If you are planning a road trip around South Africa you have probably done a lot of research already and found that it is a dangerous place with lots to be scared of! You are probably full of trepidation and may have even considered going for that package holiday instead! Well stop now!
South Africa is perfectly safe and it is best to see it while driving in those straight, endless roads in the Caroo or winding around a perfect curve, covered in luscious forest on the Garden Route.
I spent 9 days in South Africa in February 2018, driving from Johannesburg to Cape Town via the Garden Route. This was my first time in South Africa and I was very lucky with the weather as the sun was shining almost every day except for the afternoon I spent at the Addo Elephant National Park.
The drive took in some spectacular geographic areas such as the Karoo, the coastal wet forests and the Table Mountain National Park. On the way back from Cape Town I drove on the N1 to Colesberg and then on to Ficksburg to visit the Golden Gate Highlands National Park near the Lesotho border, covering almost 4,000 kilometers in total.
My best memory of the road trip in South Africa was driving through various nature reserves and seeing elephants, zebras, antelopes and wild beasts up front, almost at touching distance!
In fact, at the Addo Elephant National Park the elephants came so close to the car that I started to worry they were ready to sit on top of it!
Related: Read My Full, One Week South African Road Trip Itinerary Here
I can almost guarantee you will miss out on most of these places if you go on a package holiday or an organized tour as they will be just rushing you past all the sights, making sure they stay on schedule to meet the next load of tourists.
So anyhow, without further ado, I will list below the basic rules of the road in South Africa and also give you some advice where to fill up your car during a South African road trip.
Where to Get Fuel During a Road Trip in South Africa
The Shell Ultra City Gas Station is a South African institution which includes not only the pump, but also restaurants, pharmacies, shops, ATMs and rest stops during a long road trip.
There are plenty of Shell Ultra City gas stations scattered around South Africa, strategically located along the main roads and intersections. I stopped at various Shell Ultra City stations during my road trip in South Africa, the most memorable being in Colesberg where I met the guy you see on the featured image.
We had a great chat and he checked the tyre pressure, wiped the windscreen and also filled up the car for me. It is customary to give a tip to the helpers at the station, but don’t feel obliged if you are on the stingy end of the spectrum. These guys don’t earn very much and even an extra 5 rand goes a long way around here.
After filling up and having a nice chat I went to take a few more shots of the Shell Ultra City in Colesberg then we went inside to get some snacks for the road. It was here we discovered that there was a bakery inside so we bought some local beef pies and some coke for me to give a boost during driving.
Only in South Africa: The Shell Ultra City Gas Stations
At another Shell Ultra City stop in Laingsburg we had an evening stop to eat at the Steers Diner, which is a South African burger chain restaurant. It is very similar to McDonalds or Burger King, but it sells food steered to the local tastes (if you get the pun).
The chips was nice but I thought the burger had too much sauce in it so it started falling apart after a few bites, but otherwise it was OK. Eating at Steers Burger also provided the opportunity to test out for real what it is like drinking the local Irn Bru and the South African flavoured Grape Fanta.
I was at the Coca Cola Center in Atlanta, Georgia about three weeks before I went to South Africa where I could try out some of the global Coca Cola drink flavours. It was quite amazing to go to an actual country that sells those flavors, especially so soon after visiting the Coca Cola World!
I also stopped at another Shell Ultra City, this time in Leeu Gamka, which is an old frontier town in South Africa’s Caroo.
Two Rules Of The South African Road
Every country has its own unspoken rules of the road and this is no different in South Africa. I’ve driven quite a lot around the world in many different countries and I have learned that the best way to get into the rhythm of any country’s roads is to follow a couple of trucks for a while and see how they react and communicate with each other.
This is exactly what I did when I was in South Africa and I have learned a great deal which I will share below now.
Rule No. 1
When you are behind a truck on a road where the speed limit is 120 km/hour, and the truck is limited to doing only 80 km/hour he will try to help you overtake him.
It is best to rely on the trucker’s help, at least partly because he has a higher viewpoint in his cabin so he can see further ahead than you. Of course, only ever overtake if you feel confident enough and you have a clear view of the road, no matter what the truck driver is indicating.
His signal is the unspoken rule of the road: he will first indicate left, then right, left again and finally another right. This means that you can safely overtake (after you have ascertained yourself the road is clear ahead).
Now, if the road is clear, you quickly flash to make sure the lane is empty of animals and everything else, then you put the pedal to the metal and go for it!
Once you have overtaken safely, get back in your lane then press the hazard light as a thank you for the trucker’s assistance. He’ll say no problem by flashing his lights once or twice. Here, without opening your mouth once you’ve had a conversation worth a thousand words!
Rule No. 2
It is sometimes necessary to signal that you are not an idiot driving with the flashlight. You can do this on the long, straight, endless stretches of road in the Karoo.
If you are driving in the dead of night, in the middle of Karoo it will be most likely pitch black and you will be driving with your normal light beams.
Then you might sometimes notice that out of the blue a truck in the distance will flash its long distance light into your eyes.
You will likely think: “why on earth is this guy flashing at me? I am doing nothing wrong!”
So you flash back. He turns his flash off and you drive on thinking all is fine but two seconds before he passes you he flashes in your eye again blinding you completely.
The meaning of this is that you need to recallibrate your lights because they are blinding the oncoming traffic.
If he doesn’t flash two seconds before passing you it means he accepts your car is just shit and you haven’t bothered to do anything about it. No offense!
My Friend’s Private Game Reserve
The first stop on the way down to Cape Town was my friend’s game reserve, two hours from Johannesburg, where he has 1,700 wild animals roaming around the park. He bought the land about 20 years ago for pennies and decided to create his own private reserve to protect wild and endangered species which you can only find in South Africa.
My friend is a very private person and you can only make bookings at his lodge if you know him or one of his friends but I can assure you it was one of the most amazing memories during the entire trip.
First we had lunch, which he prepared on the barbecue outside and then he drove me around in his Land Rover to show me his zebras, wild beasts and antelopes. We spent about two hours driving around – it all felt like being in Jurassic Park, especially that it was the first time I saw wild zebras roaming around.
The Addo Elephant National Park
The drive from Colesberg to Cradock, my first stop on the way to the Addo Elephant National Park, took about 2.5 hours through some beautiful countryside scenery in the brimming sunshine.
The hills around here are covered in grass with very few trees and from the distance they look like sugar loaves. This area of South Africa is the Karoo, or grasslands where the Voortrekkers herded their cattle up north from Cape Town on their journeys inland hundreds of years ago.
Nowadays you don’t need to put up with the hardships the Voortrekkers faced as the roads in South Africa are wide and very well built with a hard shoulder on both sides. The road markings are in the American style with a yellow line on the edge and white intermittent lines in the middle.
There were regular parking spot along the way, each with benches and trees for shade. It all looked very well thought out and I must say I really enjoyed driving in South Africa!
Cradock is a small town at the intersection of a few country roads, including the N10 which I was travelling on after turning left off the N9 an hour and a half after leaving Colesberg. The Addo Elephant National Park is another hour and a half from Cradock along the N10.
The National Park is a pretty spectacular place although a little bit pricier than the other parks in South Africa. Here, the elephants roam around freely and you can see how the mothers pamper their children and how the teenage elephants fight with each other – most of which happens on the road side, an arm’s length from you!
If you have time to visit just one national park in South Africa than the Addo Elephant National Park has to be it! That’s because you can drive around in the park on your own and you will see animals proper up close, without any barriers between you and them.
The Tsitsikamma National Park
My destination for the third day was the Tsitsikamma National Park where I wanted to track along the coast to the famous waterfall. This park is famous for its wildlife and special bird and flower species which you can see along most of its trails.
If you are short on time there are various day trails but in my opinion it is best to spend at least 2-3 days here trekking inland to the heart of the park where you can shut out the modern world and immerse yourself in this pristine nature reserve!
The Wilderness National Park
The next day I drove to Wilderness National Park, which is about three hours away on the toll road. I would say this national park is the perfect spot if you want to see lush greenery and a great South African waterfall gushing down a big rock formation you will probably only find here.
At the base of the waterfall you can even swim and relax in the slightly cold water which is what I did when I was there. The walk to the waterfall takes about two-three hours at a relaxing pace from the car park at the head of the trail.
If you love monkeys you should definitely come here as past the self-operated pontoon you will find many families happily munching on nuts and other things they find here.
If you prefer not to walk too long, you can even rent a kayak and navigate up river yourself, which is also great fun and I wish I had done it myself when I was there.
Cape Town, the Botanical Gardens and Table Mountain
Driving to Cape Town was not too exciting as I did it mostly in the dark although I caught glimpse of a stunning sunset just before Caledon. This small town is about an hour and a half away from Cape Town where I spent three days discovering this great South African city.
Obviously, the biggest draw for tourists is the nearby wine region but the beaches are also stunning and the surrounding hills are super inviting for a hike. That’s exactly what I did when I decided to hike up to Table Mountain instead of taking the Cable Car.
The Cable Car would have cost nearly £25 and I had all day so I headed down to the Botanical Garden which is the base of the trail leading up to the top of Table Mountain.
The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens are one of the most beautiful and diverse in the world and contain almost all plant species that you can find in South Africa. Even if you don’t want to climb the hill, you should still visit to immerse yourself in the breathtaking scenery and to have the opportunity to smell some beautiful flowers in the greenhouse.
The walk up to the top take about 3-4 hours and it is pretty hard going so I would only recommend it to fit climbers. Also, make sure you take at least a gallon of water with you as the sun will be beating down on your all day there and back!
That is unless you decide to take the cable car down, but since I parked my car at the Botanics I had to walk back. The views from the top of the mountain were absolutely gorgeous and I think it will stay with me for the rest of my life!
Golden Gate Highland National Park
The Golden Gate Highlands National Park is a 13 hour drive from Cape Town, and I would not recommend this to beginners, especially if you are short on time. What I did is drive 9.5 hours the first day and then the rest on my last day driving back to the airport.
If you decide to drive, the vistas along the way will definitely compensate for the effort: the rolling rugged hills, luscious greenery and rivers were so pretty I kept stopping every five minutes to take a picture.
The national park totally resembles the Highlands of Scotland, only bigger! Also, the forests here are different and the grass seems to be taller and greener, plus the flowers and just beautiful.
Given that I only had about four hours in the park I decided to climb to the top of Mushroom Rock, from where I could admire the views before driving off to Johannesburg Airport to drop the car off and taking the South African Airways flight back to London.