South Africa: The Final Chapter - Saved the Best for Last

Talk about a strong finish in South Africa. When I last wrote, I still had some time left on the project and couldn’t wait for it to be over and to have some fun travels. During the last week of the project, Lady Gaga came to Joburg and rented out the entire Westcliff Hotel – meaning I was homeless once again (for the 3rd time in 6 weeks!). Instead of being put into yet another hotel, one of my wonderful Joburg co-workers offered up her granny flat. It was a great relief and a nice treat to stay in someone’s home, and play with the cute 4 year old twins and the cute dogs, and yes even have some home-cooked meals. I am very grateful to Angela and her husband for taking me in, and living a more “normal” life in Joburg even made it grow on me a little!

The day the project ended was a relief – and also the Lady Gaga concert! I managed to score a ticket and a ride to with a co-worker - had a blast just dancing the night away, and it made up for me missing her when she came to Australia (I went to the US). Running on 3 hours of sleep after quite a hectic 6 weeks, I got up early the next morning for my safari tour to Kruger National Park which is about 5 hours away from Joburg. Kruger is an amazing place and group I was with was quite small – the ranger and 2 English blokes from Manchester. We stayed within the Kruger gates in a permanent camp (so like tents but more sturdy construction) and basically drove around in the safari truck all day. I saw quite an array of animals – all of the Big 5 except for lions. We even saw leopards which are much rarer to see than lions so I consider myself lucky! I have waaaaaay too many pictures, so you can look at my photos on my facebook album if you’d like: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152251070875430.931862.674480429&type=3&l=df7ebfb621

When I returned to Joburg, I had a few days to sort myself out before Chris arrived, and had another day back at work as well. Friday morning at 5am Chris’ flight arrived from Australia and I was at the airport to meet him! Unfortunately I didn’t see him when he came out so he snuck up on me while I was waiting. I feel bad that it wasn’t the perfect greeting but I was so happy he was finally there! He didn’t understand why I was so nervous about getting out of the airport safely until I told him the story about the girl I just met. She told me to be careful going to the airport because the last time she was there she got car-jacked at gunpoint and almost raped – she jumped from the moving vehicle to avoid it. Anyway I finally relaxed when we got back to Angie’s. I just have so many scary stories about Joburg that it's hard for anyone that hasn't been there to understand. After giving Chris a bit of a rest (he flew overnight), I took him on a little tour of the CBD, where I worked, where I had stayed, and we had a drink at the Westcliff as well. That was all he needed to see of Joburg. We had a nice dinner out and then I was happy as a clam to leave the next morning to head on our safari in Pilanesburg National Park.

Pilanesburg is about 3 hours drive, however we took a few scenic routes (aka wrong turns) and had an interesting journey through the mining towns but a lot of fun along the way! I also made Chris listen to my newly-created “Crandon” playlist which includes a fair bit of country music. I think I’m converting him. Pilanesburg was awesome - Chris got to go on his first game drives and we saw lots of great animals. We also had a few run-ins with angry bull elephants, one that came within 3 feet of our truck (even though the ranger is not supposed to let it get that close!). The ranger said DON’T MOVE and I don’t think I’ve ever been that still….my heart was pounding! (An elephant could easily roll a truck).

Elephants in Pilanesburg

We only stayed 2 nights in Pilanesburg, then drove back and went directly to the airport for our flight. We flew to George, which is a city along the Garden Route (along the southern coast of Africa, sort of like the Great Ocean Road in Australia). We picked up our rental car and checked into an awesome hotel in Herold’s Bay which is one of the most beautiful little cliffside towns I have ever seen. I completely fell in love with it even though we were only there for a day.

Herold's Bay, South Africa

The next morning we set out for a leisurely-paced drive from Herold’s Bay to Cape Town. Driving straight there would take about 5 hours, but we took some scenic routes, stopped along the way for lunch, and also took a detour so we could see and stand on the southern-most point of the African continent – pretty cool!

Cape Agulhas - the southern-most point of the continent of Africa

We drove into Cape Town in the dark so we awoke to quite a surprising sight in the morning at our gorgeous hotel overlooking the ocean. Cape Town is incredibly beautiful, set amongst Table Mountain where the cliffs meet right up with the beautiful beaches. Over the next 5 days, we ate and drank amazing cheap meals (SA is so cheap compared to Australia!), took the cable car up Table Mountain, did a city tour, went out to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner during Apartheid), drove to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point (most south-westerly point of Africa), and just generally relaxed. I really needed that week before heading back to work – I don’t think I would have been in a very good headspace had I just gone immediately back. And Cape Town was absolutely amazing – one of my top destinations I have ever been in the world.

The last week of travelling – and Cape Town in particular – saved South Africa for me. I would without a doubt recommend going to South Africa to anyone, just stay away from Johannesburg if at all possible other than flying in and immediately leaving for Kruger, Cape Town, or other fun things. I know I would have still enjoyed my time travelling on my own, but having Chris there also made everything that much better (awwww!)

Chris and I at Cape Point

Cape of Good Hope

Outside of Cape Town on the way to Cape Point