Off the Beaten Track South Africa Vacation

The classic Cape Town day trip is to go south to the Cape of Good Hope with a stop to see penguins along the way. While the drive is beautiful, the road is constantly full of traffic. If you leave Cape Town to the north, the roads are empty. Wilderness extends on either side of the highway with sand dunes that tumble about while springbok hopping around. This region is known as the West Coast, and tours are only just beginning. You will travel here with a private guide today, and your first stop will be a view across Table Bay from a deserted beach.

Next, you will delve into the wilderness and learn all about the history of the San people in the Cape. A San bushman will be your guide, and they will show you the basics of bush survival and a history of animal tracking. Your afternoon will be dedicated to Darling, which is a charming, whitewashed town that seems frozen in time. You will visit the brewery, discover the craft boutiques, and then learn how theater was used to challenge apartheid some 30 years ago. You can then stop at some white beaches for a West Coast sunset on your return journey to the city.

Woodstock was a gray area during apartheid, meaning there were no laws on who could live there. From this multicultural history, it has evolved into Cape Town’s multicultural hub. You will walk its streets this morning from mural to mural on a street art tour. Markets and locally owned boutiques will sit proudly between the often politically-based graffiti. It can take a few hours to explore it all, including a stop to discover craft chocolate. Woodstock and the nearby Observatory possess South African multiculturalism, and you can then compare today’s tour with your impressions of central Cape Town, where the streets reflect a wider African diaspora.

There will be some time to explore central Cape Town this afternoon, or you can choose to visit the beach instead. It was only five years ago when the Langa township was a prohibited area after dark. That has changed due to entrepreneurial women who have converted their homes into restaurants. Here, you can indulge in the full township dining experience from an insight into a local home to joyous chefs who serve up rich platters of home-cooked food. South Africa’s townships remain off the beaten track, and they offer very authentic experiences that are far away from the tourism of places like the V & A Waterfront. Many visitors find them to be the premier, cultural highlight of their vacation.

Johannesburg has been reinventing itself. Not that long ago, the city center was out of bounds, and businesses fled to the suburbs. Art and popup stores have changed this, and now central Johannesburg is providing a canvas for expression and coming together. You will fly to South Africa’s largest city, and a community guide will show you around with stops at the Maboneng Precinct and a huge re-imagined warehouse. You will be staying to the west of the city at a dreamy guesthouse that has an old Nelson Mandela tale. This was where the former president stayed when in the city, and even the dinner menu honors his past.

Traveling further west from here, you will soon be out in the bushveld. Vast, green pastures stretch out as the cityscape fades. Here, Incredible histories are buried in the ground, and the story goes back to the beginning of humankind. Some 40% of humanoid fossils that have been discovered in the world have been found here. They paint a story of human evolution, and you may be able to imagine life here so many millennia ago. At the Cradle of Humankind, there is also a silence to contrast the city, and after some very intimate local experiences, you will now find space to slow down and reflect on your South African vacation.

Soweto is another of the country’s surprising locales. This enormous township was at the heart of the anti-apartheid struggle with Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu having lived on the same street. Some parts of Soweto are now relatively affluent, and everywhere remains packed with colorful and vibrant street life. You will spend your day, exploring with a Soweto local and starting at the Apartheid Museum. Traveling through enchanting streets of change, you will be able to sense how history is blurring into a positive tomorrow. You will meet with the people, share moments on the streets, and sample their local cuisine. When daytime turns into evening, you can stay in Soweto because the township is now much safer than it once was.

Amazingly, that Hluhluwe-iMfolozi remains off the beaten track. Destinations like Soweto and Langa were once off bounds, so they are only just opening up to tourism, and places like the West Coast were mostly unknown. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is Africa’s oldest protected area. The world has known about it since the 19th century, and now in the 21st century, it is home to over 1,000 white rhinos and a fabulous collection of African animals. Luckily for you, the park is mostly ignored in favor of the Kruger and Sabi Sands. You will think that this is a good thing because to explore such a park and not see other vehicles is truly special.

Hluhluwe-iMfolozi has similar wildlife to the Kruger but is less than 10% of the size. It also does not have the exclusive private reserves that are famous in the Kruger such as the Sabi Sands. The accommodation will place you center stage in the wildlife show, and sounds and smells will drift through canvas walls, alerting you to animals that are grazing near your hotel. From your camp, you can gaze across the rolling savannah and watch elephants and rhinos wander past you. Then, you will be immersed, and the safari will take place at every second of the day. So, check-in, get a glimpse of the wildlife on a game drive and slowly absorb South Africa’s safari secrets.

Animals will announce the arrival of each coming day. Birds may sing poetically as buffalos emit sonorous grunts. Opening the curtains, you may see a giraffe on the horizon, and while drinking coffee, you can watch an elephant herd as it wanders slowly to water. Your camp will be elevated and away from the watering holes and predators. This is an area that is enjoyed by kudu, zebra, wildebeest, and other antelope. After watching some of these around the camp, you will spend the morning on a game drive in search of the big cats and biggest mammals. You may witness a lion pride as the males protect their territories with boisterous roars. Within the trees, you may even be able to catch a glimpse of a leopard and a pack of wild dogs.

As the mist clears and blue skies emerge, you will start to see the hyenas. It is at this time when other cats return to their hiding spots, but the hyenas are continually on the move, which makes for some precious moments upon the savannah. Giants like elephants and giraffe are easy to find, so your safari guide will probably focus on some of the smaller creatures such as the very graceful nyala. While the predators are not as abundant as in Kruger, the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi rhino population is otherworldly. They have had wonderful conservation success, and you will get up close and personal with many white rhinos. On some drives, you can see over a dozen of these critically endangered animals.

Today, you will wake with the animals for a second time as you watch the savannah come to life. Early morning is the best time to go on a game drive, so you will venture out in search of Africa’s famous and lesser-known animals. After your drive, you will have a second breakfast before transferring to Durban, which is a coastal city with a rich and multicultural heritage. From immigrant Indians to Zulus to colonial takeover, the city has experienced many eras and influences. It all comes together vibrantly and is made more exotic by modern surf culture. Durban is a great destination for half of a day because it contains a huge variety of cultural sights in and around the beach. You will have a private guide who will help you make the most of your day.

From Durban, the road snakes into the Drakensberg, which is a precipitous mountain range that rises more than 10,000 feet above sea level. This is another of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites on your vacation and is home to over 40,000 pieces of Bushman art. This art tells stories, and you can witness successful hunts, tribal battles, animals as they graze peacefully, colonialists as they arrive with guns, and many thousands of years of local history. There is more rock art here than anywhere else on the planet, and you will find that you are alone at the most important sites. Today’s rock art tour can be conducted in a vehicle, but you can also choose to hike as well, which opens up access to some of the more remote Bushman rock art sites.

Lesotho is a mountainous kingdom that is fully enveloped by South Africa. When the Zulu army advanced towards Sotho many centuries ago, the Sotho people escaped by climbing the Drakensberg Mountains. From this lofty perch, they protected a new territory. The Zulu called the Drakensberg Mountains, uKhahlamba, which means “the barrier of spears.” The Sotho people called the same mountains Maluti, which means “Dragon’s Mountain.” On a day trip, you will experience how wildly remote the kingdom is. Lesotho is high above South Africa, and the only way in is to climb almost 10,000 feet of the mountain.

You will spend a day in Lesotho, where you will experience a lifestyle that is completely different from anywhere else in the world. The number one profession is a sheepherder. Most herders begin at age 11, and by the age of 30, most shepherds own enough sheep to retire. Life is simple here, and most of the country is not connected to the Internet or even to mobile phone networks. Occasionally, the perceptions of this simplicity can sometimes mask a happy culture that most would not want to change. You will have a day to discover this peculiar country and meet some of the people with your guide as a translator in addition to enjoying stupendous views from on top of the mountains.

From the Drakensberg Mountains, it will be a three-hour drive to Johannesburg and O.R. Tambo International Airport. Dayroom hotel use has been arranged, so you can freshen up and rest before your evening departure.