Road trip through beautiful South Africa

Jeffreys Bay is a great place to stay a couple of nights along the Garden Route. It's a cute little city on the ocean. The beach is lovely with white sand and great waves to surf. The hostel I stayed at offered affordable surfing classes, which was perfect for me as a beginner. This way I managed to stand up on the board on my first time surfing! From Jeffreys Bay you can easily reach the Natures Valley located on the Garden Route. A must see! The nature is stunning, red rocks over the wild sea, waterfalls that rush out of huge caves into the ocean. Especially the Otter Trail is extremely beautiful. Along the trail there are several spots where the water of the ocean gathers in small natural pools, perfect for a quick dip into the water. 

The Santos Express Train Lodge is another great stop along the Garden Route. As the name suggests it is a hostel that was built inside an old train that lies directly on the beach in Mossel Bay. The rooms are therefore very small but cosy. It is so beautiful to wake up in a bed inside a train cabin with the view on the beach. 

On your way from Jeffreys Bay to Mossel Bay make sure to visit the Kaaimans Grotto in Wilderness. It is one of the weirdest places I have seen so far, but kind of magical. A man decided to move into a cave and decorate it with literally every colorful object he could find. It is massive! You can walk through several "rooms" that he installed, long necklaces of shells hanging from the ceiling, little shrines with plastic figurines and fotos cut out of magazines lit by candles... From the cave there is a nice little hike along some old train rails along the coast.

From Mossel Bay we also visited the Cango Caves more to the North. It is a drive of a bout 1 and  1/2 hours. The caves consist of several huge chambers  decorated with stalagmites and stalactites (unfortunately I still can't always tell them apart). Some of them are so high that you can barely see the ceiling. The rock itself is of a marmoresque structure with beautiful patterns. The place used to be an attraction in the 19th century, especially because of its amazing acoustics which were used for classical concerts. Imagine going to a classical concert inside a massive cave! To show us the acoustics, our guide all of the sudden sang Ave Maria in the most angelic voice imaginable. Definitely worth experiencing!

Cape Town is one of South Africas three Capitals, located on the beach and close to the Table Mountain. It offers endless outdoor activities such as surfing, kiting, kayaking, hiking... We stayed directly in the heart of Cape Town, on the Long Street, close to endless bars and restaurants. The center of Cape Town definitely feels like the poshest city I have visited in South Africa (compared to for example Johannesburg and Durban). At night we found a nightlife full of industrial urban design, suddenly stumbleing into a vernissage. This feels kind of weird, knowing how much inequality there still is in South Africa. At times Cape Town felt like a very 'white' city to me that doesn't show the gap between poor and rich, black and white as much as other cities.

What I enjoyed the most about Cape Town is definitely the fact that you have the most beautiful nature in the vicinity of all the perks a big city has to offer.

An absolute must do is the hike on the Table Mountain! We chose the Skeleton Gorge Trail, which was challenging but very beautiful. Once you are on top you can enjoy the view over the city and the ocean. To get down there is a cable car, which turns around itself to offer the full panoramic experience. I would definitely recommend going down with the sunset. It was one of my top experiences of my trip, floating in the air over the pink and orange sky, which slowly turns dark while the lights of the city awaken.

The Cape of Good Hope is also located close to Cape Town. Enjoy some hikes next to zebras, oustriches and several other animals. We went really early in the morning and were the only people there. The nature is incredible, rocky and wild while being surrounded by the ocean on almost every side.