Go South Africa:Having heard all about the perfect climate, awe-inspiring beauty and exotic wildlife, FIONN DAVENPORTwas prepared to be disappointed, but the country more than lived up to the hype
‘I’VE NEVER MET a nice South African,” went the chorus of the Spitting Image song, and for a long time that was pretty much how I saw it. Mind you, it was the 1980s and the anti-apartheid movement was in full voice, so the song’s sentiment seemed so satisfyingly true.
I’d met a few (white) South Africans, whom I’d dismissed as ignorant oafs who justified apartheid with spurious if-you-lived-here-you’d-understand logic, but what really got me was that they seemed to revel in killing innocent animals and then drinking their body weight in beer.
That all changed with the birth of the new South Africa, in the mid-1990s. Although I recognised that the dismantling of apartheid would be far easier than the elimination of the racism that gave birth to it, I had an ever-increasing yen to visit the country that so many have declared the most beautiful on earth, with weather and prices to match – not to mention a historical legacy brimming with poignant relevancy. So when I finally touched down in Cape Town I was pretty excited.
I had heard so much about Cape Town and its breathtaking beauty that disappointment seemed inevitable. For once, though, it was not, and South Africa’s Mother City lived up to its hype. The bays and coves that ring the city are magnificent, but nothing quite prepares you for the first sight of Table Mountain, slap-bang in the city centre. Imagine Lugnaquillia jutting out at the top of O’Connell Street and you have only half the picture.
For once the touristy cliche about Table Mountain is an understatement: not only is getting to the summit one of Cape Town’s great experiences, but you won’t fully appreciate the city’s immense beauty until you do. The insider tip is to climb the adjacent Lion’s Head peak, so that you can appreciate Cape Town and Table Mountain, but you’ll have to hike your way up: at least Table Mountain has the cable car.
Politics don’t inflame everyone’s passions, but in South Africa they’re part of the experience pretty much everywhere you look. You can’t ignore it, nor should you: to visit South Africa without attempting even a cursory understanding of the country’s complex and troubling history is like visiting with a blindfold on.
For many the experience begins and ends with a visit to the infamous prison on Robben Island, transformed from the centrepiece of apartheid repression and Nelson Mandela’s involuntary home for more than two decades into the city’s top attraction, complete with crowds, queues and disappointingly short tours.
An interesting alternative is District 6 Museum, in the City Bowl, which tells the story of a poor but integrated neighbourhood a couple of kilometres away that was forcibly cleared in the 1960s and declared whites-only – it is a tribute to the constant protests of outraged Capetonians that the area was never developed as such.
Township tours have become an essential part of the Cape Town experience, and even though the ethics of visiting visibly deprived areas for tourism are questionable there is little doubt that a glimpse of township life reveals that even in the midst of poverty and deprivation there is life, culture and hope. An increasing number of tours are run by township residents, who make sure that a portion of your much-needed fee is invested in projects that help local communities.
The other side of Cape Town can be seen in the Boland, the wine country immediately north of the city, particularly in and around Stellenbosch. This is the heartland of Afrikaaner culture and the home of the most important Afrikaaner university in South Africa. I half-expected to see groups of oversized rugby players roasting impala on a spit while necking wine by the carton, but instead I came across a handsome colonial town full of elegant boutiques and welcoming cafes that was much more northern California than southern Africa.
A visit to one of the better 200 or so wineries that dot the Boland between Stellenbosch and Franschoek should confirm that South African wines are easily a match for what Europe can produce – at half the price.
Fine wines complement great cuisine, and in Cape Town you’ll find plenty, although my favourite was Panama Jack’s Boat Yard, a shabby-looking seafood shack in the heart of the docks that is incredibly popular with locals, who come as much for the ambience as for the superb feast o’ fish that was put in front of me.
After dinner I explored Capetonian nightlife, which ranges from sophisticated cocktails in Camps Bay to tearing it up in the bars and clubs along Long Street in the City Bowl, the city’s version of New Orleans’ French Quarter, complete with Victorian buildings and wrought- iron trellised balconies.
The second half of my trip began with a flight to Port Elizabeth, the biggest city in Eastern Cape. Our carrier was Kulula, a budget airline with a sense of humour: the safety announcement said that if we were travelling with a small child we should secure our mask before assisting with theirs, but if we had more than one small child we should pick our favourite.
Eastern Cape is a fascinating place, home to a rich Xhosa culture that bred some of the most fearless opponents of apartheid, including Mandela, Steve Biko and Thabo Mbeki. These days it is also famed for the superb surfing around Jeffrey’s Bay and what brought me there in the first place: the handful of well-maintained private game reserves that offer a viable alternative to the mother of all safari parks, the Kruger.
The parks in Eastern Cape cannot compete with Kruger when it comes to quantity, but they do pretty well when it comes to quality: you might not see as many wild animals, but you’ll be closer to the ones you do see and you won’t have to share the sighting with 25 other groups all clambering about for the decent photo op. Kariega Game Reserve, about two hours’ drive northeast of Port Elizabeth, is a small enough place by African standards, but its 10,000 hectares of beautiful wilderness are home to every exemplar of African wildlife, including the big five: lion, elephant, hippopotamus, black rhino and leopard.
During our two-day stay we saw everything except leopard, but our ranger Matt assured us that if any park guarantees a leopard sighting, then it’s probably a zoo. Leopards are nocturnal, solitary and very, very shy; there were leopards in Kariega, he told us, but even he hadn’t seen one in a year.
Instead we had to settle for what proved to be the highlight of my trip: two male lions brushed nonchalantly past our jeep before settling down in the long grass for a good old-fashioned rest. Males are notoriously lazy, Matt explained, and usually it’s the females who do all the hunting; the boys land up just as lunch is served. A knowing nod by the women in the group. Matt and I exchanged an embarrassed glance.
Lodge accommodation in these parks run the gamut from comfortable rustic to five-star luxury, but Shamwari Game Reserve is something else entirely. The most renowned of Eastern Cape’s game reserves – as much for its 30,000 hectares of wildlife as for its noted conservation programme – is the favourite safari getaway of Hollywood stars (and where Tiger Woods proposed to Elin), but the five-star luxury and formality of the place overshadowed the safari experience: unlike Kariega, the rangers cannot go off-road, which means its harder to get close to the animals even if it makes sense for safety reasons.
And in South Africa safety is paramount. The effects of endemic crime are most painfully visible in the three-metre walls, topped by electrified barbed wire, that surround virtually every private home outside of the townships, while visitors are constantly alerted to the dangers of walking alone in cities after dark. Crime is a real and present danger, but it should not deter anyone from visiting. Caution doesn’t mean curtailment: you can be safe and still experience everything that this fascinating and stunningly beautiful country has to offer. I can’t wait to go back.
* Fionn Davenport travelled to South Africa courtesy of Sunway
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go
Where to stay
Radisson SAS Hotel Waterfront. Beach Road, Granger Bay, Waterfront, 00-27-21-4413000; www.radissonsas.com. Perfectly positioned at the water’s edge, a short walk from the much-trumpeted VA Waterfront marina of shops and restaurants, and just across the street from the stadium being built for next year’s World Cup. Huge modern rooms, great poolside facilities and an excellent restaurant make this a good choice.
Kariega Game Reserve. Kenton-on-Sea, Eastern Cape, 00-27-46-6367904, www.kariega.co.za. A perfect way to combine safari with a luxury sleep, from the rustic cabins of the Main Lodge to the utterly romantic River Lodge, made up of 10 thatched suites that make leaving feel like heartbreak.
Shamwari Game Reserve. Swartkops, Port Elizabeth, 00-27-41-4074000, www.mantiscollection.com. The standard-bearer for five-star lodge accommodation. Of the six styles on offer, Lobengula – with its private decks and personal butlers – was good enough for Tiger Woods to propose in, but I’d settle for the gorgeous tented accommodation of Bayethe.
Sunway (01-2886828, www.sunway.ie) is offering two fully inclusive nights at Shamwari or Sanbona with three complimentary nights’ BB at one or a combination of Lake Pleasant Living, one of the five Last Word Retreat properties in and around Cape Town or two nights at the Radisson Waterfront. From €1,645 per person, including flights, taxes and six days’ car hire. Travel from May 1st to September 30th, excluding June 15th to July 10th.
Sunway also has two nights at Shamwari and two nights at Sanbona, fully inclusive, with six complimentary nights’ BB at one or a combination of Lake Pleasant Living, one of the five Last Word Retreat properties in and around Cape Town or four nights at the Radisson Waterfront. From €2,320 per person, including flights, taxes and six days’ car hire. Travel dates as above.
Where to eat
Panama Jack’s. Canary Quay 500 and Eastern Mole Road, Cape Town Docks, 00-27-21-447-5471. One of the finest seafood restaurants I’ve ever eaten in. Try the crustacean or mixed platter. You need to take a taxi to get there. Don’t be disappointed with the exterior: just go in and taste the wide selection of fish. Reserve a table, because it is very popular.
Where to go
Table Mountain. The cable car is such an obvious and popular attraction you might have difficulty convincing yourself that it’s worth the trouble and expense. It is. The views on the way up and from the top of Table Mountain are phenomenal, and there are some good easy walks on the summit. There are more than 300 routes up and down the mountain, and it’s very easy to get lost – mists can make the paths invisible, and every year foolhardy climbers succumb and die. For an adrenalin rush like no other, consider doing the abseil. It’s also possible to walk up the mountain from both the City Bowl side or the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens side.
Wine tasting at Boschendal. Mon-Sat 8.30am-4.30pm; and, Nov-April, Sun 8.30am-4.30pm; www.boschendal.com. The obvious choice if you have time for only one winery. Boschendal is one of the longest-established New World wine estates, dating back to 1685, when its lands were granted to Huguenot settler Jean Le Long. The Cape Dutch manor was built in 1812 by Paul de Villiers and his wife, whose initials appear on the front gable. Other top wineries in the region include Buitenverwachting, Cabriere Estate, Fairview and Vergelegen.
Robben Island. www.robben-island.org.za. Proclaimed a UN World Heritage site in 1999, Robben Island is unmissable. Most likely you will have to endure crowds and being hustled around on a guided tour that, at two and a half hours, is too short – such is the price of the island’s infamy. Still, you will learn much of what happened to Mandela and other inmates, as one of them will be leading your tour.
Sunday Sunset concerts in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Not only are these among the most beautiful gardens in the world, but its incomparable site on the eastern side of Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Flats and False Bay, make this one of the most pleasant spots in all of South Africa. On Sunday evenings from December to March there are concerts that have become a Cape Town institution.
Township Tours.
Grassroute Tours, 00-27-21-7061006, www.grassroutetours.co.za. One of the most experienced operators of township tours, this is one of the most illuminating and life-affirming experiences to be had in Cape Town. Highly recommended.
Safari. Kariega Game Reserve (Kenton-on-Sea, Eastern Cape, 00-27-46-6367904, www.kariega.co.za) and Shamwari Game Reserve (Swartkops, Port Elizabeth, 00-27-41-4074000, www.mantiscollection.com). Don’t leave South Africa without a visit to a game reserve – it’s well worth it.
Go there
KLM (www.klm.com) flies from Dublin to Cape Town and Johannesburg via Amsterdam. Kulula Airlines (www.kulula.com) links the cities with Durban and Port Elizabeth.