South Africa Tourism Through My Eyes

I love adventure and part of it is being in a place where there are new people, with new ideas and new ways of approaching life. I simply love to be in the midst of people who are full of life and appreciate where they are in life. One such person is Kerubo, my Kenyan BFF who is just a mirror of me. Being Spanish, I constantly ask myself if Kerubo is my twin flame. We have been to many destinations together already and to think that we only met 2 years ago, this friendship should have happened way earlier than now.

We are just two weeks fresh from a holiday in South Africa and I am itching to tell the world just how exciting it was. You see, Kenya is magic and I would live right in the heart of the Masai Mara, but SA is something else. The Town life reminded me of Europe (It has been 10 years since I left home for studies in Australia and I have not gone back). These are the towns that made me drop my jaw in awe and I am hoping you will see them through the words I use;

Cape Town

Many people have a smile on their face when speaking about Cape Town and being there is the only way to understand why it is so. The second largest town in population in the whole of South Africa, breathtaking happens here. The town is rich in culture and it is safe to say that it offers a safe melting point for all of them. Kerubo had always boasted to me about the national park right in the center of a town and I must say it is epic. Even more epic is a city whose boundaries are marked by the sea and rugged mountain ranges.

From the top, we could see the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which lie right at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We took a stroll on the waterfront and I was lucky to see a whale sprout (Kerubo just has to believe what I saw because she was not so lucky). The waterfront is also a favorite spot for those who would like to see a penguin in real life – I grew up watching pingu so I was so excited to see a real one.

Stellenbosch

Do you love taking pictures? I think you would start a love affair with your camera if you just found your foot in this picturesque town. The landscape appears like it was drawn by hand and most of the things have to be touched just to believe that they have been carved out of nature. At least Kerubo had seen some old oak trees because they are sacred places of worship for some communities in Kenya but they looked quite exotic to me.

None of us had seen such mosaic looking farms like the ones we saw in Stellenbosch but the picture would not be complete if the white-washed Dutch dwellings were missing. To be honest, I do not think there are many people alive today who saw the Dutch East India Company building the railway in Africa yet their residences are still intact and habitable. Currently a University town, the fantastic scenery injects a vibrant feel to the town.

I love food – such a mystery why I am a size eight. Foodies will appreciate the sidewalk cafes that line the streets of Stellenbosch. For fine dining, some decent high end restaurant offer the privacy and price value of a cool and laid back time at the table. There is even a museum ensemble right in the center of this food action – a village museum with gardens with houses that date from 1709 through to 1850. Art lovers like Kerubo can find a moments solace in the Rupert Museum which showcases rare South African talent. If all this gets into your head and you feel like you need to unwind, take a hike or bike ride through Jonkershoek Nature Reserve.

Robben Island

Most people in the world can resonate with the name of Nelson Mandela but seeing the horrors of apartheid is harrowing to say the least.  I was in Kenya when they held their last general election in 2017 and while the clashes and threats were scary, the face of segregation is ugly. To buy his countrymet out of it, Nelson Mandela would stay confined in a tiny cell for 18 years, alongside others whom the government of the day considered social misfits.

The tours to this destination get filled up really quickly and for Kerubo and I that travel as conjoined twins, three booking attempts finally landed us a spot. A tour starts with a guide through the exhibits put up in the Nelson Mandela Gateway. There is a waterfront! There is a waterfront! Nothing spectacular here but that was Kerubo’s tagline last month when Kenya was scheduled to rename its very first water front in Mombasa. It is from the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront that visitors take boats to the island.

Travel plans to South Africa

I work for a multinational based in Nairobi so most of my travel is easy because of work access. Kerubo is a banker in Nairobi and every time we have been on tour, she must get special visas. I found the visa application to SA to be rather simple this time. I hear that there is a special eVisa program aimed at promoting tourism between South Africa and Kenyan citizens. Instead of going to the embassy to apply for the visa, the South Africa eVisa for Kenyans requires the traveller to fill online forms from the comfort of their own location. The eVisa is sent through email and it will surprise you just how fast the response is. Just make sure that the information you fill in the forms matches what is on the passport as this might be the cause for delays.