South Africa

We are contemplating South Africa for our honeymoon. Hoping to go on safari, drive along the Garden Route, eat amazing food and do some mountain biking.

Anyone got any suggestions?

We did that for our honeymoon. Flew to Johanesburg, light aircraft to Sabi Sands for four days of safari. We stayed at Elephant Plains which seemed cheaper than a lot of lodges. Great game drives. We saw everything apart from rhino.

Then we got a flight to Cape Town and did a few days there. I loved the city and there are some great bars and restaurants.

Then we did two days in Stellenbosch and two in Franschhoek where we hired bikes and toured a lot of vineyards. They are perfectly set up for you to pop in and have a few glasses of wine and then on to the next one.

The winemakers lunch at Rust en Vrede was incredible.

Then we had four nights in Camps Bay of lying on the beach.

It's so cheap at the moment because of the exchange rate. Two big steaks and a bottle of incredible wine costs £25 in a restaurant. You realise they send none of their good wine to the UK.

Message me if you want any more details.

This place should be on your itinerary...

http://www.thetestkitchen.co.za

One of my favourite meals of all time.

Ha

The test kitchen is on my hotlist of things to do along with the tasting room.

@greenhell where can I find good food, not on square plates?

test kitchen was outstanding, tho the fact that its located in a previously notoriously disadvantaged area that has been repurposed for a predominantly young, upwardly mobile white crowd might sour your mood somewhat. We went for lunch, not sure if the menu changes of an evening.

other notables include:
http://thepotluckclub.co.za/ - a bit fiddly but worth the faff

http://www.nelsons-eye.co.za/ - spit and sawdust place serving steaks since the bad old days

http://lapetiteferme.co.za/index.php/restaurant - old fashioned but you'll be hard pressed to find a prettier setting.

Book now to avoid dissapointment.

recommend you air b'n b it - we crashed here: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/860900 for a week - short walk to the beach, not that i'd advise getting in the water. it's cocking freezing. make sure you hire a comfy car. avoid township tours at all costs. what time of year you thinking of heading out?

I wasn't blown away by the Tasting Room. Might have been because we'd drunk all day and I'd rather have had chips from a tray.

It's worth going to if you're into food but I found some of it just plain odd.

I checked the exchange rate again. Oh my word - it was 18 when we went so everything will be 10% cheaper.

We missed Petite Ferme which was a kick in the balls having ridden quite a long way to get there.

Many of the vineyards so incredible food though.

a lot of winefarms have pretty unforgiving opening hours too. Off-season can be a right ballache in that part of the world. on the other end of the scale - make sure you take a trip to Mariam's Kitchen in the city center for their famous steak masala gatsby. it'll probably kill you but what a way to go.

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Cheers,that looks like a good list of places to start with. We are looking to go end of May beginning of June 2016

Aiming for two-three days in Cape Town when we arrive so will book Test Kitchen for our 2nd night. It looks very much like the kind of place we'd enjoy.

We don't drink and they actually have paired soft drinks for their tasting menu.

Is that the appetiser?

@scherrit

Saw him last week and going to see him again in a few weeks time again.

He is responsible for my predicament as he introduced me to Annie.

I didn't even know you two were shackled. That's what I get for being a hermit.

Any advice on places for mountain bike hire and guides?

https://youtu.be/S2oymHHyV1M

Just watch out for the wildlife

i have shown that to Annie before

http://www.tablemountainbikers.co.za/

My home country, you guys making me want to go back so bad :(

Enjoy!

We did three weeks honeymoon in South Africa 20 years ago!!

Friends in Durban and Cape Town.. Road tripped down via Colesberg and Karoo.. Returned via Garden Route and the Transkei (Umtata-Mthatha) stopping at Jefferies Bay.. Fucking amazing surfing on supertubes

Plus excursions to Stellenbosch, Frankschoek, Cape Point all stunning.
And Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Park in KwaZulu Natal.. Even township / swattercamp tour to outskirts of Durban (Clemont) with AK47s stashed in our tour bus..

Epic days, people, food, wine estates, scenery all which coincided with Rugby World Cup in 1995, not sure how safe any of the places are today..

But I promised my bokkie mate that we would visit his family's farm near Port Elizabeth one day.

went there a few years back, the garden route is just stunning, i can recommend a few places to stay. winter/summer is backwards there so best to go sept/october so you get the heat and sun but not too crazy. hire a campervan and wild camp along the route/stay in the most amazing camp sites. there are vastly unpopulated areas along the 'route' and it is generally safe, just use your common sense. I was stopped on a highway by armed police checking for drugs/weapons, and that was about all the hassle we had.

most importantly, make sure you try brai toast.

while on safari, i literally cried

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In need of some ace advice please! my girlfriend and I are off to South Africa in October to see some of my family in Joberg, Durban and up to St Lucia on the coast. Whilst there we are going to be pretty busy but will have about 4 days to ditch the family and head down to Cape Town. Anyone got any absolute must do's, some wicked local knowledge about little gems rather then the well trodden ones? absolutely don'ts also I guess!