On the 23rd November I was very fortunate to travel to South Africa on a Travelsphere / Just You fam trip to Cape Town and Kruger National Park and cannot begin to explain how incredible this trip was. South Africa is one of the most popular destinations for Touring holidays now and had been on my bucket list for many years, so I was very excited, and privileged, to be travelling on this fam.
Our fam trip was a combination of Travelsphere Ultimate South Africa andJust You Experience South Africa. Both Travelsphere and Just You ensured we were able to capture the highlights of South Africa on an action-packed trip which I highly recommend.
Day 1 – Upon arrival at Cape Town we were met by our guide Daryl who very excitedly told us that Table Mountain was waiting on us and we were headed straight there to grab the window of opportunity with no clouds.
We took the cable car up Table Mountain and spent a couple of hours exploring the sights of Cape Town and enjoying the sunshine.
After Table Mountain we visited Nikkei Japanese Peruvian restaurant in central Cape Town for an 18-course lunch to remember, the best Japanese I have ever tasted. After checking in to our hotel The Anew at Green Point, we were off to a night of African Djembe drumming at Gold for an interactive dinner show which I would highly recommend.
Our hotel was within 10-15 mins walk of the V&A Waterfront and it’s a very safe area where tourists and locals happily walk day and night.
On Day 2 we set off early for a day exploring the Cape Peninsula – Twelve Apostles Mountain Range, Chapmans Peak, Cape Point and Boulders Beach to see the penguins.
As a nature and animal lover this was a beautiful day for me, the scenery was incredible, so lush and green, and we had plenty of time to walk and explore at each stop. At Cape Point we walked up to the lighthouse for incredible views, for those less able there is a minibus that runs back and forward at a cost of around £3pp return. Our walk took around 30 mins and although uphill wasn’t too strenuous and the views were amazing. Stopping for a photo opportunity at the Cape of Good Hope there was also time for a short walk to an advantage point and then it was off to see the penguins. Upon arrival at Boulders Beach, it doesn’t take long to see the penguins, they are everywhere! My favourite viewing spot was down at the beach watching the penguins waddle in and out of the water – they were adorable. En route back to Cape Town we stopped at the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 3 years after his release from Robben Island.
Day 3 was wine tasting – we firstly visited Rickety Bridge winery where we experienced 6 different wines which were all paired with charcuterie boards. This was a beautiful winery and the passion for producing excellent quality wines shone through. After wine tasting there was an opportunity to buy cases of wine which would be shipped home for you and after ordering in South Africa you were then able to place future orders, again for home delivery. After a drive through Stellenbosch and the wine route we headed to Spice Route which was a combination of vineyard and local businesses. Cider and Beer were on offer here as well as wine and gin alongside a local spice market, pizzeria, chocolate shop, Turkish café and more. I loved seeing local businesses working together to support each other and some of the spices on offer smelt amazing.
Day 4 and it was time to fly to Kruger – after a short 2.5hr flight we landed in Mpumalanga in 40 degree heat and after a couple of hours to relax and take in our surroundings in our safari tents at Muluwa Lodge we were off to Kruger for a night safari – in torrential rain, thunder and lightening which added to the atmosphere.
Muluwa has 12 luxury safari tents, 12 superior rooms and 2 luxury suites. We stayed in the Luxury Safari tents and they added to our experience. For customers concerned about the luxury tents this was not camping at all. Picture a wooden lodge build into the hillside with king side bed, full bathroom and air conditioning with a wooden deck and viewing terrace as your front door. It’s just instead of walls you have tent material – this lets you hear all the sounds of nature. The lodge has monkeys, impala, giraffe and zebra on site, no dangerous animals.
Day 5 was a 4am start for a full day bucket list safari in Kruger and this was the absolute highlight of the trip. Off the Big 5 we saw elephants, buffalo, lion and leopard plus lots of giraffes, impala, hippo, zebra to name but a few.
We travelled in safari jeeps which were open sided and meant everyone got a great view. The safari jeeps can get very close to the animals but in Kruger they do stay on the tracks and don’t go off road so that they are not impacting the eco system. At one point we stopped just beside a pride of lions – I was the closest and had a lion within 5 feet of me. The guides on the safari vehicles are excellent, very knowledgeable, great at reading animal behaviour and their passion for wildlife and respecting their environment shone through. We were advised to always remain seated – the lions, and other animals, are used to the vehicles and don’t see these as a threat however if you stood up, or exited the vehicle they would see your profile and that would be another story.
Kruger National Park is 2.2 million hectares, 90 km wide by 360km long and stretches down to Mozambique – to put that in perspective Kruger National Park is larger than Swaziland or Israel, it is the oldest and largest area of undisturbed natural bush in South Africa. The park rangers educate us that Kruger lives by the law of the jungle, there is no supplementary feeding and no interference, the only exception to this is that park rangers cut the horns off the rhinos to stop them being poached.
I was interested in the difference between Kruger National Park and game reserves such as Shamwari and Kariega and was interested to learn that in Kruger the fences were build around natural bush and the animals that were already there. Due to the size of Kruger National Park animals travel vast distances every day and can make it more challenging for the rangers to spot however for the tour rangers we spoke to it makes for a much more authentic and exciting experience when a spot is made. A variety of safari vehicles operate within the park and the rangers and guides all communicate to each other when a good spotting is made so that they can share with their guests. The only exception to this is the Rhino – as the rhino is still endangered due to poaching no communication is made when a rhino is spotted.
Shamwari as a comparison is 25,000 hectares and Kariega is 10,000 hectares – as these parks are smaller the animals tend to stay in the same areas and are easier to spot. In many of the private game reserves the animals have been bred for game reserves, purchased and transferred in. If you have customers that are short on time and MUST see the Big 5 these are a great option however having experienced Kruger National Park, it is where I will return to without a shadow of a doubt.
Day 6 was a fantastic day exploring the Panorama Route – Gods Window, the 3 Rondovals, potholes and Graskop Gorge. Blayde Canyon, the 3rd largest canyon in the world. At Graskop Gorge there is an opportunity to do a bungie jump or zipline over the gorge, due to the number of broken bones I had in 2024 I gave it a miss but some of the group did. A bungie cost around £30 and it was £15 for the zip lining.
Day 7 – How do I even go about describing today. Another 4am start to spend the early morning watching a pride of lions, one of the females was only 5 feet away. Before lunch we were charged by an angry elephant who had just ran a young male off his patch at a local watering hole and then shortly after we got a puncture, we weren’t envious of our safari guide having to change a tyre out in the bush and all kept a careful watch whilst he did an emergency repair.
Multiply journeys of giraffe, a Kruger Zebra crossing, Buffalo, Kudu, Wildebeest, Timon, Zazu and more impala than you can count.
You can’t get a better day than this.
After an incredible 7 days in South Africa, Day 8 was time to travel home, and we had a 6-hour drive from Muluwa to Johannesburg before boarding our Virgin Atlantic flight home.
In Cape Town menus were heavily focussed on fish and seafood and in Kruger it was more meat based with venison (Kudu) being on the menu most nights. Venison was fillet steak, cooked to perfection and free range rather than farmed which gives a much milder taste and should be tried. For any fussy eaters burgers and chips, pizza was freely available.
If you are considering a bucket list trip in 2025, or 2026, I highly recommend South Africa, the warmth of hospitality, low prices in South Africa and the safari experience is not to be missed and these memories will stay with me for a lifetime.
Example of prices – Bottle of wine £7, glass £2,50. Spirits and mixer £2.50. Dinner on average £7pp.