In two weeks, my girlfriend and I will be taking a trip to South Africa. We’ll spend a four days in Cape Town, a day in Kruger National Park, a couple days in Karongwe Private Game preserve, and a couple of days in Johannesburg. We’re on a guided trip, but have some downtime to ourselves here and there. Would you care to share your opinion of your trip to South Africa and suggest possible activities that you may have enjoyed? Thanks!
Paged MrDibble… MrDibble to Travel Section, please…
I went to South Africa in 1998. In Cape Town I enjoyed taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain which overlooks the city and hiking around up there. I also liked the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and a visit to the penguin colony at Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town. I also went out to the Cape of Good Hope one day with my hosts but that’s a bit of a drive.
I haven’t been to Kruger or the other game reserves myself but my brother has and found it really impressive.
Don’t skip the side trip to Soweto. Very eye opening.
Also, the lion feeding at the Lion and Rhino Nature Preserve is interesting. The Sterkfontein cave tour is fun but you can skip the rest of the Cradle of Humankind exhibition. If you didn’t get your fill of the Big 5 at Kruger then you could drive out to Pilanesberg National Park.
Yes, I was, but Apartheid was still the law of the land, so my impressions would not be of much value to you. I was in Soweto, illegally, at night. Very very eye opening.
I was born and raised in Cape Town, although I’ve lived in the United States for 12 years. I did visit with my wife a couple of times recently (once with our son when he, you know, existed) and we did a number of touristy things in those trips. More so then I did living there for 24 years anyway.
The suggestions by Colibri are all good. The Cape of Good Hope and Simon’s Town are quite far south on the peninsula. If you’re in that area you might as well do Chapman’s Peak Drive too.
Actually I just read the guided trip bit. So you probably won’t have time to rent a car and drive all that way by yourself. But those seem like the sort of thing I’d expect a guided trip to cover already. Do you mind sharing the guided trip itinerary? It’d be interesting to see what they consider the standard attractions.
I visited Sun City and the surrounding Pilanesberg National Park a few years ago.
The hotel was comfortable and there was a nearby alligator breeding farm and a clay pigeon shooting range.
The National Park was excellent - I saw rhinos, giraffes, hippos and warthogs up close. I also rode on an elephant. 
South Africa has great plonk, or so I’m told…I was pregnant or breastfeeding the whole time we were in Southern Africa (my son was born in Nelspruit, SA) so I didn’t get to try any, although we had purchased a book with a title something along the lines of “A Guide to South African Plonk,” which I occasionally longingly read. Please have a glass or two for me!
Don’t know how things are these days, but be aware of your personal security when in Jo-burg. I was there in the late 90s and the locals cautioned me about it. Make sure you take a good camera with you, and by ‘good’, I mean one with at least a 200mm telephoto.
My mother has traveled the whole world speaking and she just got back from South Africa. She said it was one of the greatest places she had ever been. I asked her about the security aspect and she said it didn’t concern her at all but she had a local (black) guide that she adored and vice-versa. Keep in mind that this is someone that spent the early part of her teaching career teaching in a segregated black school in the Deep South and she said race relations reminded her a great deal of the Deep South in the 1960’s and 70’s.
I don’t think she will mind if I repost her description plus a recommendation:
“On Monday I got to visit the “Cradle of Humankind.” The name Cradle of Humankind reflects the fact that the site has produced a large number of (as well as some of the oldest) hominin fossils ever found, some dating back as far as 3.5 million years ago, which made recent news with their fossil discoveries. I also got to crawl through the caves of Sterkfontein before returning to Johannesburg and doing a presentation for over 100 South African parents. What a privilege to be here. I have never been treated better than I have in this country. I’m in love with the people here. I left them a note in the Cradle of Mankind Museum.”
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Do NOT skip Table Mountain. Its one of the most breathtaking sights I’ve ever seen, and I’m jealous that you get to see it for the first time
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One of the most interesting souvenirs I purchased, and the one that was most loved, was the Billion and Trillion dollar bills that are for sale for a few dollars each. I got a complete collection of the Zimbabwe currency. Friends that I gave the Trillion dollar bills to were impressed, and greatly loved it.
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You can use debit and credit cards most everywhere, and they usually get you a good exchange rate. The few times I did use cash, they (A) loved American currency for the street vendors, and (B) you can easily use the ATMs everywhere, just like in the states.
You’ll want to have a good set of binoculars, and to take an interest in the birds - few places in the world can match southern Africa’s variety of bird life.
Others have already covered the high points, but I second the Cable Car, Kirstenbosch (try the canopy walkway), Boulders and Cape Point.
Unless you care very, very, very deeply about the minutiae of the struggle against Apartheid, skip the trip to Robben Island Prison that is almost doubtless part of your itinerary in Cape Town. Rather spend that time on a wine route trip, if you drink wine. The Topless Bus tour has a dedicate mini-route that would be the best way for non-driving tourists to wine-route, IMO. You do need to get there via one of the regular tours. But I recommend that anyway, as it’s also the best way for tourists to get on the Cableway.
If you don’t do wine, but do drink beer, be aware that the craft scene have mushroomed in recent years, so a trip to Beerhouse might be in order. Even if you don’t drink, the street that Beerhouse is in, Long Street, is the vibey heart of Cape Town night life and not to be missed. Lots of great food and bars. Just practice the same degree of caution for your possessions as you would wandering around Paris or NY at night.
Oh, and if you like coffee, we apparently have the best coffee shop in the world (errm, if you believe the UK Telegraph and Microsoft, that is 
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Any other recommendations would depend on what you’re into…
My husband is from Cape Town and I’ve been three times (once to Kruger). I strongly agree with almost all of the above, from the perspective of a tourist. Kirstenbosch is unmissable. Cape Point was great, and I loved the penguins at Boulder’s Beach. The open-top bus tours are very good, even if you’ve taken them in other cities and been underwhelmed. Robben Island is skippable on this timetable, definitely.
Table Mountain should be (might be?) one of the ‘natural wonders of the world’. I’m not a big ‘mountain’ person but it was absolutely fantastic to go up in the cable car. Something you can’t experience anywhere else in the world, really. Stunning.
A wine tasting if you like wine even a little is a great way to spend an afternoon.
I hated Beerhouse, though – but the beer was good. Just didn’t enjoy the ‘bro-tastic’ atmosphere 
Mother’s Ruin is a great cocktail bar (focused on Gin, obv).
I think one day is not enough in Kruger but if you have a guide you’ll probably get the most out of it.
Colibri, Mr Dibble and **Daphne Black ** have mentioned the standard Cape Town tourist attaractions, but most of them are likely to be part of your four day itinerary.
It should still be warm enough for a visit to one of the beaches scattered around the Peninsula - midday highs for the coming week average in the mid twenties. (celsius)
What else you can do depends very much on the amount of time you have and what you wish to do.
I actually went to attend the International Ornithological Congress in Durban in 1998. We did a birding tour by bus from Bloemfontein (trivia note: birthplace of J.R.R. Tolkien) to Durban which was fantastic. Afterward I did a couple of other trips out of Cape Town with a local guide to the Little Karoo and a couple of other places. I picked up 190 species new to me although I had been to Africa before.
Driver8, our itinerary can be found at this site: Best of South Africa - Friendly Planet Travel. We’re also signed up for the optional half day trip to Stellenbosch Winelands.
I’m happy to report that we’ll be venturing to the top of Table Mountain, which several of you recommended. Thanks to you all for your suggestions! We’re poring through them all!
Looking back through everyone’s recommendations, I see that many of them are included in our itinerary. Looking forward to a great trip! Thanks all!
Note that you can walk up, then ride down (or could, when I was last there ~15 years ago). The walk is highly recommended, but not for the frail or faint of heart.
My strategy with places reached by cable cars is the other way round.