Send to KindleA fabulous venue in a popular town… we are delighted to offer our site visitors the opportunity to win a Two Night Getaway at Langebaan Country Estate in Langebaan.
Win a Two Night Getaway at Langebaan Country Estate in Langebaan… Continued
Send to KindleWhen CNN starts to refer to Johannesburg as a ‘hipster hangout’, GQ magazine calls it the ‘cool capital of the southern hemisphere’, and the BBC describes how Johannesburg has changed ‘from no-go to gotta-go’, then you know things are changing.
The perception of Jo’burg as a crime-ridden and turbulent city best avoided has done an about-face.
Only ten years ago the average travel blog suggested, none too subtly, that you use the city of gold merely as a launching pad to head either into the bush, or to the very tip of the country where, it was hoped, the beaches would detract from Johannesburg’s downtown, described as a ‘no-go area of high-rise slums, violent crime and streets filled with trash’.
So, what’s happened to Johannesburg? Continued
Send to KindleDon’t miss our favourite 5 historical buildings, homes and churches on Kalk Bay’s main drag!
Ask anyone and they’ll tell you Kalk Bay is one of the most delightful seaside fishing villages on Cape Town’s False Bay.
On weekends traffic along Main Road is backed up virtually to Muizenberg by 1pm as people forget how popular it is (and about the never-ending Stop Go at Glencairn).
Parking is severely limited along the narrow mountain hugging main road (despite the improvements) and Kalk Bay’s narrow, cobbled alleyways accommodate very few (additional) cars – residents already park on the road.
Catch the train? Yes, we’d advise it.
We’d also recommend that when next in Kalk Bay you have a clear view of where it is you’re going to avoid the we’re-here-now-what crowd that mills around the centre of Kalk Bay.
A plan like Kalk Bay’s historical walk … Continued
Send to KindleMany books have been written about South Africa.
It may lie on the southernmost tip of the African continent, but it’s attracted a fair amount of attention since 1994 for numerous reasons – political and otherwise.
This list of 10 best non-fiction books about South Africa does not include Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom (we assume you’ve read that). Here, instead, are some you’ll know and others about which you won’t.
All of them are worth reading … Continued
Send to KindleA flamingo is a flamingo, is a flamingo. Plenty of these birds around. Flamingo shmingo, I hear you say?
But would you be quite so dismissive if you knew that the graceful lesser flamingo is a Near Threatened bird?
You find these light pink birds mostly in Africa, where they are said to congregate in huge numbers at Lake Natron (northern Tanzania), the Etosha Pan (Namibia), Sua Pan (Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana) and the Kamfers Dam, just north of Kimberley, in South Africa.
Lesser flamingos spend their lives cruising between the saline lakes of Africa in search of spirulina algae, which must have as much of a positive effect as it claims to have on humans as the average five pound bird lives more than 50 years in the wild… Continued
Send to KindleA boutique hotel is a small, stylish hotel typically found in a fashionable part of a city.
Originally the term described small hotels in the centre of large cities, like London and Berlin, but today it characterises an intimate set-up, usually a small selection of rooms with a distinctive personality and style.
Although many bigger hotels now add ’boutique’ to their description in a bid to sound distinctive, the term used correctly describes an intimate, independent hotel of few rooms that feature themed décor.
We share 10 of the best Cape Town boutique hotels. We’ve selected those that have a certain designer flair, that stand out above the rest. We loved the first and last, and so will you… Continued
Send to KindleOnly 48 hours in Cape Town – What to see and where to go in Cape Town – we give you the low-down.
With the rand at an all time low, now is the time to visit! A plan to enjoy the Mother City could pursue any of the following: from sipping wine and browsing farmers’ markets, to heading up the famous Table, followed by a sedate drive along the Cape peninsula… Continued
Send to KindleLucy Campbell’s myth-busting, grassroots, warts-and-all account of the little recognised pre-1652 founding of Cape Town, and the trauma of slavery, is a meaningful educational experience that few visitors can afford to overlook.
‘Cape Town’, says Lucy, her grey dreadlocks loosely held by an orange floral scarf, her hands painting the air in front of her as she passionately engages her audience, ‘is a prime indigenous African-Indian-Asian-Eastern must-stop destination, home to the most diverse community in the world.’
This, she explains, is all of our history. White or black… Continued
Send to KindleSouth Africa’s Sunshine Coast claims the highest number of sunshine hours per annum in the country, which is quite a claim, given that the sun seems to shine any time, anywhere in South Africa. So what makes the Sunshine Coast so special?
For starters its 450 km coastline combines some 10 rivers and lagoons, blue flag beaches, malaria-free game reserves, a rich cultural history, first-rate birding and the only national park in the country to host the Big 7.
Sound like your kind of place?
The Sunshine Coast lies between Tsitsikamma and East London, a coastline that is a favourite both with adventurers and those after a more sedate break. It remains largely unspoiled; somewhere you can still find a bolthole with little effort. There aren’t many places you can say that about with any authenticity these days … Continued
Send to KindleDriven with the wind in your sails, you can get to Namibia from Cape Town in just over eight hours, if you’re prepared to forego lunch or any of the attractions vying for your attention along the way.
But you could treat the 890 km (more like 1500 km if you’re intent on Windhoek) route as a road trip and do it in a more leisurely fashion, savouring the chance to explore the nether regions of South Africa’s north western hinterland.
Most people take the N7 north but off this are numerous highways and byways that if you are prepared to explore, using the N7 as the skeleton of your route, give you plenty to see and do before you come to the border with Namibia.
Perfect time to travel: Winter. Cape Town has been experiencing unseasonably warm, windless and dry winters with day time temperatures around 18 degrees, making it balmy and conducive to outdoor living… Continued
Send to KindleClarence Drive is one of the most stunning coastal drives in the world. It’s every bit as exciting as Chapman’s Peak, without the cost of the toll.
Forming part of Route 44 Clarence Drive hugs an incredibly scenic portion of the coast just south east of Cape Town, connecting the seaside towns of Rooi Els and Betty’s Bay – the Hottentot Hollands Mountains on one side, the ocean on the other.
Seventy seven bends, numerous wide curves and a couple of sharp corners – with plenty of opportunity to pull over, hop out of your vehicle and survey the beauty of what lies before you (including whales during winter) – makes up one of the flattest ‘mountain passes’ you’ll ever drive… Continued
Send to KindleOnly an hour and a half’s drive from Cape Town, Hermanus hugs Walker Bay every bit like a mother who has perfected the art of the embrace – gently, but without any attachment – so that its waters appeal to a group of whales who return, year-upon-year, to mate and calve in these waters.
Being animals they’re unperturbed by ideas anyone on land has about their presence in these waters, and so they keep largely offshore until it suits them – usually around September – to coincide with the annual Whale Festival.
Hermanus draws huge crowds of people anywhere between July and October. If it’s calm and the sun is out you can guarantee that town is humming. Which only adds to its allure… Continued
Send to KindleIf, like me, you don’t know your acidity from your aero press, or your burr grinder from your percolation method, look no further.
I’m bringing myself (and you) quickly up to speed with the latest coffee jargon (there are only so many times I can roll my eyes and affect nonchalance when colleagues speak coffee).
But first, a list of the top spots in Cape Town to find robust, high-quality Craft Coffee in Cape Town… Continued
Send to KindleIt’s no secret. South Africans regard their country as the Adventure Capital of the World.
And for good reason – we’ve the world’s highest commercial bridge bungee jump, the world’s only crocodile cage-diving, we free dive with tiger sharks, swim with Cape fur seals, cage dive with great whites, hike in Big Five territory, abseil off Table Mountain, kayak with crocodiles and boast an Extreme 19th hole (accessible only by helicopter) on one of our signature golf courses (we’ll leave it up to you to find out where!).
And that’s only the highlights we managed to fit in one paragraph…
But you might not know about the Northern Cape as an adventure destination. This region, best known for its desert landscapes, red sand dunes, nature reserves and springtime flowers, is such that once you’ve visited, you are inexplicably drawn to return.
Send to KindleThe winter whale watching season is upon us!
From early July until October every year the Southern Right Whale makes the Cape shoreline of South Africa its nursery. Whales come to warmer waters (from the icy waters further north) to mate, give birth and nurse their young.
Whilst you can catch a glimpse of them all the way from the West Coast up to Storms River Mouth, the best part of the coastline to spot them is known as the Cape Whale Coast. Continued
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