Since we were already driving through the area, we stopped briefly at the Basotho Cultural Village, a living museum nestled beneath the spectacular sandstone mountains of Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa’s Free State province. The village features an 18th-century-style...
As part of our Sani Pass trip, we visited Sekiring Village, often spelt Skeering by local tour operators. This living, traditional Basotho settlement lies roughly 7 kilometres beyond the Sani Pass border post, on Lesotho’s rugged high-altitude plateau at almost 2,900 metres above...
On our way to Underberg, we stopped at two culturally profound landmarks just a short distance apart in the greater Durban area: the Umhlatuzana Hindu Temple in Chatsworth and Mariannhill Monastery. Although they belong to different faiths, both places share remarkably similar stories of...
After two days of rain, we finally got one day with better weather, so we decided to make the most of it and see as much of Durban as possible in a single day. Durban, affectionately known as “Durbs”, is a vibrant coastal city in KwaZulu-Natal, famous for its warm subtropical...
Our second historical stop of the day was Ladysmith, a historic town in northern KwaZulu-Natal that played a central role in the Anglo-Boer War. The Ladysmith Siege Museum sits next to the town hall in a building built in 1884 that originally served as a market house and later became a...
After spending the night in Dundee, we visited the Talana Museum (🎟️50 ZAR), one of the most important heritage sites in northern KwaZulu-Natal, which brings together the region’s rich military, industrial, and cultural history. Dundee was founded in 1882 by Peter Smith and soon...
We made an overnight stop in Barberton, a historic gold-rush town nestled in the De Kaap Valley of Mpumalanga and surrounded by the dramatic Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains. The area is remarkable not only for its pioneer and mining heritage, but also for its extraordinary geology. The...
After visiting the Sudwala Caves, we made a short stop at Elands River Waterfall and the old railway tunnel near Emgwenya, formerly known as Waterval Boven. The waterfall drops around 70–75 metres over the red cliffs in three separate ribbons. To reach the viewpoint, we had to walk...
Many people told us not to visit Pilgrim’s Rest because of safety concerns and because, according to them, the town had lost much of its old charm. Well, our visit turned out to be completely different. We had a great experience and were glad we didn’t believe those warnings...
The Cradle of Humankind is a world-renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site, located about 50 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. It is famous for its remarkable collection of ancient hominid fossils, offering an extraordinary glimpse into our human origins. We made a short stop at the main...