south africa
Cape town, like many other places i've been, has AMAZING scenery. On top of that, it has the cutest sea animals, and awesome food. Yes, all the makings of a perfect holiday!
It took be sometime to get these pictures and videos edited, but this trip is so deeply etched in my mind, it feels as if it was just yesterday that I came off the airplane.
Cape Town was the first stop of my family's South African trip. The fact that I went with my family made it a whole lot more memorable.
Most people do a really short pitstop in Cape town, that when I first saw my itinerary (we were on a group tour), I was reluctant to spend 3 and a half days in Cape Town. After arriving at cape town I was so glad that was the plan.
Sure it is no safari, but, I loved Cape town. It's weather, scenery, lifestyle, people, activities. There was so much to see and so much to do. Also, going in the summer time meant that the weather was PERFECT. Warm sunshine, 15-20°C, no rain, with a cool occasional breeze!
We began our trip heading up Table Mountain. In the first 20 minutes of being in Cape Town, I WAS MESMERISED. Other places we went with just as impressive of a view was Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope.
I've been to Santorini, another city that has stunning views of the ocean. But something about this crazy beautiful views in Cape town took my breath away.
The mountains, the ocean, the waves all merged into one picture perfect postcard view. (Dare i say, more perfect than Greece!)
Walking along the streets of cape town was just as much of a treat to the eyes. We got to see so many family run stalls, lovely fabric, paintings, artwork, souvenirs.
I'm not a person who collects such souvenirs, but when I see such cute souvenirs, I imagine I'm this rich woman, with a big home, and a ton of travel collectables. There were definitely some things I mentally added to my non-existent "travel home" as decoration.
Visiting a wine cellar before having a wine tasting session in cape town! Watch the vlog below for more details!
Seal Island and Boulders Beach.
Two of the most popular spots for animal sightings. I felt so much joy watching these seals bobbing around and swimming in the water or laying out on the rock, just chilling & enjoying some good ol' sunshine.
Watching penguins interact was another cool experience. The tour guide I was with was pointed out which were the baby penguins, teenager penguins and adult penguins. Perks of going on a tour! My tour guide also shared how penguins mate for life. The epitome of monogamy. Once they find a life partner, they're set. And apparently, if their spouse dies, they'd take their own life too. Tragic. But this is more than till death do us part.
My only encounters with animals comes from seeing them in the zoo, and we all know those animals are never as happy as when the ones that are out in the wild.
Another amazing thing we got to do as part of our tour was to go on a helicopter ride. An experience i've NEVER done considering most of my trips consisted of backpacking around Europe and being very budget conscious.
Helicopter ride. Aerial view. Do i need to say more? If you've never been on a helicopter ride, this is it. This would be the highlight, the MUST-DO, of the trip.
* Someone told me that the helicopter ride he took in New Zealand was way more impressive, to which I had an internal eye roll. Urgh. these people who have so much in life that they fail to appreciate little things... (i kid, but really this was the highlight for me!)
To be honest, I don't think I did anything out of the ordinary or visited any place exceptionally off-the-beaten path on this trip. But I must say, the boat ride to seal island, the wine tasting, the beautiful scenery, the helicopter ride, these are experiences i've never really had in my other trips. Even though the places I went are coined as classic tourist spots, I felt like it was worth visiting. Granted, i was never caught in a crowd, so that probably added to the great experience.
People constantly mention how they want to travel "like the locals" or go on about the whole "Traveller not tourist" concept, but there are times (like this) when tourist spots are NOT to be missed. Especially if you don't have the time to stay for long in each place. There is a reason why tourist spots are tourist spots. Because to some extent, they are worth visiting.
I've been lucky enough to visit many amazing places around the world, Japan, Korea, Norway, France, and now, SOUTH AFRICA. People ask me if i still get excited when I see amazing scenery, and when I get to experience new things. The excitement will eventually die down right? Wrong.
I think traveling isn't about comparing what you've seen. Or having the new best experience. It is the concept of seeing a new place, a new lifestyle, a new part of the world that excites me. It does not have to be spectacular, but every experience is definitely special in its own way. I may not want to re-visit certain places, but I never ever regret experiencing it.
Unlike my mentality towards some of the cities i've been to, if I am given the chance to visit South Africa again, i'm definitely going back to Cape Town.
3 day in Cape Town, South Africa
2 May 2017 Cape Town, South Africa
From lions, to rhinos, giraffes and cute little baby animals, the South Africa safari has everything!!
In December, I went on a tour with Chan Brothers Travel, and they brought us to a private game lodge outside of Johannesburg called Mabula Lodge. We stayed there for a night, and did 2 game drives in total, one in early in the day and one in the evening. The game drives are usually early in the morning or right before sunset because that is when the animals are the most active and they are out chilling, grazing, etc.
Safari is one crazy interesting experience, but its not as animal filled and lion king like as it seems. Here's the truth.
Seeing Animals
Being able to see as much as you want on a safari game drive depends on so many factors, here are some truths to the whole experience.
The park is MASSIVE. And you never know where the animals are.
Going on the evening drive, we saw way more animals than in the morning drive the next day. Also, there are tons of Kudus, Elands, Monkeys, Warthogs, Wildebeests and Zebras you can spot - as they move in herds, but when it comes to the Big 5s (elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, and buffalo) it really depends on your luck.
The 2nd morning, we drove for about an hour without seeing any animals, it felt like we were driving for ages and then, we spotted a lion!
We got up so close to a male lion just lying in the middle of the road, whilst another vehicle, saw 3 female lions but they were far away in the bushes.
These baby animals are BEYOND CUTE! Seeing the animals graze and run freely is one of the most refreshing experiences i've had!
2 // You Can't Interfere with the Animals
I get the questions "Can you touch them?" quite a lot. I never expected to be able to touch wild animals, so, no. You don't touch the animals in the wild. They are WILD. The vehicles aren't suppose to go too near to them either (you might scare the animals). The whole environment is maintained such that this animals are able to live, hunt, and graze freely without the interference of human forces. It's their world and we're just visiting.
3 // The Rangers MEMORISE the Park and Communicate With Each Other
There were a total of 6-7 vehicles driving around the park, and there aren't any signs/directions at all. If a big 5 was sighted, the ranger would inform other rangers and leave so as to give others could see the animals (not a case where you have 5 cars around an animal). The park ranger I was with saw an elephant, turned off the engine, let us take pictures, before informing the others and then driving away to direct them to where the last sighting was.
Unfortunately, one of the rangers spotted a leopard but somehow scared it away, and so the rest of us lost that opportunity to see an african leopard.
Watch an elephant walk towards us this video!
4 // It depends on how skilled your ranger is
Our ranger could spot the rhinos from the other end of the plain and she drove to a spot so we could and get an extremely close up view of the rhinos without disturbing them! When she first said "look over there, rhinos!" I was just like "wait what?! where??" It takes so much skill to spot the animals through the trees and shrubs - which makes sense because thats how they camouflage.
Having a skilled ranger depends on your luck (point 1) but the native africans and older rangers are usually the ones with more experience!
Even though its not animals left, right, and centre everywhere you go, the safari drives were so much fun, i'd do them again and again. If anyone is considering a trip to South Africa, GO ON A SAFARI DRIVE!
The drives can at times be slightly disappointing, especially when you don't see much for over an hour. But, when you get to see a glimpse of a lion, rhino or any animal up close, ah, IT IS SO SO SO WORTH IT. My mum loved the experience so much, she said she wanted to be a south african safari ranger, she was hilarious!
South African Safari - The FULL Experience!
26 March 2017 South Africa
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