Are you going to be visiting the southern tip of Africa anytime soon, perhaps landing in South Africa as a gateway to exploring many of the other neighbouring countries? If so then you should probably make a little more out your time actually spent in South Africa itself because what is arguably the most beautiful country in the world has so much to offer. South Africa’s beauty is diverse and there is literally everything you could ever ask for by way of Instagram-worthy destinations to bask in.
You’ll want to see the country by road in order to witness exactly what I’m talking about when I harp on about the diverse beauty, most of which can be seen for what it really is during their summer months. Being in the Southern Hemisphere they obviously then have their summer season when we have our winter season and the weather is beautiful in the warm summer months.
As was perhaps demonstrated to us by the players’ reactions during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, winter is not really made for exploring the great outdoors in that part of the world, even though their winters aren’t nearly as cold as ours get. It’s just an all round ghost town (or ghost country) feeling you get when you’re out and about in winter – if the streets aren’t as characteristically empty as they usually are during the colder months, then anybody who is out and about appears to be in a rush to get somewhere – to get home.
Anyway, getting back to the great South African road trip you’ll be doing yourself a favour to experience, not too far from the OR Tambo International Airport where you’ll likely land (if not Cape Town Intl.) you’ll find the offices of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (the SABC). Head on over there during office hours and ask them to sell you your own collection of a hit television series which stopped airing quite a while back now, known as Going Nowhere Slowly.
Watch Going Nowhere Slowly and you’ll be inspired by what lies in wait ahead of your great South African road trip. It’s not an official path mapped out at all – just a trail blazed by some local wanderlusters who explored their country in the best way you can possibly do it, in a classic Chevrolet Impala which went on to be very iconic amongst the show’s followers.
Okay, so the people in the show actually explore a lot more of the continent beyond South Africa (they go all the way up to Tanzania to hop on over to Zanzibar over a couple of episodes), but there is so much to inspire you by way of the local routes to follow. Be sure to pack in your camera or make sure your battery is fully charged if you’ll be snapping pics with your smartphone, otherwise driving on those long, winding roads between the big cities will leave you with an experience you probably won’t get anywhere else in the world!