A Trek Through South Africa

South Africa (officially Republic of South Africa or RSA) has always been on my list of places to travel.  When my friend, Ashir, who recently moved to Johannesburg (JNB), invited me to visit, I started thinking and planning.  Although not absolutely necessary, it helps to have a friend there for a base, where you can leave your extra stuff before you go on a long trip and have access to local information.

I know the map below of South Africa overlaps some of the information on the right.  But I think it's worth seeing a larger map so that you can identify with some of the places that I will be traveling to.

When you think of South Africa, you think of Nelson Mandela, Apartheid, safaris, rugby, etc.  But it is more than that.  It is a large, diverse and beautiful country.  It's about twice the size of Texas, with a population of about 47 million;  80% of which are black, white and colored each number slightly less than 10% and the rest of Asian descent.  Hence it's known as the Rainbow Nation.  I have met many South Africans over the years and they are one of the friendliest people in the world and very proud of their country.  They want you to forget about the apartheid days but remind you how beautiful their country is and all the famous people from there:  Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Gary Player, Christian Barnard (the first heart-transplant doctor), Mahatma Gandhi (yes, he was Indian but spent many years in RSA), etc.

I admit that I also know very little about RSA and that's why I am traveling there.  I leave on February 3rd and will be there for about seven weeks.  Because it's so far, there are not many direct flights there.  I was ready to book a British Airways flight, which means I'd have to stop in London, then take a direct flight from London to JNB.  Travel time can be as long as 30 hours.  Fortunately, South African Airways announced a special deal recently and I booked a direct 15-hour flight from New York's JFK Airport to JNB.  Round-trip fare for this flight is about US$1,000.

What are my travel plans?  At this time it is very sketchy.  However, I am traveling with a company called Baz Bus, which is a hop-on hop-off backpacker bus that goes from Cape Town (CPT) to JNB or JNB to CPT.  The nice thing about this bus is that you can stop at any place on their route for as long as you want.  When you are ready to go to your next destination, you find out when the next bus comes your way and let them know.  They will then pick you up at your hostel.  The buses go to some of the off-the-beaten path places.  I took a similar bus when I was traveling in New Zealand.  If you want to know more about Baz Bus, here is their link:  Baz Bus Information

When I mentioned to friends that I am going to RSA, the first question I get is:  Are you going on a safari?  The answer is YES!  How can you go to Africa without going on a safari?  I've booked two safari tours with Baz Bus:  a 4-day Kruger National Park Tour and a 7-day Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls Tour.  Here is a short summary of the Kruger National Park Tour:

Experience game viewing at its best in the Kruger National Park and surrounds.  It is one of the few places on earth where wildlife can be seen in such great variety and at such close quarters.  Spot the BIG 5 (Lion, Rhino, Leopard, Elephant and Buffalo).  Open vehicle game drives give you excellent photographic opportunities.  The tour also covers the picturesque Mpumalanga area and includes a stop to view the Three Rondawels and the amazing Blyde River Canyon.  

Here is information about the Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls Tour:

This tour includes a game drive in an open 4 x 4 vehicle inside Chobe National Park (Botswana), which is well known for its large variety and number of wildlife.  Visit the magnificent Victoria Falls waterfall (Zimbabwe), which is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and 1700 meters wide, making it the largest sheet of falling water in the world.  Enjoy a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River (optional activity), where hippo and crocodile are plentiful.  The Victoria Falls region is nicknamed the adventure capital of Africa and offers numerous activities (optional excursions) such as white water rafting, 111 meters bungi jumping, elephant back and horse safaris and much more.

After the tours I plan to start heading southeast towards Durban, then along the coast to Port Elizabeth and finally Cape Town.  In between these major cities I plan to stop at smaller towns or places of interest.  Where I stop depends on where the interesting places are to go.  I plan to stay in CPT for at least a week.  It has been named one of the top places to go in 2014 by the New York Times:  52 Places to Go in 2014

I hope to update this blog as often as I can.  I will also try to share as many pictures as possible.  However, how often I update the blog depends on the availability of wifi.  I heard it's quite good in RSA but I don't expect to have wifi access when I am on the safari tours.  As always, I love to hear from you;  any feedback or comments are always welcome.

Just some other basic information about RSA:  since it's in the southern hemisphere, the season is opposite of what we have in the northern hemisphere.  At this time of the year, January to March, it's summer there and the temperature has been around 60-80F.  It's about 9 hours ahead of Phoenix, which means when it's noon in Phoenix, it's 9 pm in RSA.  The currency is the Rand and right now, the exchange rate is about US$1 = 11 ZAR.  ZA is also often used as abbreviation for South Africa.