This country is different from other African countries I have visited, probably as a result of its colonial, and quite brutal, history. It feels very western, both the cities and countryside. The apartheid regime has been replaced with democracy in 1994, but only the government changed, not so much the culture. It didn’t feel very…

The banner image is the Malayan quarter, one of the oldest parts of Cape Town and known for its brightly colored houses. That exact photo is one of Cape Town’s signature postcard pictures. Unlike Johannesburg, Cape Town has proper attractions and that’s one of them. Cape Town is also quite hilly, allowing proper views of…

South of Cape Town is a long peninsula, and at its tip is a lighthouse. It’s quite far up, they have a funicular and a lot of steps, meaning it’s in the clouds much of the time and was not in use much for that reason. But the view from up there is great! The…

Cape town is South Africa’s second-largest city after Johannesburg, and it’s safe to walk here. The main landmark is Table Mountain overlooking the city, so called because a large section is flat on top. A circular cable car with a rotating floor goes up to the top. There are many viewpoints connected with paved trails,…

It’s a long way from Oudtshoorn to Cape Town, 500km. It’s part of the Garden Route but it doesn’t look like a garden. Rolling hills, a big sky, mountains, few trees, one monkey. The southernmost point of Africa, called l’Agulhas, is nearby but the road there is bad and there is no bus. Too bad,…

There is a huge cave system near Knysna, 2.4km long, of which I visited the first 600m. The rest is accessible if you can fit through a hole that is 27cm wide; I couldn’t. The halls and passages are impressive. Huge cathedral-like caverns with curtains of stalactites and stalacmites; sometimes the two merge to form…

The garden route is a section of South Africa’s southern Indian Ocean coastline hetween Port Elizabeth – renamed to Gqeberha last week – and Cape Town. It’s not really a garden but it’s a very scenic drive. Gqeberha is not especially attractive. It has long sandy beaches and a hill with a pyramid built by…

Pretoria is the capital of South Africa. Downtown feels like a smaller version of Johannesburg including the To Let signs, aimless people at street corners, brutalist architecture, and dilapidated little parks with dead grass and buildings missing their roofs. But it also feels friendlier, especially after I found the pedestrianized Helen Joseph Street where street…

That’s the Name of a village a couple hours northeast of Pretoria. It also feels like stereotypical small-town America, this time really time the white picket fence type. Take a look… They also have tourist trap down by the river. This is one of the first places where gold was found in South Africa, kicking…

This is one of the great African protected parks, and safari destinations. It’s large, over 20,000 square kilometers and again that much in neighboring Mozambique. I joined a jeep tour and traveled over 250km in the park, getting within a few km of the border to Mozambique. Lots of elephants, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, and buffalos.…

Blyde Canyin is the third-largest canyon in the world, cut by the Blyde River. There is a trail along the edge of the cliff with great viewpoints. It was a little hazy though. On the other side are the three Rondavels, cylindrical peaks that look like rondavels, the local word for round straw-thatched huts. A…

Ok, there’s no arguing with statistics, but everyone I have met in Johannesburg was then nicest and mist helpful person imaginable. Everyone – police, street cleaners, shop workers, skateboarders on the street – is smiling, greeting, eager to chat. I guess there must be rougher neighborhoods than the ones I have visited. I am now…

After all the time spent in the city it’s pleasant to spend time in the Johannesburg Zoo. Quiet, green, big old trees, nicely landscaped, with large tracts where amimals can roam freely. It’s a really nice place, although it would be much nicer if they had more animals. “This enclosure is currently unoccupied” signs are…

The name means South-West Township and that’s its location from central Johannesburg. During apartheid, black people and immigrants were forcibly relocated here. Today over a million people live here on 210km², it’s the largest township in Africa. Parts look nice and suburban, but really are overcrowded with several families sharing a home. Others are just…

Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest and most developed city. It’s also the most dangerous. The neighborhoods are very diverse – leafy residential, industrial, and the large downtown area which feels like Broadway in Los Angeles, not like Africa. When getting off the bus it’s best to ask the nearest policeman or security guard where it’s…