Sydafrika

Vi guidar dig till Sydafrikas stolthet – Krugerpark – med tips på boende och aktiviteter.

Rough and ready, smart and sophisticated, rural and rustic: there’s no doubt that KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is eclectic. It’s a region where glassy malls touch shabby suburbs, and action-packed adventurers ooze adrenaline while laid-back beach bods drip with suntan lotion. Mountainscapes contrast with flat, dry savannahs, while the towns’ central streets, teeming with African life, markets and noise, are in stark contrast to the sedate tribal settlements in rural areas. Here, too, is traditional Zululand, whose people are fiercely proud of their culture.

Up there on the podium with the world’s great ecotourism destinations, and near the top of the scribbled list marked ‘Places I Must See in South Africa’, the Elephant Coast (formerly ‘Maputaland’) is a phenomenal stretch of natural beauty, with a fabulously diverse mix of environments and wildlife.

Home to some of South Africa’s most striking landscapes, the Drakensberg Escarpment was, until a couple of centuries ago, untamed rainforest roamed by elephants, buffaloes and even lions. Today, it’s holidaying South Africans and, increasingly, international visitors who wander the highlands, enjoying the beautiful landscape in their droves. The escarpment marks the point where the highveld plateau plunges down 1000m to the lowveld, forming a dramatic knot of soaring cliffs, canyons, sweeping hillsides and cool valleys thick with pine trees and waterfalls – an apt backdrop for the myriad adventure activities that are on offer here.

This shipwreck-strewn coastline rivals any in the country in terms of beauty and wilderness, stretching over 350km from just east of East London to Port Edward. Often referred to as the ‘Transkei’ (the name of the apartheid-era homeland that once covered most of this area), the Wild Coast region also stretches inland, covering pastoral landscapes where clusters of rondavels (round huts with a conical roofs) scatter the rolling hills covered in short grass.

With only a million people inhabiting its 373,000 sq km, the Northern Cape is South Africa’s last great frontier. Its scattered towns are hundreds of kilometres apart, connected by empty roads across the sublime, surreal wilderness expanses of Namakwa, the Kalahari and Upper Karoo. Under the remorseless sun, vehicles share park roads with lions, dune boards swish down roaring sands, and Kimberley’s pubs serve cold beer as they have since the 19th-century diamond rush.

Mpumalanga is one of South Africa’s smallest provinces and one of its most exciting. Visually, it's as beautiful as it is diverse, with mountain vistas, lush green valleys, arid bush, subtropical plantations and cool-climate towns. Its natural assets make it a prime target for outdoor enthusiasts, who come to abseil down waterfalls, throw themselves off cliffs, raft or tube down rivers, explore subterranean caves, gallop through grasslands, and hike or bike forest trails.

If there's one thing that Stellenbosch is renowned for, it is wine. There are hundreds of estates scattered around the outskirts of the town, many of which produce world-class wines. A tour of the wineries with their many tasting options and superlative restaurants will likely form the backbone of your visit, but there is a lot more to see.

Blyde River Canyon is both one of the world's largest canyons and one of South Africa’s most outstanding natural sights – little wonder that it is increasingly popular with international visitors. The canyon's scale and beauty make a trip here a memorable experience, especially if you're lucky enough to visit on a fine day. Epic rock formations tower above the forested slopes and eagle-eye views abound at the dramatic meeting of the Drakensberg Escarpment and the lowveld.

Hermanus is generally considered the best land-based whale-watching destination in the world. From June to December, the bay becomes the swimming grounds for a large number of southern right whales. So what might have otherwise just been a small fishing village is today a large, bustling town with an excellent range of accommodation, restaurants and shops.