When we began planning the Durban leg of our trip, we knew nothing about the rock paintings at Giant’s Castle but once we did, they quickly became a must-see. Created approximately 5,000 years ago by the first known inhabitants of South Africa, the Bushman or San people, and most of it located in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, they are the largest group of rock paintings to be found south of the...

Driving around Johannesburg, Cape Town and then Durban, we realized very quickly how astoundingly beautiful South Africa is. Each city has its unique charm, its own unmistakable landscape. Located on the eastern coast, Durban is the location of South Africa’s busiest port. It enjoys a balmy, subtropical climate. As we drove higher up the Drakensberg Mountains, we were enveloped by clouds. If Don, our driver and guide, was nervous, he didn’t...

When I spoke with Kieron Audain, the student and author who contacted me from Durban, he asked if we’d be visiting the Drakensberg. I had no idea what he was talking about. All we had been thinking about for Durban was a visit to Shakaland, a tour of the city and Umhlanga Rocks, and finding some good Indian restaurants. It was going to be a leisurely two days. But when...

I’m a free style dancer. I’ve been dancing all my life but no one’s ever taught me to dance. I dance by myself to the music I feel and abandon my body to the rhythm. I’m not bragging. I know I can dance and I dance very well. When I go to parties or clubs, I hardly sit down – I’ve been known to dance all night! The one thing...

I thought Shakaland would have been touristy and kitschy – it wasn’t. Located in a beautiful and tranquil area of rolling hills overlooking the Phobane Lake, Shakaland is an authentic Zulu kraal with beehive thatched huts built on the set where the movie, Shaka Zulu was filmed, the same land on which the Zulus fought many battles. That movie was, I believe, my first introduction to King Shaka, one of...

Almost everyone we spoke to before we left the U.S. said we’d love Durban, although they didn’t say why exactly. The largest city in KwaZulu Natal, Durban is also an important manufacturing hub and port. It boasts a sub-tropical climate and some of South Africa’s best beaches. I didn’t know much about the city when I decided to plan that leg of our trip. And apart from a visit to Shakaland,...

We saved our last full day in Cape Town for our trip to the winelands. Our first stop was at KWV Wines, a 90 year old brandy and wine emporium located in Paarl, one of the three popular wine regions – Stellenbosch and Franschhoek being the other two. We did a tour of the cellars followed by a wine tasting, then a brandy and chocolate tasting. I don’t like chocolate so that pairing...

Thanks to Ian Reinders, our tour guide in Cape Town, we kept to our schedule, somewhat. Ian had our whole day laid out for us. Early start down the coast, lunch in Simon’s Town, see the penguins and head to Cape Point. But you know about the best laid plans, right? When they coined that phrase, they had us – three women with very Jamaican sensibilities — in mind. I...

We were undecided about whether to go to Cape Point that Sunday, as Ian suggested, but now I can’t remember why. On a map of Cape Town, Ian showed us the route he had outlined for us to take from the city to the Cape of Good Hope, the south westernmost point of the continent. We would be passing through Camps Bay, Hout Bay, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Simon’s Town and Cape Point. A scenic...

Ian was right. Under a dazzling sunshine and with hardly a cloud in the sky when we arrived, Table Mountain was spectacularly alluring. It seemed to rise straight up out of the ground, then stop abruptly as if something, or someone, had blunted its ascent. We got our tickets and boarded the funicular that would take us the nearly 3,600 feet to the top of the mountain. Watching the buildings...