Women-Only Hospitality Exchange in South Africa

South Africa, Group travel

Overall I had a wonderful experience in South Africa. I booked my trip through an educational tour company I traveled with since high school called EF tours- Ultimate Break. My tour group has about 20 people in it and our tour director was a local Afrikaaner. Capetown was absolutely stunning!! Beautiful gorgeous city. Recommend visiting Robbin Island to see where Mandela was imprisoned. Also lovely taking a cable car up to Table Mountain! We stayed at the Presidential Hotel which was an incredible 4 star hotel. I felt very safe in Capetown but I stayed with my tour group the whole time. I did not use any public transportation or ride sharing. I also did not do any nightlife activities. We also flew to Johannesburg and were warned about the crime rate there. So we didn’t spend too much time doing things in the city. We did visit Soweto and Mandela’s home. Recommend going to the Apartheid Museum while in Johannesburg. Next we drove to Kruger National Park and did a 10 hour game drive there. Was able to see the Big 5- Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo, Lion and Rhino. Must have experience if you go to South Africa. We were told we cannot go out in that area as there isn’t much to do and no transportation for us. Overall my stay in South Africa was great. I only took about $200 cash with me for tipping. I mostly just made food and activity purchases with my credit cards. It’s very inexpensive due to the exchange rate being 19 Rand to 1 usd. Before heading home from Johannesburg, I did have the opportunity to visit a wonderful amusement park that was formerly a gold mine- Gold Reed City Theme Park. Lots of fun riding the rollercoasters and you’re able to take a tour of the mines far below underground!