13 Awesome Things to do in South Africa

1st Stop St. Lucia

We stayed at Umlilo Lodge where we enjoyed our very first Braai dinner with our fantastic hosts. A Braai is South African for Barbeque but for some reason a bbq in South Africa is so much better than a bbq at home.

In St. Lucia there is an amazing amount of choices for excursions.

Safari in St. Lucia

Safari in Hluhluwe & Imfolozi National Park

It's the oldest Game Reserve in South Africa.

Memorial for Slaughtered Rhinos in South Africa

Known for it's white and black rhino population, Hluhluwe & Imfolozi have the largest in all of Africa! That's an amazing thing because rhinos are being slaughtered at an astonishing pace.

It's good to see that conservation efforts are being put into effect. But we are worried that it is too little too late.

Recommended Travel Gear for South Africa

Book your tour with Heritage Tours and Safaris and enjoy a braai lunch while you overlook the valley.

Take a River Cruise

Check out the hippos and crocodiles from the safety of your platoon boat.

River Hippo Safari in St. Lucia

Book your tour again with Heritage Tours and Safaris and you'll enjoy enjoy hot chocolate or cider while the hippos stretch and yawn as the sun sets overhead.

Kayak with Crocodiles

If you are feeling adventurous, skip the platoon boat and kayak in the river instead.

There's nothing but fibreglass separates you from the crocodiles below. The water in the estuary is an average of 1 metre deep and with 1200 crocs and 900 hippos you can be sure they are lurking below, even if you don't spot them right away.

Kayaking with crocodiles, what?

We booked our tour with Kayaking tours with St. Lucia Kayak Safaris start at R 290 ($32 USD).

Read more about our kayaking adventure at Kayaking, Hippos and Crocs Oh My!

Wildlife Safari on a Horse

Nothing feels quite as awesome as having wildebeest and giraffes run beside you as you sit atop a horse and look on.

You feel at one with nature and get closer to the wildlife than you ever expected!

Very unique wildlife safari, on a horse

While watching wildlife, we had a herd of zebras surround us showing off to our horses. It was like they wanted us to join in as they ran at full speed. The horses were pretty excited too!

Read more about our horse safari at A World Heritage Horse Safari We booked our Safari with Bhangazi Horse Safari and Tori will show you a great afternoon.

Turtles Laying Eggs

St. Lucia is one of the best places in the world to spot Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles laying their eggs. Your tour begins and 9:00 pm and goes until the wee hours of the morning.

You drive right through the iSimangaliso Wetlands and we saw rhinos, hippos and the world's smallest lizard.

Night safari

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see a turtle hatching, But we saw Mother Nature's true side, as a jackal had dug up a nest of eggs and was feeding on turtles that were about to hatch.

They were so close to making it out to sea that they were actually still moving when we came across them. The jackal waited in the dark for us to leave and our guide told us it would be back.
Sadly only 1% of newly hatched turtles make it out to sea and it looked very unlikely that any of these would survive.

Suggested Durban Hotels

Microlight Flight near Durban

Durban is only 3 hours from St. Lucia and in this thriving city you can swing from the only stadium swing in the world at Moses Mabidha Stadium.

If that is a little too much for you, try a microlight flight over the spectacular coastline. Feel the wind whip your face as you watch dolphins and sea turtles swim below.

Microlight flight over Durban

If you time it right, you may be there for the whale migration season! We booked our tour with the Ballito Microlight School. 

Read more about our trip at Microlight, an Adventure in the Sky

Canopy Tour

South Africa Canopy Tours has zip lining adventures all around the country. For a beginners zip line adventure, try Tsitsikamma further to the south on the Garden Route.

For the Thrill Seekers, stay in Durban and check out Karkloof Canopy Tours. This was hands down the best canopy tour we've ever taken. (and we've done a lot)

Canopy Tour Tsitsikamma

Check out more on what a canopy tour is like at Zipadeedoodah, South Africa - and book your own at Karkloof Canopy Tours. Pre-bookings are a must!

Beautiful sunsets on Garden Route

While staying in Durban, the historical Oyster Box hotel is spectacular accommodations.

Located right on the Indian Ocean in the heart of the bustling town of Umhlanga, you are close enough to all the attractions but quiet enough to enjoy a proper relaxing vacation.

Stay for awhile at the Oyster Box

With swimming pools, spas, gymnasium, restaurants and cafés, it is a resort to definitely spend time in.

Suggested Garden Route Hotels

A Safari is at the top of things to do in South Africa

Giraffe on our South Africa wildlife safari

Safari on the Garden Route

A person can't go to South Africa without going on safari.

In South Africa you have an excellent chance of spotting the Big 5 animals while on safari and so much more! Along the Garden Route there are many private lodges to choose from and we stayed at the spectacular Kariega Game Reserve.

Kariega Game Reserve rooms

It is a luxury reserve with four different lodges. We stayed at the River Lodge where we were surrounded by the reserve and wildlife.

Our mornings and evenings were spent watching wildlife like lions, rhinos, hippos, giraffes and elephants while our days were spent in the lovely lodge reading books, sipping wine (all spirits, food and drink are included in the safari package) and relaxing on the dock.

Safari in South Africa - One of the Best Things to do

We definitely needed more time here.

For more information on the Kariega Game Reserve, visit their website. See our photos of the wildlife we spotted while on safari in South Africa.

Adventure South Africa 

Adventure in the Cango Caves

The Cango Caves are the oldest tourist attraction in South Africa and one of the best cave systems we've ever visited.

Adventure in the Cango Caves

The standard tour is an easy and beautiful walk through massive chambers, but if you are up for the challenge, take the adventure tour. The adventure tour takes you through narrow passageways with openings as small as 26 centimetres.

Large Cango Caves cavern

It's not for the faint of heart, but great bragging rights after the fact.

Visit the Cango Caves Website for more information. Read more about our time at the Cango Caves in Claustrophobia at the Cango Caves

Ostrich Farm

Ostrich are not an endangered animal and if you visit the Cango Ostrich Farm, you'll learn about how ostriches are raised, what they are used for and you be able to get up close and personal with the largest bird on earth.

Get a neck massage from an ostrich

You can get an ostrich massage and feed the ostriches that are held in captivity.

Find out more information at the Cango Ostrich Website. 

Dive with Great White Sharks

Our Number 1 Choice for things to do in South Africa is to go Cage Diving with Great White Sharks!

We have seen it on Shark Week, we've watched it on National Geographic and here we are doing it in South Africa. Anyone can cage dive. You don't need to be a certified diver, heck you barely even need to know how to swim.

Great White Shark Swimming just off our boat

You are in a cage attached to the side of a boat. It's the easiest diving we've ever done, but it is also by far the most exciting.

Imagine having a great white shark bump the cage you are standing in. Watch it breach over and over again as it jumps after the fish head used as bait to attract the shark

Dive with Great White Sharks in South Africa

Sharks are an endangered species and the more people understand the shark and learn to love them rather than fear them, the better off the entire ecosystem will be.

Read more about our adventure and watch the video at Shark Diving, In the Cage with Great Whites we went with White Shark Projects in Gansbaai.

You can book your own adventure from Cape Town through Get Your Guide Great White Sharks Tour

Relax in Wine Country

After all that adventure you must visit the Stellenbosch region to sample fine South African wines.

taste wine in Stellenbosch

There are huge estates where you can go for tastings, relax in town or just simply take in the scenery.

After cycling from Cairo all the way to Cape Town, Dave and I spent a week indulging in the rich food and fine wines of South Africa here.

Do everything you can in Cape Town

Cape Town is one of those amazing cities where you find yourself saying "I could live here!" It's beautiful, it's filled with culture and modern living, it has everything from markets to boutiques and it has adventure.

There is paragliding off Lions Head and Abseilling (rappelling) off Table Mountain.

We went sandboarding at the dunes and enjoyed the V&A Waterfront to the fullest.

There is so much to do in and near Cape Town.  Read The Very Best Things to do in Cape Town

Don't forget to pick up your hop on hop off bus pass for Cape Town.

Table Mountain over Cape Town

If you feel like splurging, make sure to have a meal at the Twelve Apostles. Better yet, stay there!

The Twelve Apostles is repeatedly voted as one of Cape Town’s best hotels.

It overlooks the sea and each month they have a delicious wine pairing which we just happened to be there at the right time for!

Visit the penguins of Simon's Town

Rent a car and see the Penguins in Simons Town and make sure to visit the famous Cape of Good Hope. The road out from Cape Town is one of the best drives in the world. 

So there you have it! This itinerary should keep you busy doing all these amazing things in South Africa!

Sure there is a lot more to do in South Africa, but if you follow this route, you'll go away feeling like you experienced everything the country has to offer.

We had the perfect blend of local hospitality, world-class wildlife viewing, enjoying everything from luxury accommodation to quiet family-run operations, fine dining, incredible adventures and spectacular sunsets.