly it is a boardwalk through forest. If you choose to, after the bridge you can extend your walk up the other side.

Storm River mouth

From here continue another couple hours to Hacklewood hill country house – a lovely victorian estate in a nice suburb of Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) and a great dinner at the hotel.

Day 14 – Drive to Kwandwe

It’s a pretty easy 2 hour drive to Kwandwe. This was a magnificent place – we stayed at the Great Fish River lodge and it was fantastic. A few notes getting there: the lodge will send you directions – which you should follow – as if you plug in Kwandwe or Great Fish in your GPS you will not end up in the right spot. However the directions they sent told us to turn left on R67 after Grahamstown. Problem is name changes – Grahamstown is now Makhanda and once in a while the signs say Grahamstown but mostly its Makhanda. And the town they tell you to head for on R67 is now named something else. You might want to email the lodge to get updated names. About 10 miles after turning left on R67 you’ll see a sign for Kwande and will turn left onto another gravel road. A few miles in is a gate for the reserve – at this point continue straight to the designated check in spot where you will leave your car. Don’t get out on the way in from here lest you are eaten…On arrival you’ll be transferred to the Great Fish lodge – a spectacular property overlooking the Great Fish River. The lodge has a fence to keep out elephants (which did not work that well, on our last day there one got through the fence and was wandering around), but other game (lions included) can roam freely. Follow the instructions about when it is OK to walk to your room and it will be fine.

On arrival grab lunch and then settle in your room. You’ll have a later afternoon game drive. Kwandwe is a 5 star malaria free game reserve of 74,000 acres made up from prior poorly productive farms. It is quite diverse with the river, rolling hills, open grasslands, brush, and water. We were very impressed as we saw virtually every type of animal and the guides, accommodations and food are all top notch. There are only a few properties in the game reserve so it really feels like you have the whole place mostly to yourself – at most there will be only a couple of vehicles at a sighting.

Day 15 – Kwandwe

Today you will have both an am and pm game drive. Before we headed out they had coffee and a light breakfast – before returning to a full (second) breakfast then lunch before heading out for the afternoon / evening game drive, drink and dinner. You will not go hungry.

Day 16- Fly to JBerg

Following a morning game drive and breakfast drive a couple hours back to Port Elizabeth airport, turn in your rental car, and grab a flight to OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg. pick up another car at the airport and drive to Pretoria. We stayed at Castello di Monte in a lovely neighborhood on a hill overlooking Pretoria. Ask the hotel how to get into the neighborhood as it’s all gated and we were not alerted in advance. Very good dinner at hotel.

Day 17, 18, 19 – Pretoria to Madikwe, Jaci’s Tree Lodge

It’s about a 3 hour drive to Madikwe. We stayed at Jaci’s tree lodge near the Molatedi gate on the southern end of the reserve. The lodge will tell you not to use your GPS but if you enter the gate name and not the lodge you should be OK ( the lodge recommended route was not the best).

Unlike Kwandwe, there are quite a few lodges in Madikwe. This is another private reserve that was put together from poorly productive farms. It is on the border with Botswana and due to higher altitude ( about 3000 feet), is also malaria free. There’s a ton of game but more vehicles than at Kwandwe due to more lodges, but it’s still not crowded and the gate viewing is spectacular (one afternoon we saw 11 rhinos for example).

Jaci’s tree lodge is along a river and literally built above the ground on posts – like a treehouse. You walk to you room on elevated walkways through the forest with monkeys and antelope in the area. There is a fence to keep the predators out (unlike Kwandwe), but the baboons don’t seem deterred by the fence and did a “drive by” one morning. Food lodging and service here was also great.

Each morning you will start out bright and early (6am) for a 3-4 hour morning game drive with a break for coffee, then return for breakfast, relax at the lodge, get lunch, then out again at three for an evening game drive, sundown cocktails, and return to the lodge for dinner. During the stay you can hang out at the game blinds near the water hole (tremendous game viewing here as well), or walk on a short trail along the river. 3 nights / 2 full days means plenty of time looking for game and here (like Kwandwe) we saw pretty much everything.

Day 20 – Madwike to JNB

ON your last day you can take another early AM game drive or, depending on when your flight leaves, just head back the 4 hour drive to the airport to begin the long journey home.

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