From Cape Town to Johannesburg in three weeks
4,000 miles and 21 days, countless hours on the road and three football games in stadiums at the World Cup. Stunning natural attractions, memorable animal encounters and enjoyable evenings under the southern hemisphere. The tour of South Africa has been one of my most amazing trips and of course my great travel buddy Basso over the years also made it great!
Arrival in Cape Town
My first contact with Africa was anything I could have ever imagined. Cape Town Airport was not received by a hot humid evening in Africa but by a clear starry sky in the bitter frost of a couple of degrees. On the way to the accommodation, the suitability of the travel equipment was considered a few times, but arriving at the Hostel’s room was a harsh encounter nonetheless. The windows of the accommodation were traditional Finnish balcony glass, so under the cover of the couple I got a good night’s sleep in a thick shirt and long leggings. The bass slept nights with a beanie on and gloves on.
Even though the nights were cold, the temperature during the day in Cape Town could rise to about twenty degrees. The temperature was good so much in June that it wasn’t too hot to explore the sights of Cape Town.
Cape Town is a great place to start exploring Africa.
Public transport at zero
On the first morning, we quickly stated that it was not worth living up to public transport in Cape Town. A former German race surfer who hosted our accommodation suggested renting a car from one of his acquaintances. We booked rental car from economybookings.com .
Toyota under and tour Cape Town.
World Cup
The first program number was to pick up tickets to qualify for the FIFA World Cup games at your local Ticket Office. I had a pretty successful lottery result myself, as I got tickets to six games in total. We ended up with three of these games, as South Africa’s long transitions and game day schedules would not have allowed us to see all the games properly. Three games on site and a combined South African Tour with safaris in Kruger National Park sounded the most attractive option.
In Cape Town we went to see two games. In the first match, England and Algeria snorted a zero-to-zero draw, and the entertainment value of the game did not rise to any oddity. The much-lauded English fans with their songs were as icy as Wayne Roone and partners on a cool evening in Cape Town.
In the second match, Portugal, starring Christian Ronaldo, won one of the most interesting teams in the tournament, North Korea. The goals were seen in the second half at the pace that after the tournament, some of the North Korean players have not heard a word after a 0-7 loss.
The location of Cape Town Stadium was really great and was conveniently reached on foot from the Waterfront harbor and entertainment district. The atmosphere on the game days was excellent and both the food and drink side worked great in the restaurants despite the large crowds.
The South African Games are remembered above all for their vuvuzela.
The best pieces of Cape Town
Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and there is plenty to do for a longer holiday. Five days was quite convenient for us, as we had time to tour the sights of both Cape Town itself and the nearby Cape Peninsula during the travel days.
I have written several different postings about Cape Town, so you can read about them in the best pieces of the city behind the following links:
- Top 10 Things to Do in Cape Town by Destination World
- Conquest of the Table Mountain by hiking by Destination World
- Robben Island – Excursion to Nelson Mandela Prison Island by Destination World
- Cape Peninsula – The absolute highlight of the Cape Town area by destination in the world
- Boulders Beach – a penguin beach full of destinations in the world
The best thing about Cape Town is its nature.
Hiking went to the top of Table Mountain.
The colorful houses in the Muslim district of Bo-Kaap are magnificent to look at.
The Robben Island prison tour was held by former prisoners.
South Africa Tour by Baz Bus
Before the trip, we thought about what would be the best way to get around South Africa. Instead of a rental car, we ended up with a fairly easy solution, a company called Baz Bus, whose minibuses run from Cape Town to Johannesburg on schedule. Hostels act as stops on the route, so it is easy to book accommodation at the same time. Sure, the World Cup in football raised the prices of accommodation in the race cities quite a bit during the game days, but otherwise the accommodation was quite affordable. Since there are no transports between cities every day, the route needs to be timed quite carefully if there is a clear destination for when to be at the final destination. That’s why we had decided on our own route exactly in advance,
- Baz Bus (official site)
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Cape Peninsula Tour by Baz Bus
The Baz Bus ticket also included a day tour of Cape Peninsula. That is why we already took part in the guided tour during the days we spent in Cape Town and did not go on a tour with our own rental car. On the guided tour we saw all the best pieces of the Cape Peninsula and the whole was quite rewarding with its mountain bike rides and morning seal safaris.
Garden Route – South Africa’s most famous scenic route
From Cape Town we headed for Knysna, which is halfway between South Africa’s most famous landscape route, the so-called Garden Route. One of its wonders is that no one knows where it starts and where it ends. But officially, it’s about a 300-mile stretch from Mossel Bay to the Storms River. On the other hand, equally unofficially, it is a 900-kilometer stretch from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. Despite the way the route is defined, in the middle of the Garden Route you will find Knysna, which is quite a popular holiday town with its natural attractions.
Equally, we jumped aboard the Hyacea and naturally went all the way through the unofficial and official Garden Route and just over 2,000 miles on it for safety.
The Garden Route as a whole is a fairly well maintained road and many travelers to Cape Town connect it to this magnificent scenic route by rental car. And no wonder, because it can be shaved comfortably in three days, but two weeks is by no means too much for it. Since we had bigger plans ahead, we actually used the Garden Route for six days.
The greenery of the garden path.
Stunning scenery and hut villages follow one another in an endless stream along the Garden Route.
Garlic snails, dark beer and filling in Knysna
Less than 500 kilometers of hair was the first leg of the Baz Bus from Cape Town to Knysna. The accommodation proved to be suitable and the center of Knysna was a short walk away. Where in Cape Town we were always in the car, in Knysna we somehow got excited to take small turns while moving on the apostolic ride.
Snails € 3.5, beer € 1.5 and Guinness € 2. Granted, tourist prices. Maybe an entire gazelle for the same money tomorrow? It then took a little ascent to get in tune for tomorrow’s bike ride. Did you know Facebook to tell about the evening in Knysna.
The first night in Knysna was casually taken at a local.
Knysna – East Head View Point
The morning dawned sunny and we set out to enjoy the stunning scenery of Knysna by renting the villas. As a direction, we took East Head View Point, which was less than ten miles away after a small ascent on a cliff. The viewpoint is quite magnificent at the narrow mouth of a small bay, from which the next ground is the icy Antarctic. The scenery was really spectacular and we still went to sea level to get the smoothing out of Coca-Colat East Head Café enjoying the scenery of Knysna Heads. On the way back to Knysna we still stopped at the local market. I wondered how to store mountain bikes without a lock, but a couple of merchants promised to take care of them during our market tour. We bought a few handicrafts from the stalls of these merchants as gifts and their assistants carried our bikes through the market to drive us home.
Although Knysna had an excellent trip the night before (at least for the two of us), we decided to go to bed in time and prepare for tomorrow’s drive to the Storms River.
The intention was to cycle as far as Antarctica, but the road ended at Knysna Heads.
Skillful crafts made from recycled materials were for sale at the markets.
Storms River and Tsitsikamma National Park
The Storms River is literally in the middle of nothing surrounded by the stunning scenery of Tsitsikamma National Park. For those who like active holidays, the Storms River is a real heaven, with adrenaline-raising adventures in addition to great nature walks. The world’s highest bungee jumping spot, sledge adventures from one tree top to another, rubber tire floats and memorable nature trails.
The most famous of the nature trails is The Otter Trail, where you have to book a permit up to a year in advance. Still no worries, the first kilometers can be walked without permission.
Port Elizabeth football terms
Port Elizabeth was one of those destinations where we stopped there just because of football. There were their own challenges in getting there, as the Baz Bus service ran from Storms River every couple of days and no other public transport is available. Therefore, the itinerary was to go to Port Elizabeth the night before the game on a Baz Bus ride.
Buses come and go, we went. With the meter 190 km to Port Elizabeth to make it to tomorrow’s game kuitenkin However, we arrived before midnight when Malin Mika Häkkinen weighed 160 km in a glass all the way on a black African night. It was a different Midsummer Friday, remembering at least the rest of his life.
From the morning up and we left our hotel for a walk along the seafront boulevard to the city center. We visited a few attractions and visited the hotel before the main event of the day. Uruguay vs. South Korea The playoffs were tight, but this time instead of biting his ear, Luis Suárez shot two goals and thus Uruguay cleared himself in the quarterfinals against Ghana.
Port Elizabeth’s waterfront boulevard was filled with race vendors.
On a sunny day, it was nice to tour the city while waiting for tonight’s game.
Loius Suárez took Uruguay to the next with two goals in the evening in Port Elizabeth.
Via Durban to St. Lucia
Now that the World Cup in the form of matches had been patted on the spot for us, it was time to go looking for nature and, above all, animal experiences in South Africa. Normally Durban would have been of interest for a couple of days, but now it was just a place to stay after the first 900 kilometers. Our hostel, whose name I don’t even want to remember now, has proven to be the toughest accommodation I’ve ever had. On top of all that, it was expensive because it was game day in Durban.
The heavy rain in the center of Durban really didn’t mind the city, as the city is one of the most dangerous in the world anyway. It was also in our hostel with big holes on the floor and rain flooding in from the building’s open downtown courtyard. Naturally, the big cockroaches moving on the floor didn’t make you feel better, so we thought we’d get over this with a few beers overnight. In the morning we were really brisk waiting for a ride towards St.Lucia.
Between Port Elizabeth and Durban provided a touch of South African countryside and small villages.
Nelson Rolihlahla in Mandela’s birthplace in Mvezo.
Durban was inexperienced, but with such long road trips, time is simply not enough everywhere.
St. Lucia – a paradise for the nature bongar
St. Lucia is one of the most amazing natural sites in South Africa. The really small village hides really wonderful natural sites around it, which few Finns have even heard of. For safari seekers, Hluhluwe iMolozi Park is an oasis, but we were more interested in iSimangaliso Wetland Park’s hippos and crocodiles. In addition to these, the abundant bird population and the mouth of the St. Lucia River offer a unique place in the world – namely, it is the only place where hippos, crocodiles and sharks live in the same area. That is, nothing more than a canoe to inspect the three…
A hippo 10 m away, a crocodile 5 m away or a shark 2 m away doesn’t feel anywhere, but a big-toed-sized cockroach a meter away gets skin on chicken. Yes, the scariest animals on the trip were experienced in a moldy hostel in Durban, but it was overcome by lining itself inside the Duvet Cover and pulling the quick turns.
Near St. Lucia, we also got to know the locals living in their clay houses and whatever we talk about these excursions, I claim our dances have provided local residents with as much of an excursion as we learn from their local culture.
An evening walk on the outskirts of the village of St. Lucia, watching the hippopotamus with its chicks a few tens of meters away, made you feel like you were on a small planet. Great experiences and one of the best evening walks in my life.
St. Luciasta Swazimaahan
Swaziland was the so-called a mandatory stop on the way to Nelspruit, the gateway to one of Africa’s most famous national parks, the Kruger National Park. In Swaziland, we admired large agricultural areas with really wide agricultural machinery. It was a little annoying that there was no opportunity to spend more than one night in Swaziland, as there would also have been great destinations with animal bonga opportunities. The schedules were what it was, so it was time to continue straight to Nelspruit. There was one mandatory break before the Kruger’s four-day excursion, so we dedicated it to a tour of the mall.
In Nelspruit we took a taxi to a big mall and bought the rest of the gifts from there home. Personally, I don’t buy any gifts for myself or for the people on the trips, but of course it is nice to take some gifts home for longer trips.
While South Africa’s main roads are in excellent condition, the side roads are already just about anything.
In Swaziland, large agricultural machines were visible along the road.
A one-night stopping tactic on a transit journey from Swaziland back to South Africa.
Three Rondevels and Blyde River Canyon
The ticket we bought from the Baz Bus concept also included a four-day safari trip to Kruger National Park, starting at Nelspruit and ending in Johannesburg. In practice, the first day of this trip was a tour of the landscape attractions near the Kruger National Park and the next two days a tour of the bonga in the southern part of the Kruger National Park. On the fourth morning there was still a morning safari, after which the journey continued towards Johannesburg.
So before we got to see the animals in the Kruger, we got to know one of South Africa’s most popular scenic attractions. The program for the day included Three Rondevels and Blyde River Canyon, the third largest canyon in the world. The scenery was undeniably stunning, though little by little the thoughts began to flow towards the Kruger fauna and the semi-finals of the evening. We would have had tickets for the Netherlands vs Brazil match, but we were content to look at it 1,500 miles north of our bar.
Bourke’s Luck Potholes is full of interesting water-shaped rock depressions.
Three Rondavels – a stunning natural attraction.
Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world.
Kruger National Park
The two and a half days in the Kruger National Park were stunning. Actually, you could say that the most rewarding days of my life are ever traveling. Afterwards, I have found that safaris are the best that can be in tourism. Great nature experiences and wildlife close by. After a wonderful safari day, a few glasses of red wine under the southern hemisphere staring at the orbit – that sight will never be forgotten! Nor is it the feeling of trying to take a picture of the hyena between the electric barbed wire as it flew a meter back from the shock to its ass. The camera was preserved, and later fertility was also observed.
The Big Five, the five largest animals, became spotted: the African elephant, the rhino, the lion, the leopard, and the buffalo. In addition to numerous other fascinating animals, really just not seeing the cheetah was a little annoying. But not sweet on a full stomach.
Johannesburg and Soweto
After the bonga of Kruger and the leopard last morning, it was time to continue our journey towards the end of our journey to Johannesburg. Jo´burg is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, and in fact there were no special points of interest for us. In contrast, we spent our last day of travel on a very interesting day trip to Soweto, which was an explosive focal point during apartheid politics. The Soweton (South West Township) round really showed the dichotomy of South Africa. Truly stunning villas and glorious almost mansions, but counterbalanced by townships without electricity and running water.
Hector Pieterson and the Apartheid Museum
We visited two really impressive museums. Hector Pieterson was a thirteen-year-old boy whose shooting began with really large riots leading to the breakdown of apartheid. If there was a monument to Hector Pieterson and the museum impressive, then it was still in the power of two Aparheid museums. The very starting point, with Basso and I getting tickets from different gates and traveling our own time apart in the museum, was the most impressive experience ever in any museum.
After the museum tour, we visited another residential area without electricity and water. Our Soweto guide was not allowed to enter the area, but was being received by a resident of the local area. The ethics of these rounds are contemplated from time to time, but all our money went directly to improving the living conditions of the locals. The crown of the tour was an illegal bar we asked to get a beer. Our guide wondered a little bit if that was even possible, but we were very well received by the locals. It was great to learn the traditional greetings seen by white men only in American movies. There were guests of honor and seats were obtained from the only table in the illegal bar. Although our first job had to answer a rather strict question – Haka, Honka or HJK?
Our last destination on the South African tour was an old gold mine where we descended 225 meters below the surface of the earth. It was shocking to see with my own eyes the conditions in which gold miners once had to work. At the same time, there was an amusement park whose equipment was not overcrowded. We actually got as a private ride to ride a few laps on the roller coasters before returning to our accommodation. It was no longer time to travel home via Amsterdam to bounce to Finland.
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