1 Week Itinerary for a Cape Town and Johannesburg Road Trip

South Africa isn’t just beautiful, it is achingly beautiful.’ – Bill Clinton

A bunch of 6 crazy people, with no clue what to expect from this camping road trip, went on an adventure to Capetown and Johannesburg in South Africa. Well, like every friends road trip, there were prior planning and arrangements, but up to the last days of our trip, we will still make major readjustments of our South Africa trip itinerary 10 days. But looking back, the beauty was in the mix of the uncertainty yet discovery.

So lets kick off with some of the best stuff we conquered in South Africa:

South Africa – Wild at Heart

1. South Africa Itinerary 10 Days – Starting with Breathtaking Viewpoints

Table Mountain/ Signal Hill Views

Not labeled as the top 10 natural wonders of the world for nothing, the majestic Table Mountain really frames the city of Capetown in such an idyllic manner. The magic of Capetown would be absent without it as a movie backdrop.

Cape Point/ Cape of Good Hope

Lets face it, there are tons of similar amazing lookout points in the world to see waves crashing against cliff rocks, Australia and America are just some of such places. However, Cape Point in South Africa is still one of the places you don’t want to miss out because of its unique geographic significance and the fact that 2 oceans, the Atlantic and Indian Ocean crosses!

Enjoy coastal views? Then Mauritius is another destination to consider to see the best cliff sights

Hiking at Drakensburg Mountains

Derived from the Afrikaans name Drakensberge meaning ‘Dragon Mountains’, you can literally imagine a mystical creature lurking amongst the many raw rock Time columns of this world heritage site. Having get to spend 3 full days there, one still cannot get enough of the iconic feature – ‘The Amphitheatre’, which really takes your breath away. Standing there with the immense looming structure, you can almost imagine the words from the iconic movie Gladiator ‘ Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity!’ roared through the rocks here.

2. The Wild and the Majestic – Animals in South Africa

Game Reserves/ Safaris in Capetown and Beyond

Any safari and game reserve fans here? If you are tight for time and would rather not have to drive around in your vehicle squinting your eyes to spot a zebra in the thousand acres of land, forget Kruger National Park, we have a simple suggestion for you – Aquila Game Reserve or Imfolozi National Park.

Out of the 2 national parks, we only got to visit Aquila Game Reserve and Safari in Capetown. Located 2 hours away from the Capetown city, Aquila Game Reserve had been one of the most popular safaris in Capetown and has been visited by celebrities like Rihanna and many others. Slightly on the pricier and posh-ier side, it definitely is still a lovely experience to have. However, along the road trip, we did spot many other iconic wild African animals like Ostriches, Rabbits, Gazelles, Cows and many more.

For those who really love safaris and would love to check out the other options around Africa, check out this compiled Africa Safaris List.

Huge lake with creatures of the unknown at Aquila Game Reserve

Boulders Beach Wild Penguins

Fancy a beach that is totally owned by penguins?
Jackass penguins make Boulder’s beach their little love nest seasonally through the year. These unruffled penguins trot around like kings and go for swims and hunting in groups. Adorable yet humorous to watch them go about their little webbed lives.

3. Camping and Glamping in the South Africa’s Vast Wilderness

My very first full scale camping trip has been truly rewarding and eye-opening. With 3 cars stuffed with tons of things from tents to deck chairs to mattresses and gas stove, its amazing the degree of luxury camping we enjoyed in this trip. Meals were uncompromised too, with our very tasty ham and tuna sandwiches for lunch to delicious ‘Braai ( Barbecue)’ dinners every night. Steak, lamp chops, pork rashes, chicken fillets, ostrich meat, you name it. Thanks to Malcom and Jason and Dean for lending us heaps of camping stuff to make this experience really amazing.

If you enjoy camping and backpacking so much, why not consider getting a portable backpack chair.

4. Outdoor Activities in South Africa to wet your every appetite

There’s so much when it comes to outdoors in South Africa. From paragliding to horse riding to white shark cage diving. The list is endless! But due to limited time, these were the 2 main things we did:

Best Trekking Places in South Africa

Places like Drakensburg and Table Mountain are lovely spots for day hikes. Not sure about table mountain, but Drakensburg is definitely easy to cover for beginners to intermediate climbers, but remember to start early and don’t get caught in the setting sun ( for us, it starts to set at 5plus everyday). Getting stranded there in winter might not be the best idea.

Rock Climbing at Bronkhorstspruit or Bronkies Africa

Bronkhorstspruit, in short called ‘Bronkies’ is not too far out from the Johannesburg airport and has lovely manageable routes for climbers of all levels. Running parallel to a lovely brook, it’s a must-stay till sunset to catch an amazing view of the golden sun-kissed surroundings. Having spend my last sunset in South Africa there on top of the ‘If women were gods’ climbing route, it was truly a overwhelming yet humbling and meditative moment taking in the vast creation of this world.

For other rock climbing adventures like Krabi, read on here.

5. Best Sunsets Destination in the World

Now that the trip is over, the moments that keep flashing back to me every time I think of South Africa are the fiery sunsets and stunning blue skies lined with clouds of different forms. If the sky were to be a lady, I would say it never fails to dress itself up with its mood- casual light fluffy balls of cotton for a casual outing, silver linings for a happy date or wispy long strands of wispy translucent clouds for a magical date. Let the pictures speak for themselves.

Carry me on your shoulder.Wild at heart

Fooling around while watching the sunset together at Signal Hill Capetown

In conclusion, the road trip Cape Town and Johannesburg experience was nothing like those picked up from footage in national geographic or what we pick up from the news. There is so much more that one can only muster with a longer stay in this wild untamed reserve.

I would encourage you to take some time off and leverage on this South Africa 10 Days itinerary for yourself!

Ps. Packing all the essentials is a must for a more hassle-free camping trip. You can use a camping checklist to make sure that you don’t miss any of the essentials. If you are looking to do some volunteering work in Africa, there are also opportunities with organizations like Urbond, where you can read up about my friend Mikey’s experience here.

Wild at Heart – Mornings have never been this wonderful, only because it is South Africa…

For another great outdoor story, read my Canada Adventure here.