12-night Off The Beaten Track Self-Drive Itinerary Highlights:

• Arrive at Cape Town International Airport, collect Avis car hire, and head to your hotel
• 1-night stay in Cape Town with a traditional dinner at Gold Restaurant and breakfast
• Scenic drive from Cape Town to Roberson and exploring the Winelands route
• 1-night stay in AfriCamp Pat Busch, Roberston - self-catering 
• 1-night stay in AfriCamp Klein Karoo - self-catering
• 1-night stay in Port Elizabeth with breakfast
• Commercial flight from Port Elizabeth to Durban's King Shaka International Airport
• Collect Avis car hire and head to the hotel in Umhlanga
• 1-night stay in Umhlanga, with 1 Shisanyama dinner in Inanda township
• 3-night stay at Rhino River Lodge, with all meals and 2 game drives daily  
• 2-night stay Coral Divers Lodge with all meals and water equipment
• Road trip to Johannesburg
• 1-night stay at Indaba Hotel, with Chiefs Boma Dinner
• Morning Soweto Tour en route to OR Tambo International Airport for your connecting flight home

Our Story: We road-tripped in South Africa like the locals did and loved every minute of it...

Have you ever traveled somewhere and just wanted to "fit in"... you know, "do it as the locals do it"?
Guess what? We did it and loved it!! 

A few of us sat in my lounge one evening and decided we needed an adventure and what better place to travel to than South Africa? And this is where it all began. One call to our local travel agent and BOOM... before we knew it we were on an airplane to Cape Town, South Africa's Mother City. 
On arrival, we collected our car before heading to the hotel we were staying in for the night. Luckily, the shops opened early and closed quite late, so we managed to purchase our grocery supplies from the local mall. We giggled at some purchases where we tried to add some local foods to our basket like Chakalaka (try to pronounce that hahaha!) and Mrs Balls Chutney sauces.

The following morning, we drove around the beautiful Cape Town city, went up the mountain and then headed to the  Peninsular before the breathtaking Winelands. We stayed the night at Africacamps Pat Busch Camp, Robertson on the famous Route 62 - a jaw-dropping drive. Having a traditional "braai" dinner. Craft beer and some amazing South African wine, under a star-studded sky, were the order of the day.

After packing up, we continued a scenic drive from Roberson to Oudtshoorn, with a milkshake stop at the Diesel & Creme, Barrydale. The beauty of the Cape is incredible and Oudtshoorn was an awesome stop! Our visits to the Cango Caves and Highgate Ostrich farm. The hospitality and friendliness of these small places were so special. We stayed the night at Africamps Klein Karoo for another night under the stars... the variety of cheeses we had purchased in Ladismith went down really well with our wine.

The next day we continued our Cape Adventure driving from Oudtshoorn to George and then along the coastline of Port Elizabeth, passing Knysna, Jeffreys Bay, and into Port Elizabeth. We meandered at leisure along this route, stopping in Knysna for a walkabout and their famous oysters for lunch! Jeffreys Bay was equally beautiful as we made a small stop, and wet our feet in the sea for the "been there got the T-shirt" picture before moving on to Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) for the night.
After breakfast the next day, we dropped the car at the airport and headed to Durban - the Spice City!

On arrival at King Shaka International Airport, we collected a car and drove to our overnight accommodation. We noticed a complete difference from the Cape as we entered the Zulu Kingdom. We spent our first night in Durban. We visited Inanda and ate "shisanyama" at a local tavern enjoying some local company and learning about the history of the famous South African jazz artists... an interesting evening indeed.
The next day, we headed north to Zululand for an exciting safari experience. We were eager to see Africa's Big 5. We spent three nights on safari at Rhino River Lodge where we couldn't get enough of our safari experience with our amazing game ranger.
Soon we were back on the road and headed north to Coral Divers Lodge in Sodwana Bay for a warm Indian Ocean 2-night beach experience. We snorkeled above sharks and swam with wild dolphins - experiences that left indelible imprints of Africa on our hearts.

With time escaping, we found ourselves back on the road heading to Johannesburg for our last night at in South Africa. We stayed at The Indaba Hotel and ate dinner at the Chief’s Boma Restaurant enjoying many traditional flavours of South Africa. Needing to maximize our time here, we enjoyed brunch at a local tavern in Soweto after a quick tour with our qualified guide, having just enough time to connect with some locals before heading to the airport for our flight home. 

This trip was the tip of the iceberg for us. It was a taster of South Africa, enough to make us want to come back for more!

SOME NOTES FROM THE TRAVEL DESK:

- Hotels are suggestions and can be changed according to availability. 
- AfriCamps self-catering is optional. Alternative hotels can be used. 
- Compassline Africa's terms and conditions apply