{"id":98362,"date":"2016-02-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelstartblg.wpenginepowered.com\/the-great-south-african-road-trip\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T13:53:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T13:53:16","slug":"the-great-south-african-road-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/the-great-south-african-road-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great South African Road Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I feel a fluttering in my stomach \u2013 we truly are lucky to live in a country that has so much to offer.”<\/em><\/h3>\n

It was an early Sunday morning on the fragile cusp of spring that we set out from Cape Town for a two-week road trip around the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leaving Table Mountain behind us in the dawn distance, we embarked on an epic journey that would meander from one iconic South African landmark to another.<\/span><\/p>\n

While this had not been the purpose of the trip by any means – it was merely a family holiday \u2013 the magnitude of the experience really only hit me in retrospect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scrolling through my many photographs a couple of days after returning to the Mother City, an ocean of gratitude suddenly spilled through my veins and I exclaimed: good lord! We literally did the Great South African Road Trip\u2026 without even realising it! <\/span><\/p>\n

From home way down south all the way up north to where the great Limpopo meets Zimbabwe\u2019s Shashe, from arid Karoo plains to lush Tstsikamma forests, from the mournful call of the bushveld\u2019s Fiery-necked Nightjar to the rhythmic crash of the Indian Ocean on Chintsa\u2019s shores. A circular route of more than 5\u00a0000km through 7 of our 9 provinces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, we didn\u2019t even nearly cover it all, but what we had managed to pack into those short 15 days was mind-boggling!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick summary of our route\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Cape Town \uf0e0 Karoo National Park (460km) \uf0e0 Bloemfontein (582km) \uf0e0 Pretoria (2 nights) (467km) \uf0e0 Balerno Bush Lodge, just outside Alldays (456km) \uf0e0 Mapungubwe National Park (5km) \uf0e0 Punda Maria, Kruger National Park (264km) \uf0e0 Mopani, Kruger National Park (94km) \uf0e0 Olifants, Kruger National Park (86km) \uf0e0 Skukuza, Kruger National Park (147km) \uf0e0 Berg en Dal, Kruger National Park (172km) \uf0e0 Champagne Castle, Drakensberg (643km) \uf0e0 Margate (351km) \uf0e0 Chintsa (524km) \uf0e0 Tsitsikamma (447km) \uf0e0 Cape Town (615km) = +\/-5\u00a0313km<\/span><\/p>\n

And a couple of the iconic places it took us to:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Karoo National Park<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Moody Karoo | There’s something sublime about sitting wrapped in a blanket on a deep-set Karoo porch watching the rain fall down, then seep into the ground. A rare blessing indeed in this part of the world.<\/a><\/p>\n

A photo posted by nadia (@nadia_safaria) on