My vacation to South Africa was not only lots of fun & exciting but very educational as well, I would recommend going to South Africa to everyone.  My cousin “Naziha” and I started our journey with three days in Johannesburg, three days in Kruger National Park, then to Cape Town.

Johannesburg (Joburg as they call it) is the country’s oldest business center where Nelson Mandela worked, lived and attended college as a young man.  His quest for freedom began in Johannesburg.  What I also learned is that the Dutch were the first settlers to move to S. Africa some three hundred years ago. Then the British came in and colonized S. Africa together with the Dutch. Indian’s played a significant role in the fight for freedom of S. Africa along with Mandela and other “colored groups” (as they were called).

In Joburg, we went to the Apartheid Museum (which is extremely emotional and upsetting), the Dutch Heritage Monument Museum and “Seweto” which is the neighborhood where Nelson Mandela’s house is. He lived in that house after his 27 year imprisonment (Only for wanting equality for all) on “Robben Island” off of Cape Town.

The restaurants in Joburg were quite a treat especially “Moyo” – S. African Cuisine in the Melrose Park neighborhood.

Kruger National Park was out of this world. I absolutely loved the quiet & the smell of the jungle with the birds chirping & the breeze blowing.  Our lodge (Lukimbi Lodge) was marvelous. It was more dramatic & comfortable then I expected. There was a full staff at the lodge that cooked delicious buffet style meals three times per day and beautifully displayed.  Each bungalow had its own backyard with pool and outdoor showers as well with a river flowing by and the jungle was the backyard, an intoxicating setting.  We saw all kinds of animals on our drives (200 plus pics are in two albums on Facebook).

Cape Town is just as beautiful as you can imagine sandwiched between the ocean & “Table Mountain” as the backdrop. The mountain is lit up at night, its quiet a spectacular site. We visited “Groote Constentia” which is the oldest winery in S. Africa in Cape Town itself. Easy to get to and you can spend an entire day there if you like wine tasting, restaurants etc. We especially enjoyed hanging out at the “Water front” with a huge Ferris wheel & a Choo Choo train for kids. Water front is a lot of fun for tourists with all kinds of shopping, gourmet food courts and live entertainment by the natives (music & dance). We also went to “Robben Island” where Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. In that prison the blacks were treated a special way, the whites treated better and the coloreds (Indian’s and all other races) were treated a different way.  What a learning experience.

My last day in Joburg, I went to the Lion Safari park in Lanseria. I love animals and being in the jungle seeing them from a distance was just not enough. I wanted them very close to me. The Lion park did the job, I loved it.  You can see all these pictures on my Facebook page if you like.

Hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about my trip and if you have any questions or want to go to S. Africa, I will be more then glad to give you all the details, I have everything saved.