6 travel highlights of 2015

By Roxanne Reid
There’s nothing I love more than a road trip, whether it’s a weekend just 100km from home or a multi-week journey across different countries. And 2015 has been a wonderful year of roadheart – defined by author Mary Sojourner as ‘The much to be desired condition of suddenly finding everything astonishing, fascinating, and unique the second you are on a roadtrip … so that even the local gas station becomes full of characters and stories.’ Here are my 6 travel highlights of 2015.

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1. Namibia

We’ve been to Namibia many times before, but this year we slowed down and spent two months exploring this diverse and beautiful country. Our road took us from the Fish River Canyon and Sossusvlei in the southwest to the watery world of the Kavango and Kwando rivers in the far northeast, from the living desert of Swakopmund to Kunene and Etosha National Park. We enjoyed funky hospitality at the car-mad Canyon Roadhouse and drank in the energetic township vibe at Etosha Safari Camp. We climbed Big Daddy dune at Sossusvlei and watched wildlife at Etosha National Park, we made friends and tracked desert-adapted rhinos in Kunene and leopards at Okonjima. We saw the wild horses of Aus and camped out in some of the most beautiful landscapes in Africa, learnt about the Himba and Hambukushu cultures. And, not surprisingly, we left another piece of our heart somewhere in the Namibian sands.

2. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

The wildlife, red sands and big skies of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which crosses the border between South Africa and Botswana, have been one of our passions over the past 20 years. Not a year has gone by that we haven’t visited at least once. But it still has the power to enthral with its special sightings or simply the sounds of the Kalahari like the clicking call of the barking gecko, roar of a lion or the crash of thunder. There are lots of reasons to love the Kgalagadi and every visit produces something different, from mating lions and cheetah kills to electric storms. This year our highlight was a drama that unfolded over a few days in a camel thorn tree along the Auob riverbed, with a leopard kill and tree-climbing lions providing a fascinating insight into the differences between these two predators.

3. Kruger National Park

Kruger is the flagship of the South African national parks, home to the Big Five and a remarkable number of species – 147 mammals, 507 birds, 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians and 114 reptiles. It also preserves more than 200 cultural heritage sites, and there’s lots to do – from early morning bush walks to three-day wilderness hikes, from bush braais to night drives, and from 4x4 trails to mountain biking. It’s not always about the Big Five. Sometimes there’s a thrill in watching a pair of hunting hornbills. Sometimes it’s the people you meet who make your visit memorable. Like the singing-dancing wedding we became an impromptu part of at Olifants rest camp or meeting a lovely old couple in their eighties camping in an ancient caravan at Pretoriuskop who shared their good humour, their rusks and a wild dog sighting with us.

4. Cape West Coast

Because it’s so close to our home in Cape Town, we could pack in a whole lot of experiences in just a few days along the West Coast. From the wild flowers of the Postberg Nature Reserve, which is open only in August and September each year, to the delightful Duinepos chalets which tell a story of responsible travel that benefits both the environment and local communities. We found lots to do in the West Coast National Park but perhaps our favourite experience was spending a morning with ex-ranger Eddie Papier and hearing his stories of the old days, of his childhood on the Langebaan Lagoon and lonely days on the islands. We explored the laid-back village of Langebaan and stopped off on the way home to soak in the sights and sounds of the historic quarter of the Mamre Moravian mission station.

5. Mountain Zebra National Park

Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock in the Eastern Cape is far less well known than its cousins, Kruger and the Kgalagadi, but it holds a special place in my heart both for its beautiful landscapes and its peacefulness. Its other attractions include summer thunderstorms, winding passes, sweeping views over mountains and valleys, and animals from meerkat to buffalo and lion, not forgetting the Cape mountain zebra the park was formed to protect. In my beginner’s guide to the park you can find out about its special sightings and things to do. Discover why it’s such an enchanting park that pulls us back again and again. 

6. The Overberg

With the Overberg just a short hop over the mountains from Cape Town, it’s an irresistible destination full of possibility. Last year Stanford, Swellendam and De Hoop Nature Reserve were among our Overberg highlights. This year it was Hermanus (I’ll be posting about a to-die-for eatery soon) and Gansbaai, the whale and shark capital of the Overberg, which recently snapped up the award for the best responsible tourism destination in the world. You can read my pick of 10 things to do in and around Gansbaai. But my personal favourite of our Overberg destinations was definitely the indigenous Platbos Forest where guarris, milkwoods and white stinkwoods grow in nutrient-rich clumps, and the owners are passionate about alien clearing and reforestation. We spent a couple of nights at the delightful Honey Bee Camp, which shelters in a clearing under the forest canopy. If you enjoy civilised camping with a proper bed and enjoy making a connection with your environment, you’ll love it as much as I did.

Slow travel
Looking back on some of this slow travel, I’ve been searching for why it’s so fulfilling. Sure, it’s a chance to see new landscapes, experience different cultures and heritage, watch wild animals in their natural habitat, but it’s more than that. Perhaps French poet and writer Anatole France puts it best when he says, ‘Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.’

What were your African travel highlights in 2015? I'm looking for ideas and inspiration for the year to come, so please share them in the comments below.

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