Enjoy South Africa by city, safari and sea

If heading over this summer for some world-class soccer or simply in search an idyllic slice of the safari life, you’re in for a treat.

Written and photographed by Karen Loftus

There is much to see and do in South Africa. It could take several weeks there or a few trips in to fit it all in. This once in a lifetime destination should be done several times over. Here are but a few can’t misses that will give you the full sense of South Africa.  

The Cape
Cape Town on the Western Cape is South Africa’s crown jewel. It’s the second most populated city in the country and one of the poshest spots on the planet. It shares California’s laid-back beach culture, yet it’s hip and sophisticated.

Start your tour in this stunning city by hopping on the cableway and venturing to the top of Table Mountain, Cape Town’s iconic image, for a breathtaking360-degree view of Table Bay and Robben Island. It’s a spiritual spot and a great place for photos and reflection.

Pop down to Victoria and Alfred waterfront for shopping, dining and live impromptu entertainment by the locals. Many of the city’s top luxury hotels have waterfront addresses. It’s a perfect place to base and its home to Nobel Square where Nobel Peace Prize winners Luthuli, Tutu, de Klerk and Mandela’s statues are prominently displayed.

Catch a ferry to Robben Island; long known for its isolation and imprisonment and most recently where Mandela and other political prisoners were held during the apartheid era.

Today Cape Town is a racially diverse, tolerant and international city. Cape Malay’s Bo-Kapp is one example of the rich diversity celebrated and accepted in Cape Town today. This largely Muslim area with bright, vibrantly colored homes is one of the most photographed spots in the city. 

The long and winding road
If you’re looking for culinary, culture and crafts head to Long Street, one of the oldest streets in Cape Town. There’s a mix of local and ethnic restaurants, galleries, shops and nightclubs. The street is full of Victorian buildings with cast iron balconies and home to Greenmarket Square, a great urban market.

No one is in a rush in South Africa. So, get in to step with a leisurely breakfast on the water at Radisson Blu, and blue it is surrounded by the water. The setting is quintessential Cape Town. Once fueled, hit the road and head to the famed Cape Point, where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet. En route, pop out for a sexy walk on the beach at Camps Bay. It’s a sexy slice of the South of France with an African twist. By day or by night it’s a hot spot for shops, clubs and dining.

Wind along the narrow Chapman’s Peak Drive, before climbing the tip-top peak at Cape Point, a truly evocative spot. If you long to linger, lunch at Two Oceans just below is just the ticket. You can feast on the local cuisine, enjoy singing by the South African staff and take in the otherworldly view, the vibrant collision of the two oceans.

The Cape of Good Hope right below is yet another picturesque spot while Boulders Beach is home to the adorable African penguins.

Khayelitsha
As stunning as the city is, the real beauty lies in the locals. Stop by Khayelitsha, the largest single township in South Africa and the first one established in Cape Town.
As part of 2010 FIFA World Cup, a Football for Hope Center was constructed in Khayelitsha. Soccer’s God Beckham dropped by the center in December to kick it with the locals.

Set on the outskirts of the city, today there are community centers where you can buy handmade crafts in Khayelitsha made by the locals. Help support the local community by getting your shop on. An afternoon visit in will show you the true heart and soul and the unbounded joy of the South African people.
 
Soweto
Johannesburg is the largest city and the wealthiest province in South Africa. It is also home to Tambo International Airport. So, no matter where you are heading in South Africa, you are likely to land and or depart from Johannesburg. So, make it a point to get out and spend some time in Jo’Burg as the locals call it. The city is rich in Apartheid history.

The heart and soul of Johannesburg is in Soweto, which stands for South Western Townships, the black townships sunder South African’s apartheid government and the home to the Soweto student uprisings.

In the heart of Soweto you can grab a traditional and casual lunch with the locals, buy jewelry and crafts at a fraction of the price and visit The Nelson Mandela Museum, the political leaders former home. But a block away is the Hector Peterson Museum, which honors the 12-year-old boy who was the first to die in the infamous student uprising in 1976. Another museum of note in the area is The Madiba Freedom Museum, which helps put the Apartheid pieces together as the global community largely overlooked it at that time.

Apartheid
An absolute must see in Jo’Burg is the Apartheid Museum. Many visitors come to the city just for this. So, plan ahead as it is an emotional and dense display of Apartheid history and warrants a fair amount of time to take it all in.

On a lighter note, The Cradle of Humankind 16 miles northwest of the city in the Gauteng province is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a great place for family travel as the tour and museum is geared towards kids. South Africa may be new to the travel map, but not in a historical sense, as it is believed that this is where it all began. The complex contains underground limestone caves where the 2.3 million year old Australopithecus africanus skull was discovered.

If you’re looking to mingle with the more modern folk, The Melrose Arch and the Sandton Sun are great spots outside of the city center to take in the local and contemporary couture, cocktails and cuisine. Enjoy!

Safari
Safari and South Africa have become synonymous. Many savvy travelers head to this part of the world just for the safari experience alone. So, whether you base your trip on the safari or you add it in to your itinerary, one thing is for sure. You do not want to leave this part of the world without a close encounter with South Africa’s wildlife.

There are several places across the country to take in the safari experience and several ways in which to experience it, from luxury to more simple camping accommodations. Regardless of your palette or your wallet, their expert rangers and trackers have devoted their life to working with the animals. They have mad skills and will make the experience informative, safe, exciting and fun.

South Africa’s Kruger National Park is the most famous place for safaris and lodging. The recent You Tube Kruger video with lions, buffalo and crocodiles fighting over one baby buffalo permanently put it on the map.

You can find your niche within Kruger or choose one of the smaller game reserves that are dotted across the country. Most game drives are done in an open or canopied jeep, while others are done on foot, in the water or in a helicopter to give you a bird’s eye view of the wild below.

The big five
The goal for many is to experience the big five, lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant. Rest assured you will see that and more a few times over.

If you are looking for a more boutique experience head to Thanda, which in Zulu means love. The name is appropriate, as you will fall hard and fast. The head ranger, tracker and the staff meet and greet you at the gate with their wide South African smiles. The ride in to the lodge on the jeep is your first informal game drive as you pass many animals on the way in. Leave your Louis’ behind, as your bags will take a bit of a beating being transported in and out of jeeps.

Thanda’s head chef Richard Phiri prepared a truly South African meal of crocodile carpaccio and impala steak as a way of welcoming us. Accommodations at Thanda range from opulent to rugged refinement. Apparently Chris Rock got his game on at Thanda just days before us.

Most reserves have the 5:00 AM morning and the 4:00 PM in the evening 4 drives as many animals avoid the midday heat and cats, lions and leopards tend to keep a low profile until nightfall. Don’t worry about waking up in the wee hours as you will get an early morning knock on the villa door to ensure your inclusion.

After tracking a herd of elephant with Thanda in the morning, playing a game of cat and mouse with a feisty male elephant staking his claim, we had to leave the lovely Thanda behind. We went a mere fifteen minutes down the road to the nearby Phinda Reserve. Their fresh buffet was a warm welcome in from the rain in their open-air thatched deck, followed by a night drive with Phinda’s head ranger Giles, a stunning South African, certainly worthy of the cinema if he so chose.

Lion King
I woke up to a mother monkey and her clinging baby attempting to get in to my villa and have a go at my nuts and dried pineapples. Be sure to keep those screens locked. A nip in to your nuts is one thing, but your trashed villa will give you a bad rap with the staff.

After a quick coffee, we were buzzing, back out in the African bush with our fearless leader, the stunning Giles, a dead ringer for Hugh Jackman only sexier. I found it hard to focus on the fab five driving with Giles of the Wild. Between his conversational Zulu, the detailed National Geographic like monologues peppered with warmth and wit and his meticulous tracking, I was distracted.

We were all wowed as he and the tracker delivered the lions we so desperately wanted to see before we left. Sitting ten feet away from the Lion King in an open jeep on a rainy day Tuesday is a scene that I will not soon forget.

The World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 19th World Cup, the premier international tournament-taking place throughout South Africa between June 11 and July 11th 2010. It is the first time to be taking place not only in South Africa, but also in all of Africa. This is a point of pride for the whole continent.

The excitement and the enthusiasm are contagious cross the country in South Africa. Every where I went I heard from all, “We are ready.” It was a sentiment that I heard throughout my trip, but it wasn’t until I stood on Long Street amongst 100,000 fans for The Draw that I really got it. To see everyone from wee babies to grandmas and grown men beaming at the Draw, proud that South Africa was finally being recognized and embraced by all on the global stage was an incredible site and a contagious feeling.

My impassioned South African guide in Cape Town was waxing poetic about the beauty of the coast while driving to Cape Point. This was interspersed by his political tidbits as I attempted to put the pieces together about their recent troubled past. I was struck when he fiercely looked at me in the rearview mirror and said that I would not be in his van as a tourist, nor would the World Cup be in his country had it not been for the grace, forgiveness and incredible stance that Nelson Mandela took, encouraging forgiveness by all of the people in South Africa regardless of the past. He set the example that many then followed.

As a result of that, this country quickly moved on to a more peaceful future versus being stuck in an embittered past. That is what made this world-class competition possible today. If you are looking to get in on the action, I suggest you kick it in to high gear and get your tickets and accommodations arranged quickly as things are booking up across the country. 

Security is a concern of locals and travelers alike. South Africa is not taking any chances with beefed up police forces and training in advance to handle the masses with ease. As is the case with many European or South American cities that you visit, be aware when you travel. I must say, I felt incredibly safe in every inch of South Africa in huge groups and or wandering alone on my own.

Soccer City
There are nine host cities with a total of ten venues one in each except Johannesburg whether are two venues, one of which is the flagship and center of the action where The Cup kicks off in June. Johannesburg’s Soccer City holds 91,141 while Royal Bafokeng stadium will host the smallest audience, a crowd of 42,000. The venues are a mix of upgrades in existing venues to new specially built, state of the art, urban icons.

After being privy to private tours of Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay and Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadiums we were wildly impressed at the architecture, aesthetics, attention to detail and amenities on site. They have VVIP entrances for heads of state and VIP lounges that far surpass any luxe box seat you’ve ever seen. President Obama, if you’re heading over for the games, South Africa’s ready!

Game on!

For more information on South Africa: South African Tourism www.southafrican.net 

To fly: South African Airlines www.flysaa.com. Exceptional service & direct flights from JFK and Dulles.

For more information on the 2010 FIFA World Cup schedule and games go to: www.fifa.com/worldcup/

To Stay: Radisson Blu in Cape Town www.radissonblu.com

Thanda Private Game Reserve in KZN www.thanda.com

Phinda Game Reserve www.phinda.com

Sandton Sun in Johannesburg www.southernsun.com

Follow Karen Loftus on Twitter @LAKarenLoftus and on Facebook