South Africa Archives - Mel On The Go

Alexandra Township Bike Tour

One of our favorite experiences of our time in South Africa was this educational and inspirational Alexandra Township bike tour from Alexandra Tours. I learned about the opportunity to cycle through one of Johannesburg’s original townships from a web search and was drawn by the fact it was owned and led by locals. At the very least, it sounded better than the “Hop on- Hop off” bus tour of Soweto. Well, it exceeded our expectations and we can’t stop talking about it!

We were picked up and delivered to the bike tours HQ where we met the founder of the operation, Jeffrey, and his right hand man, Papi. These two twenty-somethings have been running tours of their neighborhood since 2010. And they do a great job! We bicycled around with Papi on the 4 hour tour and enjoyed every minute. We learned a lot and were inspired by the people we met.

Papi took us through this crowded township of 6.9 km square, in which, they tell us, over a million people reside. We biked around different sections of the township, stopping to visit people, see historic sites and try the local food.

South Africa’s Garden Route

South Africa’s garden route is beautiful and world renowned as a great road trip. We drove from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, with stops in between, and the views were gorgeous.

About South Africa’s Garden Route

Technically, The Garden Route begins west of Stellenbosch, our first stop after Cape Town, and runs from Mossel Bay in the west to Storms River in the east, so we covered that and then some.

South Africa's Garden Route map — Garden Route map

Between Stellenbosch and Port Elizabeth, there are a lot of beautiful stops to make!

Oak Valley Wines

Oak Valley Estate on South Africa's Garden Route — Nice view with some wine at Oak Valley

Oak Valley was one of those fortuitous stops along South Africa’s garden route because we needed a break from the car. Plus, we had driven to the fringes of the wine region, and we wanted to visit another winery while we could. This was a good choice: the estate has beautiful grounds and some nice wines too!

On the way back to the highway, we stopped at an incredible “farm stand”/tourist attraction, where we stocked up on picnic foods and local craft cider.

One Night in Stellenbosch

The drive from Cape Town into South Africa’s Garden Route has to be one of the world’s most scenic drives. We spent three days driving it, stopped at beautiful parks along the sea, wineries, and a cheetah sanctuary, and determined that three days on the Garden Route and one night in Stellenbosch was nowhere near long enough.

After our kayaking adventure, our next destination was Stellenbosch, located in The Cape Winelands, the wine capital of South Africa.

Remhoogte Wine Estate

The highlight of our visit to South Africa’s famous wine region was our stay in the beautiful guesthouse at the stunning Remhoogte Wine Estate. Overlooking a lake, the winery is home to zebras, wildebeest, impala, and quite a few friendly dogs. If you spend only one night in Stellenbosch, stay there, and try to go for longer.

Category: South Africa

Alexandra Township Bike Tour

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