People and culture

Paris - Johannesburg

We arrived in Jo'burg around 7 in the morning. There we rented a car and drove to Pretoria (50km) where we rested in a hotel. During the afternoon, we drove eastbound in the vicinity of Bronkhorstspruit where we encountered N'debele villages
This trip to South Africa dates back to a time when GPS navigational systems didn't exist yet. Therefore we had to find our way thanks to the map of south africa we had bought prior leaving Paris, France

Pretoria - Pietersburg

We visited Pretoria in the morning and then took the direction of Warmbath. On our way we stopped an hour and a half in a little national park where we saw our first wild animals: mainly giraffes, zebras and wildebeests.

Pietersburg - Gravelotte

On the road we noticed a lot of small typical huts villages. We decided to "visit" one, near Tzaneen, walking through it. The inhabitants were very surprised but friendly.

Gravelotte - Hoedspruit

Early morning, we took our car bound for Kruger park where we spent the whole day in our car, driving on the dusty trails. We saw plenty of wild animals but, probably because high temperature (around 34°C) we didn't succeed in seing lions... we just spotted a cheetah.

Hoedspruit

Hoedspruit is a good place to stay because it is surrounded by a lot of things that are worth being visited among which Kruger park and Blyde river canyon. This day we went in the mountains where we saw very beautiful landscapes and waterfalls.

Hoedspruit

In the morning we went back to Kruger park in order to take some more photos of this beautiful fauna and in the afternoon we visited a Shangan-Tsongas village that we had noticed while driving. It was very interesting.

Hoedspruit

Boat ride on the Blyde river...crocodiles, hippos, fish-eagles and nice landscapes.
In the afternoon we visited the Kapama game reserve (mainly dedicated to cheetahs) where we really enjoyed the night safari.

Hoedspruit - Piet retief

We finally left Hoedspruit to Piet retief. On our way we drove through different but wonderful landscapes. Luckily we had a very detailed map of South Africa, otherwise it would have been tricky to find our way to Piet retief as, at this time, the road signs were not really helpul :-)

Piet retief - St Lucie

Our destination: Saint Lucie is famous for its lake and its wildlife. As it was very hot we could not help having a bath in the Indian ocean...but we didn't swim too far from the beach because of the sharks!

St Lucie

We rented a small boat and sailed in this lake only 90 cm deep where big crocodiles and hippos are numerous.
In the afternoon, we rested on the sandy beaches.

St Lucie - Durban

On our way we visited several zulu villages and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi national park where we admired plenty of wild animals. Then we drove quietly to Durban.

Durban

Visit of Durban.

Durban - Cape town

Durban airport. There we took the plane to Cape town. We arrived at 12h30 p.m which enabled us to visit the city in the afternoon.
We chose to settle 6 nights in the same place. We just had to travel around to discover all the beauties of this area.
Again, a map of south Africa is more than useful to plan your stay in cape town and its area.

Cape town

We spent all day in Stellenbosch, typical dutch city, not forgetting to visit the several wine cellars.

Cape town

Cape point is just like the end of the world...it's beautiful and wild. This time we were lucky, we saw whales in the indian ocean.

Cape town

In the morning we climbed to the famous table mountain and spent the afternoon on a beautiful beach.

Cape town

Shopping day in Cape town (our last day).

Cape town - Paris

Visit of the botanical garden and the city center of Cape town before heading to the airport.