Southern Africa simply begs to be explored. It has a huge variety of landscapes, from green hills and mountains to dry plains. There are small towns and traditional villages but also modern, vibrant cities. To experience everything the region has to offer, it's best to rent a car, move away from the most popular tourist spots and hit the back roads.
A great place to start your trip is South Africa's Cape Town. It's the capital of the Western Cape province. Within about an hour's drive from the city you'll find the country's main wine region amid dramatic mountains. The road northwards along the West Coast to Namibia is well worth taking too. However, you may want to head eastwards instead. If you take the inland route you'll drive through an area known as the Little Karoo. The coastal road is called the Garden Route and rewards you with great beaches, spectacular scenery and forests.
The Wild Coast region is located in the Eastern Cape province. Here the landscape is rugged and the lifestyle is very much rural and traditional. The beaches are quiet but if you prefer more developed holiday resorts, continue northwards to the KwaZulu-Natal province and the Hibiscus Coast. This province offers great surfing and diving and Durban, the largest city, has a uniquely Indian atmosphere.
After you've explored the coast, it's time for the mountains. The Drakensberg is Southern Africa's biggest mountain range. Part of the Drakensberg is the Maluti Mountains, which make up most of the country of Lesotho. From Lesotho, continue on into South Africa's Free State province. Here the sandstone cliffs are soon replaced by vast plains covered in cornfields and sunflowers.
It's only a couple of hours' drive northwards before you reach Johannesburg, the City of Gold. Pretoria is less than an hour from Johannesburg. These two cities make a great starting point for a trip to Mozambique's beaches and diving destinations, via the Kruger National Park, the subtropical region known as the Lowveld and the mountainous kingdom of Swaziland.
You can also head northwards instead. Drive through the wooded Bushveld region where you'll find plenty of game farms and will start seeing boabab trees. At Musina, cross the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe. Then explore Bulawayo and the Hwange National Park before spending some time at the Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba. Afterwards, continue on into Zambia.
After Zambia, go south again to Botswana. Go game-viewing in the lush northern parts of this pleasant country and spend some time in the Okavango Delta. Further south is the Kalahari Desert. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park covers a large part of the Kalahari in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. Namibia is also home to the Namib Desert with its high sand dunes and the country has a German flavor.
Roads in the region vary in quality but in general you won't need an off-road vehicle. Distances can be large and it's easy to become fatigued if you don't take regular breaks. This is especially important if you're not used to driving on the left. Luckily finding a car for rent is easy, with major companies having branches in all the region's cities.
A great place to start your trip is South Africa's Cape Town. It's the capital of the Western Cape province. Within about an hour's drive from the city you'll find the country's main wine region amid dramatic mountains. The road northwards along the West Coast to Namibia is well worth taking too. However, you may want to head eastwards instead. If you take the inland route you'll drive through an area known as the Little Karoo. The coastal road is called the Garden Route and rewards you with great beaches, spectacular scenery and forests.
The Wild Coast region is located in the Eastern Cape province. Here the landscape is rugged and the lifestyle is very much rural and traditional. The beaches are quiet but if you prefer more developed holiday resorts, continue northwards to the KwaZulu-Natal province and the Hibiscus Coast. This province offers great surfing and diving and Durban, the largest city, has a uniquely Indian atmosphere.
After you've explored the coast, it's time for the mountains. The Drakensberg is Southern Africa's biggest mountain range. Part of the Drakensberg is the Maluti Mountains, which make up most of the country of Lesotho. From Lesotho, continue on into South Africa's Free State province. Here the sandstone cliffs are soon replaced by vast plains covered in cornfields and sunflowers.
It's only a couple of hours' drive northwards before you reach Johannesburg, the City of Gold. Pretoria is less than an hour from Johannesburg. These two cities make a great starting point for a trip to Mozambique's beaches and diving destinations, via the Kruger National Park, the subtropical region known as the Lowveld and the mountainous kingdom of Swaziland.
You can also head northwards instead. Drive through the wooded Bushveld region where you'll find plenty of game farms and will start seeing boabab trees. At Musina, cross the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe. Then explore Bulawayo and the Hwange National Park before spending some time at the Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba. Afterwards, continue on into Zambia.
After Zambia, go south again to Botswana. Go game-viewing in the lush northern parts of this pleasant country and spend some time in the Okavango Delta. Further south is the Kalahari Desert. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park covers a large part of the Kalahari in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. Namibia is also home to the Namib Desert with its high sand dunes and the country has a German flavor.
Roads in the region vary in quality but in general you won't need an off-road vehicle. Distances can be large and it's easy to become fatigued if you don't take regular breaks. This is especially important if you're not used to driving on the left. Luckily finding a car for rent is easy, with major companies having branches in all the region's cities.
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