South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia!

Trip Duration:2 weeks

Time of Year: summer (DecemBer)

Traveled With: Just the two of us!

WHY SOUTH AFRICA? It is an adventure capital of the world!

Highlights: everything!

capetown, garden route road trip,

General Tips/Knowledge: dudes watching your car,

Trip Cost: $2,700*

*airfare, accommodations & tours – food/rental car/taxis/public transport excluded

Day 1 - johannesburg, south africa

Our plane landed early morning. We were greeted at the airport with our 2-day tour guide, Chris Green, from “Cashan Africa” company. Into his trunk our luggage went and off we went. Straight to the action! Chris took us on a full day, private tour to explore Soweto, Mandela's home, Apartheid museum. We had plenty of spontaneous slots of pit stops in between, including much needed coffee and food after that 15 hour flight! Chris had massive knowledge of South Africa’s history and detailed descriptions about each place we stopped and passed. To this day, Chris is still one of our all-time favorite tour guides!

DAY 2 - johannesburg/pilanesburg, south africa

Knowing how much fun we had with Chris yesterday, we knew day #2 with him would be just as special. We woke up bright and early for our 3 hour drive with Chris to Pilanesburg, where we would experience our first and only day safari!

We drove around the reserve patiently looking for wildlife all day. Throughout our journey, we saw: baboons, zebras, rhinos, elephants, warthogs, cheetahs, wildebeest, impala, hippos & MORE! We really felt like we were experiencing a real life Lion King scene. Experiencing this hands-on really helps us feel harmonious with nature and circle of life. 

DAY 3 - livingstone, zambia

We traveled far and wide to South Africa, so why not have a quick detour to a world wonder?! We took a 1.5 hour flight to Livingstone, Zambia to experience Victoria Falls. We booked the “Sundeck to Livingstone Island” tour to go to the Devil’s Pool on top of the falls. Devil’s Pool is a natural pool which you can swim in. There is a natural rock barrier right at the edge of the falls which ensures you are safe! Talk about an adrenaline rush if you are scared of heights! Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and cloudy today. If you go on a sunny day, you will be surrounded by seemingly endless rainbows in the mist of the falls!

Walking beyond Devil’s Pool feels like you are in The Land Before Time. Where are the dinosaurs?!

DAY 4 - livingstone, zambia —> Zimbabwe

Did you know the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe are separated by Victoria Falls? There is a bridge over the falls connecting the two countries. Better believe we booked a tour to cross that bridge, add another stamp to our passports & experience the Falls from a different perspective!

Now, getting this passport stamp was quite the adventure (the sketchy kind of adventure)! When crossing the bridge with this tour, you have to leave your passport with the authorities. This made us uneasy. Could we trust they return our passports? Would we be stranded in Zimbabwe forever? We were quite nervous, but… YOLO! We would cross that bridge of uncertainty later (….haha).

The Zimbabwe hike along the falls was beautiful. We could even see the Devil’s Pool we swam in yesterday from across the canyon!

December is a great time of year to visit the falls, as they are "dry". This means there were several small waterfalls across the landscape instead of just one big one. The smaller falls produce less mist, which provides better visibility and drier clothes.

With the help of our hotel hosts at Gloria’s Bed & Breakfast, we gained the courage to walk into the local Zambian town for dinner when we got home tonight. We tried local food, including caterpillars!

DAY 5 - capetown, south africa

As mentioned, Zambia was simply a detour, so back to South Africa we go! Today was a travel day with a final destination of Capetown! LVI to JNB (1.5 hours), JNB to CPT (2 hours)

We chose to stay in a neighborhood called Green Point, a short walking distance or cab ride to great food, sites, and local fun.

DAY 6 - capetown, south africa

Today’s mission and highlight was, of course, Table Mountain. A beautiful mountain region smack in the middle of a city, overlooking the ocean. Heck yeah!

99.9% of visitors to Table Mountain take the cable car up to the top. Obviously, we are the .1% of travelers looking for adventure and nature’s beauty. We booked a guided group tour of the India Venster trail through “Hike Table Mountain”. This hike had beauty and challenges around every corner! So glad we did it!

The 2nd half of our day was spent on a Robben Island Tour.

DAY  7 – STELLENBOSCH & Franschhoek, SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is famous for many reasons, including its unmatchable, beautiful and delicious wine country!

We used “Luhambo Tours” for a group tour to the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek Winelands.

Wine, wine, more wine, & beautiful, beautiful views. Need I say more? The landscape is simply gorgeous.

We ate dinner at a game reserve & tried springbok for the first time. It was incredibly gamey, but one of Lexi’s favorites.

DAY  8 – CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Today was spend all over Cape Town, allowing this city to grow as one of our all-time favorite destinations. We used the public bus system to explore, shop, eat and go to the beach. We quickly learned how hipster Cape Town’s food scene was and couldn’t love it more.

DAY 9 – CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (HOUT BAY)

Adventure time with “Hout Bay Seal Snorkeling”! Hout Bay is home to hundreds of seals. Due to the location of the bay, as protected by rocks and a favorable current, the seals are safe from predators. The tour allowed us to snorkel for hours with these underwater cutie-pies. Above water, they are clumsy and derpy on the rocks. Under water, they are big-eyed with whiskers and swimming techniques that will make you giggle. We couldn’t believe how many seals surrounded us and how playful they were. They certainly were not scared to make friends!

After a long day with these adorable creatures, we spent the evening attending a summer concert at Kirstenboch Gardens! Where wine bottles, picnic blankets, and a cheery attitude are an unspoken requirement. It was such a pleasant change of pace to relax in the ambiance of local music.

DAY 10 – Peninsula tour, SOUTH AFRICA

As infatuated as we were with Cape Town, it was time to journey down south. We used “PG TOPS Cape Peninsula Tour” to facilitate this experience. This was a private tour that could be customized however we wanted. We chose to go to":

Boulder Beach: Home of the African penguin colonies

Chapman’s Peak: The drive around these windy roads was voted one of the world’s most beautiful coastal drives. It did NOT disapppoint!

Cape of Good Hope/Lighthouse: Spectacular scenery at one of the southern-most tips of Africa. Unfortunately, it was very foggy when we went here. Can’t win ‘em all!

DAY 11 - Hermanus, south africa

Who doesn’t love a good road trip? We know we sure do. That is why we chose to execute a trip via the Garden Route! We rented a car for the next days to make this dream come true. Many of the adrenaline rush activities we were seeking could not be accomplished without this leg of the trip.

Today included a beautiful drive along Route 44 by Gordon's Bay & Betty's Bay and an evening in Hermanus. This town is known for whale watching from the coastline, but unfortunately this wasn’t the season for it. Hermanus still proved to be a cute little beach town with a coastal hike, nonetheless!

After diving, we our drive along Route 62 towards Oudtshoorn. We took our time with this drive because there was beautiful nature around every corner! Got a little behind schedule, but totally worth it. The Garden Route will do that to ya!

Tonight we stayed at one of our favorite Airbnbs of all time, “Mount Noah”! An adorable couple spent years building this place up to create a hospitality experience like no other. The property contained several ships scattered through the yard, all beautifully renovated into mini home-like hotel accommodations. What a great business idea! They really took the nautical theme to the next level. The property included a central lodge with rooms to eat and entertain. We were ecstatic we could spend the evening with this couple. We shared good memories and drinks. They even made us our first and only African braai for dinner. Braai is the South African version of an American BBQ. The host cooks meat over coals. The fire remains lit even after the meal is done cooking and guests will hang out around the fire! It was such a “local” experience we certainly could not have had in the depths of Johannesburg or Cape Town.

DAY 13 - oudtshoorn, south africa

We didn’t want to leave Mount Noah, but the show must go on! Today we did an adenture tour through Cango Caves! It was super fun crawling, climbing, and sliding through the tiny natural crevasses leading to super cool chambers. Definitely not recommended for anyone who fears small spaces.

The tour was followed by a fantastic, scenic drive on Swartberg Pass. We did a a little off-roading into the mountains for less popular viewpoint. We even saw a cute baboon family on the way!

DAY 14 - port elizabeth, south africa

We ended the Garden Route off to the east in Port Elizabeth. We used this final day as a travel day. We returned our trust rental car, flew back to Capetown (1 hour), back to Johannesburg (2 hours), and back to NY (too many hours)!

We love South Africa!!!