South Africa Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

This is Tuesday afternoon. I am currently lounging on the outdoor terrace of my hotel—the Holiday Inn Maputo. It is one of the few better hotels that sit right on the beach. Writing this journal is difficult, because I am constantly being distracted by the beautiful beach sprawled out before me. Maputo is a very poor city, though you would never know it from this viewpoint. This morning we had more orientation meetings, but the rest of the day is now free time. I will be traveling to ...

May 30th The feelings I experienced while stepping off the plane for the first time in Africa were quite overwhelming. It was my 5th continent to visit and I was ready to explore with my Lonely Planet guide in my hand (even though I was incredibly jet lagged)! I could not stop looking out the window of my coach on the way to the hotel. Durban was a very green city. It was a delight to see so much land presently uncultivated. The city was made up of a province called KwaZulu-Natal, which w...

Our last bit of sightseeing.  Today we set out on a trip to Cape Point, that in the summer would be fantastic, but we unfortunately didn't pick the right day for it. Our guide first of all took us to a place on the coast  - Hout Bay - where we could go on a boat to a little island to see seals.  There were nine of us on the bus, and nobody moved - we felt sea sick just looking at the swell today.  Next stop was a penguin colony, and thankfully on land.  Several thousa...

We landen in Johannesburg. Het is zonnig en warm (tussen de 20 en 25˚C). We stappen niet uit via de welbekende slurf, maar komen via een trap op het asfalt terecht en worden met bussen naar de terminal gebracht. Terwijl we in de rij staan voor de douane stuur ik een sms naar huis om te laten weten dat alles goed is. Als we onze koffer opgehaald hebben, wat erg snel gaat, kriskrassen we tussen de honderden moslims in jurken met hun ontzettend lompgrote bagage naar voren, waar we worden o...

I almost didn't go up it... if i knew what iwas going to miss out on i would have been so upset! Table mountain is absolutely spectacular, its a national park and has all sorts of interesting plants and lizards and things. at one point, when i was the only person on the footpath for ages, i actually got stopped by a lizard who was crossing the path to grab a fly. it was really funny, then it just sort of scuttled off. And the view is phenomenal. When i was up there it was partly clear and par...

After being picked up by Johan, our tourleader, we first drop our luggage at the hotel in one of the suburbs of Johannesburg. We're told not to go downtown, because it is very unsafe. Since we're only staying here for one night, there's no time for that anyway. In the afternoon our bus takes us to the South Western Township (Soweto). This getto houses 3.5 to 4 million "swartes" (black people) and until mid 1980's there was no electricity here. Although that it is said not to be wise to wander...

We spent several days touring Krueger National Park. The wildlife was everywhere!

So we are finally here and finally on our way to our adventures. After a delayed 11 hour flight we arrived in Cape Town a bit bleery eyed to be greeted by drizzle- we could have been in England! We got through immigration smoothly and then made our way to the hostel driven by a bus driver who didn't have a clue where he was going and proceeded to smoke and look at the map while he was driving! The Hostel is amazing, really beautiful with grand stair cases and lovely rooms. Its really close t...

The Rainbow Nation is a country with a big diversity of people, climates and environments. With 11 official languages, 9 of which are African (the other 2 are English and Afrikaans), this country also has a large Indian community.This diversity of people is one aspect that I really appreciated in South Africa when I lived there for 8 years. I was staying in Johannesburg, not the nicest and safest place in the country, but I enjoyed it. This is where most of the business is concentrated&n...

I managed to find my way to Bloemfontein after a 20 hour bus ride and was met at the bus station by one of the tug pilots from Soaring Safaris.  We quickly made our way out to the Tempe Gliding Club field where I found my new home for the next week, a camper with a bright new blanket and sheets courtesy of Dieter, who at that time was high above somewhere with Johannes, his Austrian co-pilot for the past week.  I wasn't sure what to expect for the upcoming week there as I was basica...

I was introduced to TravBuddy through Shaun-milltownmeadow -last fall. I registered and immediately was welcomed to this travel community by David and Sylvia. It's  a friendly community of people willing to answer any questions, give recommendations and share their travel adventures and pictures. I recently returned from  a month in South Africa. While researching my trip, I contacted TravBuddies in the areas I would be going through. What I was asking for were things like- where t...

In January this year (2007) I was finally able to pack my bags and head for Africa. I spend 6 wonderful weeks down there together with an american friend. South Africa have so much: great people, beautiful nature, wildlife, interesting history, interesting culture.. and the list goes on.

What a place to see with the wild life. My daughter fell in love with the baby lion cubs. The nautre is so peacefuland surine.

This was a beautiful place to watch the sun set. table mountain was stunning as the city sat below it. The sand was clean, but the water was very cold. People were out doing this thing called kite surfing. Was the most interesting thing to see. We watched as these guys jumped way up into the air over crashing waves and land with out a hitch. There were a few who took some natsy spills, but it was like watching a ballet on the water. There was a rainbow off in the distance, hard to capture o...

Had a good sleep, though the Thai green curry I had the day before didn't satisfy me.  I doesn't taste anything like the Thai green curry in  Bangkok .. I was about to go out of my room ready to check out when I received a call from my Korean friend So ... the flight is cancelled .. I was speechless because I need to be back before weekend in Abu Dhabi to be able to process my UK visa .. I asked her again .. You're kidding me right? .. And she asked me if I received any letter from ...