If you missed the first installation of our South Africa travel adventures - you can read about days 1-4 here. Spoiler alert - the first three days of the trip were spent in various airports.
When I left off we had finally had an amazing day exploring Cape Town and managed to make it to Franschhoek via Uber at around 10 PM.
Having found no restaurants open for dinner, we enjoyed a gourmet meal of snacks purchased at the Atlanta airport.
DAY FIVE
FRANSCHHOEK WINE TRAM
We woke up in our adorable bed and breakfast and were treated to an amazing spread complete with fresh eggs cooked to order.
Everything was looking up, despite the fact that it was torrentially downpouring and incredibly windy. It calmed down outside by the time we had to leave to walk to the wine tram so I rolled up my pants (because the world’s worst feeling is wet pant bottoms) and we took in the adorable town - fully realizing that we were in South Africa’s fall season and all of the trees were changing colors!
I had done a ton of research into which Wine Tram line to take, and I’m sure it was overkill considering any of the vineyards in this area are a delight. The options are Blue, Orange, Red and Navy and we ended up booking the Red Line, mainly because I wanted to do one of the picnics at Holden Manz. Unfortunately, with the weather, our picnic did not happen.
Our first stop was Le Lude, whose bubbly brut was a perfect way to start the day, especially considering it was 9:52 AM (this should give you some indication of how the day would turn out for me, after having been living the alcohol-free life for 7 months). We told ourselves it was basically a mimosa and the day was officially underway!
It stayed rainy on and off throughout the day, but it didn’t stop us from visiting 5 vineyards.
After Le Lude, we went to Maison Estate which had such a nice backyard/outdoor area with chickens running around. We sat inside though, and enjoyed a flight. It was wild how quick the staff are when you walk in the door, knowing that people want to get through a flight in the hour they have before the tram comes back to take them to the next place.
Stop #3 was Lynx. I liked this one because we were greeted with a glass of red wine as we stepped off the tram! This is also the stop where we got fancy and paired our wine with some oysters and other light bites. They took Allison’s food allergies very seriously and had her write them all down - you love to see it!
The tram-rides between vineyards had jaw-dropping views of mountains in the distance and at one point we were even treated to a rainbow!
Stop #4 is where things went off the rails a bit for me - I ordered like $300 worth of wine and had it shipped back to Long Island so I guess I was really feeling the grapes at Grand Provence! Our waiter was great at his job, clearly! (I would spend weeks wondering if, in my drunkeness, I had even provided the right address and if i would ever see any of that wine. It did eventually arrive!)
At that point it would have been wise to call things quits but we soldiered on to the final spot - Rickety Bridge. I don’t remember much from this stop if we are being honest other than the fact that we had struck up conversation with some fellow drunk travelers (also American, shocker!)
The price of each of the flights varies from vineyard to vineyard, but I don’t think we ever paid more than $15. The conversion rate was seriously insane.
Such a lovely way to spend the day, and if I ever go back I will know to take things wayyyy easier.
We ended the day with a pizza from some place in town and then I zombie walked my way back to the bed and breakfast with a quick stop at the grocery store for supplies for the morning. When I say I zombie walked, what I mean is Allison sherpa-ed my drunk ass and got me back safely. Lucky for me the night was still young so I had plenty of time to drink water.
DAY SIX
BUS TO PLETTENBERG BAY
Thank God we had started drinking wine so early in the morning - it meant that despite overdoing it, I got plenty of sleep because the next days logistics were again not super easy.
I had done so much work on this itinerary in 2019 - knowing that we wanted to deal with a rental car as little as possible (the whole driving on the other side of the road thing coupled with high rates of car jacking being a bit of a deterrent). It wasn’t necessarily simple and I definitely had some anxiety surrounding this next bit of transportation in particular. We were setting off from Franschhoek and headed along what is known as the “Garden Route” to Plettenberg Bay.
Before we left on our wine tram, we had pre-arranged for a car service to bring us from our bed and breakfast to the Intercape bus stop bright and early (like 5:30 AM early).
Our driver was there right on time and just as friendly as everyone else we had encountered up until that point.
Then, a small mini van with a trailer hitched to it pulled up and were like “Uhh…is this what we are on for 8 hours?” they explained that this van was taking us to another bus stop (Paarl) where we would link up with the full size coach bus to Plett.
We didn’t really have a choice so we gave them our suitcases (still feeling very sensitive about letting them out of our sight…) and off we went!
We stopped at a gas station/bus stop and the driver was really nice since we were clearly the out-of-place tourists. He told us to hang tight and he would let us know when our bus was there.
Right on time it pulled up and we were off on our journey. We were amazed at how well everything ran - right on time and all of the rest stops were absolutely pristine. I-95 could never.
I wasn’t expecting the ride to be so beautiful - I wanted to read but the views were just too good (I did manage to finish Young Mungo though). It was calling for a ~listen to music, look out the window, have a main character moment which is what I did between naps (again…very hungover but surprisingly functional).
We went from mountains to ultimately driving along the coast with the ocean on our right hand side as we went further south. After about 8 hours we arrived in Plettenberg Bay but the travel logistics weren’t quite done yet. There was no Uber in Plettenberg Bay so we were calling various cab companies as we stood at a gas station. Someone picked up and said someone would be there soon (thanks Charlton!) and it was a quick wait and we were on our way to Beacon Isle Resort where we picked up our rental car. They were SO thorough in checking it and recording any marks.
Finally it was time for Allison to shine - getting in the car and driving on the opposite side of the road. The moment she had been waiting for. (AKA dreading). YIKES. I’m sure it was terrifying as the driver but it wasn’t sunshine and rainbows as the passenger either!
We checked into Nothando Backpackers and couldn’t believe how well things had gone (we really did have PTSD from the beginning of the trip and were just waiting for more things to go wrong!) We got settled and spoke with the owner to make sure it was safe to walk around (he assured us it was). We walked towards the water to a beachfront restaurant (Lookout Deck) and enjoyed a decent meal with a more than decent view of the ocean! (There was a “matric” dance happening in the main part of the restaurant which we came to find out is what they call their prom!)
We were in early and both started reading Born a Crime which I had already read most of before, but being in South Africa and reading it was an entirely different, incredible, amazing experience. I didn’t want to put it down and it was making SO MANY THINGS click that we had seen and experienced thus far.
DAY SEVEN
SNORKELING WITH SEALS
In the morning we woke up to chilly and rainy weather but headed into town for breakfast at Le Fournil. I got sourdough with ricotta and figs and honey and it was delicious (and $6!). Cannot go wrong with that combination!
Then we walked to the beach for snorkeling with seals through Offshore Adventures. We were greeted by a man that guessed our US shoe size perfectly but was keeled over in excruciating stomach pain and we felt so bad for him! He let us know he had called in for backup but got us all situated with wetsuits, flippers, etc. Our new tour guide Red arrived and took us and 5 other swimmers/3 observers out with skipper Jared on a zodiac that was launched into the water by…tractor.
The way that the boat was launched was wild, basically a tractor ramming us into the waves as they broke. Allison got drenched! We were told all about the fact that spotters are constantly on the lookout for sharks at this particular beach which kind of put our minds at ease but also just reminded us of how common sharks are in the waters that we were about to swim in full of their favorite snack - Cape fur seals.
As we approached Roberg Peninsula we saw HUNDREDS of little cape fur seals on the rocks and in the water. There are 8,000 as part of the Robberg peninsula colony but the smaller groups are called rafts. They have four layers of fur - 3 to keep warm and the fourth is a waterproof layer to keep dry. 2,000 hairs per cubic…something?
After a bumpy ride out to the seal colony, there wasn’t much of a safety of instructional spiel. We pretty much plopped ourselves over the side of the boat without much fan fair! The water didn’t feel as cold as I thought it would - it actually felt way worse when it was time to come out of the water and ride back in the wind while soaking wet.
The seals were SO CUTE - essentially little puppies in the water! I gotta say snorkeling is still not my favorite activity and I mainly stayed above water looking at them. There were even babies still learning how to swim!
They couldn’t have been less bothered by us swimming around with them - we were in the water for about 30 minutes and I feel like towards the end they were starting to think of us as friends and were coming closer and acting more playful.
It was a cold, rainy ride back to the beach full of bumps and shivering - but hot showers awaited us and I am so glad I decided to do this despite my reservations. I can confirm that I still don’t LOVE snorkeling, but it was way better (and warmer) than expected and the seals were so cool (and noisy!)
After snorkeling with seals the plan was to head to Robberg to hike, but the weather really wasn’t cooperating so instead, after we showered and changed we went back to Le Fournil to try their almond croissants. WOWOWOW. Holy hell, they were out of this world. Truly no need to go to Paris, I know they won’t compare.
We walked and shopped around town and eventually headed back to the hostel, changed, and went to Old Nick Village where I got too many textiles from the Mungo Mill - a really sustainable working mill that makes incredibly beautiful things. In retrospect, totally worth the money as the pillowcase on my couch is a daily reminder of this magical trip and I know my parents still have the hand towels I got them out in their kitchen. Old Nick Village also had a nursery, flower shop, clothing store and a few other places that we checked out.
Back at the hostel I did a workout, showered and relaxed before dinner at The Fat Fish. This was one of our nicer meals of the trip and despite drinks, appetizers, entrees and dessert we struggled to spend $50 total for the two of us. Fat Fish was also packed with…white people. Again, so jarring.
Allison and I had so many conversations during this trip as we learned more and more about South Africa, through books we were reading or conversations we were having. So many terrible things we came to realize - mainly, that the Dutch actively studied racism and segregation in other countries to figure out what worked “best” and then came back to make the most racist system of all racist systems - apartheid. Black people in South Africa couldn’t live anywhere but homelands and townships and the Bantu education system kept Black South Africans from learning English.
Our hostel owner tonight told us that 54% of people voted to end apartheid, which means that the other 48% wanted to uphold it (this is in 1990, remember).
I was wondering why the people I’ve met in my travels so often make me feel like, “Where are all the right wing awful people? I have this false sense that everyone thinks like me!” But it’s because we are making friends with the waitress Donna and the Indian hostel owner Vinthi - not the Afrikaaner eating dinner next to us (we would have our interactions with this group later on in the trip…)
Vinthi, the sweetest woman, was saying that she has mixed opinions on America based on who has stayed at the hostel, to which I said: “We have mixed opinions about American too!” hahah
DAY EIGHT
ROBBERG PENINSULA AND WALKING WITH ELEPHANTS
This day felt like it couldn’t possibly be real. I got to go on one of the most beautiful hikes of my life AND feed and walk with elephants.
We started with a leisurely breakfast at Le Fournil (again, duh) and then went and did the 6ish mile hike at Robberg Peninsula. I would plan on arriving early for parking.
The first half was deceptively easy - the return was a lot of navigating rocks and not the easiest to follow the trail across sandy beaches with no trail markers.
It got super sunny and warm for us and the views were amazing - 360 degrees the entire way! We felt like we walked through 5 different landscapes and we even saw a seal snorkel trip down below (the same we had been on the day before).
I was stressed about the time which sucked and in an ideal world that would have been the only thing to do that day and we could have brought lunch and books and bathing suits and swam on the secret, stunning beach but we had to get back and go to Knysna Elephant Park!!
Sadly there were no babies, but we got to do the feeding experience AND walk with them and learned a lot. It felt a little tainted after the fact, now that we have heard from some locals that they don’t love the place, but to an obvious outside it seemed well-run. I didn’t love that the guides had sticks to direct the elephants- the elephants must know those mean something…
But walking so close to an elephant was incredible and their trunks were seriously like a whole separate animal! I watched Keisha’s trunk as much as a watched her head!
Elephants have no predators and my favorite fact was they are known to knock down trees to help other animals get to them to eat! They can live to 80 and usually die from old age because they lose their teeth. Female elephants carry babies for 22 MONTHS! African ellies have five front toes and four back toes and two little grabbers on their trunk which distinguish them from Asian elephants. Today, their trunks are genetically smaller because of poaching.
I wish my mom could have been there!
After our amazing two activities, we came back to the hostel and the owner, who used to be the owner of a Indian restaurant, cooked us a true feast! We met all of the people on the Belgium tour group who were also staying at the hostel and watched a hysterical YouTube video about how confusing the Belgian government is.
Then we learned all about Vinthi’s life - she was a riot. She had some hot takes, telling us that South Africa exports all of their best products and the people that live there get stuck with the rest. I also love what she said about being a mom, “I asked my daughter to be naughty. You only have one life. Be naughty, but don’t be rude!”
DAY NINE
Tsitsikamma National Park
Day nine we went on a 4 hour adventure in Tsitsikamma National Park with Untouched Adventures where we got to kayak, lilo, canyon, cliff jump, anvil and swim! Multisport! It was similar, but way more low-key, than the crazy canyoning adventure we went on in Croatia.
Our guides for the day were Romeo and Franko and it was just the four of us which was awesome just getting to talk to them the whole time.
At the end of the trip when we were onto the cliff-jumping portion (I did it!) we met up with another guide who just had one solo female traveler on his tour - very brave! We ended up driving her to the trailhead she was looking for when we got back to the car because we saw her walking on the side of the road.
The National Park was beautiful, and even if you aren’t down for swimming, kayaking, etc. there are some beautiful trails in the park.
Post adventure we went to Surf Cafe and got enchiladas and margaritas that were really good and then just relaxed and read for our last night in Plett! We had a few hours of loadshedding where we had to read by headlamp, but for the most part it hadn’t had a huge impact on us.
DAY TEN
TRAVEL DAY! PLETTENBERG BAY TO PORT ELIZABETH TO JOBURG
This was a full travel day - Allison was a rock star and got us from Plettenberg Bay all the way to the airport in Port Elizabeth, about 150 mile ride that luckily went off without a hitch. Even saw some more wild baboons in the streets which, I know are slightly terrifying, but also SO CUTE! The babies!!
We were truly terrified of checking our bags and flying again, but didn’t have much of a choice! We both loaded whatever we could think of into our carry ons, wore many layers of clothes - we were taking no chances.
The Port Elizabeth airport was not the most comfortable, it was crowded and hot and we had obviously gotten there very early, not knowing how the drive there would go. Luckily we were still both so into our books (after Born a Crime we moved on to “We Are Not Such Things”) that the wait for our flight went pretty quickly.
We were pleasantly surprised when our flight took off exactly on time - though we were starting to realize that things in South Africa really did run smoothly, and we needed to stop being shocked every time something worked out.
The drive from Joburg airport to our hotel was slightly terrifying because the sun was setting and loadshedding was in full effect, meaning even the traffic lights were out as we drove through some neighborhoods that most Americans would find “sketchy.”
It was nice being in a huge, modern hotel room. We got changed and took ourselves out to a nice dinner at Proud Mary in the Rosebank neighborhood of Johannesburg which was really fancy and built up with a ton of restaurants and shops.
The following day I would be going on a tour of Soweto - a city who, in 1976, had a New York Time’s article written about it titled, “Crime Rate in Soweto Among World’s Highest.”
Check back for more!
