Area Information
Cape Town is a beautiful city. The best time of the year to visit is between November and April. Cape Town has a winter rainfall and so although the winter temperatures are not severe - they can be really wet.
Wine Region If you are interested in wine, the wine tasting areas are situated about 40mins outside of Cape Town. Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschoek all have fantastic wine tours and some good hotels and B&B's. Constantia is in the Southern Suburbs, about 20mins from downtown and the waterfront area and also boasts wonderful wine farms and accommodations. It is one of the wealthiest areas in Cape Town and is very beautiful. The beaches are superb! Great for beach activities, surfing, tanning, volleyball, penguin watching, deep sea fishing andÊshark cage diving. Cape Town has some great mountain ranges - including Table Mountain, which overshadows the city. Kirstenbosch - the botanical gardens are set on the side of Table Mountain and throughout the Summer months there are music concerts offered - outside on picnic blankets + baskets.Ê There are also fantastic hikes available.
Many visitors to SA are interested in seeing the Townships - this is where the majority of black people live. Many people came into the city to find work and could not afford to live in the city, so settlement arose - with houses made of anything people could find to make them out of. Nowdays there is subsidised housing from the Government with fresh water and sewerage facilities - there are educational tours offered to many of the Townships. Much of their exported bead work and grasswork is made in the township and the funds from these go directly back into the community.
We recommend spending at least 4 nights in Cape Town. This will give you time to visit the wine region, tour the Cape Peninsula - The Cape of Good Hope (Where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet), The penguins in Simonstown, the city, the townships, Robin Island (Where Nelson Mandela was detained and now a fantastic monument to tour). The waterfront is a great place to stay - offers good shopping and restaurants as well as marvellous views of Table Mountain. There are also many good golf courses and with the dollar exchange rate golf is pretty affordable in SA.Ê
(In the spring - visits to Namaqualand are very popular - this is an area of the country, north west of Cape Town that has amazing wild flowers.)
Another popular experience in Cape Town - is dining out "with a South African family!" There are families who open their houses to travelers, and they can enjoy a traditional South African meal and meet a South African family. These families are approved by the Tourism board.
The Garden Route is very popular. It is the stretch of coast between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth (about 8 hours total drive). This is a good option if you are interested in the ocean and seeing magnificent coast line. It is pretty similar to the coast south of San Francisco.
The game farming/safari area of South Africa is in the province of Mpumalanga - in the North Eastern Corner of South Africa. Kruger Park is the state park and then there are a number of private parks that border Kruger Park and each other. There are no fences between any of them and so the animals roam freely over a huge space of land. Kruger Park alone is the size of Israel. All private parks offer the same services (5 * accommodation, full board, 2 game drives daily and a guided bush walk in the afternoon. Tea and snacks througout the day. - many offer Boma dinners and champagne breakfasts in the park. South African safari's are very different than those of Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The grass and bush are very different.
The area of Mpumalanga offers other fantastic venues. The Blyde River Canyon (3rd largest in the world) and Bourkes Luck Pot Holes. Activities in this area range from White Water rafting, Zip Lining, Caving, Abseiling, hiking, horse back riding etc. Pilgrims Rest is an old mining town and very historic.
If you are interested in touring Swaziland, it is about 5 hours from Mpumalanga by car. The Victoria Falls are Spectacular! Unfortunately because of the civil war in Zimbabwe, people may prefer to visit the Zambian side of the Falls. The Royal Livingstone hotel is a beautiful property that is situated on the foot of the Zambezi River and frequently has elephant and hippo roaming the property. Zimbabwe has more choice for hotels - but I am not sure how you feel about supporting Zimbabwe and President Mugabe! Activities at the falls include, White Water rafting, helicopter ride over the falls, bungy jumping, sunset cruise on the Zambezi, canoeing the ZambeziÊand game drives.
We recommend spending as little as possible time in Johannesburg, unless you are very interested in gold! It is a large urban city with nothing unique to visit but is the start point for an excursion to Victoria Falls.
General Info on travel to South Africa