5 places that blow my mind in SA

A large country, a lot of open places, incredible landscapes: that is South Africa.

I mean, if you like nature, impressive views and isolated places, you should definitely visit this country. If you are hiker you will be happy there. Rich of two beautiful coastlines, mountains, desert, savannah or plain, climates changing from arid to near Mediterranean (around Cape Town); there are thousands of interesting sceneries that you won’t forgot.

I want to share some of them that blow my mind and I particularly loved. Some of them are fairy famous places, some others are much more singular and unknown.

PS: NOT IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE.

1. Long Beach (Cape Town, Western Cape)
The nice thing about Cape Town,which I will maybe write an article because it really deserve it, is that the city is surrounded by nature. Nestled between the ocean and the mountain it is a perfect place for nature lovers like me. It is one of my best city in the world because you can escape from the urban oppression.

I remember when I discover Long Beach.

I did with my boyfriend a long road in our bakkie to reach the Mother City and arrived late afternoon, exhausted. We carried on our drive in the peninsula and arrived at sunset time in this beach next to Kommetjie… Some rider passed us, canter from a part to the other of the this long sand beach. The surfers were out, ready to catch the last possible waves, and we were walking through the water to reach a part of sand not yet taken by the tide. Set down. And watched the sunset. Unforgettable perfect timing.

2. Sani Pass (Lesotho Border)
This is one of the most impressive view I ever had. This place is absolutely beautiful. There are some reasons for that.

Context: Imagine you are in Underberg in the middle of winter. Cold, really cold. I imagine you thinking that “ughh winter in South Africa is probably hot and sunny”. Well… I also believed that! So, you are in Underberg, a little town at the foot of Drakensberg mountains. You decide to leave this town to climb Sani Pass. It is so cold the last days that your need few tries before start the car, and the night before you were adding some turpentine in your tank to help the petrol not to freeze. You manage to start the car and engage yourself on this scenic steep road, a gravel road of course, that lead to the pass witch mark the border between Lesotho and South Africa (at over 2876 meters !).
After 9km driving (just 4×4 allowed) and a new stamp on your passport you arrive in Lesotho. You go out of the car, no no no you go back in it is too cold! But you have to see this view… You are brave and decide to let the car, buy some gloves (some smart local ladies sell warm stuff there, and you understand why), and have walk off the road. Then you discover absolute beauty. You forgot the col and you feel good.

3. Giant’s Castle (KwaZulu Natal)
I advice this area for hikers. There is walk for all levels. We are in the Drakensberg or “Centralberg” because it is the middle part of this mountain range and most precisely in the Royal Natal National Park .I didn’t tell you what “Drakensberg” means. In Afrikaans it means “dragon mountain”, and it’s true it looks like the back of a dragon.

In winter you can sometimes see some snow on the top of the mountains, and then a lot of South African tourists enjoy get here just to see a bit of snow. But funny enough, winter in this area is also particularly dry, so the farmers have to burn big areas of grass to prevent accidental fires to spread. This on control fires are called fire breaks. Even in the parks they do this fire breaks so you can walk in a strange half-burned mountain if you go around July. Anyway, you can go in summer if you prefer mountains nice and green.

Giant’s castle is a quite serious hike, not for beginners, and you need some time to do it. But you can choose an easy option and enjoy the view of this spectacular mountain.

4. Woody Cape Beach (Eastern Cape)
Unbelievable. 50 km of sand beach and … no tourists ! No-bo-dy. Ok maybe far away you can see a black point which could be a solitary walker, maybe it just a seagull.

To discover this place you have t be a little bit adventurous. We are off the main roads. The closer town is Alexandria from about 17 km of a dirt road that can literally kill your car if you don’t take it easy. This coast is protected, it is part of Addo Elephant Park, the 3rd bigger park of the country. There is not many access to this beach: some roads owned by the park and the access of Woodycape Backpackers located 5 minutes walking from the beach. When we arrive in this place you feel small. As far as you can see there is sand, or the ocean , pretty rough and agitated, not always welcoming for swimming but always magnificent. You are small, little human in the middle of nowhere, watching the infinity and immensity of this breath taking view.

5. Wild Coast (Eastern Cape)
When I say Wild Coast it is a little bit too “global” because I actually want to talk about a walk I did between Lubanzi and Bulungula, a small part of this “Wild Coast”. What I did at this time, because the walk is quite long, I slept in Wild Lubanzi Backpackers, start early the morning and slept in Bulungula Lodge, do the return the second day. If you are sick of walking, you can take a local taxi to come back to Lubanzi.

I wasn't bored by the pristine coast. If you travel between July and November, it is the whales season and you can maybe see them from the shore. But what you will see for sure is some fisherman (maybe you need to learn a bit of Xhosa if you want to engage a conversation), a lot a Aloe Ferox one of the symbol of the country (see picture), and some amazing beaches, completely unspoiled. For a naked bath it is the place to be, nobody will see you (except some goats).