South africa
A Tale of 2 Cities
Safaris, beaches and colouful houses
South Africa is truly one of the most incredible countries I've ever been to. For real.
Holy shit this place has everything.
A storied history. Incredible wildlife. Enough cultures to fill a continent on its own. Did I mention the food.
When my old friend Kojo told me he was going my bags were packed before I even put the phone down to him. South Africa had been on my bucket list for years and I wasn't gonna miss out just because I felt a bit awkward going with someone I hadn't seen in a couple of years. One thing travel and backpacking in particular has taught me is that you can make friends with anyone and anywhere as long as your mind is open and you're willing to let your guard down just enough (something I like to remind my couples of when we shoot!).
Kojo's an experienced traveller and I'd been following his travel focused Instagram page for a while anyway (@holidayhelperr - it's lit trust me!), although we'd not spoken since uni where he was a year ahead of me. When none of my other friends were available for the two weeks I had free that year I randomly decided to reach out to him to see if he had any travel plans. Before you know it my flights are booked to join him to Joburg and then Cape Town!! For anyone wondering what it's like to travel with one other person you don't know that well, just trust me. Be yourself. After day two you'll be best friends. As someone with a pretty large following, Kojo's followers quickly grew to love the stories he was putting up from the trip - even though the two of us are so different, the dynamic just worked as both of us were being completely ourselves.
Staying in Joburg can be a nervewracking experience for those who aren't comfortable in new places. It has a reputation for being scary and dangerous, and while I don't want to pretend it's a perfect city, using common sense will keep you safe in most situations, and we definitely didn't run into any trouble at all in the time we spent there.
After a couple of days of city tours and looking around town, we decided to book a safari tour on a whim. What an experience that turned out to be. A quick google search for safaris near Joburg and booking the first result that came up resulting in the two of us getting taken on a private tour of Pilanesburg National Park by the famous Steve Kelly of Wild World Tours?!?! Although we didn't see any lions that day (a trip to Kruger with Steve is on the list for this!), we did get to see a number of other species and some incredible scenery. The lack of lions was more than made up for by the stories Steve had for us - definitely look him up and book a tour with him if you can!
My general approach to life tends to be to plan loosely and go with the flow. Thats probably why we ended up in Swaziland for a day, taking an overnight road trip involving numerous stop offs to take in the beautiful landscapes. Spontaneity really is key for me when travelling, and so when Kojo said he'd made friends with a Joburg local on Instagram a while before the trip, I didn't blink when he suggested we bring her along to Swaziland with us! Call us naive, but it worked out great, as not only did we make a great new friend with all the local knowledge, but we also had an in house translator to help us at the border crossing! @lorraine_lawd on insta - she also happens to be an amazing fashion designer!
After returning to Joburg we caught a flight out to Cape Town, which was better than I could have ever expected. Home to great food, incredible white sandy beaches, beautiful mountains, and the colourful houses of Bo Kaap, I would never leave this city if my visa didn't run out.
