There are frequent buses into Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, from  Johannesburg and Nelspruit (where you’ll be able to visit the Kruger National Park) Nelspruit in South Africa, minibuses from Durban and from Manzini, Swaziland. You can also fly to Mozambique, but flights can be pricey.

Spend a couple of nights in Maputo, a city that bears the scars of a civil war, reminders of Portuguese colonization, but also shows forward propulsion to becoming a world class city. You’ll want to walk the streets, eat seafood at the local fish market, drink local brew and visit the museums to understand the country’s past. However, it won’t be long before you want to head up coast to find palm trees, warm blue seas and white beaches.

Mozambique has five star luxury accommodation, but it is also home to some of the best backpackers I’ve ever stayed in, meaning you don’t have to have gambled on Jackpot Capital Casino Online to afford big meals and great accommodation. Starting in Maputo, a reputable backpacker’s is Fatima’s. Conveniently, Fatima’s Nest can also be found in Tofo, Inhambane, the first great beach town up the coast. But there are plenty of others to choose from.

Driving in Mozambique is not advised. Between challenging roads and difficult policemen and old landmines off road, there are plenty of shuttle services operated by backpacker hostels. There is also a local bus service – a journey which will include travelling with livestock, coconuts and people sharing seats; an adventure guaranteed.

Head north. Tofo is popular – it’s one of the best places in the world to swim with whale sharks, a great surfing spot, or just a great place to hang out in one of the hammocks on the beach. Further north, Vilanculos is another backpacker-friendly spot. Here, the beaches are whiter, the water warmer and temperature higher.

Here, you can take a traditional Dhow to the Bazaruto Archipeligo, and enjoy world class snorkeling. Vilanculos is quite rural, so you’ll be walking on sandy roads to the market and bartering for sarongs, eating fresh fruit and cashew nuts.

Mozambique has seen an investment into its tourism industry. It is an extremely affordable country that offers enough third world adventure to match its world class picturesque beaches. It’s an affordable option for South Africans, so an extremely affordable for anyone carrying the dollar or euro and a worthy detour from your trip to Southern Africa.

The most interesting part of visiting South Africa is definitely learning more about the country’s history. Johannesburg is not the most attractive city but let me tell you that it’s comparable to visiting a museum. It’s safe to say that most of us are aware of the apartheid, at a minimum. We know that there was segregation between the white and the black population. And until Nelson Mandela came to power in the 1990’s, there was a lot of oppression against the black population. The best part of being in Johannesburg was to get the opportunity to really understand what happened and how people felt about it.

Let’s start from the beginning. Johannesburg became popular after an Aussie discovered gold mines in the area in 1886. This is when Europeans (primarily Dutch and English) began flooding the city and the mining industry began to boom. Since the Dutch were the first to settle in the country, the Afrikaans language was enforced mainly because they were afraid of losing their power with the overwhelming number of English immigrants and schools. It’s safe to say that Afrikaans is an adapted version of Dutch.

SOWETO, a neighbouring city of Johannesburg is a town filled with such history. It stands for SOuth WEstern TOwnship. It’s where Nelson Mandela lived and where the famous Orlando stadium is located. Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie still actually lives there. It’s in SOWETO where black men coming from villages would stay when they arrived in Jo’burg to work in the mines. Most men left their villages to stay in the township’s hostels while their families stayed back home. SOWETO unfortunately welcomed a flux of people in 1948 when the Afrikaans National Party took power and began evicting the black population from Johannesburg. That’s when segregation officially began in South Africa, meaning that the whites and blacks would be treated differently for almost the following 50 years. They were required to travel with a dom pas (dumb pass in English) every time they stepped out of their designated areas. They were not allowed to simply walk in the streets of Jo’burg. If they were caught without the dumb pass, they were automatically arrested. The police or white people could request to see the dumb pass at any given time.

SOWETO gained negative popularity on June 16, 1976 when a student protest erupted in gun shots after the National Party wanted to set Afrikaans as a mandatory language to be taught in schools. Unfortunately, that day is now remembered by all South Africans due to not only the event but an infamous picture of Hector Pieterson. The older boy carrying him went on exile soon after that picture was taken and the girl is his sister. She now works at the Hector Pieterson museum.

If you’re heading to Johannesburg for one reason or another, do make sure to make a stop in SOWETO. I would strongly recommend booking a B&B and spend a few nights there.

Even if you’re not a wine junkie, you most probably know that South Africa is one of the top new world wine producer. If you didn’t, well now you know! South Africa was introduced to wine when the Dutch arrived in South Africa. The first vineyard was introduced in Constantia which is the closest vineyard to Cape Town, perfect for a one day trip if you’re tight on time. Otherwise, you can visit Stellenbosch or Franschhoek which are about an hour away from Cape Town. We decided to take a tour to Stellenbosch so we wouldn’t have to worry about drinking and driving. And it’s a good thing we took a tour because we began wine tasting at 10am and ended at about 6pm. Five vineyards and 30 glasses of wine later, let’s just say we couldn’t taste the differences in wine anymore.

I must say that the vineyards we visited got progressively better as the day went on. We decided to buy one bottles from each vineyard. What a great idea. I can’t wait to open a bottle. It will bring back great memories from South Africa, that’s for sure.

Interesting Facts that I learned during my tour:

• Stellenbosch is knows for its wine making with Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot and Pinotage wine grapes. Pinotage is a blend of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that was created in South Africa.
• Red wine is achieved by fermenting the juice and the skin of the grape while the fermentation of white wine is done using the grape juice only.
• Yeast is necessary to begin the first fermentation. It converts the sugar into alcohol.
• The second fermentation most often involves red wine sitting in oak barrels for a set period of time (depending on the wine maker). Barrels are toasted (light, medium or dark) so the wine can pick up its oak aromas. Barrels cost a few thousand dollars so wine makers will reuse their barrels a few times before buying new ones. This will of course impact the aroma of the wine.
• A sommelier is a wine expert/professional.
• So why do wine glasses have a stem? So you can see the color of the wine and so that your hands don’t warm up the wine.

Wine Tasting Steps:

1. Before you taste wine, you need to look at your wine. Is it clear? Is it dark? For white wine, the lighter the color, the younger the wine is. For red wine, it’s the opposite. If you’re red wine is darker, it most probably means it’s a young wine. Of course, there are other factors that come into play but you can always keep this in mind. You can also swirl your glass it to see how thick and how quickly the “legs” drip. This will determine if the wine is high in sugar and alcohol content. If the legs come down quickly, it means it’s low in sugar and alcohol. And vice versa. Lastly, you can tip your glass to the side and see if the wine at the border is clearer than the middle part. This would tell you how concentrated your wine is. Sometimes, when the vineyards experiences a rainy season, the grapes are filled with water and that will have an impact in the concentration of the wine they make that year.
2. Once you know that, it’s time to smell your wine and guess what aromas you smell? Does your wine smell fruity? Floral? Woody? Spicy? Like chemicals? Mineral?
3. Now, it’s the fun part… let’s taste the wine. This will confirm your smell of aromas. Does it really taste like lemon? Is the wine dry? Acid?

You’re ultimately looking for a well-balanced wine. Meaning that there is a good level of sugar and acid. It can be disappointing when you smell nice aromas and when you actually taste the wine, it’s very acid. Yuck! But all this to say, if you’re in South Africa, or in any wine making region for that matter, do make a stop at the vineyard. It will be an interesting experience, guaranteed!

Where to begin with Bulungula? I guess it all started when I was reading the lonely planet book to plan my backpacking trip to South Africa. I came across Bulungula without paying too much attention to it. It was only when I was reading the lonely planet forum for ideas that I noticed travelers emphasizing on making a stop in Bulungula. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to spend some time on the Wild Coast because it’s not as easily accessible as the garden route. And of course, that translates into less tourists and unspoiled beaches. So after reading so much about the Bulungula lodge, I decided I would go out of my way and drive 3 hrs on unpaved roads from Mthatha to get there. Oh was I motivated!

You absolutely need to download the map from the site if you plan on going there. You’ll be driving on unpaved roads most of the time and you’ll only see signs once your 5 mins away from the lodge. I was really nervous about the drive and it was such a relief when we got there without getting lost.

Bulungula is an eco-friendly backpacker lodge located in the Ngileni village. The concept began by a young man from Cape Town who wanted to help communities in need. He thought the best way to do so would be to build a lodge in a township and employ members of the community to build and run the place. Bulungula is 40% owned by the community. On the Sunday we arrived, there were many young kids hanging out with us at the lodge. It’s also the only place in the town that has electricity. It’s really cool because they use solar power to cook and their solar toast bread is delicious. Oh, and did I mention they have rocket showers? So cool!

The reason why the lodge was built where it is now is because of its stunning location. It’s paradise. Really! I mean, can you imagine a small lodge with 10 huts near the ocean, surrounded by white sand and sand dunes? But most importantly, with no tourists in your way? That’s the real beauty about this place. It’s so unspoiled that the only “people” you’ll run into are cows who are chilling at the beach. And ok, maybe a few local fishermen. But you get the point!

The lodge offers a few interesting tours to keep you busy if you don’t feel like sunbathing. You can spend time with a local family, a herbalist, go fishing , canoeing or horse back riding. There is also a small local restaurants nearby that’s famous for their pancakes. I didn’t go to tell you the truth because I loved having the solar sandwiches at the lodge. We ate so well there. It’s pretty much the only option you have unless you want to drive 3hrs to a proper restaurant. But there was no need to go anywhere because their breakfast, lunch and dinner menus were delicious! They also offer vegetarian meals.  The concept is pretty simple. They have a sheet where they keep track of what people ordered or took during the day. It’s everyone’s responsibility to write it down and of course, they believe in honesty.

Needless to say that places like this are almost non-existent now. It was really nice to see people from townships with little education take the sheet, enter it in excel and calculate costs. These individuals had no background in tourism before the lodge was built so it’s absolutely amazing to see their progress.

I heard the government is considering to build a highway near the shore of the Wild Coast. That unfortunately means that the beaches will soon be accessible and tourists will soon discover this remote place. I’m not sure how the local community will accept the increase in tourism if the roads get built near Bulungula. One thing for sure, if you’re considering visiting this lodge, book your trip as soon as possible!

Spending three nights at the lodge was definitely the highlight of my trip. Its stunning location, closeness to the local community and simply watching the million stars in the sky is something you cannot imagine unless you are there and experience it for yourself.

When planning our trip to South Africa, it seemed obvious that renting a car would be the best option in discovering this country. Loads of people recommended it, so why not have the luxury of visiting a new country in a rental car? And so, that’s exactly what we did. We booked the best small car on expedia.ca for about CDN$750 for 18 days with unlimited kilometers. Great deal we thought!

Once we were ready to begin our drive to Drakensberg from Johannesburg, we headed to the Avis location to get our car where a little surprise was waiting for us. Due to our gold visa card’s insurance coverage on car rentals, we had to decline the insurance offered by Avis. In the event of a collision, the visa insurance provided a better coverage than the Avis one. Because this was our first experience in driving not only in Africa, but also on the left side of the road, we thought declining the insurance with Avis was our safest bet. By doing so however, we lost the unlimited kilometers which meant that we were entitled to only 1800 km. And so we hopped in our car and began our drive to Drakensberg, a mountainous region in South Africa. During our drive, we saw orange strays of hay and crystal blue water surrounded by the mountains. The views were splendid! We were also quickly introduced to potholes when we reached a smaller road under construction. But given that we had the luxury of stopping the car and looking at the magnificent views during the drive, the potholes were quickly forgotten.

Driving to Drakensberg

After a few hikes and cultural tours in the Drakensberg region, we began a 6.5 hour drive to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. The drive was great because we drove through townships. We finally felt like we were in Africa, away from the tourists. The scenery was beautiful and the drive couldn’t have been any better. We caught a few patches of the road that was in construction but everything went well. I actually expected more potholes on this section of the N2 so we were pleasantly surprised when the drive went smoothly.  Potholes are not the only thing to look out for when driving in South Africa. The next danger you are most likely to encounter when driving on the wild coast are animals. And let me tell you, those cows have the right of way if they are crossing the street. Potholes and animal crossings are the primary reasons why driving at night is not recommended in South Africa.

The initial plan was to drop-off the car in Mthatha and take a shuttle bus to our next remote destination of Bulungula. To our surprise, the Avis office was closed when we got there around 4pm on a Saturday so as any other unplanned backpacking trip, we changed our plans and decided to drive to Bulungula. One funny moment worth mentioning is our arrival at Mthatha airport. As we drove to the parking of the airport, my one and only question was: “where are the planes?” There was a crumbled airport and a few car rental offices, that’s it! I literally compare the airport to the coliseum. The only difference is that there are apparently planes that depart from this airport. I have no idea from where!

On our way to Bulungula

We began the drive to Bulungula around 8:15am the next morning. The first part of the drive was easy. But as we drove more, the roads got bumpier and bumpier. The first 45 mins of the drive was on asphalt and the rest was on unpaved roads.   I’m surprised the car made it to Bulungula in one piece because we hit a lot of bumps on the way there. It was Sunday so we didn’t cross many cars or people on the way there. We were so focused on getting to the lodge in one piece that our eyes were glued to the road. We finally made it without getting lost which was great achievement. Driving on an unpaved road like the one we drove on was well worth the effort after seeing the beach and lodge. It was like reaching paradise.

After a few memorable days in Bulungula, I was nervous for the bumpy drive back. The roads were wet and muddy when we left in the morning because it rained during the night. We saw so many kids on the roads, they were all walking to school. I can’t believe these kids have to walk close to an hour every morning to get to school. We really take things for granted in the West. Hitchhiking is a common practice in South Africa since most people don’t have a car. As we drove past the kids, some kids would put their thumbs up, asking us for a ride. Another little boy tried throwing a rock at the car when we didn’t stop to give him a ride. Then, we tried to drive over a muddy ditch, we obviously got stuck. I got out of the car and saw both front wheels completely in the mud and the back wheels in the air. I was freaking out! I wish i had taken a picture of the car at that moment. We got really lucky because the second car that passed by us stopped and helped us push the car. And we were rescued! After a 3-hr bumpy ride to Mthatha, we were relieved to finally make it to the Avis office in one piece. As we parked the car, we noticed a missing wheel cap and thought “great”! The bill didn’t settle well because we went over our kilometers for the week. There was a misunderstanding with the initial 1800km. Because we dropped our car one week after we rented, the allowable kilometers we reduced to about 800 km. So we had to pay an additional fee for every additional km. It took us an hour and a half to settle the bill but we finally did. A local man gave us a lift for free to the bus station. We were so happy to finally get there and see the other backpackers from the hostel. We waited for the Translux bus to arrive and off we went to Port Elizabeth.

All in all, we had a great experience with renting a car. You get to drive and stop in places you most likely would have never had the opportunity to do if traveling by bus. If I could give you one piece of advice it would be to make sure you understand your insurance coverage if you’re covered by your work or credit card insurance. If you don’t have unlimited km’s, make sure you don’t go over the limit because you will have a hefty price to pay. Otherwise, enjoy!

Most tourists who travel to South Africa spend their time in and around Cape Town. And with good reason! Cape Town for me is a mix of Rio de Janeiro and Monaco. It resembles Rio because it has a mountain in the city and it’s surrounded by beaches and it also has a touch of Monaco in the Clifton and Camps Bay area. The city offers a variety of activities such as enjoying the spectacular views from the top of table mountain, having lunch in waterfront, spending some time at Clifton beach, going out on Long street or walking around Bo-Kaap to enjoy the colored houses. And for all the adventurous people out there, you can go cage shark diving, abseiling, paragliding amongst other things. It’s ultimately a beautiful city, there is no doubt about it.

Although the apartheid ended almost 20 years ago, it is evident that there is still some segregation occurring. Even if the white population accounts for only 10% of the population, they pretty much run everything, especially in Cape Town. I noticed nothing but expensive cars in the streets and some of the nicest houses ever! All of this is great for the whites but given this apparent division between the blacks and the whites, there is a void in the city. I mean, it is normal for developing countries to have a big gap between the rich and the poor but I guess I just didn’t feel the vibe in the city. If I take Rio for example, the layout of the city and the social classes are similar to Cape Town. They are both developing countries with a mountain in the city and surrounded by outstanding beaches. The primary difference I noticed is that although there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor in Rio, they all reunite on the beach, dance samba or participate in the carnival. Don’t get me wrong, Rio also has its own problems but the social classes somehow come together at these places or events. And I felt it was missing in Cape Town. I didn’t get that same feeling or vibe I got in Rio. This being said, both cities are absolutely gorgeous but Rio would still be my first pick because it has some soul, a vibe, there is just something about the Brazilian culture that calls my name.

But don’t get me wrong, I still think everyone should visit Cape Town at least once in their life. Anyone traveling to or around South Africa must make a stop in Cape Town. You should plan at least 4 to 5 days to do the tourist stuff. To really enjoy your experience in the city, a week is advisable. It’s in my top 5 most beautiful cities of the world (that I visited). Enjoy!

I know it’s my first post of the trip and I’m already halfway into it but it only means that I’m having a good time! So what are my thoughts on South Africa? Where should I begin…

The trip began with two flights totalling 18 hours. After finally arriving in Johanesburg, we hopped in a taxi so we could get to our friend’s house. And of course, the taxi driver was one week on the job, got lost and charged us more than he should have. But hey, it’s part of traveling. He seemed to be an honest guy so I forgave him. If anyone is traveling to Jo’burg, I strongly suggest they take a tour in the Soweto township. Soweto is a township that was created when the blacks got evicted from Jo’burg in the 1930′s. I will definitely dedicate a post to Soweto when I have more time to write. The history is so rich in that part of the city. You can also visit Nelson Mandela’s house which is now a museum. So after some nice time with our friend and in Soweto, off we picked up our rental car and began our drive to Drakensberg, on the left side of the road. It was quite an experience…

“You’re in the middle of the lane. You’re driving over the speed limit.  Don’t exit, keep on going straight. Wow, look at that.” were some if the comments made in the car. We were so nervous for the first hour but then got used to it. The drive was spectacular as we got on route 74. Ok, maybe nt the first part of the road because it was under construction and full of bumps. But even while we were driving 30km/hr during that part of the road, we saw a stunning crystal blue lake. I’ve never seen water that blue in my life. Anyhow, as we continued the drive on that road going up and down the mountains, we had nice views of the region. The hiking we did in the region was great. The weather was unstable so they didn’t recommend we sleep on the mountain. I guess we’ll be able the return the new tent we bought! After spending a few days in this mountainous region, we began our drive to Mthatha. It was nice to drive through the  townships of kwazulu-natal. We decided to spend a night in Mthatha before heading to Bulungula.

Where to begin with Bulungula? Let’s put it this way… It’s the most paradisiac beach I’ve ever seen in my life. We were about 20-30 guests at the lodge and we had kilometers of beaches and sand dunes all to ourselves. It was amazing. I will definitely dedicate a post to my stay in bulungula because quite a few adventures happened here!

So where am I now? I’m chilling at a hostel in Port Elizabeth after spending a day at Addo Elephant park. Our guide Kevin was great. We saw more animals than expected, primarily lions, elephants, buffalos, warthogs and zebras among any others. You can’t compare this experience with the one I had last year in the Serengeti but it was still a good day! Unfortunately, I did wake up with bed bug bites this morning so I had to cope with the itchiness all day.

We head to Wilderness tomorrow. I’m looking forward to some more beach time before getting to cape town. Wot wot!

Departure time for South Africa has finally arrived. I can’t believe it! The last few months have been so hectic that I didn’t have time to be excited about this trip. But I must admit that today, March 3rd, I am happy to be leaving for the airport and to be sitting on a plane in just a few hours. South Africa, oh boy am I ready for you!

Am I ready for this trip? I guess my answer would be yes and no. Yes because I am always ready for new adventures. No because I didn’t have time to really plan this trip and it takes away some of the fun of it. But I guess that as long as I have a car booked, I’m all set! The rest can be planned along the way.

What am I looking forward to the most? Well, I must admit that I do have some expectations of Drakensberg. I’m really excited to be camping in the middle of Drakensberg for a few nights. I love the feeling of being away from everyone. It makes me appreciate everyone and everything  so much more! And it’s so peaceful. I’m also really looking forward to spending a few nights in Bulungula on the wild coast. It’s a somewhat remote beach and the thought of chilling and doing nothing right now is exciting! Am I crazy? Lastly, I’m also excited for Cape Town because I’ve heard great things about it. I’m secretly hoping that the city will remind me of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

It felt so good to write this post, you have no idea! It’s the first time since I booked my flight in early January that I’m really excited and looking forward to this experience. It’s funny what the corporate world can do to you. This is why I appreciate my backpacking trips so much more!

With only two weeks away from my 3-week backpacking trip to South Africa, I think I’m ready. Or kind of. Believe it or not, I’m really excited to fly with KLM Airlines again because my experience with them last year to Tanzania was great. We were stuck in the place for over 6 hours due to the weather conditions and KLM kept us informed and fed us the entire time. So with a quick stop in Amsterdam and then a long flight to South Africa, I’m looking forward to an enjoyable experience- yet again! We’ll be landing in Johannesburg late at night so we decided to take a taxi to our friend’s house, where we’ll be staying for a few nights. It’s always nice to visit a city with a local. When we’re ready to head to Drakensberg, we’ll pick up our rented car and make our way there slowly but surely. We’re a little hesitant about driving on the other side of the road but we won’t have a choice but to learn.

I’ve been so busy with everything else that I didn’t put too much effort in planning this trip. So far, the rental car is booked for 3 weeks, one night t the lodge in Central Drakensberg is booked and two nights at the Bulungula lodge is also booked. We’ll decide what hiking tour we’d like to do once we arrive to Drakensberg. What I need now is a sleeping bag and tent! But worst case scenario, we’ll have to stick with day trips, which I’d like to avoid. I’d like to really experience Drakensberg by sleeping on the mountain. Although I’m really looking forward to hiking again (first time hiking after Kilimanjaro), I’m also dying to be in Bulungala on the wild coast. After some reading, it seems to be a really cool and somewhat remote place. I read that I can spend the day with a local tribe and honestly, if this happens, it would make my entire trip worthwhile. There is nothing better than mingling with locals when traveling.

Although I have the first week of the trip somewhat covered, the other two weeks are open. We’d like to take our time driving down the garden route coast but how much time we have will depend on how long we stay on the wild coast. I guess we’ll just take it as it comes. We’re saving 6 days for Cape Town/Vineyards. I’m actually really excited for Cape Town because I think it will remind me of Rio. Very curious of how I’ll feel when I’m there.

At this point, I’m just waiting for March 3rd to arrive and hop on the plane. I’m most nervous about the driving around South Africa factor but I think we’ll be ok once we actually hop in the car. Feel free to share any advice on traveling in South Africa!