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Top Things To Do
Climb Table Mountain
Cape Town's famous flat-topped Table Mountain offers glorious views across the Cape peninsula and the city below. But you have to work for them because it's not a walk in the park. The lazy but equally rewarding way is to take the cable car (www.tablemountain.net). Explore the Winelands More than a dozen wine routes tempt you with wine tastings and excellent cuisine in the wine estate restaurants. The views are splendid, with rolling hills and gorgeous old Cape-Dutch mansions. Foreigners love the prices too when they stock up on supplies (www.winelands.co.za) Game drives You can't come to South Africa and not track down the big five: elephant, lion, buffalo, rhino and leopard. They're elusive beasts and the best way to guarantee great sightings is to take a game drive with a ranger. The Kruger National Park is extremely popular (www.krugerpark.co.za). Tracking white or black rhino on foot under the guidance of an expert ranger is also a thrilling experience, but definitely not something to be tried alone. Golf The courses are world class and the weather is a blessing, so golfing fans should certainly pack their clubs. There are hundreds of courses across the country, many in scenic locations, and several designed by one of the greatest golfers of all time, South African Gary Player. Hiking The beautiful South African wilderness is excellent for hiking. Highlights include the Drakensberg mountain trails passing ancient yellowwood trees and Bushmen cave art, and the Otter Trail - a multi-day coastal hike through Tsitsikamma National Park. Several companies offer porters. (www.drakensberg.kzn.org.za) and (www.sanparks.org). Scuba diving The KwaZulu-Natal coast offers superb conditions for underwater exploration. Stunning Sodwana Bay near Durban is a popular base for reef dives among turtles and tropical fish, while Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks further south are superb for sharks and wrecks. Shark-diving Adrenalin junkies can have a close encounter of the scary kind with shark diving operators. Don your breathing equipment and get lowered in steel cage into great white shark territory. Dyer Island in the Western Cape is their favourite hunting ground with a plethora of penguins, seals and game fish. Surfing You can take to the waves at Jeffrey's Bay near Port Elizabeth, which is home to Supertubes - considered by some surfers as the world's best right hand point break. (www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za). Township tour Join a guided tour of a township, the areas where blacks were forcibly relocated to during apartheid, to experience the vibrancy and sense of community. Tours run from most major cities; Soweto in Johannesburg and Cape Town's Cape Flats are most popular. Whale-watching Southern Right Whales migrate along the south coast every winter, from around June until September. The best place to watch them from is Hermanus, which hosts an annual Whale Festival (www.whalefestival.co.za). They come so close to shore you can view from your hotel window. |
