South Africa Archives - Planet Whitley

Big Five on the cheap: Self-driving Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

In KwaZulu-Natal, you can ditch the expensive safari lodges to see elephants and lions under your own steam. Meeting a teenage elephant Is it angry? Is it frisky? Should we back away slowly? Or should we just put the foot down and get away to…

KwaZulu-Natal, safari, South Africa, wildlife

Waxworks at the Heart of Cape Town Museum, South Africa.

Groote Schuur Hospital – and the museum devoted to the first heart transplant

The Heart of Cape Town Museum at the Groote Schuur Hospital tells the story of how Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first heart transplant. The operating theatre at Groote Schuur Hospital The operating theatre looks busy. White face masks and green gowns are everywhere, as…

Cape Town, museums, South Africa

The Durban city skyline and Indian Ocean beaches.

Durban: The city that South Africans go to for winter sun

South Africans go to Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal coast for winter sun. But why don’t international travellers join them? Direct flights to Durban When British Airways announced it was going to start (now-cancelled) direct flights to Durban in October 2018, it came to many as…

beaches, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, winter sun

The Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa.

7 reasons to visit Durban, South Africa

Reasons to book a break in Durban include a unique shark tour, a memorable history lesson at KwaMuhle and the biggest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. Durban has many guises. For some, it is a mere gateway to the wildlife-packed parks and reserves of kwaZulu-Natal.…

Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, reasons to visit, South Africa

Exploring the natural side of Cape Town, South Africa

From the dassies on Table Mountain to the penguins of Boulders Beach, you’re never far from nature in Cape Town. Meeting dassies on Table Mountain From the top of Table Mountain on a blazing blue-sky day, Cape Town’s appeal is obvious. The views look over…

Cape Town, South Africa, wildlife

KwaMuhle museum review: Apartheid’s origins in Durban

The KwaMuhle museum in downtown Durban shows that Apartheid didn’t just magically come into being in 1948. Apartheid and the Durban System It takes a little while to register. Walking around Durban’s KwaMuhle museum initially starts off with headshaking and tutting at the injustices of…

Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, museums, reviews, South Africa