Jenny's Mountain Adventures: South Africa - Cape Town and Johannesburg

To celebrate an number of special occasions, John and Connie organized an amazing trip for the family to Southern Africa this fall. An African Safari was always something I thought I would want to do, but didn't think it would happen anytime soon. As a result, I showed up with no expectations and was totally blown away by the people, cultures, and African animals that we were luck enough to encounter on our whirlwind trip. Here is the first installment of a trip of a lifetime (split into 4 so I can share more photos!) I cannot thank the Milino's enough for the amazing experience of traveling through Africa together.

Excited for the 26 hours of travel ahead!

First stop on our trip was Cape Town, South Africa where we had a few days to get our bearings before heading out to our first safari camp in Limpopo S.A. We started our trip with a bang, heading out the Stellenbosch region for a day of cycling and sampling the local wines.

Good morning Cape Town

No better way to beat jet lag than to ride bikes and drink wine

Stellenbosch views

Uphill to the next winery

The whole crew

Later that afternoon, we found ourselves wandering the streets of Bo Kaap and they city bowl. Cape Town is such a vibrant city and it was nice to be back after spending a month here earlier this year!

Brilliant colours in Bo Kaap

Day 2 was a full day outing to the Cape of Good Hope. We joined another couple and drove down the west side of the Cape Peninsula through Sea Point, Camps Bay and Haut Bay. We stopped along Chapman's Peak Drive for some photos before continuing south towards the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape is not the most southern point in Africa, but it did cause issues for sailors navigating the rough seas as they traveled around Africa to reach Asia. Further east, Cape Agulhas is the southmost point of the African Continent, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Sometimes you can get lucky and spot whales out in the waves. Looking south from the Cape of Good Hope, it is all water until you reach Antarctica! We stopped for a short walk at the lighthouse and explored the rocky coastline before making our way back up the eastern shore of the peninsula.

Views of Haut Bay from Chapmans Peak Drive

Our first wildlife sighting

The (almost) tip of the African Continent

Stormy skies and breaking waves at the Cape of Good Hope

Looking down the Cape from the old lighthouse (which was too high up from the shore and actually caused many shipwrecks!)

Looking east from the Cape of Good Hope

Walking down to the point

Our next stop was Boulders Beach, home to a colony of African Penguins! We were captivated by their awkward waddles and curious nature. I could have spent all day watching them get knocked over by waves, only to transform into graceful swimmers once they finally made it past the break!

Curious African Penguin at Boulders Beach

Penguins playing in the surf

That's a big colony!

To round out the day, we ended our tour at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. Kyle and I had visited in February and found it to be a beautiful oasis on the side of Table Mountain. Returning in October was a treat as all the flowers were in bloom.

Bird of Paradise flowers at Kirstenbosch

Canopy walk on the Boomslang Bridge

Boomslang bridge

Fireball flowers

Table Mountain

Views over Cape Town

Everything's in blood in the Botanical Garden

Pretty flower

For our final day in Cape Town, Chris, Elizabeth, Kyle and I hiked the India Venster Trail up Table Mountain. The clouds had settled right over the mountain, giving the trail a supernatural feel. The trail is a steep scramble that traverses ledges high on the mountain but thanks to the fog, we couldn't see how high up we were or how much further we had to go! We made good time up the really fun trail and met up with John and Connie at the top, where we hiked out to McLaren Beacon in the mist. To our luck, the clouds lifted for about an hour and we had amazing views of Cape Town, the Cape Peninsula and the rest of Table Mountain. A great reward for a tough hike! It was nice to take the cable car back down to the sunshine where we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the waterfront.

Hiking India Venster trail

Scrambling up misty Table Mountain

Steep section with chains and rungs

You can't tell, but we are almost at the top!

The clouds lifted, giving us a view down Table Mountain past Camps Bay

The next morning, we left Cape Town to head north to our first safari camp near the Drakenburg Mountains (blog post to follow, stay tuned!). Following that, we had 2 nights in Johannesburg. This was a big shift from spending day out in the bush but it was a cultural highlight of the trip. South Africa has a violent past and we spent a full day touring some of the historic sites to learn about the fight against the Apartheid Government and racial segregation that was still occurring up until 1994. We visited the secret hideout of the ANC and Nelson Mandela, toured Soweto (a huge township that remains a primarily black area), visited an old prison, and were shown through a slum neighbourhood where a children's centre has been set up to help local kids get an education, daily meals and an introduction to sports. The amandla ("power") tour highlighted the struggles of the freedom fighters, the current challenges South Africa still faces with corruption, racism and violence, as well as the locals hopes for a better future and dreams of change.