South Africa / 10 days on the Wild Coast : from Port Saint Johns to Plettenberg Bay

Published on 10 septembre 2018

Afrique du Sud 10 jours sur la Wild Coast de Port Saint Johns à Plettenberg Bay

We continue on our momentum and this time Sophie, from the recruitment team, tells you about her trip to South Africa 🐋🐘🇿🇦

👤 Which country would you like to show us? How did you choose this destination?

I went on a 15-day trip to South Africa with a friend and we traveled for 10 days with a South African couple of friends in the Eastern Cape region, especially along the Wild Coast from Port Saint Johns to Plettenberg Bay (the beginning of the Garden Road towards Cape Town).

Our friends suggested that we travel with them, so it was an opportunity to discover the wide variety of landscapes and activities that this country offers.

👤 If there is one thing to do or see, what would it be?

I think you should at least do a park to admire wild animals, the most famous being Kruger where you can observe the Big Five (which includes the 5 largest African mammals).

Personally, I went to Addo Elephant Park (northeast of Port Elizabeth). As its name suggests, it is an elephant reserve, but you can also see practically all the animals of the savannah (lions, zebras, buffaloes, warthogs, suricates, antelopes...).

Entrance to the park costs around 20 euros per person, and you can move around with your own car as you wish (map provided at the entrance).

A whole day can be enough to fully enjoy the park, but you can also spend a night there and continue the exploration the next morning.

👤 What are your good plans for accommodation, food, activities in this country/region?

👉 Accommodation

During our trip, we only slept in backpackers (youth hostels), there are really everywhere in South Africa, especially along the coast. It costs about 10 euros for a night in a dormitory (what we did) and between 20 and 30 euros for a private room.

I can recommend Amapondo Backapacker in Port Saint-Johns for its location just in front of one of the most beautiful beaches in South Africa (but beware of sharks!!), Mdumbi Backpacker near Coffee Bay for the view and its traditional Xhosa houses, Wild Spirit Backapackers for its ambiance in the middle of nature in the Garden Road, and Hogsback Backpackers to get away from it all.

We always booked the day before for the next day, but you need to be careful with the road as the signs are quite rare in some places.

👉 Food

Food in South Africa is really cheap and quite varied.

While traveling along the coast, you will inevitably have to eat fish and lobsters if you are a fan (around 4-10 euros per dish in backpackers). There are also many dishes with stewed meat (often chicken) served with lots of vegetables.

You should also have a good barbecue at least once, South Africans love it and they take it seriously! A good sharing moment guaranteed!

👉 Activities

Activities are really abundant: hiking, swimming (but be careful of sharks in some places), surfing, museums (several museums on the life of Nelson Mandela), animal reserves...

The activities I can recommend on the Wild Coast:

You absolutely must stop at Coffee Bay to see the Hole in the wall, it's magnificent.

Walk on the heights of Port Saint Johns to admire the coast and have the chance to see whales (during the sardine run in June-July)
Visit an animal reserve, as previously mentioned, Addo Elephant Park is superb
Surf in Jeffreys Bay
Go see the waterfalls in the forest in Hogsback (more inland)

👤 How do you organize a trip (alone, travel agency, all inclusive, last minute stay...)?

I never go through travel agencies. I organize my trip alone by looking at travel guides or websites for the places I want to see during my trip and the activities I want to do. After that, I admit that during this trip, we were guided by our friends.

👤 What are the must-haves for your trip (app, object, book, lucky charm...)?

A travel guide, the little book Coast Coast (which is found for free in South African backpackers and they also have a website) to be able to find our accommodations, a big scarf (we were there in July so it was "winter" there, in the evening it is quite cold and it can be cold in the dormitories), a camera, and a charger.

👤 An anecdote to share?

On the road back to Hogsback, we were lucky enough to see two giraffes on the side of the national road!! We didn't expect it at all.

In France, it's cows that watch cars go by, in South Africa, it's giraffes!!