Skeleton Gorge Hike - Cape Town

 

After a lot of sitting and no exercise for five days, I was searching for something adventurous that we could do for our last day in South Africa. As we were flying back to Cape Town from Johannesburg, I was searching for run routes in Cape Town. I really wanted to visit the Botanical Gardens so when I came across a hike description inside the gardens, I knew this would be perfect for us. 

"The Skeleton Gorge is a moderate hike with a steep ascent from the start to the end and a couple of tricky climbs (on the way down) over rocks and boulders."

We took an uber from the Cape Town airport to our hotel (Best Western) and arrived just before 11pm on Friday evening. We collected our suitcases that we dropped off on Monday morning before we left for our Safari and kept the bikes in the luggage storage. We also paid $30 for a late checkout (6pm) since our flight back to the US was not leaving until 10pm on Saturday. The staff was incredibly nice and the hotel had a mediterrean vibe to it. 

We were pretty tired when we arrived to our room as we had been up since 5am for our 3-hour Safari. Plus a 5 hour drive, 2 hour flight.....we were ready for bed. 

We slept as late as we could but woke up to rainy and windy conditions. I was a bit bummed as I had planned the hike for us so we were hopeful it would pass. 

We had breakfast at the hotel (which was included in the room rate) and it was amazing. So much fresh fruit! We worked on the computer for a bit and then around 9am we decided to take the chance and go to the gardens as the rain had stopped. 

We got an Uber to take us the 6 miles to the gardens. We were told by many people to take the Ubers instead of Taxi as they are more reliable and safe. Well, a few miles later, we we pulled over by the police. 

We learned that many uber drivers do not have the permits to drive but they can still register with the Uber app. When we were pulled over, the cop nicely explained this to us and told us that the drivers car would be impounded. We opted to walk the mile to the gardens instea of having the police drive us. It was a strange situation that left us with mixed emotions. On one hand we were shocked that Uber drivers could be registered with the app despite not having permits but we were also sad for the driver. During our driver, we learned that this driver is from Congo and works for a few months before traveling back to his home country to visit his family. I'm sure he knew what he was doing was wrong but he likely did not have many other options for work. We also learned from other locals that there's a lot of coropution with the government and the president which makes many situations unfair for the locals. 

Around 10am we arrived to the gardens and paid R210 (~$11) per person to enter. If you love plants and nature, I highly suggest visiting this place. "Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is acclaimed as one of the great botanic gardens of the world." You could spend at least a full day exploring the grounds and then more time hiking on the trails. 

We started our hike and within a few minutes, we knew this would be an adventure. This was the craziest hikes we have ever done and it was absolutely perfect for us. It was more like an obstacle course. The trail wasn't too busy when we were hiking as the cloudy/rainy weather likely worked in our favor but the downside was that the conditions were not ideal for us to keep hiking past the sandy lake on top of the mountain. We got in around 4 miles round trip and it was the most fun we have ever had hiking. 

Here's a video of our adventure. 

After returning back from the hike, I was a bit nervous to get another uber but thankfully, this guy had a permit. There was no way to know if a driver had a permit as we never saw any cars with the Uber sticker on the car but this driver explained the situation to us after we told him what happened to us earlier that morning. 

After warming up from being wet and cold, we walked a mile through the Company’s Garden and several busy streets to eat lunch at BAR DE TAPAS LA PARADA. The restaurant was in a great location as we walked through many interesting streets filled with bars, restaurants and shops. Karel had a chicken burger and I had a Mediterranean salad with potato wedges. It was delicious.

We then walked through the streets to check out the local scenes (trying not to get blown away with the extreme 50+ mph winds) and went back to our hotel at 4:30pm. We were hoping to get some work done before heading to the airport at 6pm but it was load shedding so the internet wasn’t working.

We had a great conversation with the (complimentary free) hotel shuttle driver who drove us to the airport at 6pm. We arrived a bit early to the airport so the kiosk was closed but we were first in line to check in. It was good that we arrived early as there was a long line for customs to leave Cape Town and to go back to the US. We then spent some time in the lounge to get some work done before a 16 hour flight back to ATL.

And now our trip to South Africa comes to an end. We enjoyed our two weeks in this incredible and interesting country. It was another life changing race cation including three things that we love: cycling in new places, learning about the local culture and exploring nature.
Thanks for following along.

Panorama Route Tour

 

We weren't excited about sitting in a vehicle for 8 hours on day 3 of our 4-day Safari package but it turned out to be an incredible experience to see the breathtaking sights of this part of South Africa. 

It was nice to sleep in until 630 am. Throughout the night there was a lot of rain. At 7:30am we had a cold breakfast. There was the option for a hot item on the menu but the cold food options were enough. We enjoyed fruit, yogurt, granola and banana bread.

At 9am, 8 of us boarded the van for the panoramic tour. I had seen pics online but we were amazed by each spot on the tour. Our driver took us to each stop on the tour, deciding which spot to see based on the weather. It was a cloudy, cool and slightly rainy day but thankfully we were able to see a lot. 

The first stop was Lisbon falls. 


Then Berlin falls.



We then went to Blyde River Canyon Potholes, which was incredible. The nature was so amazing here.

We then went to Blyde River Canyon Three Rondavels. This lookout point was one of my favorites.


At each location there were many vendors selling local items for souvenirs. While each vendor had similar items, each wanted to negotiate the prices (which were already very affordable) to make the sale. We got a few items.

In my opinion, the vendors at the potholes and Rondavel had the best selection of local items.

Each location on the panorama tour had bathrooms. As part of our Safari package, our driver covered the costs for every entrance fee.

Next we went to Gods Window but unfortunately it was too foggy to see anything.

With that being the end of our panorama tour (~4 hours) we finished the tour with an incredible African lunch at the Garden Shed Restaurant. I got the vegetarian curry and Karel got the beef curry. We had so many great conversations with our European friends throughout lunch.



We then returned back to the lodge. I went for a dip in the pool and Karel ventured out of our gated lodge for a run (although he said this was the first time he didn’t feel safe running outside).

If you are in staying in or near Hazyview or Kruger National Park, I highly suggest seeing some of the sights on the Panorama Route Tour. Blyde River Canyons should be on the top of your list to see. If you are adventurous and active, you can also look into hiking there. I imagine the sights can get rather busy so we were lucky that the weather wasn't ideal, which helped so that there weren't many crowds. 

South Africa SAFARI TOUR

In October, I booked a 4-day Safari tour with Safari with us for $500 a person. With this being non-peak season and summer, the Safari rates were much lower than in peak season and the cooler/dry climate. The Safari package included a late day safari, full day safari and add-on safari, in addition to a full day Panoramic tour. Lodging was also included. The package also included all breakfast and dinner meals, transportation to/from Johannesburg airport (~5 hours away) and entry into Kruger National Park. 

We were picked up at our hotel around 6am and transported to the airport where we met up with 9 other individuals. Interestingly, the other individuals (all from Europe) purchased their Safari packages with different companies so I am assuming the companies partner together. Everyone was really nice and we enjoyed getting to know everyone over the 4 days. We slept on and off throughout the 5 hour drive and had one bathroom stop around 3 hours in. We arrived to the Krugar Safari Lodge a little after 12pm and signed some paperwork before checking in to our rooms. We ate lunch at the lodge restaurant and I was happy to see so many vegetarian options (with soy-based products for protein). We then took a dip in the pool to cool off as it was in the upper 80's. 

We were very happy with our accomodations as we didn't need anything luxurious for our stay as we were here for the Safari. However, the downside to our accomodation was the location. It was a gated lodge and we were advised not to leave due to safety. One day Karel ventured out for a run and he said it was the first time since we arrived to South Africa that he didn't feel safe exercising outside. The lodge did have some activities like a playground, giant chess game, pool, outdoor patio and large restaurant/seating area but that was about it for staying active. The other downside was not having any access to food or other items to purchase. Thankfully, one of the workers at the lodge took me and Karel to the nearby grocery store so that I could get sunscreen and bugspray, as well as a few big bottles of water. 

Our room was plenty big. We had a queen size bed along with two twin beds. We also had a full bathroom, AC, TV, mini fridge and lots of space. We slept great and loved the decor of our room. 

Around 3pm it was finally time for our Safari. I didn't really know what to expect but I felt flooded with emotions. I had wanted to do a Safari for a very long time and it was finally happening. 

The location of our lodge was ~40 minutes away from Kruger National Park so it took some time to get to the enterance but the nice thing was seeing more sights and people to and from the park. It was a stark contrast of scenery going from a town to a National Park. 

Kruger National Park is the largest National Park in South Africa. According to Britanica "The park, with an area of 7,523 square miles (19,485 square km), is about 200 miles (320 km) long and 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 km) wide. The area has a generally flat terrain with low ranges of hills traversed by nearly 5,000 miles of paved and gravel roads. Vegetation varies from open veld to dense bush that includes mopane, acacia, marula, and baobab trees. Wildlife includes elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, buffalo, rhinoceroses, zebras, wildebeests, impalas, and numerous birds. Although six perennial rivers cross the park, droughts often make artificial watering necessary.

The first animal that I spotted was an elephant. We then saw giraffes, buffalo, rhino, impalas and zebra. For our first Safari, we saw a lot over 3 hours in the late afternoon. Our full day Safari on day two lasted from 5:30am until 4pm with a break for lunch. There are several restaurants within the park for bathrooms and food. The highlight of day two was seeing a pack of lions and a few cubs. We opted to pay for one additional morning safari on the last day and we we finally saw lions. The only animals that we didn't see where cheetahs and leopards. 

This was an experience of a lifetime to see the animals in their natural habitat. We saw old adults and babies and everything in between. Our guides were really knowledgable and we asked lots of questions. The birds were also fascinating and beautiful. The landscape was incredible. 

A successful Safari requires an experienced guide, a lot of eyes, sitting up high in an off-road vehicle, being patient and spending a lot of time driving around. I put together a video from our Safari experience. 

If you are planning a Safari, here are a few tips that I learned from our experience: 

• Don't tour by yourself in your car. Being with a group means more eyes to look for animals. Also, the touring trucks allow you to sit up high, which makes for easier viewing in the distance. 
• Use an experience guide. If you book a tour, you will get a guide. To improve your odds of seeing animals, the guides will often communicate to one another as to where certain animals are spotted (on specific roads/routes). The guides also know about the animals so they can answer your questions. 
• Allow at least 2 full days of Safari to improve your odds of seeing all the big 5 and so much more. Most Safaris will have one in the morning for a few hours (typically very early when the animals are most active as its cooler) and then late afternoon/early evening. You may also consider a few more early morning safari tours for 3-5 viewing experiences. I can tell you that seeing elephants and giraffes doesn't get old. It didn't matter how many we saw, each one made me wow. 
• Make sure to bring cash to tip your driver. 
• Wear light, breathable comfortable neutral clothes. We purchased Safari hats on Amazon before we left and they came in really handy for when we were driving (and it was windy) as well as for keeping the sun off our neck. Even though the Safari truck is covered, the sun is still warm from the sides of the vehicle. 
• Bring binoculars. You will spot many animals in the distance. 
• Bring your camera. Our cell phones worked great for capturing pictures. While it would have been nice to take more professional pictures while we were there, we were just fine with our phones. Nothing can erase the memories that we gained from the experience. 
• Bring sunscreen and bugspray. 
• Bring snacks and water. 

To finish off this recap, here are some pics of the delicious food that we consumed during our Safari tour. 

Up next.....breathtaking pictures from our Panoramic Tour. 

South Africa Race-Cation Day 8

Neither of us slept so great at night after the race but surprisingly, we didn’t feel too sore in the morning. We woke up around 6:30am and got a bit of work done before finishing our packing and cleaning up the Airbnb for our departure. We said good bye to Thys and Hester and left around 8:30am. Today was a travel day for us and included several logistics but thankfully everything went smoothly. We drove ~1 hr to Cape Town. This was our first time seeing the area since we arrived. We dropped off our bikes (in the cases) and luggage at the Best Western Cape Town Suites where we would be staying on Friday after our Safari Tour. For the past month I had been in communication with one of the staff who said we could keep our luggage at the hotel (free of charge) during our Safari. The luggage concierge William said he would take good care of our items while we were away. We then drove ~15 minutes to the Cape Town airport to top off our rental car with gas before dropping it off at Hertz. 

With only our backpacks, we didn’t need to do anything at the airport except go through security. We had our boarding passes on our phones with the SAFAIR airline. We arrived to the airport around 11am for our 1:15pm flight which gave us a good amount of time to get some work done in one of the airport lounges. We also enjoyed some great food in the lounge. And the high speed internet was fantastic (the things you take for granted while traveling). Our 2 hour flight was fairly uneventful, although it was a little bumpy and we had to circle the sky for about 10 minutes due to another plane being slow to land. We finally touched down to Johannesburg airport at 3:15pm. I was a little nervous about figuring out the train (Gautrain) but it was super easy. Just swipe your credit card to access the train. We were lucky in that the train was 1 minute from leaving so we quickly boarded the train. The train was very comfortable, clean and quiet. The train made two stops before the final stop at Sandton. 

I chose a hotel at this location because I read that it was a safe area and the Nelson Mandela Square was a popular area to visit. We walked a block to the Garden Suites where we stayed the night and then walked across the street to check out Nelson Mandela Square. We saw the tall statue of Nelson Mandela and read about his lifetime. We then spent the next hour walking through the mall. It was interesting to think about what Nelson went through and then to be walking through a high-end mall with designer shops. We came across a bakery with a wide assortment of fresh bread and Karel couldn’t resist a croissant. We had dinner at Pappas – a Greek restaurant overlooking the square, and the food was delicious. I had a bulgur salad and Karel had a chicken kabob. 

We also had pita bread and hummus as a starter (it came free with the meal) and a cheese and spinach mushroom appetizer. 

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and went to bed around 9:30pm for an early morning alarm at 5:45am for the start of our 4-day Safari tour.