Further adventures in South Africa - with Janet Ellis

Broadcaster and author, Janet Ellis joined us for her first solo tour, Experience South Africa. We caught up with her to discover her highlights. We're betting the Big Five must feature somewhere, but read on to find out…

This was my very first time in South Africa and I chose the classic tour to fit as many sights in as possible and this tour certainly packs in a lot for a 14-day trip. When the Just You team asked me to narrow down my top five, it was no mean feat, but here are a handful of my favourites.

Walking in the footsteps of history

It’s fair to say that South Africa has an interesting, and challenging history. This tour reveals some of its past, and while aspects of the past and present are difficult to see and hear, it serves as a reminder that despite any adversity, there is always hope and optimism for a brighter future in the Rainbow Nation.

This was most poignant during our optional excursion to the Langa Township, where we met Zsuzi, a local resident who offers an insightful tour of Cape Town’s oldest informal settlement. While it might be understandable to question whether visiting here is an insensitive thing to do, as Zsuzi advised, to visit is to experience the real beating heart of South Africa, and I couldn’t agree more.

During our visit we learned about the different classes within a township, from those living in purpose built corrugated metal shacks, to multi-occupancy hostels, to the villas of what she coined as Beverly Hills. The disparity is striking, and yet it’s heartening to feel a sense of community between the classes – those that acquire wealth, continue to live here in the township and support their community.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that visiting the lower classes areas of the settlement is a hard watch. But to see it, through the eyes of Zsuzi, is to understand it that little bit better – the history, the politics and the socio-economic backdrop formed as a result of the former.

While it’s easy to feel frustrated at the apartheid system that saw these townships come into existence, as you walk around and meet some of the locals, from the warm smile of the barista in the coffee shop to the couple who graciously welcome us into their home, while this is tourism, it's a good kind of tourism that gives back to the people who need it most.

As Zsuzi put it, “We want you to come and see what real life is like here, not from the window of a tour bus rolling on past which makes us feel like we’re in a zoo. We want you to be here on the ground, really getting a sense of LA – the Langa Township.”

After our tour, we visited the Langa museum, formerly the courthouse, and met volunteer Gideon for an overview of what the apartheid regime meant for men and their families.

From 1923, men were sent here to live in dormitory style hostels, working in Cape Town in manual labour jobs, while their families would remain back home in their villages as they were not allowed to live in the township. Everyone was issued with a ‘Dom passe’ which translates as ‘Stupid Pass’,  and if you were discovered without your pass, or in a place that was not your documented place work or home, you would face punishment.

Gideon tells us that upwards of 400 people were processed here in the court every day, and he showed us records of people who were part of this unjust system. It’s a difficult listen, but once again hope and positivity prevail here, and from Gideon’s perspective, he doesn’t see it as so called black and white people, ‘we’re all human – it’s as simple as that’.

This is of course just a small glimpse of a much bigger picture, but to an enquiring mind quite like myself, it’s that starting point of learning more about the long walk to freedom.

Getting into the swing of things

Being my first Just You tour, as it was for some other folks on the trip, it’s difficult to know what to expect, what will our Holiday Director and Guides be like, what will our cohort of travellers be like – will we get on? Will I feel safe? So many questions!

But it’s wonderful to see that within a couple of days we really do find our feet, and you do find yourself drawn into little friendship groups which is fantastic. And in turn, travelling as a group, you do feel that sense and safety of numbers.

Our Holiday Director Daryl’s heartfelt love for his country was paramount, and his knowledge of flora and fauna was impressive. And having context of some of the places we were about to visit was very useful to us all.

Early on in the trip, we enjoyed a djembe drumming session and African dinner one evening. It was such fun, the venue was spectacular, the hospitality was incredible and the various performances had us completely entranced. And we all had a set of drums too so that we could join in too which was good fun, and having musical members in my family, they loved seeing my video clips of me having a go with drumming too (they clearly get it from me!).

There was so much food to go around, and it was a great evening where we were all relaxed and found our rhythm, not only with South African culture and music, but with each other too, and the smiles all round would set the scene for what was to come across our two-week adventure.

A journey in wines

As friends of mine assured me, there’s no such thing as a bad wine in South Africa and I was willing to put this to the test as we had the pleasure of visiting to two vineyards during the Cape leg of our tour. 

Four Cousins in the Western Cape was established by two sets of brothers from the Retief family, part of the Van Loveren family vineyards.

The winery produces a wide variety of wines, whiskey and creamy liqueurs and during our brief visit we made the most of sampling four varieties, plus their Royal Rhino creamy liqueur. Visiting before lunchtime, as a group we made the most of tasting each one, but my personal favourite was their award-winning full-bodied Retief Reserve Cape Red which had delightful spice notes and a peppery scent.

A thirty-minute drive later we arrived at our second winery, Van Loveren to enjoy a wine and chocolate tasting on their outdoor balcony, under a tree canopy. I could have whiled away a whole afternoon here in this serene setting which was a whole world away from home.

As we relaxed, we listened to our host and wine expert, Jason articulate with such passion, on the varieties of wine and how they’re produced. Such was his enthusiasm for wine making, his knowledge really shone through, and a few of the group even purchased a few bottles of their finest, the wine was that good!

Awe-inspiring moments

As much as you might have done your research of the Experience South Africa itinerary, nothing can quite prepare you for the encounter of putting yourself in the picture at the top of Table Mountain, really taking in the views of the wilds of Kruger or simply travelling along the Garden and Panorama Routes, dotted with mountain and valley scenes.

But there’s also those moments that you question exactly how these places came to be, the impressive feat of engineering to get you to Table Mountain’s peak or the incredible thought process, courage and lack of fear of the early explorers who discovered the likes of the Cango Caves using their self-made ropes and not much else to venture into the unknown.

Within the caves we visited Jacobus van Zylin Hall – named after the local farmer who is reported to have been one of the early discoverers of Cango. This is one of several halls you visit, but for me it was the most impressive to think that this hall once played host to performances – what a quirky setting (and great acoustics of course! And just the notion of being completely surrounded by stalagmites and stalactites that have formed over thousands of years, and continue to develop while we’re stood right there marvelling at them all, it's rather incredible.

Your natural surroundings really make you question evolution over time, and this was especially apparent to me during our time in Knysna as we took a boat ride over to Featherbed Nature Reserve with our expect guide, Susan.

During our short hop over to the reserve as well as spotting a seal frolicking in the waters, Susan gave us a fascinating talk on how Knysna (translated as ‘a place of wood’) was developed into the village it is known as today, when a handful early Dutch settlers left their homes in Europe to set up a new life in South Africa in farming and the timber trade. Ill-equipped with the wrong clothing, their prized possessions loaded up on the back of the wagon – can you even begin to imagine the bravery of these people to venture into the unknown to start a new life? Especially in the 1800s without the advances (or disadvantages depending on your viewpoint) in technology that we enjoy today from sat nav systems to weather reports at our fingertips.

For me travel is very much about being in the present, but also taking a moment to appreciate the lives of those who have come before us. Travel really broadens the mind in so many ways – and for me it continues to broaden my mind, as I’ve prepared a list of recommended reads inspired by some of the stories and people we met along the way.

It has to be said that this tour is just a complete kaleidoscope of one highlight mixed into another. Whether you travel for history, the great outdoors, culture, wildlife or simply company of other people, Experience South Africa delivers on all counts.

The Big Five of Kruger National Park

I’ve saved this until last as undoubtedly the build up of anticipation of catching your first glimpse of a leopard, buffalo, giraffe, elephant or rhino, is a feeling that needs to be bottled!

I was particularly enchanted by the elephants, their sheer size and grace as they passed in front of our truck in their own good time was a magical moment. In fact not long after we arrived in the park, we heard the glorious and excited trumpet of one in the bush – something that would serve to punctuate our game drive adventures.

And it was surreal seeing a lioness enjoying the shade of a tree, and quite seemingly relaxed by our presence. It was so quiet at this point, you could hear a pin drop, such was the magic of the moment. I really felt myself just taking the opportunity to soak it all up, from the expert flick of her ears to bat away flies to her seeming indifference at us watching on, but in reality of course, we knew all too well, that she was keeping close tabs on us!

We were incredibly fortunate to tick all the Big Five on this tour, but there are other supporting actors too that are equally as magnificent. There’s the lively impala skipping across the road, a pack of wild dogs snoozing in the bush and the odd quirky warthog meandering along to his own schedule. The beauty of a game drive is not knowing what’s just around the corner as nature always has its own plan for us – and there’s something quite rare and wonderful about that.