30 days in South Africa

Audley client and photographer Frank Binder tells us about his month long journey to South Africa with his wife Cathy Sessions

By Audley Travel

July 18^th, 2018

Reason to celebrate

As a professional wildlife and cultural photographer I’ve visited numerous exotic locales but South Africa continued to beckon. Hence my wife and I decided to celebrate her recent retirement by spending a month exploring South Africa. We wanted to see the popular and the promoted but also to make the local connections that are so enriching and remain the most memorable months after a return home.

The view from Table Mountain, which stands over the city of Cape Town at 3,558 ft.

a dose of extraordinary

After having become aware of Audley Travel at the Boston Travel Show, we scheduled a visit with Samantha Sutherland, their Boston based South Africa specialist and provided her with a jumble of unorganized input on how we like to travel and what interested us in South Africa. Shortly thereafter Samantha sent us a trip itinerary that set us off on our trip of a lifetime.

We landed in lovely Cape Town and proceeded to spend six days seeing the mandatory sights like Robben Island, Table Mountain and the V&A waterfront. But we also mixed in some one-on-one guided tours and spent considerable time wandering about by ourselves and finding out-of-the-way restaurants and neighborhoods.

The view of Table Mountain from Robben Island

View from Camps Beach, Cape Town, South Africa

Cape town to jo'berg

Renting a car allowed us to spend 2 ½ weeks driving along the southern border of the country (the Garden Route). Our next stop was Franschhoek a small town located in the wine lands and which might be the gastronomic capital of the country. Cathy and I thought that our meals at Boschandal and Babylonstoren were the best meals of our lives.

From there we proceeded along some of the most spectacular seaside nature preserves in the world (Walker Bay Nature Reserve should not be missed!) and arrived at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve for Cathy’s first safari experience which cemented her love of giraffes.

Next stop was Johannesburg, the teeming business center of the country and the site of many of the iconic places in the country’s history; Mandela’s home, Desmond Tutu’s house, the site of the 1976 Soweto uprising that precipitated the overthrow of the country’s apartheid regime and policy and finally the amazing apartheid museum.

Frank and Cathy enjoying the beauty of Cape Town

Franschhoek, an easy drive from Cape Town offers bountiful wine options

Cathy at Nelson Mandela's house in Johannesburg

Ostrich sightings in Oudtshoorn, on The Garden Route

Enjoying the elegant giraffe at Shamwari Private Game Reserve

Meeting the leopards

Our last stop in the country was a private game reserve in the Sabi Sands portion of Kruger National Park where we had our second safari experience. Sabi Sand is famous for Leopard sightings and it didn’t disappoint. We witnessed numerous extended Leopard sightings that were exciting and awe inspiring nature at its best.

South Africa has it all…safaris, history, food, great music, wine, spectacular scenery, wonderful culture, and warm people who are pleased to share it all with visitors.