About This Episode

In this episode, we interview…ourselves!

Every month, we will be releasing an episode where it is just us talking about our past adventures and a theme that we found during that trip and what we learned about it.

In this episode, we talk about our thirteen day road trip up the east coast of South Africa from Cape Town to Durban and beyond. We got through our route, why we chose it, and what we did in each city, as well as our experience driving in South Africa.

Self-Drive South Africa

We chose to make the most of our 13 days in South Africa by renting a car and traveling up the east coast from Cape Town to Durban and beyond. It was a lot of kilometers to put on the rental and many hours of driving, but we got to do it at our own pace and see the things that we wanted to.

This was our first road trip together as a couple, and we have a lot of great memories to share with you from South Africa. We also have some memories that are not as pleasant with anything that comes from a trip or road trip.

Here is what we did in each city during our self-drive in South Africa.

Cape Town

This city was on both of our bucket lists, so it just made sense to start our road trip here and spend a few days enjoying the city and what it has to offer. We started out the trip with no luggage and the first full day decided to hike Table Mountain. This turned out to be a poor choice because of the difficult route we chose and not having the proper attire for the climb. However, we did arrive safely to the top and enjoyed the incredible views.

We went to Cape Point Nature Reserve where we looked out into the ocean, Boulder’s Beach where we chilled with some penguins on the beach, and a winery to sip wine and taste cheese while enjoying the landscape.

Outdshoorn

This was a city we chose to break up the lengthy drive from Cape Town to our next destination. A stop-over city where we visited an ostrich farm and the Cango Wildlife Ranch. It was definitely an enjoyable tour of the wildlife and the ostriches while in this city, and we even tasted ostrich meat for ourselves.

Port Elizabeth

We wanted to visit Addo Elephant Park while on our east coast road trip, so it only made sense we stayed in Port Elizabeth at a lovely AirBnB. In the morning we went on a horseback safari tour with a guide and then drove around the park in our small car to cover as much ground as possible. It was an incredible experience where we saw herds of elephants, zebra, gazelle, dung beetles, and so much more.

Bulungula Lodge

This place is an eco lodge where you stay with a Xhosa tribe and live a day in the life with them. We went out fishing with a local, but caught nothing. We then went on a tour of the grounds to see where the chief lived and enjoy local drinks in the bar. The following day we went out with a local woman and followed her in a day-in-the-life. It was an incredible cultural experience that we went on and one that we will never forget.

Durban

We do not have a lot to say about Durban. We arrived late and only stayed the night. Once we arrived we went out for dinner at the port and went right back to our accommodation to catch some much needed rest after a nine hour drive.

Richard’s Bay

This was our last stop in our road trip. We wanted a place where we could really relax for the last leg of our journey and this was the place. There was a beach nearby that we had planned on relaxing at, but never found the time. Instead we went north to St. Lucia to do a hippo river boat cruise and had dinner at a local golf club to top off our trip in South Africa.

Conclusion

Our first road trip was a great success and we are looking forward for many more to come. We had no problems road tripping through South Africa in a small vehicle. The trip to Bulungula was the most difficult with a lengthy stretch of gravel roads that were difficult to navigate without bottoming out the car, but we arrived safe and sound.

Road tripping has quickly become our favorite way to see a country, and it all began with this thirteen day road trip in South Africa.

We hope you enjoy the Travel Couple Podcast. We want to know your feedback and comments on this podcast.

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