SOUTH AFRICA | ITINERARY

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you might know I'm going to South Africa in September. It seems like ages away right now but we have the itinerary, with the flights and hotels all booked. This is getting exciting! I thought I'd share the itinerary with you (not the specific hotels though) to give you an idea of what we will be doing in those 3 weeks, and to help if you're thinking about going to South Africa too!

1. Cape Town
We fly into Cape Town first and stay here for 4 nights. Whilst here we plan to get a boat to Robben Island to see Nelson Mandela's cell, go to Table Mountain and then visit the Penguins on Boulder's Beach.

My dad used to live in South Africa when he was little, and there are photos of him on Table Mountain so it will be cool to get similar photos when I'm there. His family left after a few months because they felt uncomfortable with the treatment of the black people compared to the white.

2. Hermanus
From Cape Town we'll drive to Hermanus. We're renting a car so getting around should be relatively easy. In Hermanus we plan to go Shark diving (if I don't shit myself, eeek) and Whale watching. I've always wanted to see Sharks and Whales in their natural habitat so I'm crazy excited for this!

I can't swim and have a fear of being underwater so I'm hoping I can conquer this fear before we go. I think I'm more scared about going underwater in a cage than the Shark part!

3. Mossel Bay
Our next stop is Mossel Bay and a game reserve. We'll be staying on the reserve and trying to spot the big five! It would be an absolute dream to spot them. I need to make sure I buy a good camera before then so that I can capture these memories.

4. Wilderness
This will be another animal themed stop off, as we are planning to go to a Monkey sanctuary and go Dolphin watching. Monkeys are my favourite animals so you can imagine how excited I am about this part of the trip. We saw Dolphins swimming in Egypt and that was a fantastic experience so I'm looking forward to doing it all over again.

We've chosen an amazing hotel here - we're staying up in the treetops! Our shower is even outside in one of the trees. I chose this room (Dan was too busy in work) so clearly I picked the most practical room.

5. Knysna
Only a short stop here but we are going to the Elephant park, and will hopefully get to ride elephants. I've loved elephants ever since I went to Whipsnade zoo with Dan and we got to see them go on a stroll across the country side - it was surreal!

6. Tsitsikamma
We intend to relax for a couple of days at this destination. From Pinterest I've seen that Tsitsikamma has a beautiful national park so we might go exploring. But it's mostly about getting some relaxation in before the last part of our trip.

7. Port Elizabeth
Whilst here we might go to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. There is also another Elephant park, which supposedly is the only national park to conserve the "Big 7". Seeing all these animals will most definitely be my favourite part of the trip.

8. Zambia
A quick detour away from South Africa to go on a river cruise to see some Hippos and Victoria Falls (that is if there isn't a drought!) We have to get another plane to get here so I'm guessing we'll be shattered before the end of this trip.

9. Johannesburg
Mega quick stop in J'burg before we catch our flight home!

Writing this all down rather than seeing it on paper has got me even more excited. But I still won't believe it's real until we're on the airplane, gearing up for our 15 hour flight. I hate flying so this will be a massive test for me. Nonetheless, I'm ridiculously excited to experience South Africa and see all the animals. It's going to be a trip of a lifetime. Can't wait!