Cape Town to Victoria Falls

By David Gourley

 

This was a holiday that took my wife Cathy and me to five countries in all: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. The highlight was a five-day trip on the luxury train Pride of Africa (run by Rovos Rail) between Cape Town and Victoria Falls.

We flew out to Cape Town with Air Namibia. We were pleasantly surprised by the high standard of the in-flight service but it did involve a rather circuitous route via Frankfurt, Windhoek (where we changed planes) and the Namibian coastal town of Walvis Bay. On this latter stretch we had splendid views over the Namib Desert.

The bridge across the Zambesi,
connecting Zimbabwe with Zambia

In Cape Town we had a three-night stay, based at the Vineyard Hotel, located fairly close to the SA Cricket ground in the district of Newlands. I felt whacked after our long overnight flight and just wanted to crash out, but Cathy was determined to go straight away to Table Mountain. I do hate saying this - she was right! The rule when visiting Cape Town is: if the cablecar to the top of Table Mountain is running, go for it. For all too often it is closed. This is nothing to do with the cloud - the "Tablecloth" - which frequently covers the Mountain. The authorities don't mind if people go up and don't seeing anything. The problem is the frequent strong winds, the "Southeasters". We got to the top successfully and enjoyed superb views over what is undoubtedly one of the loveliest cities in the world. But a strong wind blew up even while we were up there; they'd closed the cable-car by the time we got down and it didn't run again for the remainder of our stay.

We had a city tour the next morning and in the afternoon took ourselves off to Robben Island, now preserved as a national museum. There were two tours: of the Island itself and of the actual prison, where one is shown inter alia the cell where Nelson Mandela was kept. We were guided round the prison by a former political prisoner and were struck by the conciliatory attitude that he had towards his former political enemies (it is even the case that some ex-warders have joined the former prisoners in working to preserve this monument).

He had been sentenced in 1988 to a 25-year term but said he'd inwardly laughed because he knew the system wouldn't last that long. He was out after four years. Any worries we had that we were being voyeuristic were put to rest when we purchased a book about the Island: it is described as a place of hell, true, but of heaven as well. It is prized in the new South Africa as the place where apartheid was finally defeated.

The next day saw us on an all-day trip to Cape Point, through fine coastal scenery. The following day was the start of our rail trip. First-class meals, and as much South African wine as one wanted, were included - I think I'll have to up my visits to the gym as a result! (As one tour guide said: people always complain about the food in South Africa - they eat too much of it and put on weight!)

We stopped en route at Kimberly, where an ancient electric tram took us to the Big Hole, the world's largest manmade hole, where diamonds were once mined. The next evening saw a break in the train journey, with an overnight stay in Pretoria. This was preceded by tours of Johannesburg and of Pretoria itself, both with the same guide. She was excellent but we were rather thrown when she asked us where we wanted to go in Jo'burg. Surely she knew best where to go, we thought.

Tentatively I enquired about the possibility of going to Soweto, expecting her to say it was too far, or simply that, as a white South African, she didn't want to go there. But she was happy to take us there and it was a fascinating visit. One has an image of Soweto as a place full of miserable shacks and there are indeed plenty of these, but much of the housing is decent and well-maintained, and there is even a local "Beverley Hills", where Winnie Mandela lives in her mansion. There are so many BMWs that they are known as "Soweto bicycles". There is now a university - and somehow we did not expect to see a KFC outlet in Soweto!

The place has, of course, its problems and no sensible visitor strays far from the beaten track. But we felt safe enough and were moved by our visit to the area that has been set aside as a memorial to Hector Pieterson, the first schoolboy to be killed by the security forces in the 1976 uprising, the trigger for which was the protest by black schoolchildren about being taught in Afrikaans, which (unlike English) is regarded as an alien language. This really marks the definitive start of the final struggle against apartheid. We were told that parents were somewhat ashamed that it was their kids who were making the running, when they themselves had been passive. Some estrangement between generations resulted, a cause perhaps of the present degree of lawlessness in Soweto, which local community leaders agree is a problem. We also visited Nelson Mandela's former house, which is now a museum; Archbishop Tutu still lives nearby, when he's in town, making this particular street the only one in the world to have housed two Nobel prizewinners.

Soweto has at least one and a half million, and maybe as many as four million, inhabitants, and by any standards is a city in its own right though it has yet to acquire all the trappings associated with big cities. It is by no means a place without hope and maybe it is not fanciful to suppose that one day Soweto will be the dynamic heart of the metropolis with Jo'burg just a rundown suburb. Downtown Jo'burg is seriously crime-ridden and ranks as the grimmest city we have yet visited; previously we'd given that accolade to Lima, which we've now promoted a notch! Pretoria on the other hand is an attractive city.

We rejoined the train the next day and had another two nights, continuing into Zimbabwe, where we had a tour of Bulawayo, a pleasant city with a very good museum (the best in Africa, we were told by our possibly biased guide - apart, he conceded, from the one in Cairo). In Victoria Falls we stayed at the eponymous Hotel, one of the finest anywhere. From our room we had an excellent view into Zambia and the spray from the Falls can be seen from the gardens. The Falls are every bit as spectacular as we had imagined. We visited them four times in all, once from the Zambian side, and also had two helicopter flights over them.

Tours in Zimbabwe included an elephant trek and a visit to the Hwange National Park. Like the name of the country itself, many towns in the former Rhodesia have different post-independence names. Salisbury to Harare is the most well-known change whilst Essexvale Man is now Esigodoni Man. In the case of Hwange the change is very much for the better - it was formerly known as Wankie.

Our foray into Zambia took us not just to that country's side of the Falls, but also to an authentic African village (which benefits financially from such tours and welcomes visitors), the city of Livingstone (a pleasant city still, though this former capital has known better days) and a game drive. To get from one country to the other, we had to walk across the Bridge over the Zambezi. In the middle, precisely on the boundary, bungee jumps take place and we paused to watch a couple of them. For four days the Zimbabweans do the necessary organizing, then the Zambians take over for the next four, and so on ad infinitum. We decided to forego the pleasure of doing a jump!

A young boy struck up a conversation with us as we walked across; learning we were English he came up with what must be the standard patter: "ah, England - Tony Blair, John Major [John who?], Michael Owen, Alan Shearer". I gave him an old baseball cap of mine and he seemed well pleased with it. It had started its life in Petra, Jordan!

We had six nights in all in Victoria Falls, punctuated by three nights over the border in Botswana in the Cresta Mowana Game Lodge, close to the Chobe National Park. President Clinton had stayed here during his tour of Africa earlier in 1998. The Lodge is on the banks of the Chobe River. On the other side is Namibia and we went across there in a dugout canoe and were shown round the village there by a local lad. For this short excursion, there were four lots of forms to be filled in by both of us - exit from Botswana, entry to Namibia etc. We went on game drives in the Park and on boat trips along the River and saw plenty of game, including lions, elephants and hippos. We had seen giraffes, zebras and wildebeests in Zambia and Zimbabwe, which was as well as we saw none in Botswana.

As well as viewing game, I also ate a fair bit of it, both in Botswana and in an African-style restaurant in Zimbabwe. Warthog is recommended, also zebra. To anyone who objects, I would say that, if one is not vegetarian, there is no difference in principle between eating a sheep, say, and eating game. The killing of game for food is the result of a strict culling process and in no way threatens the eco-system.

Our flight home from Victoria Falls was in two stages, with an overnight stay en route in Windhoek. The first stage constituted just about the strangest flight we have been on. The plane was tiny - even the shortest in our party had to lower their heads as we boarded and, in the absence of any in-flight personnel, snacks were handed to us by the pilot as we boarded. This was hardly a comfortable journey but, not to worry, I thought, the flight will only be an hour or so. We duly flew over a city, which I assumed to be Windhoek. Cathy says my face was a picture when I saw the sign welcoming us to Lusaka International Airport. Unexpectedly we were back in Zambia, having travelled in precisely the opposite direction to the one expected.

A German chap in front of us got his word in first - yes, the pilot assured him, the plane was going on to Windhoek, but we'd have to get out here whilst the plane was refuelled. We had a second stop in a remote part of Namibia and again we had to get out for refuelling. To round off our day, we landed in Windhoek in a thunderstorm. In all we'd been in this uncomfortable plane some six hours, on and off, but the journey had been so enjoyably bizarre that somehow we didn't feel we had grounds for complaint! Our flight back to London the next day seemed positively tame by comparison.

First published in VISA issue 32 (winter 1998)

The Western Cape

by Tim Grimes

We wanted a short break in the sun, in the middle of the dismal British January weather; somewhere within reasonable striking distance, a change from Europe and the USA. Never having set foot in Africa, we decided on South Africa’s Western Cape.

The huge land mass and low labour rates, combined with the low Rand, at R12.5 = £1, make South Africa exceptional value. But the catch is the rack rate for the flight, which is something like £700 per adult, This may not be unconnected to the fact that only BA and SAA and, to a limited extent, Virgin fly to Cape Town, from the UK. We arrived in Cape Town at 6.30am, after a tedious and sleepless 11 hours on a BA plane. BA leaves Heathrow at 4.50pm, or at 7.30pm. We didn't see any point in hanging around for the later flight.

Cape Town: The Waterfront

We made our first stop at Stellenbosch, which we reached at about 8.00am on Sunday. We were the first customers at the local Mugg & Bean Cafe, the only place in town which was open. Stellenbosch is a small, historic, town where Dutch Cape colonial architectural still predominates. After an hour or two, a few more people appeared and, until we returned to Cape Town a week later, that’s just how it was. Few people in quiet towns, and very few cars on the roads. We rarely saw municipal car parks and we were struck by the ease of driving up to a high street and just parking outside a shop and walking straight in. (In smaller towns, parking is free of charge, but with a R2 or R3 tip for the “parking host” – unemployed black boys who “look after” your car in your absence – and why not. In larger towns, there is a card system for meter payment.)

We continued through the Winelands, where visitors can call in without notice at wineries for a tasting or a meal, stopping next at Franschhoek, the centre of the former French Huguenot community and credited with bringing wine growing to South Africa. A cynic might think the French influence (e.g. rue la Rochelle and rue de la Rey) somewhat over-worked to attract the tourists. The raison d'étre of the place is to service the vineyard visitor, with local arts and crafts. But we weren't visiting vineyards. So we didn't stay long.

We spent our first night at Montagu, passing through Robertson which is, what we have come to understand to be, an archetypal Western Cape small town - a wide dusty street without cars, a few shops, a huge and well-kept church, and some bungalows on the outskirts.

Montagu is a charming village with a couple of dozen properties on the historic houses register. Many of these are guest houses. We stayed at the delightful Malherbe on Route 62, the main road, with the equally delightful Joop and Micky who welcomed us as their first bookings. Even if our room had been at the front, there wouldn't have been much worry about noise. I reckon a car passes every 5 minutes at busy times of day. The sleepy town has useful shops and some arts and crafts galleries.

The next day, we continued along the R62, to Oudtshoorn, via Barrydale and Ladismith (not Ladysmith of Boer War fame), which were unexceptional and typical; and Calitzdorp with some very attractive houses around the atypically English-styled church. The Country Pumpkin, on the main road outside Barrydale, however, served an extremely good lunch, but we didn’t stop at Ronnie’s Sex Shop between Barrydale and Ladismith – having already discovered it to be a café.

Oudtshoorn was bigger than any of the other towns we had seen since leaving Stellenbosch. Much of its architecture was 19th century colonial, with a fair bit of post-War colonial which I can remember being represented as modern, by colonial tea and coffee companies who used to tour prep schools with promotional film shows. Some of the shops of Oudtshoorn clearly catered for the less well-off. At Oudtshoorn, we stayed at the spectacular Baron’s Palace Hotel, built as a residence by one of the many colonial “feather barons” - entrepreneurs who made piles of money out of ostrich feathers for the fashion trade.

Just outside Oudtshoorn is the really professional Cango Wildlife Ranch with its collection of endangered cheetahs, white tigers and crocodiles which have been bred there. I had never heard a crocodile’s jaws snap shut – a chilling crunch like a car door being slammed. There are several ostrich show farms in the neighbourhood; we stopped at the Oudtshoorn Ostrich Farm, for a 45 minute tour - and an opportunity for a ride.

As we drove east, great craggy ranges of the Outeniqua Mountains rose up quite close to the road, from fairly barren scrubland. From Oudtshoorn, however, scrubland began to give way to ostrich grazing, then some cereals.

It is always interesting to spot the innovations in another culture. At Oudtshoorn, I was particularly impressed by the card-operated parking meters in larger towns (pressing the card to a meter debits the appropriate fee from a card which has been topped up at the local retailers). A curiosity is that the same card can also be used for petrol purchases - beware, petrol stations don't take credit cards, but petrol also is cheap - about £15 for a tank. I also liked the innovative banking feature, which allows account holders to pay their traffic fines at ATMs.

We continued to George, where we stayed at the stylish and comfortable Oakhurst Manor Hotel. The hotel is within walking distance of George, a busy town with a few decent shops and a scrappy end too. The hard-to-find railway museum is a vast warehouse which also houses quite an impressive collection of British and American cars. If you can stand the embarrassment of its name the Outeniqua Choo-tjoe, pulled by a fairly serious steam engine, takes passengers to Knysna and back - about 3 hours each way. From George, we drove to Plettenberg Bay. Having an air of Worthing on a very hot summer's day, it answers a need for South Africans seeking a seaside resort. Despite its spectacular, empty beach (most beaches we found were spectacular and empty) it is not a “must see” for visitors from overseas. Plainly the architects had been selected from the City of Coventry’s rejects list. It’s not that there is a genetic inability amongst South Africans to create seaside towns - Camps Bay, just south of Cape Town, is a very attractive beach resort with lively bars and restaurants.

Plettenberg Bay was our easternmost point and we drove back to Cape Town along the famous Garden Route, which is closer to the coast. Unlike most of the northern road which we had driven, the Garden Route runs through low hills folded into more hills until they recede into the distant Outeniqua Mountains on the inland side. The Indian Ocean can be seen, from time to time, on the seaward side. For most of the journey, the land is cultivated as far as the distant mountains, and sheep, cows and ostrich grazed on stubble from the recent cereal harvest, and clover growing between.

Knysna

Knysna is a bit of a tacky sea-side town, but with some redeeming features, which include views over the lagoon towards the Heads - the two rocky headlands which nearly enclose the lagoon. We stayed, just outside Knysna, at the Fish Eagle Lodge, a delightful log-cabined estate on a hill overlooking the lagoon and the hinterland.

Mossel Bay was the third seaside town we found. Pretty tired and scrappy, it does house the Bartholomew Diaz Museum complex containing a replica of the Cape discoverer’s ship and some of the town’s historical buildings. Also enclosed was the Post Office Tree - a tree said to have been used by early 15th century sailors for leaving letters for home. That would have made the tree about 500 years old. Visitors will make up their own minds about how long trees live.

Midway to Cape Town, we stopped overnight at Adin and Sharon’s award-winning Hideaway, in Swellendam – a really delightful town with some very attractive buildings. The Hideaway is apparently the only five star guest house in South Africa. Significantly dearer than average, it is even more accommodating than the very high standards we found everywhere else.

The centre of Cape Town is in the early stages of decrepitude, with disused buildings, poorly tended public gardens and no shortage of vagrants. Hardly a white face was to be seen and the atmosphere was just a tad threatening. Surprisingly, a couple of older buildings were to be converted into luxury apartments, many of which were claimed to have been pre-sold, so maybe some degree of recovery is in prospect. Plainly the best way to see the legislative capital is from the 2-hour hop-on hop-off “Topless Bus”, which picked us up close to our hotel. Out of a sense of adventure, and ignoring best advice, we decided to get off the bus in the centre of the city, and walk. Clutching bags and cameras as inconspicuously as possible, and snatching only surreptitious glances at the street map, we walked through the overgrown Company’s Gardens and along Darling Street with ostentatious nonchalance. We saw the City Hall and some other formerly fine pieces of architecture, and the Castle (really a fort) whose thick walls now give tourists the sense of security which had been offered to the Dutch East India Company soldiers in the 17th century. From just a few steps outside the centre, there are still some very respectable and attractive residential areas. Eschewing political correctness, we found our trip was complete without a visit to Robben Island.

On the quayside, we enjoyed the Waterfront - a civilised and stylish shopping centre with loads of restaurants and bars created out of restored and rebuilt dock buildings. It has to be said, however, there is nothing essentially South African about the Waterfront, which could be anywhere in the world. Parts of it strongly resemble San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, other parts Boston’s Quincy Market. The unexceptional, but perfectly serviceable, Waterfront Holiday Inn, where we stayed, must be so called because it is near the Waterfront, not because it is at the Waterfront. In fact it takes a 15 minute (probably safe by day) walk, or a 20 minute hotel bus ride to get to the Waterfront.

We couldn’t take the Table Mountain cable car, once because of high winds, and once due to low cloud: the lesson is to grab the first opportunity available especially if time is limited. However, there is a pretty good view of the city from the lower cable car station, about a third of the way up and, contrary to expectation, that is a really cheap place to buy polo shirts and souvenirs.

Down the Cape Peninsula, 30 minutes’ drive from Cape Town, is Groot Constantia, the oldest winery on the Cape. Access to the relaxing grounds is free, with a small charge for the principal manor house. There are a couple of good restaurants on the campus, and wine tasting. And the views are spectacular. Simon’s Town, about 1 hour’s drive south of Cape Town, is an absorbing former Royal Navy base, with an attractive shopping street, some interesting walks, and an apparently very active local history society which has erected plaques all over the place. Just beyond the town, lies Boulders Beach, where we walked amongst dozens of penguins.

Prices in the Cape generally are almost embarrassingly low, although the tourism journals have expressed concern that some hoteliers and restaurateurs are over-charging. At today’s R12.5 = £1, a good restaurant will charge 50p for a beer, £8 for dinner for two. In the most attractive villages, 2 hours from Cape Town, a 4-bed house with land could set you back £120,000: we saw some rural 2-bed bungalows at £9,000.

We were surprised at the strength of Afrikaans, in the Western Cape. It is almost prevalent in conversation and common in road-signs, although most Afrikaans speakers also speak English. In the countryside, the pace of life is really really slow. People are welcoming and helpful and seemed anxious to talk to Britons. We found everyone whom we spoke to - black and white - very pleasant and helpful. We were frequently approached by strangers who seemed very anxious to tell us about their connections with the UK, and how many generations of their families had lived in South Africa. Some even insisted on showing us their homes. Good manners extended noticeably to driving: slower drivers pull over to be overtaken and drivers approaching crossroads wait their turn to proceed. Society seems well ordered, having reverted to the pre-apartheid era. Perhaps with the exception of central Cape Town, the Western Cape seemed settled and peaceful despite (or, maybe, because of) warnings on most houses and shops of “24 hour armed response” provided by private security companies – the sign even appeared on the walls of police stations. But, whilst we didn’t feel threatened by day, my night-time walk in George was more of a dare than a constitutional.

Eschewing travel agents, inbound tourist agencies, and similar parasites, a good place to start is the Cape’s own tourist website, which accesses hotels and guest houses directly. This not only connects you to the hoteliers (eg for directions) and at direct prices, but also avoids the need to pay for accommodation before arrival. And resist the request from hoteliers to charge 50% up front - there are enough places not requiring this, to make it negotiable. (Here’s another tip for saving money: I bought a digital camera at the duty free, at Heathrow, on the way out. Having decided what model I wanted, research showed that was cheaper than any available in the whole of Tottenham Court Road, the internet, and South Africa. And you can buy it by phone, in advance, and collect it on departure). Most of the major car hire companies are represented in South Africa, and therefore car hire is accessible in advance, by internet. A local wrinkle to beware, is the widespread insurance excess (£900 in our case) which can be bought down significantly or, if agreed in advance, reclaimed from the UK provider retrospectively. It would be wise to sort this, in the UK, when booking.

Having criticised some of what we saw, was it a good trip? Unreservedly yes. In my opinion, the climate is ideal, the countryside is spectacular and, whilst the towns are not all overflowing with architectural gems, they are the real thing. It has whetted my appetite to see more of South Africa and to learn more. Although I imagine the Western Cape is not representative of the whole of South Africa, it was a fascinating insight into the similarities and the differences of a European way of life which has developed in Africa. We met so many people and had the privilege of discussing their backgrounds and ways of life and hopes and fears for the future. Whether the new majority-elected government will recognise this unique opportunity in Africa and develop it; or lay waste its wealth and potential, is for the pages of another SIG’s journal.

First published in VISA issue 56A (June 2004)

Land of Good Hope

by Glen Strachan

Our visit to South Africa started in Johannesburg in the same fashion as many first-time visitors to the Republic and, while this most modern city is of some interest, it has its problems. Our advice is to try to make Cape Town the entry point for your South African trip. While it is not easy to arrange travel this way round, the benefits are such that the effort will be rewarded.

Johannesburg is a huge sprawling modern city with a very ritzy upmarket suburbia and a terrifying crime-soaked city centre downtown area. Murders are routine and muggings commonplace with a range of car-jackings and random shootings adding spice to this cosmopolitan city. The police force is being overwhelmed and the swelling tide of crime shows no sign of abating. Downtown and the old business district are now out of bounds to most locals, who will not even drive through this district in daylight. In general, driving at night is not recommended but, if you are challenged and stopped, the advice given is that you pass the keys of your vehicle to your assailant and then hand over your wallet. A combination of the two may be enough to save your life.

That ends the warning and mostly it ends any negative feelings about this remarkable country. I began with the warning because it is so important that all visitors heed it, when planning their South African visit. It might be a good idea to plan your trip around a flight into Cape Town and out of Durban. This could cost a little more but there is more than enough to see without even passing through Johannesburg or Pretoria, its neighbour.

Leaving Cape Town, the journey along the coast to see the fabulous Garden Route is a real treat. The solitude and the stunning beauty of this coastline make this a journey to be taken very slowly and with as many stops as you can work into your itinerary. The South African Tourist Board in the UK is most helpful in providing the literature that will help you to get the most out of your visit and the local offices of the Board were tremendous with a wide range of helpful and friendly staffers. The stars of our visit were the National Parks administrators and rangers.

The wide range of parks is nearly beyond belief and, since many of the parks carry accommodation, a little careful planning can see you in log cabins inside the parks. Don't worry about being wakened by an elephant or a lion. You might be sharing the park with such animals but you will be well warned that your car must be back within the living quarters before darkness falls. The South African passion for the brai or barbecue, as we know it, means that you will probably get an invitation to join in and, if this is not the food that you like to eat, the National Parks also run excellent restaurants in almost all of the parks.

Most parks have their own distinct characteristics. They should not be confused with either theme parks or the sort of recreational parks that we have in Europe. Firstly, they are enormous - as one incredulous Welshman told me, he had been in two parks which were both bigger than his native Wales - and it is also important to remember that the animals in the parks are left to their own devices. This is not some kind of outdoor zoo and, if the animal has to eat, then it will look for a food source which it can kill.

Carcasses litter the water holes and we were also confronted with the sad spectacle of an elderly lioness, which had been deserted by the rest of the pride. Weak and sick, it was left to fend for itself against the nocturnal attacks of the hyenas which had spotted it by day. The thrill of driving along a road in the early morning light and coming across a family of lions or a leopard or even a group of elephants is one that must be experienced. The video films and camera pictures that we brought home barely capture that sensation. Just remember that the animals are mainly nocturnal and, if you do want to see the scarcer ones, it is important to have your eyes and ears wide open and, above all, speak to the ranger and to your fellow-visitors.

Animals will often stay in one area for a few days and move on. You can drive for a whole day and only see a few springboks and zebras, while on other occasions we were very lucky. Two lions came over to look at our car as we drove down a deserted tar road, while a number of fellow visitors had headed off down dirt roads to search for big game just minutes earlier. Not content with staring into the car for a few minutes and posing for some really sensational pictures, the lions walked alongside us for almost a kilometre.

That happened on our last morning in Kruger National Park and the only beast on our whole list that we had not seen was the leopard. We were not too disappointed as they do not enjoy the heat of the sun. As a result, they sleep in the trees well off the road in order not to be disturbed. We could hardly believe our luck but, within minutes of leaving the lions and only a short time before we drove out of the park, there it was before us - a fully-grown leopard. We stayed close to it for almost twenty minutes as it went through a series of stretching exercises that precisely mirrored the waking routine that our beloved family cat performs each morning. There are trips which can be arranged at considerable expense but, if you are willing to do a little work for yourself and avail yourself of the great support offered by the Parks Department, your stay in the world-famous Kruger National Park can be achieved within a reasonable budget. Try not to miss this place. I promise the thrills will stay with you for the rest of your days.

If you choose to drive north from Cape Town towards the Namibian border, there is one park that you must not miss. Just north of the town of Kakamas is Augrabies National Park and while most of the literature highlights the waterfall, drive on and experience something like a lunar landscape. This park might just be the best kept secret in South Africa. Do yourself a favour - visit the park and eat in the restaurant. Be there as the sun goes down and stay in the Park accommodation if you can arrange this in advance. On the Garden Route, Knysna is a great place to stay but, if you are planning a honeymoon or even a second honeymoon, I think we may have found the ultimate destination. The log cabins in Tsitsikamma National Park beside Storms River Mouth are set in one of the most beautiful seascapes that we have seen anywhere and, if the time of year is right, you can even watch the whales performing their courting rituals. We were lucky enough to pick up a cancellation for one of the best-sited cabins on the day but, to avoid disappointment, I would recommend booking in advance.

Mostly, rural South Africa is more rewarding that the rather tense environment of the cities, but we do recommend that you consider landing in Cape Town, hiring a car right away and driving the short distance out to Stellenbosch. Base yourself there and travel the thirty minutes or so into the city each day. Stellenbosch and neighbouring Paarl will be familiar to all who have enjoyed the excellent wines that are now being produced in the Republic and the entire district is known as "the wine route". Once again there are expensive tours of the region available, but we recommend that you arrange your own visits to the wineries - they will all be happy to show you round and give you a little sample of their produce without any charge. A number of the grape-growing farms in the region will provide bed and breakfast and you will quickly become part of the family. Forget the costly hotels and make some new friends - and please your bank manager.

This country has a wide range of problems that grows daily, despite the titanic efforts of the remarkable Nelson Mandela but, if you take the precaution of avoiding the problem areas, you will make a journey that you will never forget. The Cape of Good Hope is an easier travel from Stellenbosch and, if you fly home direct from Cape Town, then a cable-car trip to the top of Table Mountain and a walk around its summit to watch the sun go down will round off your trip in perfect style.

First published in VISA issue 23 (winter 1996)